{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_72654/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_72654","id":"gutenberg_72654","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/72654","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - Early Modern (c. 1450-1750)","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Witchcraft","Witchcraft -- Early works to 1800"],"text":"[Illustration: Fleuron]\n\n\n\n\n                              Imprimatur,\n\n_July 29. 1676._\n\n                                                _Jonas Moore_ Soc. Regi\u00e6\n                                                        Vice-Pr\u00e6ses.\n\n[Illustration: Fleuron]\n\n\n\n\n                                  THE\n\n                               DISPLAYING\n\n                              OF SUPPOSED\n\n                              WITCHCRAFT.\n\n            Wherein is affirmed that there are many sorts of\n\n                       =Deceivers and Impostors=,\n\n                                  AND\n\n              Divers persons under a passive _Delusion_ of\n                       _MELANCHOLY_ and _FANCY_.\n\n        But that there is a _Corporeal League_ made betwixt the\n                          DEVIL and the WITCH,\n\nOr that he sucks on the _Witches Body_, has _Carnal Copulation_, or that\n _Witches_ are turned into _Cats_, _Dogs_, raise Tempests, or the like,\n                    is utterly denied and disproved.\n\n                        Wherein also is handled,\n\n   The Existence of Angels and Spirits, the truth of Apparitions, the\n    Nature of Astral and Sydereal Spirits, the force of Charms, and\n                 Philters; with other abstruse matters.\n\n\n               By _John Webster_, Practitioner in Physick.\n\n _Fals\u00e6 et enim opiniones Hominum pr\u00e6occupantes, non sol\u00f9m surdos, sed &\n  c\u00e6cos faciunt, it \u00e0 ut videre nequeant, qu\u00e6 aliis perspicua apparent._\n                       Galen. lib. 8. de Comp. Med.\n\n                                _LONDON_,\n  Printed by _J. M._ and are to be sold by the Book-sellers in _London_.\n                                  1677.\n\n\n\n\nTo his Worshipful and honoured Friends _Thomas Parker of Braisholme_,\n_John Asheton_ of the _Lower-Hall_, _William Drake_ of\n_Barnolaswick-coat_, _William Johnson_ of the _Grange_, _Henry Marsden_\nof _Gisburne_ Esquires, and his Majesties Justices of Peace and _Quorum_\nin the West-riding of _Yorkshire_.\n\n\n  Worshipful Gentlemen and honoured Friends,\n\nI _Do not dedicate this piece of my Labours unto you, thereby to beg\nprotection for it, as fearing either its weakness, or the malevolent\ncensures of the ignorant; for I very well know, and have experienced,\nthat it is the usual property of idle and pragmatical persons to please\ntheir own malignant humors, with the condemning and scoffing at the\npainful lucubrations of others. And I have ever judged that nothing\nought to be published, that like a Noun Substantive cannot stand by it\nself, without being supported by any other adjoined help. Neither is\nthis forth of a vain confidence or an over-weening of mine own\nabilities, though I very well know that some are as much in love with\nthe brood of their own brains, as others are with the fruit of their\nloines: Because I have for many years been as wary and vigilant, as any\ncould be, to watch over my self, that I might both know, and keep a\nclear distinction, betwixt flattering Phantasie, and true and sound\njudgment. But I shall in brief shew you the true reasons of my\npresenting of this poor piece to your reading and judgments._\n\n1. _The first reason is, because you have all been Gentlemen, not only\nwell known unto me for many years, as being my near Neighbours, but also\nwith whom I have been freely admitted to a Noble and Generous converse,\nand have been trusted, and honoured by you in your Domestick concerns,\nwherein by my Medical Profession, I might be serviceable to you, or your\nFamilies, far beyond my poor Merit and Desert. And having been for many\nyears a due observer of your deportments in your places of trust as\nMagistrates, for being but as a stander by, and looking on, may\n(perhaps) have noted as much, as those that are Gamesters, I was moved\nto present this piece of my labours unto you, by reason of that\nknowledge and acquaintance, rather than to others, whose abilities and\nintegrity I did not so well understand. And (I hope) I may without\nsuspicion of flattery (of which I am sure both your selves, and others\nthat know me, will acquit me, that if I be any way guilty, it is rather\nin being too plain and open) say, that you have been, and are true\nPatriots to your Countrey, and not only Justices of the Peace, but true\nconservers of it, and Peace-makers amongst all your Neighbours; and\nreally this is one of the chief causes why I have dedicated this\nTreatise unto you._\n\n2. _Another reason is, you have all fully known me, and the most of the\nparticulars of my life, both my follies and frailties, as also my other\nendowments and abilities, and therefore in reference to these, I thought\nnone more fit than your selves, to whom I might tender this laborious\npiece. For it is not unknown unto you, that (excepting my Physical\nPractice, which age and infirmities will not suffer me very much to\nattend) I have for many years last past lived a solitary, and sedentary\nlife, =mihi & Musis=, having had more converse with the dead than the\nliving, that is, more with Books than with Men. And therefore I present\nthis unto you, as being better able than most others to whom I am\nunknown, to judge what I am like or able to perform in such a subject as\nthis is._\n\n3. _Also it is not unknown unto you, that I have had a large portion of\nTrouble and Persecution in this outward world, wherein you did not like\nmany others stand aloof off, as though you had not known me, but like\npersons of Justice, and true Magnanimity, durst both look upon and\nassist wronged innocency, though besmeered over with the envious dirt of\nmalicious scandals, and even in that very conjuncture of time, when the\nwhole giddy Troop of barking Dogs, and ravenous Wolves, did labour to\ndevour me. But then, even then did put to your helping hands, and were\nfree to declare, what you knew of mine innocency: which was so Generous,\nNoble and Christian a kind of just commiseration, that I should for ever\naccount my self a wretched person, if I should not have deeply impressed\nin my breast and memory, which no time, nor adversity can ever\nobliterate. But being in a condition that I may truly say with the\nApostle =S. Peter=, \u0391\u03c1\u03b3\u03cd\u03b5\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd \u03ba \u03c7\u03c1\u03c5\u03c3\u03af\u03bf\u03bd \u1f50\u03c0\u03ac\u03c1\u03c7 \u03bc\u03bf\u03c2, =Silver and Gold have\nI none= (which I know you expect not) and therefore the greatest power I\nhave is my weak pen, thereby to testifie my thankfulness for your\nunparallel\u2019d kindness. And therefore I offer this Treatise as a\nperpetual and monumental memorial to all Posterities, of my gratitude,\nand your goodness._\n\n_And further, to whom can a subject of this nature be more suitably and\nfitly presented than to such Magistrates as your selves, who have often\noccasion to be cumbred and troubled with the ignorant, envious, and\nsometimes knavish accusations against people suspected of Witchcraft,\nSorcery, Charming and Inchantment? Wherein to free the guilty, and\ncondemn the innocent, is equally abominable to the Lord: And therefore\nmuch judgment, caution, care and diligent inspection ought to be used in\nthe examining and determining of these matters, wherein I have used as\nmuch perspicuity and plainness as was possible to distinguish betwixt\nthose that are Impostors, Cheaters, and active Deceivers, and those that\nare but under a mere passive delusion through ignorant and superstitious\neducation, a melancholy temper and constitution, or led by the vain\ncredulity of inefficacious Charms, Pictures, Ceremonies and the like,\ntraditionally taught them. The one sort of which deserves to be punished\nfor couzening of the people, and taking upon them, and pretending to\nbring to pass things that they have neither skill nor power to perform;\nbut the other sort rather merit pity and information, or the Physicians\nhelp than any punishment at all. And I make bold to mind you of this one\nthing especially that in things of this nature great heed ought to be\ntaken of the conditions, qualities, ends and intentions of the\nComplainants and Informers, who are often more worthy of punishment,\nthan the persons accused. For many forth of a meer deluded fancy,\nenvious mind, ignorance and superstition do attribute natural diseases,\ndistempers, and accidents to Witches and Witchcraft, when in truth there\nis no such matter at all. And sometimes they counterfeit strange fits\nand diseases, as vomiting of preternatural and strange things, which if\nnarrowly lookt into and examined are but Juglings, and deceitful\nconfederacies, and yet for malice, revenge or some other base ends, do\naccuse others to be causers of them._\n\n_And though you should find some confidently confessing that they have\nmade a visible and corporeal league with the Devil, and that he hath\ncarnal copulation with them, and that he doth suck upon some parts of\ntheir Bodies, and that they are Transubstantiated into Dogs, Cats, and\nthe like, or that they fly in the air, and raise Tempests; yet (I hope)\nI have sufficiently proved by the word of God, the true grounds of\nTheologie and sound reason, that there never hath been any such \u2018Witch\u2019\nexistent =in rerum natura=, and so you may know what credit may be given\nto such Fables and impossibilities._\n\n_So wishing that you may long live in Health and Happiness, to do his\nMajesty and your Countrey service, which is, and shall be my faithful\nprayer for you, I take leave subscribing my self_\n\n                                                Your Worships\n                                                  most Faithful Friend,\n                                                    and Devoted Servant.\n\n                                                        _John Webster._\n\n\n\n\n                                  THE\n                       PREFACE _or_ INTRODUCTION.\n\n\n  _Readers_,\n\nKnowing certainly that all writings once published, do equally undergo\none fate, as to stand or fall by the common censures, judgments and\nopinions of Men; therefore have I affixed, no Epithete, as foreseeing\nthis Treatise (like a Man once at Sea that is forced to hold out against\nall weathers) must abide the censures of all sort of persons, how\nvarious soever their minds and principles be. And though mens fancies\nand opinions be commonly as different as their faces, yet I shall\nenumerate some few general sorts, that may be sufficiently comprehensive\nto comprise the most of other subordinate particulars, and that in this\norder.\n\n1. First, that which a Man hath found true by experience in such like\ncases, may very reasonably induce him to expect the like again; as after\nI had printed my book of the History of Metals I met with some that were\nno more learned than Parrots, who could not write true English, and\nwhose greatest skill was in the several ways of debauchery, and other\npoor Pedanticks that were hardly masters of Grammar, and yet this crew,\nand the like were rash and bold enough, to censure my painful\nendeavours, and to scoff at it as a mere collection. And therefore in\npublishing of this piece, which is a dark and mysterious subject, I may\nvery probably meet with some troops of such rash ignorants, to whom only\nI shall return this sharp, but suitable responsion. It is an ordinary\nthing for many that never could shape a shoo, to reprove and find fault\nwith the Shoomaker: but such wise men (fit only for _Gotham_) may learn\nthese two Proverbs, _There is none so bold as blind_ Bayard, and _A\nFools bolt is soon shot_, and their heads may be fitter for Feathers,\nthan the Laurel, and when any of them have made such a collection as my\nformer Book, or publisht such a piece as this, then I shall give them a\nbetter answer, and not before, _Lactucas non esse dandas hisce Afinis\ncomedendas, cum illis sufficiant cardui_.\n\n[Sidenote: Prov. 26. 12.]\n\n2. There are another generation that seem wise in their own eyes, whose\nbrains are like blown Bladders filled with the wind of over-weening and\nself-conceitedness, and these usually do huff, snuff, and puff at every\nthing that agrees not with their Capricious Cockscombs, when their\nabilities for the most part lie in the scraps they have gathered from\nthe Theaters, or from the discourses had in Taverns and Coffee-houses,\nand if they can but reach some pittiful pieces of Drollery and Raillery,\nthey think themselves fit and able to censure any thing though never\nread nor seen, except the Title Page. To these I have little to say, as\nbeing but such airy and frothy Vaporoso\u2019s, as the least blast of sound\nreason maketh them vanish into smoak and nothing; but only with them to\ntake into serious consideration, the saying of the Wiseman: _Seest thou\na man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a Fool than of\nhim_. And the counsel of a learned Father is proper for such vain\nconfidents: _Expedit ben\u00e8 timere, quam mal\u00e8 fidere; & utilius est, ut\ninfirmum se homo cognoscat, ut fortis existat, qu\u00e0m fortis videri velit,\n& infirmus emergat_.\n\n3. There are another sort that are so critically envious, that they can\nallow of nothing that is not their own production, and beareth not the\ntest of their approbation, and cannot but stigmatize the labours of\nothers how good or beneficial soever they be, because they shadow their\nfame, and tend not to the advancement of their own reputation: even as\ndivers sorts of insects do feed upon the excrements of other animals, so\nthese feed their own humours, and please their own fancies by the\ncalumniating, and blacking the labours of others. These being guilty of\npeevish morosity cannot look kindly at any thing of anothers, without\nfrowning, distast, and censuring; but we have little to say unto such as\nthese, but shall leave them to the gall of their own breasts, and the\nspleen of their own minds, having neither intended our labours for any\nsuch, nor valuing their censures how sharp and bitter soever they be.\nFor _nulla f\u0153licitas tam magna est, ut malignitatis dentes vitare\npossit_. And therefore it is discretion to bear that patiently for which\nhumane prudence can find no remedy.\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Cor. 13. 11.]\n\n4. Others there are who are grown obstinate in their minds and wills,\nconcerning Spirits, Apparitions, Witchcraft, Sorcery, Inchantment, and\nthe like, and are grown pertinacious and resolute to stick to and hold\nthose opinions that they have imbibed through ignorant education: not\nconsidering that perseverance in a good cause, and well grounded opinion\nis laudable and commendable, but pertinaciousness in a bad and ill\ngrounded tenent, is as bad and hurtful. And it is every wise mans duty\nto study the cultivation and improvement of the goods of the mind, and\nnever to be ashamed to learn that of which they were ignorant before.\nFor the minds of men are not only darkned in the fall of _Adam_, but\nalso much misled, by the sucking in of errors in their younger and more\nunwary years, from whence they ought to endeavour with might and main to\nextricate and deliver themselves. But he that is wilfully setled upon\nthe lees and dregs of former opinions, though never so erroneous, hath\nshut forth all further light from shining into his understanding, and so\nis become wilfully blind. To such as these we shall only propose the\nexample and practice of the Apostle, who saith: _When I was a child, I\nspake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: But\nwhen I became a man, I put away childish things_. And I advise them not\nto refuse the counsel of _S. Augustine_, who saith: _Ad discendum quod\nopus est, nulla \u00e6tas sera videri potest: quia etsi senes magis decet,\ndocere quam discere; magis tamen decet discere, quam ignorare_. And they\nneed not be ashamed to imitate _Socrates_, who did wax old every day\nlearning something.\n\n5. As we have not intended this Treatise, and Introduction for such\nconditioned persons as we have enumerated before, so there are others to\nwhom we freely offer and present it, and shall shew the grounds and\ncauses that moved us to undertake such a mysterious, and dangerous\nsubject. And those are such as have an humble, lowly, and equal mind,\nthat they commonly read Books to be informed, and to learn those truths\nof which they are ignorant, or to be confirmed in those things they\npartly knew before. It is to such as these only that we offer our\nlabours, and therefore shall candidly declare unto them the causes and\nreasons of our undertaking which are these.\n\n1. Though there be a numerous company of Authors that have written of\nMagick, Witchcraft, Sorcery, Inchantment, Spirits, and Apparitions, in\nsundry ages, of divers Countrys, and in various languages: yet have they\nfor the most but borrowed one from another, or have transcribed what\nothers had written before them. So that thereby there hath been no right\nprogress made truly to discover the theory or ground of these dark and\nabstruse matters, nor no precise care taken to instance in matters of\nfact, that have been warrantably and sufficiently attested: But only\nrhapsodies, and confused heaps of stories and relations, shuffled\ntogether, when not one of an hundred of them bore the face either of\nverity, or truth-likeliness, whereby the understandings of Readers have\nremained unenlightened, their memories confounded, and their brains\nstuffed with Whimsies and Chimera\u2019s. And though there be nothing more\ncommon than disputes of Witches, and Witchcraft, both in words and\nwriting, yet not one of great multitudes that hath plainly told us, in\nwhat notion, or under what acceptation, they take the words, nor what\ndescription is agreed upon, of either of these, that their existence, or\nnot being, their power and operations might be known and determined: But\nall the disputes as yet concerning them have been loose, wild, and _in\nvagum_. And therefore to remedie this, as far as such a subject would\nallow, and our abilities stretch, we were moved, and have attempted to\nclear those difficulties. And if we do not (which is epidemical to\nmankind) flatter and deceive ourselves, we have in some measure\nreasonably attained, as having plainly laid down the notion and\nacceptation of the words, Witches and Witchcraft, in which we grant them\nan existence, and in what sense and respect we grant them none, which is\nmore (as we conceive) than yet hath been performed by any. And though\nour instances of matters of fact be neither, so punctual nor full as\nmight be wished, for things of this nature are deep and hid; yet are\nthey the best we could select or chuse; and this is one chief reason why\nI undertook to treat of this subject.\n\n2. Though the gross, absurd, impious and Popish opinions of the too much\nmagnified powers of Demons and Witches, in this Nation, were pretty well\nquashed and silenced by the writings of _Wierus_, _Tandler_, Mr. _Scot_,\nMr. _Ady_, Mr. _Wagstaff_ and others; and by the grave proceedings of\nmany learned Judges, and other judicious Magistrates: yet finding that\nof late two persons of great learning and note, who are both (as I am\ninformed) beneficed Ministers in the Church, to wit Dr. _Casaubon_, and\nMr. _Glanvil_ have afresh espoused so bad a cause, and taken the quarrel\nupon them; And to that purpose have newly furbished up the old Weapons,\nand raked up the old arguments, forth of the Popish Sink and Dunghills,\nand put them into a new dress, that they might appear with the greater\nluster, and so do with Tooth and Nail labour to maintain the old rotten\nassertions, the one in his Book called, A Treatise proving Spirits and\nWitches _&c._ the other in a Treatise called, A blow at modern\n_Sadducism_ &c. Finding these (I say) as two new Champions giving\ndefiance to all that are of a contrary judgment, I was stirred up to\nanswer their supposed strong arguments, and invincible instances, which\nI have done (I confess) without fear, or any great regard to their\nTitles, Places, or Worldly Dignities, but only considering the strength\nor weakness of their arguments, proofs, and reason. For in this\nparticular that I have to deal, it is not with the men, but their\nopinions and the grounds they would lay their foundations upon. And if I\nbe censured for dealing too sharply and harshly with them, they must\nexcuse me, for I profess I have no evil will at all against their\npersons, no more than against a _non_-Entity, but was justly zealous for\nthe truth, and bitter against such opinions as they have vented, which\nto me seem dangerous, and in some respect impious, as (I suppose) I have\nfully proved. And this was another reason of my writing about this\nsubject.\n\n3. Another reason that made me undertake this subject, was the horrid\nabsurdities the tenent of the common Witchmongers brings along with it,\nas not only tending to advance superstition and Popery, but also to be\nmuch derogatory to the Wisdom, Justice, and Providence of the Almighty,\nand to cry up the power of the Kingdom of darkness, to question the\nverity of the principal Article of the Christian Faith, concerning the\nResurrection of Christ in his true numerical Body, and generally to tend\nto the obstruction of the practice of Godliness and Piety. These after I\nhad seriously weighed and considered them, did move me to labour as far\nas the light of God\u2019s word, the grounds of true Theology, and the clear\nstrength of reason would guide, and direct me, to undertake the\nconfutation of them as far as I was able, and if I have failed I humbly\ndesire those that are more able to handle the matter more fully if\npossible.\n\nIf any be moved that I seem to maintain some things that are Paradoxes,\nI hope I may crave leave, as well to discede from the opinions of\nothers, as others have done from those that went before them. And I\ndesire them not so much to consider, either the novelty or strangeness\nof the opinions, as the weight and strength of the reasons that are laid\ndown to support and statuminate them; for if the arguments be sound and\nvalid, the Tenents built thereupon cannot be weak and tottering. And\nhowever I acknowledge my self to have humane frailties and so may err,\nyet I have no mind or will pertinaciously to persevere in an error, and\nthese things that we have treated of lying so far from the ken of our\nsenses, and experiments of this nature, either so rare, or uncertain,\nthat we may rationally expect pardon, rather than reprehension.\n\nBut I shall say no more, but let the Book speak for it self, only\ndesiring the Readers, first to peruse and seriously to consider, before\nthey censure, that so I may have cause to bid them, Farewel.\n\n  Dated _February\n    23. 1673_.\n\n\n\n\n                                  THE\n                               CONTENTS.\n\n\n Chap. 1. _Of the false, irrational, and unchristian censures,\n   that have been, and yet are cast upon learned Men for writing\n   of abstruse subjects: As also for treating of Apparitions and\n   Witchcraft, especially if they crossed the common stream of\n   vulgar opinion._                                              Page 1.\n\n Chap. 2. _Of the Notion, Conception, and Description of Witches\n   and Witchcraft according to divers Authors, and in what sense\n   they may be granted, and in what sense and respect they are\n   denied._                                                       p. 19.\n\n Chap. 3. _The denying of such a Witch as is last described in\n   the foregoing Chapter doth not infer the denying of Angels,\n   or Spirits. Apparitions no warrantable ground for a christian\n   to believe the existence of Angels, or Devils by, but the\n   word of God._                                                  p. 37.\n\n Chap. 4. _That the Scriptures, and sound reason are the true\n   and proper mediums to prove the actions attributed unto\n   Witches by, and not other improper ways that many Authors\n   have used. And of the requisites necessary truly to prove a\n   matter of fact by._                                            p. 43.\n\n Chap. 5. _That these things now in question, are but barely\n   supposed, and were yet never rationally nor sufficiently\n   proved: And that the Allegations brought to prove them by are\n   weak, frivolous, and absolutely invalid: with a full\n   confutation of all the four particulars._                      p. 63.\n\n Chap. 6. _That divers places in Scripture have been\n   mis-translated thereby to uphold this horrid opinion of the\n   Devils omnipotency, and the power of Witches, when there is\n   not one word that signifieth a familiar Spirit, or a Witch in\n   that sense that is vulgarly intended._                        p. 106.\n\n Chap. 7. _Of divers places in the Old Testament, that are\n   commonly wrested, and falsly expounded, thereby to prove\n   Apparitions, and the power of the Devil, and Witches._        p. 136.\n\n Chap. 8. _Of the Woman of_ Endor _that pretended to raise up_\n   Samuel, _and of some other places in the Scriptures, not\n   handled yet, and of some other objections_.                   p. 165.\n\n Chap. 9. _Of Divine permission, providence and prescience._     p. 183.\n\n Chap. 10. _Whether faln Angels be corporeal, or simply\n   incorporeal, and the absurdity of the assuming of Bodies, and\n   the like consequents._                                        p. 197.\n\n Chap. 11. _Of the knowledge, and power of faln Angels._         p. 215.\n\n Chap. 12. _If the Devils or Witches have power to perform\n   strange things, whether they do not bring them to pass by\n   mere natural means, or otherwise? And of_ Helmont\u2019s _opinion\n   concerning the effects caused by Devils or Witches_.          p. 241.\n\n Chap. 13. _That the ignorance of the power of Art and Nature,\n   and such like things, hath much advanced these foolish and\n   impious opinions._                                            p. 267.\n\n Chap. 14. _Of divers Impostures framed and invented to prove\n   false and lying miracles by, and to accuse persons of\n   Witchcraft, from late and undeniable authorities._            p. 270.\n\n Chap. 15. _Of divers creatures that have a real existence in\n   nature, and yet by reason of their wonderous properties, or\n   seldom being seen, have been taken for Spirits and Devils._   p. 279.\n\n Chap. 16. _Of Apparitions in general, and of some\n   unquestionable stories, that seem to prove some such things.\n   Of those Apparitions pretended to be made in Beryls and\n   Crystals, and of the Astral or Sydereal Spirit._              p. 288.\n\n Chap. 17. _Of the force and efficacy of words or charms,\n   whether they effect any thing at all, or not, and if they do,\n   whether it be by natural or diabolical virtue and force._     p. 321.\n\n[Illustration: Fleuron]\n\n\n\n\n                                  THE\n\n                               DISPLAYING\n\n                              OF SUPPOSED\n\n                              WITCHCRAFT.\n\n\n\n\n                                CHAP. I.\n\n  _Of the false, irrational, and unchristian Censures, that have been,\n    and yet are, cast upon Learned men, for writing of abstruse\n    Subjects: As also for treating of Apparitions and Witchcraft,\n    especially if they crossed the common stream of vulgar Opinion._\n\n\nBeing about to treat of the mysterious and abstruse Subject of Witches\nand Witchcraft, I cannot but think it necessary (especially to make the\nthings we handle more plain and evidential) to imitate Architectors, who\nwhen they intend to raise some fair Fabrick or Edifice, do not only\nprovide themselves of good and lasting Materials, but above all take\ncare to lay a firm and sure foundation, which they cannot well\naccomplish, unless the earth and rubbish be removed, that a firm ground\nfor a foundation may be found out. So before I lay the foundation of\nwhat I intend in this Discourse, I shall labour to remove some censures\nand calumnies, that are usually cast upon those learned persons that\nlabour to unmanacle imprisoned truth, and to adventure to cross the\nstream of vulgar Opinion, backt with seeming Authority, Antiquity, or\nuniversality of Votes, especially if they have intermeddled in Subjects\noccult and mysterious.\n\nAnd these Censures (how unjust soever) have often deterred the most able\nand best learned from divulging their opinions, or publish their\nthoughts upon such difficult and intricate matters, which (I conceive)\nought not to be done for these reasons.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 1._]\n\n1. Because the best part of a man, as naturally considered, is his\nCourage, Resolution, and Magnanimity, which should make him resolute and\ncouragious to declare and maintain, what he upon sound and rational\ngrounds apprehends to be truth, and not at all to fear the censure or\njudgment of others, who may have had no better means to inform\nthemselves, or perhaps have been less diligent, and however are subject\nto the same errours and mistakes of Mankind, who must all confess the\nverity of that unerring Oracle, _Humanum est errare_. And therefore he\nmust needs be a person of a poor, base, and low spirit, that doth\nconceal his own sentiments of the truth, for fear of the censure or\ncalumnies of others.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 2._]\n\n[Sidenote: _August. de Agone Christi._]\n\n2. He that is afraid to declare his thoughts, for fear of censure or\nscandal, must of necessity be very weak in his Morals, as having little\naffection for verity, which is the chief object of the intellect, and\nconsequently ought above all things to sway and lead the affections. And\nto be frighted from owning or declaring of the truth, for fear of the\nvain, aery, groundless, and erroneous censures of others, must needs\nspeak a man weak in the grounds of Morality, and to have small affection\nfor vertue, whole guide is verity. The Learned Father said exceeding\nwell to this purpose: _Qui veritatem occultat, & qui prodit mendacium,\nuterq; reus est. Ille quia prodesse non vult, ipse quia nocere\ndesiderat._\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 3._]\n\n[Sidenote: Prov. 23. 23.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Gregor. Homil._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Chrysost. sup. Math._]\n\n3. He that conceals the truth that he knows, for fear of the censures of\nothers, must needs have little of Christianity in him, for we are\ncommanded to buy the truth, and not to sell it; but for a Christian to\nconceal the truth, and not to dare to declare and defend it, for fear of\nthe vain and perishing censures of men, is to make absolute sale of the\ntruth, and that for the worst of all prises that can be. For what a\nweightless and worthless prise are the judgments and opinions of vain\nman, whose breath is in his nostrils, and whose life is but a vapor,\nthat a Christian should, for fear of such vain censures, be afraid to\ndeclare or defend the truth? Therefore let the subtil Politicians and\n_Machiavillians_ of this Age, who have in a manner turned the truth of\nthe Christian Religion, and the most certain Rules of Providence into\nAtheism, and becom\u2019d vain Idolaters, to sacrifice to the falsely adored\nand deified fancies of their own craft and cunning, think or say what\nthey please, yet the rule of pious _Gregory_ will ever hold true: _Ille\nveritatis defensor esse debet, qui quum rect\u00e8 sentit, loqui non metuit,\nnec erubescit_. And that of _Chrysostom_ ought never to be forgotten by\na good Christian, and one that fears God, who saith: _Non sol\u00f9m proditor\nest veritatis, qui mendacium pro veritate loquitur: sed qui non liber\u00e8\npronuntiat veritatem, quam pronuntiare oportet, aut non liber\u00e8 defendit\nveritatem, quam defendere oportet_. But as there have been some that\nhave been affrighted with the feigned Bugbears of malevolent mens\ncensures and scandals; so there have been others, to whom Nature hath\ngiven greater Magnanimity, who were better principled in their Morals,\nand better rudimented in the Christian Religion, that have scorned and\nundervalued those censures as vanities and trifles, and these were those\n\n                \u2014\u2014_Quos Jupiter \u00e6quus amavit,\n                Et meliore luto finxit pr\u00e6cordia Titan._\n\nThese were those that for the advancement of Truth and Learning, and the\nbenefit of Mankind durst undertake\n\n              _Ire per excubias, & se committere Parcis_.\n\nAnd feared not the tempestuous storms of venemous tongues, or malicious\nminds, of which we shall here enumerate a competent Catalogue.\n\n[Sidenote: _Pr\u00e6f. in Harv\u00e6i Exerc. Anat._]\n\n[Sidenote: Pag. 3.]\n\n1. In the first place we need not travel far, either in regard of time\nor place, to find Precedents of such as have undergone no small censures\nand subsannations for vindicating Truth, and labouring the advancement\nof it, though against common and deep-rooted Opinion. So ill\nentertainment new Inventors and Inventions have always found amongst the\npresent Masters of several Professions, and those that made the World\nbelieve, that they alone had gained the Monopoly of all Learning. Our\nlearned Countryman Doctor _Hackwell_ in his Preface to his Apology, hath\nsufficiently proved this particular: whose profound Piece of proving no\ndecay in Nature (a truth now sufficiently known, and assented to) found\nno small opposition, both from the Learned in Theology, and other\npersons, and underwent many sharp censures, until men had more\nconsiderately weighed the strength and cogency of his Arguments, which\ncarry sufficient evidence to confute rational persons. Our learned and\nmost industrious Anatomist Dr. _Harvey_, who (notwithstanding the late\nCavils of some) first found forth and evidenced to the World that rare\nand profitable discovery of the Circulation of the Blood, did undergo\nthe like Fate: who for eighteen or twenty years together did groan under\nthe heavy censure of all the Galenists and expert Anatomists almost in\n_Europe_, and was railed upon, and bitterly written against, not only by\nsuch as _Alexander Rosse_ and Dr. _Primrose_, but by _Riolanus_ and\nothers, and not forborn by that famous Physician of _Roterodam_,\n_Zacharias Sylvius_, who ingenuously confesseth thus much: _Primum mihi\ninventum hoc non placuit, quod & voce & scripto public\u00e8 testatus sum;\nsed dum postea ei resultando & explodendo vehementi\u00f9s incumbo, refutor &\nipse & explodor: ade\u00f2 sunt rationes ejus non persuadentes, sed cogentes:\ndiligenter omnes examinavi, & in vivis aliquot canibus eum in finem \u00e0 me\ndissectis, verissimum comperi_. Which was a most candid and free\nretractation and confession of his own errours, and may be proposed as\nan example to all rash and unadvised Censurers. Neither could this most\nclear and evidential Verity (which falls under ocular Demonstration and\nmanifest Experiments) find countenance in the World, until that\n_Wall\u00e6us_, _Plempius_, and divers other judicious and accurate\nAnatomists, had sound the truth of _Harvey_\u2019s opinion, by their own\ntryals and ocular inspection: so difficult it is to overthrow an old\nradicated opinion. For I have known some years ago, that a person for\nowning or maintaining the Circulation of the blood, should have been\ncensured and derided, as much by other Physicians, as one should be now\nfor denying the same: so hard it is to root out an opinion (though never\nso false and groundless) if once setled in the brains of many, and hath\nhad a long current of continued reputation and belief. And it is much\nmore to consider the ignorance, stupidity, and perversness of those,\nthat in this Age of Knowledge dare take upon them to censure (nay to\ncondemn) that Society of persons, and their endeavours, who have a just,\npious, merciful, and learned King for their Founder, and the greatest\nnumber of Nobility and Gentry, renowned both for divine and humane\nKnowledge, that can be chosen forth of the three Nations for their\nMembers, and whose undertakings and level are the most high, noble, and\nexcellent that ever yet the World was partaker of. And yet (which may be\nwondred at) I have not only met with many, that do censure and misjudge\ntheir vast and laudable enterprise, but even have been bold to appear in\nPrint to censure and scandalize their proceedings, as is manifest in\nthat Piece styled _Plus ultra_, written by Mr. _Stubbs_ of _Warwick_,\nwherein he hath effected as much as Dogs do by barking at the Moon. But\nit is plain, that highness of place, or greatness of parts exempts no\nman from evil tongues, or bad censures. And to this purpose I cannot but\nadd Dr. _Casaubon_, who as he had a long sickness of body, so doubtless\nhe wanted not some distemper of mind, when in his Treatise of Credulity\nand Incredulity, he uttered this. \u201cIf I may speak my mind (he saith)\nwithout offence, this prodigious propensity to innovation in all kinds,\nbut in matters of Learning particularly, which so many upon no ground,\nthat I can see, or appearance of reason, are possessed with; I know not\nwhat we should more probably ascribe it unto, than to some sad\nConstellation or influence.\u201d Alas! poor man, he was so blind, that he\ncould see no ground or appearance of reason for the usefulness of\nExperimental Philosophy, nor for the Institution of the Royal Society,\nbut must ascribe it to the Stars: it is a wonder why he ascribes it not\nto natural Melancholy, as he doth almost all strange Effects, in his\nBook of Enthusiasm or why not unto Demons or Witches, as he doth the\nmost things in the Treatise quoted.\n\n2. That learned and painful person _Renatus des Cartes_, who brought in,\nrevived, and refined the old Doctrine of Atoms, ascribed to\n_Democritus_, and other of the Ancients, found for a long time much\nopposition; insomuch that when he lived at _Utrecht_ in _Holland_, the\nAristotelian Professors of that University became so inflamed with envy\nat him, that their Scholars raised the Rabble of the City at the sound\nof a Bell, to drive him out of Town. And yet this mans Philosophy hath\nhad the luck to triumph in that University, where so much contempt was\npoured upon him; for _Henricus Regius_, the publick Professor of Physick\nthere, hath published a Book of Natural Philosophy, agreeable to the\nPrinciples and design of _Des Cartes_: and is in a manner generally\nreceived and applauded; and by the honourable Mr. _Boyle_ much made use\nof, and by him styled the Corpuscularian Philosophy. So was not that\nmost learned and diligent Mathematician _Galal\u00e6us_ imprisoned for seeing\nmore than others could by the help of his Optick Glasses, losing (as one\nsaith) his own liberty in Prison, for giving the Earth liberty to fetch\na round about the Sun? And yet now to what great height of improvement\nare Telescopes arrived unto, and what credit is given to the\nObservations made with them? though in their birth their first Author\nand User so much opposed and punished; for all Inventions that are new\n(as well as Opinions) are in their beginnings opposed and censured, not\nconsidering, that all acquired Knowledge, and all Arts and Sciences were\nonce new, and had their beginnings.\n\n3. When _Josephus Quercetanus_ and Sir _Theodore Mayern_ did labour to\nintroduce the practice of Chymical Physick into the City of _Paris_,\nwhat cruel censures and scandals did they undergo by all the rest of the\nPhysicians of the Colledge, so that they were accounted illiterate and\nignorant Fellows and dangerous Empiricks, not fit to practise in the\nKing of _France_ his Dominions, and so were sentenced by the Colledge,\nand prohibited to practise? So far did ignorance, self-interest, and\nblind malice prevail against these two persons, of so much Worth and\nLearning, insomuch that the former was made Physician to the King of\n_France_, and lived to see despised Chymistry to flourish, where it had\nbeen most contemned, himself to be honoured, and his Chymical Works to\nbe published, and to be had in great and general esteem with all that\nwere Lovers of Learning. The latter likewise out-lived the malice of all\nhis enemies, and saw himself advanced to be Physician to two potent and\nrenowned Kings of _England_, and to have the general practice of the\nmost of the Nobility and Gentry of the Kingdom, and to live to a fair\nold age, and to dye vastly rich. So that even the bravest men, for their\nnoble endeavors for the good of Mankind, have always found harsh usage.\n\n[Sidenote: _Mund. subter._ _lib._ 11. _sect._ 2. _pag._ 277.]\n\n[Sidenote: Prov. 26. 12.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. Magic._ _c._ 14. _p._ 177.]\n\n[Sidenote: _De Arte Lullian. Pr\u00e6f._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vide Relat. Paris. impres. Gallic\u00e8, 1631._]\n\n4. It hath fared no better with divers persons that have written of\nabstruse and mysterious Subjects, such as were _Arnoldus de Villa Nova_\nand _Raimundus Lullius_, who, because they handled that secret and\nsublime Art of the Transmutation of Metals, were by the ignorance and\nmalice of _Francis Pegna_ and the _John Tredeschen_ of _Rome_,\n_Athanasius Kircherus_, with some others, branded with the name of\nMagicians, taken in the worst sense. _Facile est reprehendere &\nmaledicere_, so apt are men through over-weening pride and\nself-conceitedness, as though they were ignorant of nothing, to take\nupon them to censure all things, when Artists only are fit to judge of\nthose proper Arts, in which they are verst and bred in, and not others:\nFor it is not sufficient for a man to be verst in many parts of\nLearning, but also in that very Science or Art, in which the Question is\npropounded: as for Example; Suppose a man to be well read in School\nTheology, Metaphysicks, Logick, Grammar, Rhetorick, Ethicks, and\nPhysicks, yet for all this how unable were he to resolve one of the\ndifficultest Propositions in _Euclid_? no more can any person, though\nnever so generally learned, if he perfectly do not understand the\nmethod, terms, ground, matter, and end of the Writers in mystical\nChymistry, be any competent Judge of their Art, nor of the nature of\nTransmutation. And this might justly have bridled _Kircher_, and many\nother rash and vain Censurers to hold back their judgment, until they\nperfectly understand the matter, about which they are to give judgment,\nand to have considered that Maxime of the wisest of men: _Seest thou a\nman wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him._\nBut notwithstanding these groundless slanders against _Arnoldus_, that\nhe was guilty of Diabolical Magick, from which the Pen of learned\n_Nand\u00e6us_ hath totally discharged him, though he otherwise (according to\nhis petulant humor and prejudiced opinion against the Art of\nTransmutation, of which he was no competent Judge, for the reason\nforegoing) cast some unworthy reflections both upon him, and _Lully_,\nyet he confesseth (which is but the bare truth, as every learned\nPhysician doth sufficiently know, that have heedfully read his Writings\nof the Art of Medicine) in these words, \u201cThat it is certain, he was the\nlearnedest Physician of his time, equally acquainted with the Latine,\nGreek, and Arabian Tongues, and one whose Writings sufficiently witness\nhis abilities in the Mathematicks, Medicine, and Philosophy, the\npractice whereof gained him favour and imployment about Pope _Clement_,\nand _Frederick_ King of _Sicily_, who certainly would never have made\nuse of him, if he had thought him a Conjurer or Magician, such as many\njudged he was.\u201d As for _Lully_ (notwithstanding the malevolent froth of\nsome rash, malicious, and ignorant Writers) he was guilty of no other\nMagick but what was natural, lawful, and laudable, as his profound and\nlearned Works (if his blind Adversaries had ever taken pains to have\nperused them, who frequently censure and condemn those things they never\nsaw, read, or understood) do witness beyond all exception, and is all\njustified by the testimonies of so many learned and judicious persons,\nthat more cannot be said to his praise and vindication. The most of his\nlearned Works being kept in the Library at _Oxford_, written in an\nancient hand: which would never have been done, if they had not been\nhighly esteemed and prised. For as _Zetznerus_ the great Stationer of\n_Stasburgh_ saith: \u201c_Tant\u00e6 suo fuisse \u00e6vo authoritatis atq; \u00e6stimationis\nlegitur, ut justissimi Arragonum Reges eum in privilegiis eidem\nconcessis, magnum in Philosophia magistrum, & mirandarum artium &\nscientiarum authorem nomin\u00e2rint_.\u201d Lastly, one Father _Pacificus_ in his\nJourney from _Persia_ 1628. came into the Isle of _Majorca_, where\n_Lully_ was born, and to his great admiration found the Statue of\n_Lully_ there in Wood curiously coloured, and he honoured as a Saint\n(whom he had before judged an Heretick) as also a Society of Professors\nfollowing the Doctrine of _Lully_, and called _Raymundines_ or\n_Lullists_, and that they affirmed, that by Divine illumination he had\nthe perfect knowledge of Nature, by which he found out the universal\nMedicine, by a certain _Aurum potabile_, by which he prolonged his life\nto the 145. year of his age, in which year he suffered Martyrdom. This I\nhave produced to shew how inconsiderately and ignorantly the best\nlearned of an Age may be, and often are wrongfully and falsely traduced\nand slandered, which may be a warning to all persons to take heed how\nthey pass their censures, until they understand perfectly all that is\nnecessary to be known about the Subject they are to give judgment of,\nbefore they utter or declare their sentence.\n\n[Sidenote: _Lib._ 1. _de Script. Anglic._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Cap._ 1.]\n\n5. _Roger Bacon_ our Countryman, who was a _Franciscan_ Fryar, and\nDoctor of Divinity, the greatest Chymist, Astrologer, and Mathematician\nof his time, yet could not escape the injurious and unchristian censure\nof being a Conjurer, and so hard put to it, that as _Pitts_ saith, he\nwas twice cited to _Rome_ by _Clement_ the Fourth, to purge himself of\nthat accusation, and was forced to send his Optical and Mathematical\nInstruments to _Rome_, to satisfie the Pope and the Conclave, which he\namply performed, and came off with honor and applause. To vindicate whom\nI need say little, because it is already performed by the Pens of those\nlearned persons, _Pitts_, _Leland_, _Selden_, and _Nand\u00e6us_, only I\nshall add one Sentence forth of that most learned Treatise, _De mirabili\npotestate artis & natur\u00e6, & de nullitate magi\u00e6_. Where he saith thus:\n_Quicquid autem est pr\u00e6ter operationem natur\u00e6 vel artis, aut non est\nhumanum, aut est fictum & fraudibus occupatum_. Another of our\nCountry-men Dr. _John Dee_, the greatest and ablest Philosopher,\nMathematician, and Chymist that his Age (or it may be ever since)\nproduced, could not evade the censure of the Monster-headed multitude,\nbut even in his life time was accounted a Conjurer, of which he most\nsadly (and not without cause) complaineth in his most learned Preface to\n_Euclid_, Englished by Mr. _Billingsley_, and there strongly apologizeth\nfor himself, with that zeal and fervency, that may satisfie any rational\nChristian, that he was no such wicked person, as to have visible and\nfamiliar converse (if any such thing can be nowadays) with the Devil,\nthe known Enemy of Mankind, of which take this short passage, where he\nsaith: \u201cO my unkind Country-men, O unnatural Country-men, O unthankful\nCountry-men, O brain-sick, rash, spiteful, and disdainful Country-men,\nwhy oppress you me thus violently with your slandering of me contrary to\nverity, and contrary to your own consciences?\u201d Yet notwithstanding this,\nand his known abilities in the most parts of abstruse Learning, the\ngreat respect that he had from divers Princes, Nobles, and the most\nLearned in all _Europe_, could not protect him from this harsh and\nunjust censure. For Dr. _Casaubon_ near fifty years after Dr. _Dees_\ndeath, hath in the year 1659. published a large Book in Folio of _Dees_\nconversing for many years with Spirits (wicked ones he meaneth.) But how\nChristian-like this was done, to wound the mans reputation so many years\nafter his death, and with that horrid and wicked slander of having\nfamiliarity with Devils for many years in his life time, which tends to\nthe loss both of body and soul, and to register him amongst the damned,\nhow Christian-like this is, I leave all Christians to judge? Besides,\nlet all the World judge in this case, that Dr. _Casaubon_ being a sworn\nWitchmonger, even to the credulity of the filthiest and most impossible\nof their actions, cannot but allow of the Law that doth punish them for\ndigging up the bones of the dead, to use them to Superstition or\nSorcery; what may he then think the World may judge him guilty of, for\nuncovering the Dormitories of the deceased, not to abuse their bones,\nbut to throw their Souls into the deepest pit of Hell? A wickedness\ncertainly beyond the greatest wickedness, that he can believe is\ncommitted by Witches. It is manifest, that he hath not published this\nmeerly as a true relation of the matter of fact, and so to leave it to\nothers to judge of; but that designedly he hath laboured to represent\n_Dee_ as a most infamous and wicked person, as may be plainly seen in\nthe whole drift of his tedious Preface. But his design to make _Dee_ a\nConverser with evil Spirits was not all, he had another that concerned\nhimself more nearly. He had before run in a manner (by labouring to make\nall that which he called Enthusiasm, to be nothing else but imposture or\nmelancholy and depraved phantasie, arising from natural causes) into the\ncensure of being a Sadducee or Atheist. To wash off which he thought\nnothing was so prevalent, as to leap into the other end of the balance\n(the mean is hard to be kept) to weigh the other down, by publishing\nsome notorious Piece that might (as he thought) in an high degree\nmanifest the existence of Spirits good and bad, and this he thought\nwould effect it sufficiently, or at least wipe off the former imputation\nthat he had contracted.\n\nBut that I may not be too tedious, I shall sum up briefly some others,\nby which it may be made clear, that those dauntless Spirits that have\nadventured to cross the current of common opinion, and those that have\nhandled abstruse Subjects, have never wanted opposition and scandal, how\ntrue or profitable soever the things were that they treated or writ of.\n_Trithemius_ that Honour and Ornament of _Germany_ for all sorts of\nLiterature, wanted not a _Bouillus_ to calumniate and condemn him of\nunlawful Magick, from which all the Learned in _Europe_ know he is\nabsolved, by the able and elegant Pen of him that styles himself\n_Gustavus Silenus_, and others. _Cornelius Agrippa_ run the same Fate,\nby the scribling of that ignorant and envious Monk _Paulus Jovius_, from\nwhose malicious slander he is totally acquitted by the irrefragable\nevidence of _Wierus_, _Melchior Adams_, _Nand\u00e6us_, and others. Who\nalmost have not read or heard of the horrid and abominable false\nscandals laid upon that _totius Germani\u00e6 decus_, _Paracelsus_, by the\nmalevolent Pen of _Erastus_, and after swallowed up with greediness by\n_Libanius_, _Conringius_, _Sennertus_, and many others? for not only\nlabouring to bring in a new Theory and Practice into the Art of\nMedicine, but also for striving to purge and purifie the ancient,\nnatural, laudable, and lawful Magick from the filth and dregs of\nImposture, Deceit, Ceremonies, and Superstitions: yet hath not wanted\nmost strong and invincible Champions to defend him, as _Dorne_, _Petrus\nSeverinus_, _Smetius_, _Crollius_, _Bitiscius_, and many others. Our\nCountryman Dr. _Fudd_, a man acquainted with all kinds of Learning, and\none of the most Christian Philosophers that ever writ, yet wanted not\nthose snarling Animals, such as _Marsennus_, _Lanovius_, _Foster_, and\n_Gassendus_, as also our _Casaubon_ (as mad as any) to accuse him vainly\nand falsely of Diabolical Magick, from which the strength of his own Pen\nand Arguments did discharge him without possibility of replies. We shall\nnow come to those that have treated of Witchcraft, and strongly opposed\nand confuted the many wonderful and incredible actions and power\nascribed unto Witches: and these crossing the vogue of the common\nopinion, have not wanted their loads of unworthy and unchristian\nscandals cast upon them, of which we shall only name these two, _Wierus_\na learned person, a German, and in his time Physician to the Duke of\n_Cleve_; the other our Countryman Mr. _Reginald Scot_, a person of\ncompetent Learning, pious, and of a good Family: what is said against\nthem in particular, I shall recite, and give a brief responsion unto it.\n\n1. There is a little Treatise in Latine titled _D\u00e6monologia_, fathered\nupon King _James_ (how truly we shall not dispute, for some ascribe it\nto others) where in the Preface these two persons are intimated to be\nWitches, and that they writ against the common opinion, concerning the\nPower of Witches, the better to shelter and conceal their Diabolical\nskill. But indeed this groundless accusation needs no confutation, but\nrather scorn and derision, as having no rational ground of probability\nat all, that they should be such cursed Hypocrites, or dissembling\nPoliticians, the one being a very learned and able Physician, as both\nhis Writings do witness, and that upright and unpartial Author _Melchior\nAdams_ in his life hath most amply declared: the other known (as not\nliving so very many years ago) to be a godly, learned, and an upright\nman, as his Book which he calleth, _The Discovery of Witchcraft_, doth\nmost largely make it appear, if his Adversaries had ever taken the pains\nto peruse it. So that all rational persons may plainly see, that it is\nbut a lying invention, a malicious device, and a meer forged accusation.\n\n2. These persons are accused to have absolutely denied the existence of\nWitches, which we shall demonstrate to be notoriously false, by these\nfollowing reasons.\n\n[Sidenote: Considerat. about Witchcraft, p. 76.]\n\n1. Could ever any rational man have thought or believed, that Mr.\n_Glanvil_, a person who pretends to such high parts, would have\nexpressed so much weakness and impudence, as to have charged Mr. _Scot_\nwith the flat denial of the existence of Witches; as he doth in these\nwords speaking of him? and pretends this to be a Confutation of the\nbeing of Witches and Apparitions; and this he intimates in divers other\nplaces, but without any quotation, to shew where or in what words _Scot_\ndoth simply deny the Being of Witches, which he doth no where maintain:\nso confident are many to charge others with that which they neither hold\nnor write.\n\n2. Mr. _Scot_ and _Wierus_ do not state the Question, _An sint_, Whether\nthere be Witches or not, but _Quomodo sint_, in what manner they act. So\nthat their Question is only, What kind of power supposed Witches have,\nor do act by, and what the things are that they do or can perform: so\nthat the state of the question is not simply of the Being of Witches, or\n_de existentia_, but only _de modo existendi_: wherein it is plain, that\nevery Dispute de modo existendi, doth necessarily grant and suppose the\ncertainty of the Existence, otherwise the Dispute of the manner of their\nBeing, Properties, Power, or Acts would have no ground or foundation at\nall. As if I and another should dispute about the extent, buildings, and\nsituation of the great City _Peking_ in _China_, or about the length,\nbreadth, and height of the great Wall dividing _China_ from _Tartary_;\nwe both do take for granted, that there is such a City, and such a Wall,\notherwise our Dispute would be wild, vain, and groundless: like the two\nWise-men of _Gotham_, who strove and argued about the driving of sheep\nover a bridge; the one affirming he would drive his sheep over the\nbridge, and the other protesting against it, and so begun, one as it\nwere to drive, and the other to stay and stop them, when there were no\nsheep betwixt them. And this might be a sufficient document to Mr.\n_Glanvil_, to have been more sober, than to have charged _Scot_ so\nfalsely. And do not the ancient Fathers differ in their opinions _circa\nAngelorum modum existendi_, some of them holding them to be corporeal,\nand some incorporeal? yet both these parties did firmly hold their\nexistence: so that this is a false and improper charge, and hath no\nbasis to stand upon at all.\n\n3. What man of reason and judgment could have believed, that Mr.\n_Glanvil_ or Dr. _Casaubon_, being persons that pretend to a great share\nof Learning, and to be exact in their ways of arguing, would have\ncommitted so pitiful and gross a fault, as is _fallacia consequentis_?\nFor if I deny that a Witch cannot flye in the air, nor be transformed or\ntranssubstantiated into a Cat, a Dog, or an Hare, or that the Witch\nmaketh any visible Covenant with the Devil, or that he sucketh on their\nbodies, or that the Devil hath carnal Copulation with them; I do not\nthereby deny either the Being of Witches, nor other properties that they\nmay have, for which they may be so called: no more than if I deny that a\nDog hath rugibility (which is only proper to a Lion) doth it follow that\nI deny the being of a Dog, or that he hath latrability? this is meer\ninconsequential, and hath no connexion. So if I deny that a man cannot\nflye by his natural abilities in the air like a Bird, nor live\ncontinually in the Sea as a fish, nor in the earth as a Worm or Mole,\nthis doth not at all infer that I deny the existence of man, nor his\nother properties of risibility, rationality, or the like. But this is\nthe learned Logick, and the clear ways of arguing that these men use.\n\n[Sidenote: _Pag. 76._]\n\n[Sidenote: Of Credul. and Incredul. p. 40.]\n\n3. A third scandal Mr. _Glanvil_ throws upon him is this, where he saith\nthus: \u201cFor the Author doth little but tell odd tales and silly Legends,\nwhich he confutes and laughs at, and pretends this to be a confutation\nof the Being of Witches and Apparitions. In all which, his reasonings\nare trifling and childish; and when he ventures at Philosophy, he is\nlittle better than absurd. Dr. _Casaubon_, though he confesseth he had\nnever read _Scots_ Book, but as he had found it by chance in friends\nhouses, or Book-sellers Shops, yet doth rank him amongst the number of\nhis illiterate Wretches, and tells us how Dr. _Reynolds_ did censure him\nand some others.\u201d To these, though they be not much material, we shall\ngive positive and convincing answers.\n\n1. There is no greater sign of the weakness of a mans cause, nor his\ninability to defend it, than when he slips over the substance of the\nquestion in hand, and begins to fall foul upon the adverse party, to\nthrow dirt and filth upon him, and to abuse and slander him: this is a\nthing very usual, but exceeding base, and plainly demonstrates the\nbadness of their cause.\n\n2. If Mr. _Scot_ hath done little but told odd tales and silly Legends,\nMr. _Glanvil_ might very well have born with him; for I am sure his\nstory of the Drummer, and his other of Witchcraft are as odd and silly,\nas any can be told or read, and are as futilous, incredible, ludicrous,\nand ridiculous as any can be. And if the tales that _Scot_ tells be odd\nand silly, they are the most of them taken from those pitiful lying\nWitchmongers, such as _Delrio_, _Bodinus_, _Springerus_, _Remigius_, and\nthe like, the Authors that are most esteemed with Dr. _Casaubon_, and\nother Witchmongers, of whom we shall say more hereafter.\n\n3. For Mr. _Glanvil_ to give general accusations without particular\nproofs, as to say _Scots_ reasonings are trifling and childish, and when\nhe ventures at Philosophy, he is little better than absurd, do plainly\nmanifest the mans malice, and discover his weakness: For _dolus versatur\nin universalibus_, and no man ought to be condemned without particular\nand punctual proof, as to the time, place, and all other circumstances,\nwhich Mr. _Glanvil_ could not do, and therefore he only gives general\ncalumniations without ground; and if _Scot_ were little better than\nabsurd, then he the better agrees with Mr. _Glanvil_, whose Platonical\nWhimseys are as absurd as any, as we shall sufficiently prove hereafter.\n\n4. Dr. _Casaubon_ must needs have been highly elevated with the desire\nof censuring, when he would condemn a man without reading his Book, or\nserious weighing the force of his arguments, this concludes him of vast\nweakness, and of great perversness of mind, as all rational men may\njudge; for in effect it is this, _Scot_ is an illiterate Wretch, and his\nBook full of errors, but I never read it, but as I have looked upon it\nat a friends house, or a Book-sellers Shop: is not this a wretched\nground whereupon to build so wretched a foundation, as thereby to judge\nhim an illiterate Wretch? And to censure him by the report of others, is\nas unjust, weak, and childish as the former; and though Dr. _Reynolds_\nwere a learned man, it doth not appear for what particular point or\nerrour he censured Scot, and therefore is but a general and groundless\ncharge, sheltred under the colour of Dr. _Reynolds_ reputation, an\nevidence, in Reason and Law, of no weight or validity.\n\n5. For Dr. _Casaubon_ to rank him amongst illiterate Wretches, is\nagainst the very Rule of the Law of Nature, that teaches all men, that\nthey should not do that to another, which they would not have another to\ndo unto them. And sure Dr. _Casaubon_ would not have another to judge\nand condemn him for an illiterate Wretch, and therefore, he ought not to\nhave condemned Mr. _Scot_ to be so. And as it is against the Law of\nNature, so it is contrary to the rules of modesty and morality to give a\nman such stigmatizing titles: nay it is even against the rules of good\nmanners and civil education, but that some men think that it is lawful\nfor them to say any thing, and that nothing what they say doth misbeseem\nthem. And lastly, how far it is against the Rules of Christianity and\nPiety, let all good Christians judge.\n\n6. The falsity of this foul scandal is manifest in both the particulars\ntherein couched. 1. For Mr. _Scot_ was a learned and diligent person, as\nthe whole Treatise will bear witness; he understood the Latine Tongue,\nand something of the Greek, and for the Hebrew, if he knew nothing of\nit, yet he had procured very good helps, as appeareth in his expounding\nthe several words that are used in the Scriptures for supposed Witches\nand Witchcraft; as also his quoting of divers of the Fathers, the\nreformed Ministers, and many other Authors besides, which sufficiently\nprove that he was not illiterate. 2. And that he was no wretched person,\nis apparent, being a man of a good Family, a considerable Estate, a man\nof a very commendable government, and a very godly and zealous\nProtestant, as I have been informed by persons of worth and credit, and\nis sufficiently proved by his Writing.\n\nI have not been thus tedious to accumulate these instances of men that\nhave been censured, for opposing vulgar opinions, or writing of abstruse\nSubjects, as circumstantial only, or for a flourish, but meerly as they\nare introductive, necessary, and pertinent to the purpose I intend in\nthis Treatise, as I shall make manifest in these Rules or Observations\nfollowing, and shall add sufficient reasons to confirm the same.\n\n[Sidenote: _Rule 1._]\n\n1. That the generality of an opinion, or the numerousness of the persons\nthat hold and maintain it, are not a safe and warrantable ground to\nreceive it, or to adhere unto it: nor that it is safe or rational to\nreject an opinion, because they are but few that do hold it, or the\nnumber but small that maintain it. And this I shall labour to make good\nby these sure and firm arguments following.\n\n[Sidenote: Exod. 13. 2.]\n\n[Sidenote: Mat. 24. 5.]\n\n[Sidenote: Luke 6. 26.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Lib. de vit. beat. Lactant. Duimar. Instit. l. 2. c. 3._]\n\n1. Because the Scriptures tell us thus much: _Thou shalt not follow the\nmultitude to do evil._ And that there are many deceivers: _For many\nshall come in my Name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. And\nwoe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you: for so did their\nfathers to the false Prophets._ From whence it is plain, that first we\nare to consider and be assured, that the matter be not evil; for if it\nbe, we are not at all to be swayed with the multitudes that follow it,\nor that uphold it: so if the opinion be evil, erroneous, or false, we\nought not to receive it, or adhere unto it, though never so many do hold\nor maintain it. So that in truth and substance, we are not at all to\nconsider, whether there be few or many that hold it, but simply, whether\nit be true or not. For as _Plato_ tells us: _Neq; id considerandum quid\ndixerit, sed utrum ver\u00e8 dicatur nec ne_. For the multitude have been by\nall good Authors and Learned men always esteemed the most erroneous, as\n_Seneca_ saith: _Qu\u00e6rendum non quod vulgo placet, pessimo veritatis\ninterpreti_. And _Lactantius_ teaches us this: _Vulgus indoctum pompis\ninanibus gaudet, animisq; puerilibus spectat omnia, oblectatur frivolis,\nnec ponderare secum unamquamq; rem potest_. And our Saviour gives us a\nproof and instance of the errour of the multitude, and that in matter of\nfact. Did not almost all the Jews under divers Kings Raigns applaud and\napprove of the doctrine and opinions of the false Prophets, though\nutterly erroneous? insomuch that _Elijah_ said, that he only was left of\nthe true Prophets, though the false ones were many and numerous. So that\nthe Rule is proved to be true, both by the precept and example of the\nScriptures.\n\n2. If we consider the generality of Mankind, either in respect of their\ninclinations and dispositions, or their breeding and education, we shall\nnot find one of an hundred, either by nature inclined, or by education\nfitted and qualified to search forth and understand the truth. And then\nif there be an hundred to one drowned in ignorance and errors, and so\nfew fitted to understand the truth of things either divine or natural,\nthen it must needs follow, that it is not safe to embrace or adhere to\nan opinion, because of the great number of those that hold or maintain\nit, but rather to stick to the smaller number; though neither simply\nought to be regarded, but truth it self.\n\n3. Again, if we consider those numbers, that either by nature are\ninclined, or by education trained up in Learning, to enable them to\njudge rightly betwixt truth and truth-likeliness, how few of these that\nprove any thing excellent in those parts of Learning wherein they are\nbred, we may easily see the verity of this Rule sufficiently proved,\nthat it is not safe to embrace or adhere to an opinion, because the\nnumbers are great that hold or maintain it.\n\n4. If the multitude that hold the opinions, whether of spiritual or\nnatural things were to be followed, meerly because of the great numbers\nthat hold them: then if we look and consider the Writings of the best\nGeographers, Travellers, and Navigators, we should either be of the\nopinions of the Pagans, who are the most numerous part of Mankind, or\nthe Mahumetans, which are many in respect of the paucity of Christians.\nAnd then what horrid, blasphemous, idolatrous, impious, and diabolical\nopinions must we receive and hold, both concerning God, Angels, the\nCreation, and the most of the operations that are produced by Nature? So\nthat the arguments of Dr. _Casaubon_ and Mr. _Glanvil_, drawn from the\nuniversality of the opinion, and the great multitudes of those that hold\nit, are vain and groundless.\n\n5. If the comparison I use be thought too large, and the rule be put\nonly as to the greater part of the Learned that are in _Europe_, yet it\nwill hold good, that the greatest part of the Learned are not to be\nadhered to, because of their numerousness; nor that the rest are to be\nrejected, because of their paucity. For it is known sufficiently, that a\nBishop of _Mentz_ was censured and excommunicated for holding that there\nwere _Antipodes_, by some hundreds of those that were accounted learned\nand wise: so that it is plain, that the greater number may be in the\nerrour, and those that are few be in the right. And did not the greatest\nnumber of the Physicians in _Europe_ altogether adhere to the Doctrine\nof _Galen_, though now in _Germany_, _France_, _England_, and many other\nNations the most have exploded it? And was not the _Aristotelian_\nPhilosophy embraced by the greatest part of all the Learned in _Europe_?\nAnd have not the _Cartesians_ and others sufficiently now manifested the\nerrours and imperfections of it, and especially the endeavors of the\nhonourable and learned Members of the Royal Society here in _England_,\nand the like Societies beyond Seas by their continual labour and\nvigilancy about Experiments, made the errours and defects of it obvious\nto all inquisitive persons? So that multitude, as multitude, ought not\nto lead or sway us, but truth it self.\n\n6. If to all this we add, that truth in it self is but one; for _unum_\nand verum are convertibles, and that errour or falsity is various and\nmanifold, and that there may be a thousand errours about one particular\nthing, and yet but one truth; it will necessarily follow, the greatest\nnumber holding an opinion, cannot be safe to be followed because of\ntheir multitude, and the reason is errour, is manifold, truth but one.\n\n[Sidenote: _Rule 2._]\n\n2. It is not safe nor rational to receive or adhere to an opinion\nbecause of its Antiquity; nor to reject one because of its Novelty. And\nthis we shall make good from and by these following reasons.\n\n1. Because there is no opinion (especially about created things) but it\nhath once been new; and if an opinion should be rejected meerly because\nof novelty, then it will follow, that either all opinions might have\nbeen rejected for that very reason, or that novelty is no safe ground\nonly, why an opinion should be opposed or rejected.\n\n2. Antiquity and Novelty are but relations _quoad nostrum intellectum,\nnon quoad naturam_; for the truth, as it is fundamentally in things\n_extra intellectum_, cannot be accounted either old or new. And an\nopinion, when first found out and divulged, is as much a truth then, as\nwhen the current of hundreds or thousands of years have passed since its\ndiscovery. For it was no less a truth, when in the infancy of Philosophy\nit was holden, that there was generation and corruption in Nature, in\nrespect of Individuals, than it is now: so little doth Time, Antiquity,\nor Novelty alter, change, confirm, or overthrow truth; for _veritas est\ntemporis filia_, in regard of its discovery to us or by us, who must\ndraw it forth _\u00e8 puteo Democriti_. And the existence of the\n_West-Indies_ was as well before the discovery made by _Columbus_ as\nsince, and our ignorance of it did not impeach the truth of its being,\nneither did the novelty of its discovery make it less verity, nor the\nyears since make it more: so that we ought simply to examine, whether an\nopinion be possible or impossible, probable or improbable, true or\nfalse; and if it be false, we ought to reject it, though it seem never\nso venerable by the white hairs of Antiquity; nor ought we to refuse it,\nthough it seem never so young, or near its birth. For as St. _Cyprian_\nsaid: _Error vetustatis est vetustas erroris_.\n\n[Sidenote: Advanc. of Learn. l. 1. c. 5.]\n\n3. In regard of Natural Philosophy, and the knowledge of the properties\nof created things, and the knowledge of them, we preposterously reckon\nformer Ages, and the men that lived in them, the Ancients; which in\nregard of production and generation of the Individuals of their own\nSpecies are so; but in respect of knowledge and experience, this Age is\nto be accounted the most ancient. For as the learned Lord _Bacon_ saith:\n\u201cIndeed to speak truly, _Antiquitas seculi, juventus mundi_,\u201d Antiquity\nof time is the youth of the World. Certainly our times are the ancient\ntimes, when the World is now ancient, and not those which we count\nancient, _ordine retrogrado_, by a computation backward from our own\ntimes; and yet so much credit hath been given to old Authors, as to\ninvest them with the power of Dictators, that their words should stand,\nrather than admit them as Consuls to give advice.\n\n[Sidenote: _Rule 3._]\n\n3. It is not safe nor rational to resolve to stick to our old imbibed\nopinions, nor wilfully to reject those that seem new, except we be fully\nsatisfied, from indubitable grounds, that what we account old is\ncertainly true, and what we reckon to be new is undoubtedly false. And\nthis will appear to be a truth, partly from the weakness of their\narguments, that seem utterly to condemn all recession from ancient\nopinions, as vain, foolish, and unnecessary; as also from other positive\nreasons.\n\n1. Some give the reason why they will not recede from an opinion that\ntheir Predecessors held; for that their Forefathers were as wise, if not\nwiser than they. But this, if strictly considered, is very lame and\ndefective; for their Predecessors were but men, and so were liable both\nto active and passive deception, and were not exempted from the common\nfrailty of Mankind, who are all subject to errours. And therefore,\nunless they were assured that their Ancestors in former Ages, held the\ncertain and undoubted grounds of truth, it is nothing of reason in them,\nbut meer perversness of will, rather obstinately _errare cum patribus_,\nthan to learn to follow the truth with those that are coetaneous with\nthem, which is foolish and irrational. Further, there are more helps\nnow, and means to attain the knowledge of Verity, than were in the days\nwhen their Ancestors lived, and it must be a kind of the greatest\nmadness to shut their eyes, that the light of truth may not appear unto\nthem.\n\n2. This kind of reasoning hath no more of reason in it, than if one\nshould say, that because his Grandfather and great Grandfather were\nblind or lame, therefore they will be so too: or that their Ancestors\nnever learned the Greek or Latine Tongues, nor to write or read, neither\nwill they learn any more than they did: or that their Predecessors were\nill husbands and unthrifts, and that therefore they will continue the\nsame courses: or that because their Forefathers followed drunkenness and\nluxury, therefore they will continue the same cariere of vices, as many\nof our debauched persons do now adays, having no better reasons to\nalledge for their exorbitant and vicious courses, but what the Prophet\ncondemned, _The fathers have eaten sowr grapes, and the childrens teeth\nare set on edge_.\n\n3. How far would they run back to state the beginning of their\nAncestors? If as far as their first Originals, then they must all be\nSavages, Barbarians, and Heathens. And if they state it distant from\ntheir first Originals, then their Predecessors had the same reason to\nhave continued, as those did that preceded them. But if their Ancestors\nvaried from, and left the steps and opinions of those that went before\nthem, then if they will do as their Ancestors did, they must leave their\ncourses and opinions, as they had done of those that preceded them.\n\n[Sidenote: _August. lib. de Liber. Arbitrio._]\n\n4. Some say they cannot recede from the opinions of their Predecessors,\nbecause it would be a shame and disgrace unto them. But that which we\ncall shame and disgrace consists in the opinion of others, and we ought\nnot to receive errour, or reject truth, by reason of the censures or\nopinions of others: _Si de veritate scandalum sumitur, utilius\npermittitur nasci scandalum, qu\u00e0m veritas relinquatur_. And to leave an\nerrour to entertain truth, is so far from being a shame and a disgrace,\nthat there cannot be a greater honour or glory: for _errare humanum est,\nsed in errore perseverare belluinum ac diabolicum est_.\n\n[Sidenote: _Rule 4._]\n\n4. Those effects that seem strange and wonderful, either in respect of\nArt or Nature, require much diligence truly to discover and find out\ntheir causes; and we ought not rashly to attribute those effects to the\nDevil, whose causes are latent or unknown unto us: and that for these\ngrounds.\n\n[Sidenote: _De Inject. mater. pag. 597._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Ibid. pag. 598._]\n\n1. It hath been common almost in all Ages, not only for the vulgar, but\nalso for the whole rabble of Demonographers and Witchmongers to ascribe\nthose strange and wonderful effects, whether arising from Art or Nature,\nunto the worst of Gods Creatures, if they did not themselves understand\ntheir causes, and to censure the Authors that writ of them, as Conjurers\nand Magicians, as I have made manifest in my former Instances, and might\nbe further made good and illustrated by the effects of healing by the\nWeapon-salve, the Sympathetick Powder, the Curing of divers Diseases by\nAppensions, Amulets, or by Transplantation, and many other most\nadmirable effects both of Art and Nature, which by these self-conceited\nIgnorants are all thrown upon the Devils back, and he made the Author\nand effector of them, as though he had a kind of omnipotent power: of\nwhich the learned Philosopher and Physician _Van Helmont_ gives us this\naccount: \u201c_Credo equidem cum pietate pugnare, si Diabolo tribuatur\npotestas naturam superans. Verum natur\u00e6 ignari pr\u00e6sumunt se natur\u00e6\nsecretarios per librorum lectionem: quicquid autem ipsos latet, vel\nadynaton, vel falsum, vel pr\u00e6stigiosum, atq; diabolicum esto._\u201d And a\nlittle after he adds this: \u201c_Pigriti\u00e6 saltem enim immens\u00e6 inventum fuit,\nomnia in Diabolum retulisse qu\u00e6 non capimus, nec velim Diabolum\ninvocatum, ut nostris satisfaciat qu\u00e6stionibus per temerariam potestatum\nattributionem._\u201d\n\n2. Whosoever shall read _Pancirollus de rebus memoralibus noviter\nrepertis_, may easily be satisfied, what strange and stupendious things\nArt and the Inventions of men have produced in these latter Ages. And no\nman can rationally doubt, but that many more as strange or far more\nwonderful, may in Ages to come be found out and discovered; for there is\na kind of bottomless depth in Arts, whether Liberal or Mechanical, that\nyet hath not been founded, but lye hid and unknown unto men. And if\nthese for their wonderfulness should (as former Ages have ignorantly\ndone) be ascribed unto the power of Satan, and their Authors accused of\nConjuring and Diabolical Magick, no greater wrong could be done unto Art\nand Artists, and it would be a kind of blasphemy to attribute these\nstupendious effects (as the Vulgar and Witchmongers use to do) unto the\nDevil, the worst of Gods Creatures, and the Enemy of Mankind.\n\n[Sidenote: _Pag. 103._]\n\n[Sidenote: Rom. 1. 20.]\n\n[Sidenote: _De Civit. Dei lib. 10._]\n\n3. The third argument I shall take from Mr. _Glanvil_ (which is the\ngreatest piece of truth in all his Treatise) and convert and retort it\nagainst him: and is this (he saith) _We are ignorant of the extent and\nbounds of Natures Sphere and Possibilities._ Now if we be ignorant of\nthe extent and bounds of Natures Sphere and Possibilities, then it must\nneeds be folly, madness, and derogative against Gods power in Nature, to\nattribute those effects to wicked, fallen, and degenerated Demons, that\nwe do not know but are produced by the course of Nature. And to ascribe\nthe products of Nature to such wicked Instruments is blasphemous, in\ndepriving Nature of the honour due unto her, and robbing God of the\nhonour and glory belonging unto him, for the wonderful power wherewith\nhe hath endowed his Creatures, who were all made to shew forth his power\nand Godhead, _and the Heavens declare the glory of God, and the\nFirmament sheweth his handy-work_: and as one said very well, _Natura\ncreatrix est qu\u00e6dam vis & potentia divinit\u00f9s insita, alia ex aliis in\nsuo genere producens_. So that the honour that is due unto the Creator,\nConserver, and Orderer of Nature ought not to be ascribed unto the\nDevils; for in doing this, the Witchmongers become guilty of Idolatry,\nand are themselves such Witches as are mentioned in the Old Testament,\nwho by their lying Divinations led the people after them to follow\nIdols; therefore the effects that belong unto Nature, are to be\nattributed to Nature, and the effects that Devils produce, are to be\nascribed unto them, and not one confounded with another. And much to\nthis purpose the learned Father hath a very considerable passage:\n\u201c_Quicquid igitur mirabile fit in hoc mundo, profect\u00f2 minus est qu\u00e0m\ntotus hic mundus, i. e. c\u0153lum & terra, & omnia qu\u00e6 in eis sunt, qu\u00e6\ncert\u00e8 Deus fecit: nam & omni miraculo quod fit per hominem, majus\nmiraculum est homo. Quamvis igitur miracula visibilium naturarum videndi\nassiduitate vilescunt, tamen ea quum sapienter intuemur, inusitatissimis\nrar\u00edsq; majora sunt._\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Job 1. 11. & 2. 5.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Pet. 2. 4.]\n\n[Sidenote: _August. super Psal._]\n\n4. Though these men should believe the power of the Devil to be great by\nhis Creation, and not lessened by his Fall (which is doubtful or false)\nyet can he not exert, or put this power into execution, but when, where,\nas oft, and in what manner, as God doth send, order, direct, and command\nhim: and could not enter into the herd of Swine, until that Christ had\nordered and commanded him; nor to touch _Job_ or afflict him either in\nhis goods or body, until that God had given him licence and order with\nexpress limitation how far he should proceed, and no further. In all\nwhich there appeareth nothing at all of his power, but his malice and\nevil will; and what was effected, was the hand of the Lord, and he but\nthe bare Instrument to execute and perform the command. Therefore to\nascribe to the Devil the efficiency of those operations we do not\nclearly understand, is to allow him a kind of Omnipotency, and both to\nrob God and Nature of that which belongeth unto them; for the Almighty\ndoth work whatsoever he pleases both in Heaven and Earth, and it is he\nthat worketh all in all. And the Devil is but as Gods Executioner to\nfulfil his will in tempting men, and punishing the wicked, and can act\nnothing but as God commands him, except the acts of his wicked and\ndepraved will; for he is with all his Angels delivered into chains of\ndarkness to be reserved unto Judgment. To this purpose there is a very\ntrue and Christian saying of St. _Augustine_ in these words: \u201c_Diabolus\nplerumq; vult nocere, & non potest, quia potestas ista est sub\npotestate: nam si tantum posset nocere Diabolus quantum vult, aliquis\njustorum non remaneret._\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Rule 5._]\n\n5. The last Rule I shall observe is, That men, if they mean to profit by\nreading Controversies of this nature, they must prudently and\ndeliberately consider the design that Authors have had in writing. For\nthough it be the general pretence of all, that they write to confute\nerrours, and to maintain truth, yet very few in Disputes of this nature\nhave sincerely performed this pretended end. For some have written (as\nwe shall hereafter make manifest in due place) upon designed purpose,\nthereby to establish some points in their corrupted and superstitious\nReligion. Some because of their own lucre and profit arising by the\nupholding of these opinions of the great power and performances of\nWitches, as did all the Inquisitors and their Adherents, having a share\nin the condemned Witches goods. Others have written in these Subjects\nmeerly for ostentation and vain-glory, to get a name that they were\nlearned and able persons: of all which the judicious Readers ought to\nbeware of, and to consider. There is another main scandal that\nWitchmongers usually (especially of late) cast upon those that oppose\ntheir gross, impious, and blasphemous opinions; but I cannot seasonably\ngive answer unto it, untill I have laid down the state of the question,\nupon which the substance of this Treatise is grounded, and therefore\nshall proceed to its Explication.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAP. II.\n\n  _Of the Notion, Conception, and Description of Witches and Witchcraft,\n    according to divers Authors, and in what sense they may be granted,\n    and in what sense and respect they are denied._\n\n\nThose that are Masters in Ethicks teach us, that every Vertue hath on\neither side one Vice in the extreme, and that Vertue only consists in\nthe mean, which how hard that mean is to be kept in any thing, the\nWritings and Actions of the most Men do sufficiently inform us. This is\nmanifest, that not many years ago the truth of Philosophy lay inchained\nin the Prisons of the Schools, who thought there was no proficiency to\nbe made therein, but only in their Logical and Systematical ways: so\nthat (in a manner) all liberty was taken away both in writing and\nspeaking, and nothing was to be allowed of that had not the Seal of\nAcademick Sanction. And now when Philosophy hath gotten its freedom, to\nexpatiate through the whole Sphere of Nature, by all sorts of inquiries\nand tryals, to compleat a perfect History of Nature, some are on the\nother hand grown so rigid and peremptory, that they will condemn all\nthings that have not past the test of Experiment, or conduce not\ndirectly to that very point, and so would totally demolish that part of\nAcademick and Formal Learning that teacheth men Method and the way of\nLogical procedure in writing of Controversies, and handling of Disputes.\nWhereas what is more necessary and commendable for those that treat of\nany controverted point in Writing or in other Disputations, than a clear\nand perspicuous Method, a right and exact stating of the Question in\ndoubt, defining or describing the terms that are or may be equivocal,\nand dividing the whole into its due and genuine parts, distinguishing of\nthings one from another, limiting things that are too general, and\nexplaining of every thing that is doubtful? Those that would totally\ntake away this so profitable and excellent a part of Learning, are not\nof my judgment, nor can be excused for having run into that extreme that\nis extremely condemnable. Let Experimental Philosophy have its place and\ndue honour; and let also the Logical, Methodical, and Formal ways of the\nAcademies have its due praise and commendation, as being both\nexceedingly profitable, though in different respects; otherwise, in\nwriting and arguing, nothing but disorder and confusion will bear sway.\n\nI have premised thus much, because the most of the Authors that have\ntreated about this knotty and thorny Subject of Witches and Witchcraft,\nhave been as confused and immethodical as any. For whereas the learned\nOrator _Cicero_ tells us, that _omnis discursus \u00e0 definitione debet\nproficisci_; and that it is also true, that what is not aptly and fitly\ndefined or described, as far as the Subject will admit of, is never\nperfectly understood: yet have the most of these Authors (which are\nnumerous) laid down no perfect description of a Witch or Witchcraft, nor\nexplained fully what they meant by that name, notion, or conception. And\ntherefore, lest I become guilty of the same fault, I shall lay down what\nthe most considerable Authors that have treated of this Subject, do mean\nor intend by this word _Witch_, and _Witchcraft_, and shall fully\nexplain in what notion or sense I either allow or deny them, and their\nactions, and that in this order, and in these Particulars following.\n\n[Sidenote: _Lib. 14. method. c. 9._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Ibid. c. 1._]\n\n1. Though an argument taken _\u00e0 denotatione nominis_ be of little weight\nor validity, and that the industrious and sharp-witted person _Galen_\ndoth seem to make little account of words, that is, in this respect,\nwhen we would only understand the nature of things, yet in another\nrespect he concludeth thus: \u201c_Ver\u00f9m qui alterum docere volet qu\u00e6 ipse\ntenet, huic prorsus nominibus propter res uti est opus._\u201d Now the\nhandling of Controversies is chiefly and principally to inform others,\nand teach them the truth, and to discover errours; therefore in this\nrespect the explication and denotation of words is exceeding profitable\nand necessary: and so _Plato in Cratylo_ tells us: \u201c_Nomen itaq; rerum,\nsubstantiam docendi discernendiq; instrumentum est._\u201d And it being a\nmanifest truth, that words are but the making forth of those notions\nthat we have of things, and ought to be subjected to things, and not\nthings to words: if our notions do not agree with the things themselves,\nthen we have received false _Idola_ or images of them; but if we have\nconceived them aright, and do not express them fitly and congruously,\nthen we shall hardly make others understand us aright, nor can clearly\nopen unto them the doctrine that we would teach them.\n\n2. But to come to the signification and acceptation of the words that\nthose Authors, who have magnified and defended the power of Witches,\nhave used to express their notions by, we shall find them to be so far\nfetcht, so metaphorical, and improperly applied, that no rational or\nunderstanding man can tell us what to make of them. And if we take the\nnotion, as they do, of a killing and murthering Witch, with the rest of\nthe adjuncts, which they couple with it, we shall not be able to find a\nproper and significative word, either in the Hebrew, Greek, Latine,\nFrench, Spanish, Italian, or High-Dutch, but a multitude or a _Ferrago_\nof words, whereof not one doth properly signifie any such thing, as they\nwould make us believe, by the notion that they maintain of a Witch: of\nwhich we shall principally note these.\n\n[Sidenote: Lament. 4. 3.]\n\n1. For the Hebrew words used in the Old Testament we shall not mention\nthem here, but afterward, where we speak of the mistranslation of them,\nand therefore shall pursue them in the Latine, and other Languages. And\nfirst they sometimes use the word _Lamia_ in the Latine, \u039b\u03ac\u03bc\u03b9\u03b1 in Greek,\nwhich _Gesner_ and others tell us doth signifie a terrestrial Creature,\nor a voracious fish, as also a Spectrum or Phantasm. And this was\nsupposed to be a Creature with a face like a Woman, and feet like a\nHorse or an Ass, such as (indeed) neither is, nor ever was _in rerum\nnatura_, but was only a figment devised to affright children withal. But\nif we will believe Poetical Fables, the Romances of _Philostratus_\nconcerning _Apollonius_, or the lying Diary of his Man _Damis_, we must\ntake it to be a Spirit or Apparition, such as the Greeks called\n_Empus\u00e6_, that went upon one leg, and had eyes that they could take\nforth, and set in, when they pleased. And such a monstrous Fable and Lye\nwas a sufficient ground for doting Witchmongers to build their\nincredible stories of the power and actions of Witches upon, having no\nproper word for such a Witch as they falsely believe and suppose. Though\nthere be a Text in the Lamentations of _Jeremiah_, that hath given\noccasion or colour to this vain opinion, especially as the vulgar Latine\nrenders it, which is thus: _Sed & Lami\u00e6 nudaverunt mammam, lactaverunt\ncatulos suos. Filia populi mei crudelis, quasi struthio in deserto._ The\nFrench render it, _The Dragons have made bare their breasts_: and so\nhave also the Italians in their Translation retained the words Dragon\nand Ostrich; and also the Septuagint render the words \u03b4\u03c1\u03ac\u03c7\u03bf\u03bd\u03c4\u03b5\u03c2 and\n\u03c3\u03c4\u03c1\u03bf\u03c5\u03b8\u03af\u03bf\u03bd. And _Luther_ in his Translation hath kept the same words,\nthough the Germans call =Lamia Ein Rachtsgeist=. But our own Translation\nhath come more near the truth: _Even the Sea-monsters draw out the\nbreast, they give suck to their young ones: the Daughter of my people\nare become cruel like the Ostriches in the wilderness._ And _Arias\nMontanus_ gives it thus: _Etiam draco\u2014\u2014\u200f\u05ea\u05e0\u05d9\u05df\u200e Tannin_ (which signifieth\na Dragon, Serpent, Whale, or other Sea-creatures) _solverunt mammam,\nlactaverunt catulos suos: Filia populi mei in crudelem, veluti ulul\u00e6 in\ndeserto._ But none hath come up close to the mark but _Junius_ and\n_Tremellius_, who render the place thus: _Etiam Phoc\u00e6 pr\u00e6bent mammam,\nlactant catulos suos, quomodo filia populi mei, propter crudelem\ninimicum, est similis ululis in deserto._ And the Notes upon the place\ndo make it plain: \u201c_Vox quidem Hebr\u00e6a lat\u00e8 patet, significans serpentes\n& reptilia magna, sive terrestria sive aquatilia; sed c\u00f9m non omnium\nreptilium sint mamm\u00e6, neq; aquaticorum sint ii quos Propheta vocat\ncatulos; necesse fuit hunc locum ad Phocas, id est marinos vitulos\naccommodari, qui \u00e0 natura sint quasi Amphibii. Nam Draconibus\naccommodari non potest, c\u00f9m volucrium solus vespertilio mammas habeat:\nserpentium terrestrium nulla species mammata est, ac proinde h\u00e6c ad\nmarinum istud genus referri debent._\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Isa. 34. 14.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Gesn. de Avib. l. 3. p. 241._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. Anat. Cent. 1. p. 18._]\n\n2. Another far fetcht and improperly applied name to Witches, is\n_Strix_, and so some Authors call them _Striges_; when as the word\n_Strix_ doth properly signifie a nocturnal bird, _\u00e0 stridendo sic\ndicta_, that do use to suck the dugs of Goats, and also of young\nchildren, which we shall shew hereafter to be a Truth, and no Fable, as\n_Ovid_ saith,\n\n            _Nocte volant, puer\u00f3sq; petunt nutricis egentes,\n              Et vitiant cunis corpora rapta suis.\n            Carpere dicuntur lactentia viscera rostris,\n              Et plenum poto sanguine guttur habent.\n            Est illis strigilis nomen; sed nominis hujus\n              Causa, qu\u00f2d horrend\u00e2 stridere nocte solent._\n\nThis is that sort of bird that _Gesner_ calleth _Caprimulgus_, and the\nGreeks \u1f08\u03b9\u03b3\u03b1\u03b8\u03ae\u03bb\u03b1\u03c2, the Germans =Rachtvogel= or =Rachtraven=, the Hebrews\n\u200f\u05dc\u05d9\u05dc\u05d9\u05ea\u200e _Lillith_, as is said in _Isaiah: Quin & ibi subit\u00f2 quievit\nstrix (seu lamia) & invenit sibi requiem._ It is taken to be a kind of\nOwl, little bigger than an Ousel, and less than a Cuckow, they are blind\nupon the day, and flye abroad upon the nights, making an horrible noise,\nand were to be found about _Rome_, _Helvetia_, and _Crete_ or _Candy_,\nand do certainly suck the dugs of Goats, that thereby they waste away\nand become blind. And that they are also sometimes found in _Denmark_,\nthat learned Physician and laborious Anatomist _Bartholinus_ doth make\nmanifest, and that they do suck the breasts or navils of young children.\nNow what affinity hath this to a Witch or Witchcraft? but that\nWitchmongers would bring in any allusion or Metaphor, though never so\nimpertinent or incongruous? For if it were transferred to the actions of\nWitches, yet as _Calepine_ tells us: _Ab hujus avis nocumento striges\nappellamus mulieres puellulos fascinantes suo contactu, & lactis\nmammar\u00famq; oblatione_. So that if the assimulation were proper in any\nproportion or particular, those Women they do account Witches, do but\nhurt the little children with the virulent steams of their breath, and\nthe effluviums that issue from their filthy and polluted bodies, and so\nwrought by contact and contrectation, by which the contagious poyson is\nconveyed, but not by Witchcraft.\n\n[Sidenote: Act. 1. 26.]\n\n[Sidenote: Prov. 16. 33.]\n\n3. There is another word that they apply to Witches, as insignificant\nand improper as the other, and that is _Sortilegus_, \u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03bc\u03bf\u03bb\u03cc\u03b3\u03bf\u03c2, a\nTeller of Fortunes by Lots or Cuts: and _Lambertus Dan\u00e6us_, who in other\nthings was a judicious and learned person, yet doted extremely about\nthis opinion, calling a Witch _Sortiarius_, deriving it from\n_Sortilegus_, which the French call _Sorcier_. Now what affinity or\ncongruity hath casting or using of Lots with that which these men call\n_Witchcraft_? surely none at all. For though Lots may, like the best\nthings, be abused and wrested to a vain or evil end, yet are they not\naltogether evil, but that a civil and lawful use may be made of them, as\nis manifest this day at the famous City of _Venice_, where their chief\nOfficers are chosen by them. And also there hath been a godly and divine\nuse made of them even by the Apostles themselves, in the deciding of the\nElection of _Barsabas_ and _Matthias_, upon the latter of which the Lot\nfell, and so he was numbred with the eleven Apostles. And _Solomon_\ntells us, _The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof\nis of the Lord_. And sure these men were at a loss to find a suitable\nword to fix upon these Creatures, to whom they ascribe such impossible\nand incredible actions, when they were fain to bring this appellation of\n_Sortilegus_, that hath no kinship at all with such Witches, as they\nmean and intend.\n\n4. Sometimes they call them by the name _Saga_, which signifieth no more\nthan a Wife and subtil Woman, being derived _\u00e0 sagiendo_ to perceive\nquickly, or to smell a thing quickly forth, which the Germans call\n=Vnhold=, which is no more than _malevolus_, or evil-willed.\n\n5. They use the word _Veneficus_, _venefica_, and _veneficium_, and this\nin its proper signification and derivation from the Latine, doth import\nno more than a Poysoner, or to make poyson, _venenum facere_, and so\nmight perhaps be given unto them, because by Tradition they had learned\nseveral ways to poyson secretly and strangely, as doubtless there may be\ndivers hidden and not ordinarily known ways (as we shall shew hereafter)\nby which either by smelling, tasting, touching (and it may be by sight)\nthey could kill and destroy, though the means they used, and the effects\nproduced, were meerly natural; yet because the manner was very occult\nand unperceivable, it was through ignorance and want of due inspection\ninto the matters accounted Diabolical; when there was no more of a Devil\nin the business, than is in a Thief or Murtherer, but only in the Use\nand Application, which is to steal, kill, or destroy. And this, though\nnow improperly and abusively called Witchcraft, doth but signifie\npoysoning, and so the French call it _Empoisonnement_, and the Italians\n_Veneficio_ or _Avenenatione_, and the Germans =Vergifftung=, which all\namount to one purpose. And this _Veneficium_ or poysoning the Greeks\ncall \u03a6\u03b1\u03c1\u03bc\u03ac\u03ba\u03b5\u03c5\u03c3\u03b9\u03c2 and \u03a6\u03b1\u03c1\u03bc\u03b1\u03ba\u03af\u03b1 from \u03a6\u03ac\u03c1\u03bc\u03b1\u03ba\u03bf\u03bd _Medicamentum v.l. Venenum_;\nfor sometimes it was taken in the better sense for a curing and healing\nMedicine; and sometimes in the worse for poyson that did kill or\ndestroy. Neither can it be found in any Greek Author to signifie any\nmore, than such men or women that used Charms and Incantations, and were\nbelieved by the Vulgar to effect strange things by them, when in truth\nand indeed they effected nothing at all but by natural means and secret\npoysons, and from thence had these names. And the Poets spoke of them to\nadorn and imbellish their Poems withal, according to common opinion; not\nthat either they themselves believed the things to be so done, as the\nVulgar believed, nor to give credit to such false Fables and\nimpossibilities; but to make their Poems more delectable and welcome to\nthe common people, who are usually taken with such fond Romantick\nstories and lyes. But after the year 1300. when the Spanish Inquisitors,\nthe Popish Doctors and Writers had found the sweetness and benefit of\nthe confiscated Goods of those that they had caused to be accused and\ncondemned for Witches, in their sense then these words either in the\nGreek or Latine were wrested to signifie a Witch that made a visible and\ncorporeal League with the Devil, when in the true sense of them they did\nbut signifie a secret Poysoner. So that all things were hurried, though\nnever so improper and dissonant, to be made serviceable to their filthy\nlucre and avaritious self-endedness. _Templum venale De\u00fasq;_.\n\n6. Lastly, For Witchcraft they used the Latine _Fascinum_ and\n_Fascinatio_, and so they called a Witch _Fascinator_ and _Fascinatrix_,\nand this the Greeks called \u0392\u03b1\u03c3\u03ba\u03b1\u03bd\u03af\u03bf\u03bd, \u0392\u03b1\u03c3\u03ba\u03b1\u03bd\u03af\u03b1, _Fascinum_,\n_Fascinatio_, also _invidia, odium, seu invidentia_, \u1f00\u03c0\u1f78 \u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u0392\u03b1\u03c3\u03ba\u03b1\u03bd\u03b5\u1fd6\u03bd,\n_\u00e0 fascinando, seu oculis occidendo_: the Germans call it =Zaubery=, and\n=Verzauberung=, and sometimes =Hexenwerk=; the French _Ensorcellement_\nand _Sorcelerie_; the Italians _Lestrigare & amaliare_, _amaliamento_;\nthe Belgicks =Betoovenge=: the Saxons called them and it \u01f7\u0269cce and\n\u01f7\u0269cce-c\ua783ee\ua77c\ua787, from whence we have the name Witch and Witchcraft, that\nsignified _Saga_, _Venefica_, _Lamia_, and _Fascinum_, _Magia_,\n_Incantatio_, _Fascinatio_, _Pr\u00e6stigium_: of which (because we shall\nhave occasion to speak more of it hereafter) we shall here only note\nthese few things.\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Alexand. Aphrod. lib. 2. Probl. 53._]\n\n1. It is taken sometimes for Envy and Malice, because those that were\nsupposed to use Fascination, did direct it to one Creature more than\nanother through their envious minds, as may be perceived by some few\nAuthors: And so was accounted a kind of eye-biting whereby (as the\nVulgar believed) children did wax lean, and pined away, the original\nwhereof they referred to the crooked and wry looks of malicious persons,\nnever examining the truth of the matter of fact, whether those children\nthat pined away, had any natural disease or not, that caused that\nmacilency or pining away; nor considered, whether or no there was any\nefficiency in the envy or wry looks of those malicious persons, but\nvainly ascribed effects to those things that had in them no causality at\nall to produce such effects.\n\n[Sidenote: _Eclog. 3._]\n\n2. Sometimes this kind of Fascination was ascribed to the sore or\ninfected eyes of those that were accounted causers of hurt thereby in\nothers, and in this sense _Virgil_ saith: _Nescio quis teneros oculus\nmihi fascinat agnos_. And by this no more could be understood, but that\nthose that had infected and sore eyes might infect others, and this was\nnothing but contagion, or corrupt steams issuing from one body to\nanother, which may happen in many diseases, as is manifest by the\nWritings of divers learned Physicians, as in bodies infected with the\nPlague, French Pox, Leprosie, Ophthalmies, and such like.\n\n[Sidenote: _Sup. Epist. D. Paul. ad Galat._ _c._ 3.]\n\n3. Sometimes Fascination is taken for some kind of Incantation, that by\nvirtue of Words or Charms doth perform some strange things; but\nconcerning this there is such incertainty of the opinions of the\nLearned, some flatly denying that Words or Charms have in them any\nnatural efficacy at all; others as strongly affirming it, that of this\npoint it is very difficult to make a clear determination: and therefore\nwe shall say but this of it here, that the Angelical Doctor did conclude\nwell in this particular, in these words: \u201c_Ad sciendum autem quid sit\nfascinatio, sciendum est qu\u00f2d secund\u00f9m glossam fascinatio propri\u00e8\ndicitur ludificatio sensus, qu\u00e6 per artes magicas fieri consuevit, puta,\ncum hominem facit aspectibus aliorum apparere leonem, vel cornutum, &\nhujusmodi_.\u201d\n\nHaving been thus large in considering the names and denomination given\nto those persons that are esteemed Witches, and finding them to be so\nimproper, impertinent, various, and uncertain, let us now proceed to the\nnotion and acceptation of Witchcraft and Witches, to try if in that we\ncan find any more certainty or consonancy, and herein we shall produce\nsome of the chief descriptions that are given of them by several\nAuthors; for to quote all would be tedious and superfluous. Those that\nare or may be accounted Witches we rank in these two orders.\n\n1. Those that were and are active deceivers, and are both by practice\nand purpose notorious Impostors, though they shadow their delusive and\ncheating knaveries under divers and various pretences; some pretending\nto do their Feats by Astrology (which is a general Cheat as it is\ncommonly used) some by a pretended gift from God, when they are\nnotoriously drunken, debauched, and blasphemous persons, such as of very\nlate years was the Cobler that lived upon _Ellill_ Moor, named\n_Richmond_, and divers others that I could name, but that in modesty I\nwould spare their reputations: some by pretending skill in Natural\nMagick, when indeed they can hardly read English truly; some by\npretending a familiar Spirit, as one _Thomas Bolton_ near\n_Knaresborough_ in _Yorkshire_, when indeed and in truth they have no\nother Familiar but their own Spirit of lying and deceiving: some by\npretending to reveal things in Crystal-glasses or Beryls, as was well\nknown to be pretended by Doctor _Lamb_, and divers others that I have\nknown. And some by pretending to conjure and call up Devils, or the\nSpirits of men departed; and some by many other ways and means that are\nnot necessary to be named here; for errour and deceit have a numerous\ntrain of Followers and Disciples. And the existence of such kind of\nWitches as these (if you will needs call them by that name, and not by\ntheir proper titles, which are, that they truly are Deceivers, Cheaters,\nCouseners, and Impostors) I willingly acknowledge, as having been, and\nare to be found in all ages, and these sorts are also acknowledged by\n_Wierus_, Mr. _Scot_, _Johannes Lazarus Gutierius_, _Tobias Tandlerus_,\n_Hieronymus Nymannus_, _Martinius Biermannus_, and all the rest, that\nnotwithstanding did with might and main oppose the gross Tenent of the\ncommon Witchmongers.\n\n[Sidenote: A Candle in the dark, p. 12, 13.]\n\n[Sidenote: Object. p. 78.]\n\nAnd of this sort were all those several differences of Diviners,\nWitches, or Deceivers named in the Scriptures, as Mr. _Ady_ hath\nsufficiently declared in this passage, which we shall transcribe. \u201cA\nWitch is a man or woman that practiseth Devillish crafts of seducing the\npeople for gain, from the knowledge and worship of God, and from the\ntruth, to vain credulity (or believing of lyes) or to the worshipping of\nIdols\u201d. And again he saith: \u201cWitchcraft is a Devillish craft of seducing\nthe people for gain, from the knowledge and worship of God, and from his\ntruth, to vain credulity (or believing of lyes) or to the worshipping of\nIdols. That it is a Craft truly so called, and likewise that it is for\ngain, is proved _Act._ 16. 16, 19. The Maid that followed _Paul_ crying,\nbrought in her Master much gain; and that it is a Craft of perverting\nthe people, or seducing them from God and his Truth, is proved _Act._ 6.\n7, 8. _Elimas the Sorcerer laboured to pervert Deputy from the Faith._\nSo likewise _Act._ 8. 9, 10, 11. it doth more plainly prove all these\nwords: _And there was a man before in the City called Simon, which used\nWitchcraft, and bewitched the people of Samaria, saying, That he himself\nwas some great man, to whom they gave heed from the least to the\ngreatest, saying, This man is the great power of God, and gave heed unto\nhim, because that of long time he had bewitched them with Sorceries_.\nHow bewitched them with Sorceries? That is, seduced them with Devillish\nCrafts: (as the Greek and also _Tremelius_ Latine Translation do more\nplainly illustrate.) In this sense speaketh _Paul_ to the _Galatians_ 3.\n1. _O foolish Galathians, who hath bewitched you, that you should not\nobey the truth?_ And that a Witch or Witchcraft is taken in no other\nsense in all the Scripture, it appeareth by the whole current of the\nScriptures, as you may see in this Book.\u201d But against this Mr. _Glanvil_\nand the rest of his opinion will object and say, that it is hard and\nsevere that Cheaters and Impostors should be ranked with Inchanters, and\nsuch as converse with Devils and with Idolaters, and that of this it is\nhard to give a reason. To this we shall give this full responsion.\n\n[Sidenote: Levit. 20. 10.]\n\n[Sidenote: Deut. 22. 22, 23, 24.]\n\n1. We are to consider in what precise respect actions are in Sacred Writ\ncalled sinful and wicked, and wherefore they have such severe\npunishments annexed unto them, and we shall find that this is not\n_ratione medii vel act\u00f9s, sed finis_. As for instance and illustration:\nwe shall find that the Law was peremptory in point of adultery, which\nsaith: _If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then\nthey shall both of them dye_. Now the act of copulation, as it is an\nact, is all one with a lawful wife, and with the wife of another man\n(that is, one generically considered) and yet the one is lawful, as\nagreeing with Gods Law and Ordinance, and the other is unlawful, sinful,\nwicked, and therefore to be punished with death, because it is an\naberration from the Divine Ordinance, and contrary to the Command of\nGod, who saith, _Thou shalt not commit adultery_. So though the things\ncommitted by these persons, were or might be performed by natural or\nartificial means, that simply in themselves were not sinful, or so\nseverely punishable, yet were they evil in regard of the end, which was\nto deceive and seduce the people to Idolatry.\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Chron. 33. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.]\n\nPsal. 115. 4, 5, 6, 7. ibid. Psal. 135. 17.\n\n2. Therefore the true and punctual reason why these persons (termed\nWitches or Diviners) are by the Law of God so severely to be punished,\nis, because they drew the people to Idolatry, the thing that God most\nhateth, and against which he hath pronounced the most severe and\nterriblest judgments of all. Nay these people were the very false\nProphets, especially of one sort, and the very Priests to the Idols, as\nis manifest in the wicked and filthy Idolatry of all sorts set up and\npractised by _Manasses_, even all the sorts (or the most of them)\nmentioned in the Scriptures. And God declareth himself to be a jealous\nGod, and that he will not give his glory to another, but is the only\nLord God, and him only we ought to serve; and therefore will most\nseverely punish those that attribute that unto Idols, that is only\nproper unto himself: and for this cause, and upon this ground are all\nthose terrible Comminations used in the Scriptures, and especially\nagainst this sort of people, who were the chief Instruments of promoting\nIdol-worship, ascribing the power of a Deity unto them, when the Prophet\ntells us, _Their idols are silver and gold, the work of mens hands; they\nhave mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; they\nhave ears, but they hear not; noses have they, but they smell not; they\nhave hands but they handle not; feet have they, but they walk not,\nneither speak they through their throat; neither is there any breath in\ntheir mouths_.\n\n[Sidenote: 2 King. 1. 4.]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 King. 18.]\n\n3. That many great and abstruse things may be lawfully done by Natural\nMagick, is well known to the best Naturalists, and how great Feats may\nbe performed by the Mathematicks and Mechanical Arts, are well known to\nthe Learned; and that there is and may be a lawful use of Astrology, and\nmany things may be foretold by it, few that are judicious are ignorant;\nthat the Prognosticks in the Art of Medicine are necessary, and of much\nuse and certainty, all learned Physicians know very well; that observing\nof times, and many other such like things may for divers respects be\nlawfully practised. But if all or any of these be used to draw people to\nIdolatry, and their strange effects ascribed unto dumb and dead Idols,\nthen what horrible sin and abomination were this, and no punishment\ncould be too heavy for it. And so it is in the case of these sort of\npeople called Witches or Diviners, they perswaded the multitude, that\ntheir false Gods (or rather Devils) in their Idols, could foretel life\nor death, and so led the people a whoring after them, as _Ahaziah_ sent\nto inquire of the god of _Ekron_, whether he should recover or not, and\ntherefore he had that sharp judgment, _That he should not come down from\nthat bed whither he was gone up, but should surely dye_. And did not the\nPriests of _Baal_ (which were the same rabble named _Deut._ 18. 10, 11,\n12, 13, &c.) obstinately labour to make _Ahab_ and all the people\nbelieve, that the Gods (or Devils) that they worshipped in their Idols,\ncould and would answer by fire, and pertinaciously persisted in their\nobstinacy, _cutting themselves with knives and lancets from morning\nuntil the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice_, and yet\nnothing was effected? so that they were justly guilty of that punishment\nwhich they received, which was death, for ascribing that to a dead Idol,\nthat none could perform, but the only true God of _Israel_, and yet in\nthe meantime could neither by their own skill, nor the skill of their\nIdols foresee that sudden death that fell upon them: which punishment\nfell deservedly upon them, for labouring to deceive the people, and\nconfirm them in Idolatry, in ascribing that unto a dead stock, which was\nonly in the power of the Almighty to perform. So if all those fine\nKnacks and neat Tricks that _Athanasius Kircher_ performed at _Rome_ by\nthe help and means of the Loadstone, and mentioned in his Book _de Arte\nMagnetica_, had been by him ascribed unto some Saint, thereby to have\ndrawn the people to the adoration of that Saint, and so to Idolatry, it\nhad been active imposture, deceit, and knavery in him, and he might\njustly have been inrolled in the Catalogue of these Witches or Diviners,\nand had really been an active Impostor, as they were, and so had\ndeserved the same punishment: when on the contrary for ascribing effects\nunto their true and proper causes, and clearly shewing the manner and\nmeans of producing those effects, he hath justly deserved the title of a\nlearned and honest man. And though a common _Hocus Pocus_ man, or one\nthat playeth Tricks of Leger-de-main or slight of hand, to get a\nlivelihood by, do labour to make the ignorant multitude believe that he\ndoth his Feats by virtue of his barbarous terms or non-significant\nwords, or by the help of some familiar Spirit; must therefore a prudent\nor learned person believe the same, and not labour to understand that\nthose pretences are but used the better to deceive the senses of the\nbeholders, and so that pretence but a cheat and imposture?\n\n[Sidenote: Isa. 44. 15, 16.]\n\n[Sidenote: Isa. 41. 22, 23.]\n\n[Sidenote: Dan. 22. 11.]\n\n[Sidenote: Gen. 41. 8.]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Sam. 28. 11.]\n\n[Sidenote: Act. 8. 9.]\n\n4. We affirm that all these mentioned in the Scriptures (nay, and that\nthe Priests attending all the so famoused Oracles) were but meer\nCheaters and Impostors, and that for these reasons. 1. They could not\nbe, nor were ignorant that all their numerous Idols were but the works\nof mens hands, and that they could not of themselves move, see, hear,\nsmell, or breathe, much less eat and drink; and therefore were notorious\nCheaters and Impostors in labouring to make the people believe the\ncontrary. 2. They could not be ignorant but what answers were given, and\nwhat acts were done, were performed by themselves, and not by the Idols,\nand yet they laboured to make the people believe the contrary, as the\n_Bramines_ and Priests do to this day all over the Eastern parts of\n_Asia_, and in many other places, and so must needs be notorious Knaves\nand Cheaters; because, as _Isaiah_ saith, _With part of the wood whereof\nhe hath made himself an Idol, he maketh a fire and warmeth himself_. 3.\nThey could not be ignorant that their Idols could not, nor did declare\nany thing truly that was to come, but what Answers were given, or\nDivinations were uttered, were of their own devising and invention, and\nno other Devil in the case, but Diabolical inspirations in their minds.\nAnd this is manifest by their pitiful shuffling equivocations\n(especially of all the Oracles) their responsions being always\nambiguous, and bearing a double sense, which caused _Cardan_ to say:\n\u201c_Oracula, si non essent ambigua, non essent oracula._\u201d And commonly (if\nnot always) they were given in the favour of those that gave the largest\ngifts, which made _Demosthenes_ say, that the Oracle at _Delphos_ did\n\u03c6\u03b9\u03bb\u03b9\u03c0\u03c0\u03af\u03b6\u03b5\u03b9\u03bd, because it always spoke in favour of _Philip_ and his\nproceedings. And it was with the Oracles, as with the Temple of\n_Neptune_, All the Offerings of those that escaped shipwrack were\npreserved, and to be seen; but of those that had suffered shipwrack,\nthere was no memorial nor knowledge of their number: so, many have noted\nsome few Hits of the Oracles, but few have noted their Misses, which\ndoubtless were far the greater number. For so it is here in this North\nCountry with our Figure-flingers and pretended Conjurers, Piss-Prophets,\nand Water-Witches, that if they hit once, it is cryed up and told every\nwhere; but if they erre an hundred times, it is soon buried in silence\nand oblivion, and one fool will not take warning at anothers being\ncheated and deceived. And that their Idols did not, nor could declare\ntruly what was to come, is manifest by the Prophet who saith: _Let them\nbring them forth_ (that is, their Idols) _and shew us what shall happen:\nlet them shew the former things what they be, that we may consider them,\nand know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. Shew\nthe things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are\ngods: yea do good or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it\ntogether._ Yet these miserable, cheating, dissembling Wretches that\nwould have had the multitude to have believed, that their Idols could\nhave foretold truly almost any thing; yet neither their Idols, nor the\nGods (or Devils) they pretended to be in them, nor themselves could\nforetel or foresee their own destruction, as is manifest in the Prophets\nof _Baal_ in the time of _Elijah_, who went up to Mount _Carmel_ to\nadvance the worship and power of their Idols, but did not foresee it\nshould be all their destructions and deaths. Doubtless those that in the\nBook of _Daniel_ are called Wise-men, Magicians, Astrologers, Sorcerers,\nand Chaldeans were endowed with much rare knowledge, both in respect of\nNature and Art: for if their knowledge had been Diabolical, without\nquestion _Daniel_ would hardly have interceded for them, yet could they\nnot reveal what the Kings dream was that was gone from him, nor foresee\nthat they run the hazard of their lives; but did conclude that none\nother could shew it, except the _gods whose dwelling is not with flesh_.\n4. In matters of fact it appeareth, that they were active deceivers and\ndeluders, as is manifest when _Pharaoh_ had dreamed two dreams, that he\ncalled and sent for all the Magicians and Wise-men of _Egypt_; but they\ncould not interpret them unto him. _Junius_ and _Tremelius_ render it:\n_Omnes Magos \u00c6gypti, & omnes Sapientes ejus_. The vulgar Latine (or that\nwhich is improperly called St. _Hieromes_ Translation) gives it: _Misit\nad omnes Conjectores \u00c6gypti, cunct\u00f3sq; Sapientes_. And these doubtless\n_Pharaoh_ would not have sent for, but that either upon his own\nknowledge he knew that they professed the ability of the interpretation\nof dreams, and (perhaps) as the sequel shewed, greater matters; or else\nupon common repute, or relation of others, and that must needs arise\nfrom their own profession of the knowledge of such abstruse matters: and\nso of necessity must have pretended greater matters, than when they came\nto tryal they were able to perform, and so must needs be Impostors. And\nthe Woman at _Endor_ (falsely called a Witch, or a Woman that had a\nfamiliar Spirit, when in the Hebrew she is only called the Mistress of\nthe Bottle, as we shall manifest hereafter) must needs be a Deceiver and\nImpostor, because she pretended to bring up whomsoever _Saul_ desired,\nwhich was a thing absolutely not in her power, as I shall undeniably\nprove afterwards. And notwithstanding the stories of _Eusebius_, and the\nstrong endeavours of Doctor _Hamond_ to make it good, that _Simon Magus_\nwas a person that had peculiar and corporeal converse with the Devil,\nand by that league and converse could perform strange and wonderful\nthings; yet was he but a notorious Impostor, as appeareth by two\nreasons. 1. The Text saith, _that he gave out that himself was some\ngreat one_, that is, that he had great skill, and was able to perform\nwonderful things. This sheweth his presumption and pretence, the certain\nbadge of a Deceiver and Cheater. 2. But could do little, except some\npetty jugling Tricks of Leger-de-main, confederacy, and the like;\n_because he wondred, or was amazed, beholding the Miracles and signs\nwhich were done, and those were, that unclean Spirits, crying with loud\nvoice, came out of many that were possessed with them: And many taken\nwith palsies, and that were lame, were healed_. Now if he had been any\ngreat Magician, or could have performed any great things, he could not\nhave so much wondred at those things that _Philip_ wrought: or if he\ncould have flown in the air, as _Eusebius_ (or those that have foisted\nsuch incredible lyes into his Writings) pretendeth, then he need not\nhave been so amazed at the miracles and signs that the Apostles wrought,\nnor to have offered to have bought the gift of bestowing the Holy Ghost,\nbut only because he was a notorious Dissembler and Impostor. And if he\nhad been in league with the Devil, surely he might have cast forth\nDevils by the power of _Beelzebub_ the Prince of Devils: all which do\nplainly conclude him to be an absolute Cheater and Impostor. And the\nstory of _Bel_ and the _Dragon_ (though but an Apocryphal piece, yet\nvery ancient, and of sufficient credit as to matter of fact) doth\nevidently demonstrate, that these sort of people were abominable\nCheaters and Impostors, and were not endowed with any supernatural\npower, nor had assistance of any visible Demon, but only the Devil of\ndeceit and cousenage in their own breasts, and so were, as _Cardan_\nsaith, _Carnales D\u00e6mones ipsis D\u00e6monibus callidiores_.\n\n[Sidenote: _Instit. p. 3. p. 45._]\n\n5. And though by the Laws of our own Nation these kind of people were to\nbe severely punished, as appeareth by the Statute _1 Jac. cap. 12._ yet\nhad they respect in that Act, not only to the punishment in respect of\nwhat these persons could or did do, but also in regard of their being\nImpostors and Deceivers of the people; for so the Lord Chief Justice Sir\n_Edward Cook_, the best Expositor of Law that hath written in our\nLanguage, doth expound it in these words. The mischiefs before this part\nof this Act were: \u201c_That divers Impostors, men and women, would take\nupon them to tell or do these fine things here specified, in great\ndeceit of the people, and cheating and cousening them of their money or\nother goods: therefore was this part of the Act made, wherein these\nwords [take upon him or them] are very remarkable. For if they take upon\nthem, &c. though in truth they do it not, yet are they in danger of this\nfirst branch._\u201d\n\n6. And whereas in the objection Mr. _Glanvil_ mentioneth converse with\nDevils, if he mean mental, internal, and spiritual converse, such as\nMurtherers, Adulterers, Thieves, Robbers, and all wicked persons have\nwith Satan, we grant it; for so had the Jews and the High Priests in\nconspiring and acting to put our blessed Saviour to death: _it was their\nhour, and the power of darkness_. But if he mean a visible and corporeal\nconverse, then we plainly affirm that there is not, nor can be any such,\nwhereby any such strange things (as Witchmongers fondly and falsely\nbelieve) can be performed or effected. Therefore by way of conclusion in\nthis particular, we grant that there are many sorts of such kind of\nWitches, as for gain and vain-glory do take upon them to declare hidden\nand occult things, to divine of things that are to come, and to do many\nwonderful matters, but that they are but Cheaters, Deceivers, and\nCouseners.\n\n2. And as there are a numerous crew of active Witches, whose existence\nwe freely acknowledge; so there are another sort, that are under a\npassive delusion, and know not, or at least do not observe or\nunderstand, that they are deluded or imposed upon. These are those that\nconfidently believe that they see, do, and suffer many strange, odd, and\nwonderful things, which have indeed no existence at all in them, but\nonly in their depraved fancies, and are meerly _melancholi\u00e6 figmenta_.\nAnd yet the confessions of these, though absurd, idle, foolish, false,\nand impossible, are without all ground and reason by the common\nWitchmongers taken to be truths, and falsely ascribed unto Demons, and\nthat they are sufficient grounds to proceed upon to condemn the\nConfessors to death, when all is but passive delusion, intrinsecally\nwrought in the depraved imaginative faculty by these three ways or\nmeans.\n\n1. One of the Causes that produceth this depraved and passive delusion,\nis evil education; they being bred up in ignorance, either of God, the\nScriptures, or the true grounds of Christian Religion, nay not being\ntaught the common Rules of Morality, or of other humane Literature; but\nonly imbibing and sucking in, with their mothers and nurses milk, the\ncommon gross and erroneous opinions that the blockish vulgar people do\nhold, who are all generally inchanted and bewitched with the belief of\nthe strange things related of Devils, Apparitions, Fayries, Hobgoblins,\nGhosts, Spirits, and the like: so that thereby a most deep impression of\nthe verity of the most gross and impossible things is instamped in their\nfancies, hardly ever after in their whole life time to be obliterated or\nwasht out: so prevalent a thing is Custom and Institution from young\nyears, though the things thus received, and pertinaciously believed, and\nadhered unto, are most abominable falsities and impossibilities, having\nno other existence but in the brains and phantasies of old, ignorant,\nand doting persons, and are meerly _muliercularum & nutricum\nterriculamenta & figmenta_, and therefore did _Seneca_ say: _Gravissimum\nest consuetudinis imperium_. And that this is one main cause of this\ndelusion, is manifest from all the best Historians, that where the light\nof the Gospel hath least appeared, and where there is the greatest\nbrutish ignorance and heathenish Barbarism, there the greatest store of\nthese deluded Witches or Melancholists are to be found, as in the North\nof _Scotland_, _Norway_, _Lapland_, and the like, as may be seen at\nlarge in _Saxo Grammaticus_, _Olaus Magnus_, _Hector Boetius_, and the\nlike.\n\n[Sidenote: _Schenck. observ. medic._ _lib._ 1. _pag._ 129.]\n\n2. But when an atrabilarious Temperament, or a melancholick Complexion\nand Constitution doth happen to those people bred in such ignorance, and\nthat have suckt in all the fond opinions that Custom and Tradition could\nteach them, then what thing can be imagined that is strange, wonderful,\nor incredible, but these people do pertinaciously believe it, and as\nconfidently relate it to others? nay even things that are absolutely\nimpossible, as that they are really changed into Wolves, Hares, Dogs,\nCats, Squirrels, and the like; and that they flye in the Air, are\npresent at great Feasts and Meetings, and do strange and incredible\nthings, when all these are but the meer effects of the imaginative\nfunction depraved by the fumes of the melancholick humor, as we might\nshew from the Writings of the most grave and learned Physicians; but we\nshall content our selves with some few select ones. 1. That distemper\nwhich Physicians call _Lycanthropia_, is according to the judgment of\n_Aetius_ and _Paulus_, but a certain species of Melancholy, and yet they\nreally think and believe themselves to be Wolves, and imitate their\nactions: of which _Johannes Fincelius_ in his second Book _de Mirac._\ngiveth us a relation to this purpose. \u201cThat at _Padua_ in the year 1541.\na certain Husband-man did seem to himself a Wolf, and did leap upon many\nin the fields, and did kill them. And that at last he was taken not\nwithout much difficulty, and did confidently affirm that he was a true\nWolf, only that the difference was in the skin turned in with the hairs.\nAnd therefore that certain, having put off all humanity, and being truly\ntruculent and voracious, did smite and cut off his legs and arms,\nthereby to try the truth of the matter; but the innocency of the man\nbeing known, they commit him to the Chirurgions to be cured, but that he\ndyed not many days after.\u201d Which instance is sufficient to overthrow the\nvain opinion of those men that believe that a man or woman may be really\ntransformed or transubstantiated into a Wolf, Dog, Cat, Squirrel, or the\nlike, without the operation of an omnipotent power, as in _Lots_ Wife\nbecoming a Pillar of Salt; though St. _Augustine_ was so weak as to seem\nto believe the reality of these transformations: of which we shall have\noccasion to speak more largely hereafter.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observat. medic._ _lib._ 1. _cap._ 18. _pag._ 38.]\n\n2. Another story we shall give from the Authority of that learned\nPhysician _Nicolaus Tulpius_ of _Amsterdam_ to this effect. A certain\nfamous Painter was for a long time infected with black Choler, and did\nfalsely imagine that all the bones of his body were as soft and\nflexible, that they might be drawn and bended like soft wax. Which\nopinion being deeply imprinted in his mind, he kept himself in bed the\nwhole Winter, fearing that if he should rise, they would not bear his\nweight, but would shrink together by reason of their softness. That\n_Tulpius_ did not contradict him in that fancy, but said that it was a\ndistemper that Physicians were not ignorant of, but had been long before\nnoted by _Fernelius_, that the bones like wax might be softned and\nindurated, and that it might be easily cured, if he would be obedient:\nand that within three days he would make the bones firm and stable, and\nthat within six days he would restore him to the power of walking. By\nwhich promises it was hard to declare, how much hope of recovering\nhealth it had raised up in him, and how obedient it made him. So that\nwith Medicines proper to purge the atrabilarious humour within the time\nappointed, he was at the three days end suffered to stand upon his feet,\nand upon the sixth day had leave given to walk abroad: and so found\nhimself perfectly sound afterwards; but did not perceive the deceit in\nhis phantasie, that had made him lye a whole Winter in bed, though he\nwas no stupid, but an ingenious person in his Art, and scarce second to\nany.\n\n[Sidenote: _Cent._ 1. _Hist._ 79. _pag._ 117.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vt supr. Histor._ 85. _pag._ 125.]\n\n3. _Thomas Bartholinus_ the famous Anatomist, and Physician to\n_Frederick_ the Third King of _Denmark_, tells us these things: \u201cThat it\nis the property of melancholy persons to fear things not to be feared,\nand to feign things _qu\u00e6 nec picta usquam sunt, nec scripta_. A\n_Plebeian_ (he saith) with them abounding with melancholy blood did\nimagine that his Nose was grown to that greatness, that he durst not go\nabroad, for fear it should be hurt or justled upon by those he met. And\nthat a famous Poet at _Amsterdam_ did believe that his Buttocks were of\nglass, and feared their breaking, if he should sit down. Another Old man\nof prime Dignity did suspect that he had swallowed a nail, which being\nlost, he could no where find, and thought himself much tortured by its\nbeing fixed in him. But was restored to his health, by having a Vomit\ngiven, and the Physician conveying a nail into the matter that he cast\nup. And that a certain man in _England_ would not make water, for fear\nthat all the blood in his body should have passed forth by that passage,\nand therefore straitly tyed the yard with a thred for some days, which\nswelling he was not far from death, but that his Brother by force untyed\nit.\u201d The Books of Physicians are very full with such relations, and we\nin our Practice have met with divers as strange as these, and cured\nthem. Also he tells us this: \u201cA certain Student of a melancholick\nConstitution, distracted with grief for the death of a Sister, and\nwearied with lucubrations, did complain to (_Bartholinus_) of the Devil\nhaunting of him: and did affirm that he felt the evil Spirit enter by\nhis fundament with wind, and so did creep up his body until it possessed\nthe head, lest he might attend his Prayers and Meditations with his\naccustomed devotion, and that it did descend and go forth the same way,\nwhen he bent himself to Prayers, and reading of Sacred Books. Before\nthese things he used to be filled with unheard of joy from his assiduous\nPrayers and watching, that also he had heard a celestial kind of Musick,\nand therefore despising all mortal things, he had distributed all things\nto the poor; but that now piety waxing cold by too much appetite after\nmeat, and his brain troubled with that wind, that he had heard a voice\nof one in his brain upbraiding him with Blasphemy, and that he felt\nhands beating, and a stink passing before his nose. By all which\n_Bartholinus_ guessed, that it was Hypochondriacal Melancholy, and by\ngood Counsel, proper Physick, merry Company, and rightly ordering of\nhim, he was perfectly cured.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Histor. medic. mirab._ _l._ 2. _c._ 1. _p._ 33.]\n\n4. To these we will only add this that is related by _Marcellus\nDonatus_, Physician to the Duke of _Mantua_ and _Montferrat_, to this\npurpose. \u201cThat he knew a Noble Countess of their City, that did most\nearnestly affirm, that she was made sick by the Witchery and Incantation\nof a certain ill-minded Woman; which was apprehended by a learned\nPhysician to be, notwithstanding her fancy, nothing else but\nHypochondriacal Melancholy, which he cured by giving her proper\nMedicaments to purge that humour, and ordering her Waiting-maid to put\ninto the matter she voided Nails, Feathers, and Needles; which when with\na glad countenance she had shewed to her Mistress, she presently cryed\nout that she had not been deceived, when she had referred the cause of\nher disease to Witchcraft, and afterwards did daily recover more and\nmore.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Relat. of _Lancash._ Witches.]\n\n3. And as ignorance and irreligion meeting with a melancholick\nConstitution, doth frame many persons to strange fancies both of fear\nand credulity: so when to these is added the teachings of those that are\nthemselves under a most strong passive delusion, then of all others\nthese become most strongly confident that they can perform admirable\nthings. As when a person hath by education suckt in all the grossest\nfables and lyes of the power of Witches and familiar Devils, and therein\nbecometh extremely confident, heightned with the fumes of black Choler,\nand so thinks, meditates, and dreameth of Devils, Spirits, and all the\nstrange stories that have been related of them, and becometh maliciously\nstirred up against some Neighbour or other: And so in that malicious and\nrevengeful mind seeketh unto, and inquireth for some famed and notorious\nWitch, of whom they believe they may learn such craft and cunning, that\nthereby they may be able to kill or destroy the persons or goods of\nthose that they suppose have done them injuries. Then meeting with some\nthat are strongly deluded, and confidently perswaded, that they have the\ncompany and assistance of a familiar Spirit, by whose help they believe\nthey can do (almost) any thing, especially in destroying men or cattel,\nthey are presently instructed what vain and abominable Ceremonies,\nObservances, Unguents, Charms, making of Pictures, and a thousand such\nfond, odd fopperies they are to use, by which they believe they can do\nstrange Feats. And from this do proceed their bold and confident\nconfessions of lyes and impossibilities, that notwithstanding have\nabused so many to take them for certain truths: so that according to the\nProverb, _Popery and Witchcraft go by Tradition_: and we shall find none\nof these deluded Witches (if they must be so called) but they have been\ntaught by others, that thought themselves to be such also. And this is a\ntruth, if we may trust the confession of _Alizon Denice_ at the Bar at\n_Lancaster_, who saith thus: \u201cThat about two years agone her Grandmother\ncalled _Elizabeth Sotheres, alias Dembdike_, did (sundry times in going\nor walking together, as they went begging) perswade and advise this\nExaminate to let a Devil or a Familiar appear to her, and that she this\nExaminate would let him suck at some part of her, and she might have and\ndo what she would.\u201d\n\nBut besides these two sorts of Witches, whose Existence we deny not,\nthere is an acceptation of the word _Witch_ in another sense, the\nExistence of which I absolutely deny, and that is this according to Mr.\n_Perkins_. \u201cA Witch is a Magician, who either by open or secret League\nwittingly and willingly consenteth to use the aid and assistance of the\nDevil in the working of Wonders.\u201d\n\nBut the full Description and Notion that the common Witchmongers give a\nWitch is this. \u201cThat a Witch is such a person to whom the Devil doth\nappear in some visible shape, with whom the Witch maketh a League or\nCovenant, sometimes by Bond signed with the Witches blood, and that\nthereby he doth after suck upon some part of their bodies, and that they\nhave carnal Copulation together, and that by virtue of that League the\nWitch can be changed into an Hare, Dog, Cat, Wolf, or such like\nCreatures; that they can flye in the air, raise storms and tempests,\nkill men or cattel, and such like wonders.\u201d This notion of a Witch may\nbe gathered from the Writings of these persons, _Delrio_ the Jesuit,\n_Bodinus_, _Jacobus Springerus_, _Johannes Niderus_, _Bartholomeus\nSpineus_, _Paulus Grillandus_, _Lambertus Dan\u00e6us_, _Hemmingius_,\n_Erastus_, _Sennertus_, and many others. As also from the Writings of\nour own Country-men, Mr. _Perkins_, Mr. _Bernard_ of _Balcombe_, the\nAuthor of the Book called Demonology, Mr. _Gaule_, Mr. _Giffard_, and\ndivers others, who have from one to another lickt up the Vomit of the\nfirst Broacher of this vain and false opinion, and without due\nconsideration have laboured to obtrude it upon others. Yet was it in a\nmanner rejected by the most of the Learned, who had duly weighed the\nmatter, and read the strong and convincing arguments of _Wierus_,\n_Tandlerus_, _Nymannus_, _Biermannus_, _Gutierrius_, Mr. _Scot_, and the\nlike, until of late years Dr. _Casaubon_ and Mr. _Glanvil_ have taken up\nWeapons to defend these false, absurd, impossible, impious, and bloody\nopinions withal, against whose arguments we now principally direct our\nPen, and after the answering of their groundless and unjust scandals, we\nshall labour to overthrow their chief Bulwarks and Fortifications.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAP. III.\n\n  _The denying of such a Witch as is last described in the foregoing\n    Chapter, doth not infer the denying of Angels or Spirits.\n    Apparitions no warrantable ground for a Christian to believe the\n    Existence of Angels or Devils by, but the Word of God._\n\n\n[Sidenote: Of Credulity and Incredulity, pag. 7.]\n\n[Sidenote: Preface.]\n\nHaving declared in what sense and acceptation we allow of Witches, and\nin what notion we deny them, lest we be misunderstood we shall add thus\nmuch: That we do not (as the Schools speak) deny the existence of\nWitches _absolut\u00e8 & simpliciter, sed secund\u00f9m quid_, and that they do\nnot exist _tali modo_, that is, they do not make a visible Contract with\nthe Devil, he doth not suck upon their bodies, they have not carnal\nCopulation with him, and the like recited before, and in these respects,\nand not otherwise, did _Wierus_, _Gutierrius_ and Mr. _Scot_ deny\nWitches, that is, that neither they nor their supposed Familiars could\nperform such things as are ascribed unto them. And that Dr. _Casaubon_\nand Mr. _Glanvil_ should charge those that hold this opinion with\nAtheism or Sadducism, is to me very strange, having no ground,\nconnexion, or rational consequence so to do: yet doth Dr. _Casaubon_\naffirm it in these words: \u201cNow one prime foundation (saith he) of\nAtheism, as by many ancient and late is observed, being the not\nbelieving the existence of spiritual Essences, whether good or bad,\nseparate, or united, subordinate to God, as to the supreme and original\nCause of all; and by consequent the denying of supernatural operations:\nI have, I confess, applied my self, by my examples, which in this case\ndo more than any reasoning, and (the Authority of the holy Scriptures\nlaid aside) are almost the only convincing proof.\u201d And Mr. _Glanvil_ is\nso confident (I might justly say impudent) that he styled his Book, _A\nBlow at modern Sadducism_, which, I confess, is so weak a blow, and so\nblindly levell\u2019d, and so improperly directed, that I am sure it will\nkill or hurt no body: and tells us this boldly and roundly. \u201cAnd those\nthat dare not bluntly say, _There is no God_, content themselves, (for a\nfair step and introduction) to deny there are Spirits or Witches. Which\nsort of Infidels, though they are not ordinary among the meer Vulgar,\nyet are they numerous in a little higher rank of understandings. And\nthose that know any thing of the World, know that most of the looser\nGentry, and the small Pretenders to Philosophy and Wit, are generally\nderiders of the belief of Witches and Apparitions.\u201d And the whole design\nof his Book is to prove those men to be guilty of Sadducism, that deny\nthe existence of Witches understood in his sense, and this we oppose,\nand the state of the question we lye down thus.\n\nThat the denying the existence of Angels or Spirits; or the\nResurrection, doth not infer the denying of the Being of God; nor the\ndenying of the existence of Witches (in the sense before laid down)\ninfer the denying of Angels or Spirits; and that they do unjustly charge\nthe Authors of this opinion with Sadducism, we shall prove with\nirrefragable Arguments.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 1._]\n\n1. There can be no right deduction made, nor no right consequence drawn,\nwhere there is no dependency in causality, nor no connexion of\ndependency. For as in the Relative and Correlative, the denying of the\none necessarily destroys the other, yet _fundamentum Relationis non\ndestruitur_; so a father without a child, as a father, doth neither\nexist nor is known, and yet the foundation of those two terms, of\nPaternity and Childship, which is Man, doth remain. So he that denieth\nCreation, doth destroy the Relative, which is Creator; yet the\nfoundation, which is God, doth remain: and the denying of the Creation,\ndoth not infer the necessary conclusion of denying the Being of a God,\nbecause there might be a God, though there were no Creation, because God\nis supposed to be, both in respect of causality and duration, before\nCreation. So what relation can Mr. _Glanvil_ feign betwixt the Being of\nGod and the Being of Angels or Spirits? For they both belong to the\nPredicament of Substance, and not that of Relation; and there is less\nrelation betwixt the Being of a Witch and the Being of Spirits: so that\nthe denying of the one doth not infer the denying of the other. And\nthough there were relation (which Mr. _Glanvil_ cannot shew) the\nfoundation of that Relation (which is so necessary, that Relatives\ncannot subsist without it) might remain, though the Relatives were taken\naway: and therefore the denying of the existence of Angels or Spirits,\ndoth not infer the denying of the Being of God; and therefore the\nAuthors of this opinion are wrongfully and falsely charged with Atheism:\nand the denying of the existence of a Witch (in the sense specified)\ndoth not infer the denying of the Being of Spirits; and therefore\n_Scot_, _Osburne_, and the like, are falsely and wrongfully charged with\nSadducism.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 2._]\n\n[Sidenote: Mat. 22. 23. Act. 23. 8.]\n\n2. Though it be a true Maxime, that _de posse ad esse non valet\nargumentum_; yet on the contrary, the possibility of that can never be\nrationally denied, that hath once been in _esse_. But it is apparent,\nthat the Sadducees denied the Resurrection, and that there were either\nAngels or Spirits, that is, they denied that Angels or Spirits, whether\ngood or bad, did separately exist, and that they were nothing but the\ngood or bad motions in mens minds: yet these men were no Atheists; for\nthough they denied the Resurrection, and held that there were no Angels\nor Spirits, yet they held and believed there was a God, and did allow\nof, and believed the five Books of _Moses_, else would not our Saviour\nhave used an argument, whose only strength was drawn from a sentence in\nthe third Chapter of _Exodus_, the sixth verse. So that even the denying\nof the Existence of Angels and Spirits, doth not infer the denying of a\nGod; much less doth the denying the Existence of a Witch, infer the\ndenial of the Being of Angels and Spirits; and therefore the charge of\nAtheism and Sadducism is false, injurious, and scandalous.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 3._]\n\n3. Those things that in their Beings have no dependence one upon\nanother, the denying of the one doth not takeaway or deny the being of\nthe other; but where the being doth meerly exist in dependency upon\nanother superior Cause, there take away or deny the being of the first\nCause, and thereby you take away and deny the being of all the rest that\ndepends upon it. So he that denies the Being of a God, doth necessarily\ndeny the Being of Angels or Spirits; but not on the contrary. For he\nthat denieth the Existence of Angels and Spirits, doth not therefore\nnecessarily take away or deny the Being of a God, because the Being of a\nGod is independent of either Angel or Spirit, and doth exist solely by\nit self. And therefore if _Wierus_ or _Scot_ had denied the Existence of\nAngels and Spirits (which they did not) yet it would not have inferred\nthat they were Atheists; and therefore are falsely accused by Dr.\n_Casaubon_ and Mr. _Glanvil_. And though they should have denied the\nExistence of Witches (which they did not _simpliciter, sed tali modo_)\nyet it would not have inferred, that they were guilty of Sadducism,\nbecause Spirits or Demons have their Existence without any dependence of\nthe being of Witches; and therefore it is but a poor _fallacia\nconsequenti\u00e6_ to say, he that denies a Witch, denies a Demon or Spirit.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 4._]\n\n4. The denying of the Existence of Spirits, doth not infer the denying\nof the Being of a God, because in the priority of duration God was when\nSpirits were not, for they are not immortal _\u00e0 parte ant\u00e9_. So likewise\nthe denying of the Existence of Witches, doth not infer the denial of\nthe Being of Spirits, for in the priority of duration Spirits were\nexistent before Witches; for _Adam_ and _Eve_ could not be ignorant that\nthere were Spirits, both good and bad, and yet then there were no\nWitches. So that a Spirit having, in respect of duration, a Being before\nthat a Witch can have any; the denying the Existence of the latter, doth\nnot infer the denying of the Being of the former, but is meerly\ninconsequent, agreeable to no Rules of Logick, except that of\nLogger-head Colledge.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 5._]\n\n5. Many properties or proper adjuncts may be ascribed unto a substance,\nthe denying of which adjuncts, doth not infer the denying of the being\nof the substance. So that to deny that a Horse hath fins like a fish, or\nwings like a bird, doth not infer the denying of the being of a Horse.\nTherefore it is injurious and scandalous in Dr. _Casaubon_ and Mr.\n_Glanvil_, to charge Dr. _Wierus_ and Mr. _Scot_ with Atheism and\nSadducism, when indeed (as we shall prove hereafter) their own Tenents\ntend to blasphemy, impiety, vanity, and uncharitableness.\n\nAnother thing that we oppose is, that Apparitions are no warrantable\nground for a Christian to believe the Existence of Angels and Spirits\nby, but the Word of God, which these cogent reasons do sufficiently\nprove.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 1._]\n\n1. For to say that the Apparitions of Spirits, good or bad, do prove\ntheir Existence, is but _petitio principii_, a begging of the question,\nthat first is in doubt, and ought to be proved. For how come we to be\nassured, that the Apparitions that are made, and really by\nunquestionable Witnesses attested for truth (not to speak of melancholy\nFancies, and Fables, Knacks of Knavery and Imposture, and other ignorant\nand gross mistakes, which are often believed to be Apparitions, when\nthey are no such matter) that they are made by good or bad Spirits? for\nthat is the thing in doubt, and so is but a circular way of arguing by\nway of begging the question, or proving _ignotum per ignotius_; for\nApparitions do not prove the Being of Spirits, except it be first\nproved, that those Apparitions be made or caused by Spirits.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 2._]\n\n2. There are many Apparitions that are produced by natural and\nartificial Causes, and need not be referred to supernatural ones, as are\nall those _Idola_, Images, or Species that we see in Glasses, which\ncannot be denied to be Apparitions, and yet arise from natural Causes.\nSo the Apparition of Comets, new Stars, and many other sort of strange\nMeteors, as sometimes three Suns, the Rain-bow, _Halones_, and the like,\nthat have natural Causes to produce them, and are no proof of the Being\nof Spirits. Nay as the best and most credible Historians have left upon\nRecord, and hath been known to be a certain verity in divers parts of\nthese three Kingdoms, within the space of these forty years, strange and\nvarious Sights have been seen in the Air, both of Men, and Horses, and\nArmies fighting one with another; and yet were these no proof of the\nExistence of Spirits, because they may (and doubtlesly do) proceed from\nother causes, and not from the operation or efficiency of Angels or\nSpirits, either good or bad.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 3._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Jo. Drusii Pr\u00e6terit. l. 7. p. 289._]\n\n[Sidenote: _De Subtil._ _l._ 19. _p._ 1202, 1203.]\n\n[Sidenote: _De Nymph._ _lib. pag._ 389.]\n\n[Sidenote: The invisible World, sect. 6. pag. 303.]\n\n3. It is not certainly known what diversity of Creatures there may be\nthat are _medi\u00e6 natur\u00e6_ betwixt Angels and Men, that may sometimes\nappear, and then vanish: so that if it be granted, that there be\nApparitions really and truly, yet it will not necessarily follow, that\nthese are caused by good or bad Angels, because they may be effected by\nCreatures of another and middle Nature; and so Apparitions no certain\nground for the believing of the Existence of Angels or Spirits. For the\nmost learned _Drusius_ gives us this account from one of the\nCommentators upon the Book _Aboth_. \u201c_Debet homo intelligere ac scire \u00e0\nterra usq; ad firmamentum, quod Rakia, id est, Expansum appellant, omnia\nplena esse turmis & pr\u00e6fectis, & infr\u00e0 plurimas esse creaturas l\u00e6dentes\n& accusantes, omn\u00e9sq; stare ac volare in a\u00ebre, neq; \u00e0 terra usq; ad\nfirmamentum locum esse vacuum: sed omnia plena esse pr\u00e6positis, quorum\nalii ad pacem, alii ad bellum, alii ad bonum, alii ad malum; ad vitam &\nad mortem incitant. Ob id compositum fuit canticum occursuum, quod\nincipit, Sedet in occulto Supremus._\u201d And if this be a truth, here are\norders and numbers enough of several sorts to make Apparitions, and yet\nbe neither the good or bad Angels. And if there may any credit be given\nto the relation that _Cardan_ gives of his Father _Facius Cardanus_,\nwhich he had from his own mouth, and also had left it in writing; then\n\u201cthere are mortal Demons, that are born and do die as men do, that can\nappear and disappear, and are of such most tenuious bodies, that they\ncan afford us neither help nor, hurt, excepting terrors, and spectres,\nand knowledge\u201d. And if there may be credit given to _Plutarch_ (so\nhighly magnified by Dr. _Casaubon_) the God _Pan_ of the Heathens must\nhave been one of these mortal Demons, because he tells us upon the\ncredit of _Epotherses_ (a Tale of hear-say) \u201cThat _Thamus_ was by a\nvoice thrice calling upon him, commanded that when he came to _Palodes_,\nhe should tell them, that the great God _Pan_ was dead\u201d. And that there\nare such mortal Demons, is strongly asserted by _Paracelsus_, and by him\ncalled _Nymph\u00e6_, _Sylphi_, _Pygm\u00e6i_, and _Salamandr\u00e6_, and that they are\nnot of _Adams_ Generation, and that they have wonderful power and skill.\nAnd to this opinion do the Schools both of the ancient and later\nAcademicks wholly incline, and seems to be favoured both by Dr. _Moor_\nand Mr. _Glanvil_ himself; and if there be any such matters, doubtless\nfrom thence did arise all the strange stories and gests that former\nGenerations have told and believed concerning the Apparition of these\nkind of Creatures, which the common people call _Fayries_: of which the\nReverend and Learned person Bishop _Hall_ giveth us this touch: \u201cThe\ntimes are not past the ken of our memory, since the frequent (and in\nsome part true) reports of those familiar Devils, Fayries, and Goblins,\nwherewith many places were commonly haunted; the rarity whereof in these\nlatter times, is sufficient to descry the difference betwixt the state\nof ignorant Superstition, and the clear light of the Gospel.\u201d And\nwhosoever shall seriously read and consider that little Piece that was\nprinted some few years since, though written long ago, and by some (that\npretend to no small share of Learning) cryed up exceedingly for a most\nconvincing Relation, to prove the Existence of Spirits, called, _The\nDevil of Mascon_, may easily gather, that if the thing were truly\nrelated, as to the matter of fact, that it must needs be some Creature\nof a middle Nature, and no evil Spirit, both because it was such a\nsportful and mannerly Creature, that it would leave them, and not\ndisturb them at their devotions; as also (as far as I remember, for I\nhave not the Book by me) because it denied that it was a Devil, and\nprofessed that it hoped to be saved by Christ.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 4._]\n\n[Sidenote: Joh. 15. 15.]\n\n[Sidenote: Act. 20. 27.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Tim. 3. 15, 16, 17.]\n\n[Sidenote: Eph. 6. 11, 12, 13.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Cor. 2. 11.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Pet. 1. 19.]\n\n[Sidenote: Luk. 16. 29, 30, 31.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Sup. Gen. ad lit._ _l._ 2.]\n\n[Sidenote: Isa. 8. 19, 20.]\n\n4. That the Scriptures contain in them all things necessary to\nSalvation, is so clear a truth, that none but those that are wilfully\nblind can deny it; for Christ taught his Disciples _all things that he\nhad learned of the Father_, and the Father sending him to be the Saviour\nof the World, and to preach the Gospel of eternal Salvation, was not\ndefective in declaring all things that were necessary to accomplish the\nwork and end, for which he was sent forth of the Father. And the\nglorious Apostle St. _Paul_ tells the Disciples and Brethren, _That he\nhad not shunned to declare unto them all the counsel of God_, which must\nof necessity be abundantly sufficient for their Salvations. And he\ntelleth _Timothy_, _That he had known the Scriptures from a child, which\nwere able to make him wise unto salvation. All Scripture is given by\ninspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for\ncorrection, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be\nperfect, throughly furnished unto all good works._ Nay the Woman of\n_Samaria_ had so much knowledge and faith, that she believed _that when\nthe Messias was come, he would tell them all things_. Now to the\nobtaining of Salvation, there is nothing more necessary than to know\nwhat enemies men have to fight against in their Christian Warfare, which\nthe Apostle tells in these words: _For we wrestle not against flesh and\nblood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of\nthe darkness of this world, against Spiritual wickedness in high places:\nWherefore they are to take unto them the whole armor of God_, \u03c0\u03b1\u03bd\u03bf\u03c0\u03bb\u03af\u03b1\u03bd\n\u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u0398\u03b5\u03bf\u1fe6, _that they may be able to stand against the wiles of the\nDevil_, \u03bc\u03b5\u03b8\u03bf\u03b4\u03b5\u03af\u03b1\u03c2 \u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u03b4\u03b9\u03b1\u03b2\u03cc\u03bb\u03bf\u03c5: and that made the Apostle say in another\nplace, _We are not ignorant of his devices or crafts_, \u03bd\u03bf\u03ae\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1. Now the\nScriptures being able to make us wise to Salvation, it hath sufficiently\ndeclared the natures, powers, knowledge, and offices of both the good\nand bad Angels, and is a sure word of Prophecy, unto which it is good to\ntake heed, and not unto old wives fables of Apparitions and Goblins,\nsuch as Mr. _Glanvil_ would perswade us that they are tydings of another\nWorld, when we are taught by unerring testimony of Truth, _That those\nthat have Moses and the Prophets, and do not hear them, neither will\nthey be perswaded, though one rose from the dead_. And therefore we must\nbe bold to tell Mr. _Glanvil_, that the Sacred Scriptures do with\ninfallible certitude teach us, that both good and bad Spirits have most\ncertainly an Existence, and therefore we need none of his feigned nor\nforged stories of Apparitions; which if they were certainly known to be\ntrue and real, by undeceivable matters of fact, yet he that doth not\nbelieve what is written of the Being of Spirits by _Moses_ and the\nProphets, will not believe Apparitions, no not of a man, if he came from\nthe dead. And therefore I will conclude with that precious and pithy\nSentence of St. _Austin_, who saith: _Major est hujus Scriptur\u00e6\nauthoritas, qu\u00e0m omnis humani ingenii perspicacitas_. And believe not\nthem that say, If you would know the power of Devils and Witches, go to\nthe Writings of Dr. _Casaubon_, Mr. _Glanvil_, and to the rest of the\nDemonographers and Witchmongers, that amass and heap together all the\nlying, vain improbable, and impossible stories that can be scraped forth\nof any Author, ancient, middle, or modern, when we are commanded to go\n_to the Law and to the Testimony, if they speak not according to this\nword, it is because there is no truth in them_. And so I shall shut up\nthis Chapter, wherein (I suppose) I have sufficiently proved, that the\ndenying of such a Witch as I have described, doth not infer the denial\nof the Being of Angels or Spirits, and that Apparitions are no\nsufficient grounds for Christians to believe the Existence of Angels and\nSpirits by, but the Word of God; which was the thing undertaken to be\nproved.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAP. IV.\n\n  _That the Scriptures and sound Reason are the true and proper Mediums\n    to prove the Actions attributed unto Witches by, and not other\n    improper ways that many Authors have used. And of the Requisites\n    necessary truly to prove a matter of Fact by._\n\n\nAs we have in the former Chapter proved, that Apparitions (though true)\nare no sufficient warrant to ground our belief upon, for the Existence\nof Angels or Spirits, but the Word of God: so here we shall endeavour\nclearly to manifest, that the Sacred Scriptures are the only Medium,\njoyned with sound Reason, of deciding this point of the power and\noperation of Demons and Witches, and not other improper Mediums brought\nin by divers Authors, and first we shall answer the Objection of Mr.\n_Glanvil_, that runs thus.\n\n[Sidenote: _Object. 1._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Pag._ 96, 97.]\n\n\u201cThat though the New Testament had mentioned nothing of this matter, yet\nits silence in such cases is not argumentative. He said nothing of those\nlarge unknown Tracts of _America_, nor gave he any intimations of as\nmuch as the existence of that numerous people; much less did he leave\ninstructions about their Conversion. He gives no account of the affairs\nand state of the other World, but only that general one of the happiness\nof some, and the misery of others. He made no discovery of the\n_Magnalia_ of Art or Nature, no not of those whereby the propagation of\nthe Gospel might have been much advanced, _viz._ the Mystery of Printing\nand the Magnet, and yet no one useth his silence in these instances as\nan argument against the being of things, which are evident objects of\nsense.\u201d To which we answer.\n\n[Sidenote: _Respons._]\n\n1. He falleth into a common mistake in making the Proposition universal,\nand _dolus versatur in universalibus_, when it ought but to be\nparticular: so for him to say, that no silence of Scripture is\nargumentative, is too universal; for its silence in point of Geography,\nas in describing _America_, and the people thereof, nor in discovering\nthe _Magnalia Natur\u00e6 & Artis_ is not argumentative; and we do not say,\nthat all silence of Scripture is argumentative, but yet we affirm that\nsome silence of Scripture is argumentative. So we cannot universally\nsay, that nothing hath a being but what is mentioned in Scripture; but\nwe may very well affirm, that some things have no being, or truth of\nexistence, because not declared in Scripture.\n\n[Sidenote: _Lib._ 1. _c._ 1.]\n\n2. The Scriptures were not written to teach Natural Philosophy, Arts or\nSciences, humane Policy, or the like; but were given, _that the man of\nGod might be perfect, furnished for every good work_: and it is by them\nthat we have the doctrine of eternal Salvation revealed unto us, and we\npositively affirm the sufficiency of the Scriptures unto Salvation,\nwhich thing no Orthodox Divine (we suppose) will deny, and _Bellarmine_\nhimself did confess in these words: _Prophetici & Apostolici libri sunt\nverum verbum Dei, ac stabilis regula fidei_. And if it be a certain Rule\nof Faith, and the true Word of God, then whatsoever it is silent of, we\nought not to believe, and so its silence is argumentative in that point.\nThe Scriptures are utterly silent concerning Purgatory, and therefore it\nis a good argument to affirm there is no such place as Purgatory,\nbecause the Word of God is silent as concerning it; but if it had been\nnecessary to have been believed, then there would have been mention made\nof it.\n\n3. And as the Scriptures are sufficient in matters of Faith, and _circa\ncredenda_, and what they are silent in, are not to be received as\nArticles of our Faith, but to be rejected, as having no truth of\nExistence: So likewise what Worship God requireth of his people, is\nfully revealed in his Word, and therefore I am to reject the worshipping\nof _Mahomet_ with the Turks, or Images, and praying to Saints with the\nPapists, because I have neither precept nor president in the Word, but\nit is silent in such matters; nay tells us, _That he is the Lord our\nGod, and him only we ought to serve_.\n\n[Sidenote: _Pag._ 87, 88. 23.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Origin. Sacr._ _l._ 3. _c._ 6. _p._ 608.]\n\n[Sidenote: Invisib. World, p. 112.]\n\n[Sidenote: Joh. 17. 24.]\n\n[Sidenote: Serm. c. 7.]\n\n[Sidenote: Wisd. 3. 1.]\n\n[Sidenote: Luk. 23. 43.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Concio secunda de Lazaro._]\n\n[Sidenote: Luk. 16. 22, 23.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Sam. 12. 23.]\n\n[Sidenote: Job 7. 9, 10.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Idem._ 10. 20, 21.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Bellarm. Enervat._ _tom._ 2. _l._ 5. _p._ 204.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Homil._ _sect._ 16. _pag._ 484.]\n\n4. Though Mr. _Glanvil_ say, that God hath given no account of the state\nof the other World, but only that general one of the happiness of some,\nand the misery of others; yet Am I to believe as Mr. _Glanvil_ somewhere\nin his Book affirmeth, that _Samuels_ Soul was raised up by the Woman at\n_Endor_, and that those that he feigneth to make Leagues and Contracts\nwith Witches, are the Souls of such as had been Witches when they lived,\nand asketh, Who saith that happy Souls were never imployed in any\nministeries here below? Or am I to believe that both the Souls of the\ngodly and wicked, do rove up and down here upon earth, and make\nApparitions, because the Popish Teachers do hold it to be so? I hope\nnot, and therefore I shall in part give an answer here to some of these,\nand handle that of the Woman of _Endor_ in another place. 1. The Word of\nGod doth particularly teach us the state and condition of the Souls\nafter death, that they shall be like the Angels in Heaven; and all other\nthings necessary to move and draw us to believe the immortal Existence\nof Souls, as that most able and learned Divine Dr. _Stillingfleet_ hath\nasserted in these words: \u201cThe Scriptures give the most faithful\nrepresentation of the state and condition of the Soul of Man. The World\n(he saith) was almost lost in Disputes concerning the Nature, Condition,\nand Immortality of the Soul, before divine Revelation was made known to\nMankind by the Gospel of Christ; _but life and immortality was brought\nto light by the Gospel_, and the future state of the soul of man not\ndiscovered in an uncertain Platonical way, but with the greatest light\nand evidence from that God who hath the supreme disposal of souls, and\ntherefore best knows and understands them.\u201d A Sentence truly pious and\northodoxal. 2. Hath not God in the holy Scriptures amply and plainly\ntaught us the state of the other World, in describing unto us such a\nnumerous company of Seraphims and Cherubims, Angels and Archangels, with\ntheir several Orders, Offices, Ministeries, and Imployments? and this is\nmore than a general account, as may be seen at full in that learned and\ngodly Piece of Bishop _Halls_, called _The invisible World_. And hath he\nnot given us a particular account of the very Kingdom of Darkness,\ntelling us of the Devil and his Angels, and precisely in this\nenumeration? _For we wrestle not with flesh and blood, but against\nprincipalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of\nthis world, against spiritual wickedness in high places._ And this is\nmore than a general account, and we must needs say, that what he holds\nis very derogatory to the wisdom and goodness of God, and the\nsufficiency and truth of the Scriptures. 3. Must I believe him that the\nsouls of the Saints do rove and wander here below? when as Bishop _Hall_\nsaith, where he is speaking against the opinion of those that hold, that\nSouls do sleep until the Day of Judgment: \u201cIndeed who can but wonder\nthat any Christian can possibly give entertainment to so absurd a\nthought, whilst he hears his Saviour say, _Father I will that they also\nwhom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, and that_ (not in a safe\nsleep) _they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me_.\u201d Sure if\nthe Souls departed be with Christ where he is, and do behold his glory,\nthen it is a Popish Fable of Mr. _Glanvil_, to feign their coming upon\nMessages hither. The saying of St. _Bernard_ is remarkable in this case:\n_Advertistis tres esse sanctarum status animarum, primum videlicet in\ncorpore corruptibili, secundum sine corpore, tertium in corpore jam\nglorificato. Primum in militia, secundum in requie, tertium in\nbeatitudine consummata._ And if the second state of holy Souls be\nwithout a body, and be at peace and rest, then it must necessarily be a\ntruth, that they do not wander here, nor run upon Errands; _For the\nsouls of the righteous are in the hands of the Lord, and there shall no\ntorment touch them_. And our Saviour told the Thief upon the Cross,\n_This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise_, that is, as Dr. _Hammond_\ngiveth the Paraphrase: \u201cImmediately after thy death thou shalt go to a\nplace of bliss, and there abide with me, a Member of that my Kingdom\nwhich thou askest for.\u201d Now if the souls of the godly, after their\ndeath, be immediately in a place of bliss, and abide with Christ as\nMembers of his Kingdom, then they do not wander up and down here, as Mr.\n_Glanvil_ and the Papists vainly fancy and believe; for as _Chrysostome_\nsaith upon that place of _Lazarus_ his being carried by Angels into\n_Abrahams_ bosome. \u201cWhat is it then that the Devils say, I am the Soul\nof such a Monk? Truly I therefore believe it not, because the Devils say\nit, for they deceive their Auditors.\u201d 4. Or must I believe that the\nsouls of the wicked do wander, and make Apparitions here, because Mr.\n_Glanvil_ and the Popish Writers tell me so? I hope not; for the Text\ntelleth us plainly, that the rich man presently after his death was in\nHell in torments, and could not come hither unto earth again to warn his\nbrethren, otherwise he would not have prayed _Abraham_ to have sent\n_Lazarus_. And whether it be taken for a real History of things done, or\nbut a Parable, yet the spiritual meaning of our Saviour must be\ninfallibly true, that immediately after death the souls of the godly are\nby Angels carried into _Abrahams_ bosome, and the wicked go down into\nHell, from whence there is no redemption; and therefore do not wander up\nand down here, nor make any Apparitions: for I imagine that the\nauthority of holy King _David_, a Prophet and a man after Gods own\nheart, is to be preferred before the authority of a thousand Popish\nWriters, and he tells us, when the child was dead: _But now he is dead,\nwherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him,\nbut he shall not return to me._ And _Job_ tells us: _As the cloud is\nconsumed, and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave, shall\ncome up no more, he shall return no more to his house, neither shall his\nplace know him any more_. And therefore it was a vain argument of\n_Bellarmine_ when he said: \u201c_Apparitiones animarum ex Purgatorio\nvenientium idem testantur_.\u201d To which the Protestants answer: \u201cBut who\nshall bear witness of these Apparitions, that they were not either\nfeigned fables, or Satanical illusions? They were men, and might be\ndeceived, even the best of them, with whom doth rest the faith of these\nNarrations.\u201d 5. And whereas he audaciously asketh, \u201cWho saith that happy\nSouls were never imployed in any Ministeries here below?\u201d I shall tell\nhim who they are that say, that happy Souls departed are never imployed\nhere in any Ministeries; and they are all the learned Divines of the\nReformed Churches, and all those that were true Sons of the Doctrine of\nthe Church of _England_, such as were Bishop _Jewel_, Bishop _Hall_, Dr.\n_Willet_, Dr. _Whitaker_, Mr. _Perkins_, and many more such, the\nauthority and reputation of the least of which is far above the simple\nquestion of Mr. _Glanvil_. And therefore saith the latter Confession of\n_Helvetia_: \u201cNow that which is recorded of the Spirits or Souls of the\ndead sometimes appearing to them that are alive, &c. we count those\nApparitions among the delusions and deceits of the Devil.\u201d\n\n5. And as the Scriptures are sufficient both in respect of matters of\nFaith, and concerning divine Worship, that their silence in those two\nparticulars are fully argumentative, to deny whatever is not contained\nin them, as unfit to be received to either purpose. So in respect of a\nChristians warfare, all things for the obtaining of a perfect and\ncompleat victory, and for standing and perseverance, are in them fully\ndeclared, and what they mention not is to be rejected, as wanting the\nseal of Divine Authority, whether it be in regard of eschewing what is\nprohibited, or in following what is commanded. And therefore we affirm,\nthat what the Scriptures have not revealed of the power of the Kingdom\nof Satan, is to be rejected, and not to be believed, and what weapons we\nare to use against the wiles of the Devil, we are to be furnished\nwithal, but have need of no others but what the Holy Ghost in the\nScriptures hath made known unto us, the rest are to be cast off, as\nfables and lyes, or humane inventions, because the Scriptures are silent\nof any such matter, and that for these weighty grounds and\nconsiderations.\n\n[Sidenote: _De Doctrin. Christian._]\n\n1. We shall take the Concession of _Bellarmine_ himself, who saith:\n_Nullum est vitium ad quod sanandum non invenitur in Scriptura aliquod\nremedium_. And again: _Illa qu\u00e6 sunt simpliciter omnibus necessaria,\nApostoli consueverunt omnibus pr\u00e6dicare: & aliorum qu\u00e6 sunt omnibus\nutilia_. And to the same purpose is the saying of St. _Austin_: _Titubat\nfides, si divinarum Scripturarum vacillet authoritas: porr\u00f2 fide\ntitubante, etiam ipsa charitas languescit_. Therefore if there be no\nfault for which the Scripture doth not yield some remedy, then surely to\nmake a visible League with the Devil, or to have carnal Copulation with\nhim, either must have no verity at all in it, or that the Scripture hath\nprovided no remedy for it, for of such things there is no mention. And\nif Faith must stumble, where the authority of the Scriptures is wanting,\nthen surely the belief of all rational men must needs be staggering, to\nbelieve what these common Witchmongers affirm of the Witches visible\nLeague and carnal Copulation with the Devil, when there is no authority\nof Scripture at all to strengthen or countenance any such matter.\n\n[Sidenote: Eph. 6. 11, 12, 13.]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Pet. 5. 8, 9.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Cor. 10. 4, 5.]\n\n2. The Scriptures do fully and abundantly inform us of the Devils\nspiritual and invisible power, and against the same declares unto us the\nwhole Armor of God, with which we ought to be furnished, as the Apostle\nsaith: _Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand\nagainst the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and\nblood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of\nthe darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.\nWherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to\nwithstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand._ And the\nApostle St. _Peter_ telleth us: _Be sober, be vigilant, because your\nadversary the devil, like a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he\nmay devour; whom resist stedfast in the faith_. And in another place:\n_For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God\nto the pulling down of strong holds, casting down imaginations, and\nevery high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God_.\nFrom which Scriptures we may take these remarkable observations.\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Cor. 2. 11.]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Tim. 3. 7.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Tim. 2. 26.]\n\n1. We are to consider the nature of this Warfare, that it is spiritual\nand against spiritual wickedness in high places, and not against flesh\nand blood; and the Holy Ghost could not be wanting nor defective, but\nsuperabundantly full in describing the nature of this warfare, that it\nis spiritual, not carnal; and therefore we are to prepare our selves\nagainst all spiritual assaults: but as for any visible, carnal, or\nbodily, there is not, nor can be any such, because the Apostle that\ndeclared by his Preaching and Writings the whole counsel of God, hath\nrevealed no such thing as the visible appearing of Satan, much less of\nhis making of a visible League with the Witches, or the sucking of their\nbodies, or the having carnal Copulation with them, which must of\nnecessity be lyes and figments, because the Holy Ghost hath not warned\nus of any such, which we ought certainly to believe he would have done,\nif there had been any such matter. And the holy Apostle, who was not\nignorant of the devices \u03bd\u03bf\u03ae\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1, notions or intentions of Satan, would\nnot have omitted to have warned the godly, if there had been any such\nmatter as a visible League, sucking of their bodies, or carnal\nCopulation, the thing being of so great weight and concern. For as one\nsaid well: _Grave est de vita & bonis periclitari, sed mult\u00f2 gravius\ninsidiantem habere Satanam_. And he that so often hath given us warning\nof the wiles, devices, and snares of the Devil, if there had been any\nsuch dangerous snare as this, would without doubt have given us notice\nof it.\n\n2. We are to consider the end of this Warfare, that it is for no less\nthan a Crown, and that not a terrestrial, but a celestial one, not a\nfading one, but an everlasting one, a Crown of eternal life, of immortal\nglory, even for an house given of God, eternal in the Heavens. Therefore\nthis being a thing of the greatest concern that belongs to a Christian,\nthe Apostle would not doubtlesly omit any thing that had been necessary\nto the obtaining of such an inestimable prize, and such an important\nVictory; and therefore cannot in reason have concealed or omitted such a\nweighty matter as a visible League, and the like, if there had been any\nsuch thing.\n\n[Sidenote: Eph. 6. 14, 15, 16, 17, 18.]\n\n3. We are to consider that this Armor prescribed for the Souldiers of\nJesus Christ, is _the whole armor of God_, \u03c0\u03b1\u03bd\u03bf\u03c0\u03bb\u03af\u03b1\u03bd, the compleat armor\nof God (as Dr. _Hammond_ renders it) perfect both for defence and\noffence. And therefore the Apostle describes it fully by a Metaphor,\ntaken from such Arms as the _Roman_ or other Nations in his time use,\nsaying: _Stand therefore, having your loyns girt about with truth, and\nhaving on the breast-plate of righteousness: And your feet shod with the\npreparation of the Gospel of peace. Above all taking the shield of\nfaith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the\nwicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit,\nwhich is the word of God. Praying always with all prayer and\nsupplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance\nand supplication for all Saints._ And as it is a compleat and perfect\nArmor, both in respect of defence and offence; so it is a spiritual, not\na carnal, corporeal, or bodily armor, because the warfare _is not\nagainst flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness in high\nplaces_, against spiritual enemies, not against corporeal and carnal\nones; for as the enemies are and the warfare, so are the armor and\nweapons. From whence we truly urge, that the Apostle led by the Holy\nGhost, and the Wisdom of the Father, and knowing the whole counsel of\nGod (especially in this point) hath omitted nothing that is fitting\narmor for a Christian either of defence or offence, whereby he may be\ninabled to get the victory against Satan, and all his spiritual Army.\nAnd therefore that either Satan hath not power, or doth not assault\nChristians after a visible, carnal, and bodily manner, or else that the\nHoly Ghost hath been defective in prescribing armor against such\nassaults, and consequently that the armor of a Souldier of Jesus Christ\nis not compleat, or else there is no such bodily assaults of Satan at\nall, as to tempt visibly, to make a corporeal League, to suck upon the\nWitches bodies, nor to have carnal Copulation with them. But we affirm,\nand that (as we conceive) with sound reason, that the Scriptures in this\nparticular of a Christians armor, and the compleatness of it, is\nabundantly sufficient against all spiritual assaults whatsoever, and\nconsequently that there is no other kind of assaults but meerly\nspiritual, and therefore the Word of God, the most proper _Medium_ with\nsound reason, to judge of the power of Spirits and Devils by.\n\n[Sidenote: _Gregor. sup. Ezekiel._ _Homil._ 6.]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Tim. 1. 17.]\n\n[Sidenote: Heb. 12. 9.]\n\n3. That the Scriptures and sound reason are the only true and proper\n_Medium_ to decide these Controversies by, is most undeniably apparent,\nbecause God is a Spirit, and the invisible God, and therefore best knows\nthe nature and power of the spiritual and invisible World, and being the\nGod of truth, can and doth inform us of their power and operations,\nbetter than the vain lyes and figments of the Heathen Poets, or the\ndreams of the Platonick School, either elder or later, nay better than\nall the notional and groundless speculations of the Schoolmen, of whom\nit may truly be said that, _Rivulo divin\u00e6 Scriptur\u00e6 relicto, in abyssos\nvanarum opinionum incid\u00earunt_. Nay these can better inform us in this\npoint, than the Writings of all Mortals besides, and therefore\nwhatsoever may be said to the contrary, may receive its answer from the\nFather: _Quod de Scripturis sacris authoritatem non habet, e\u00e2dem\nfacilitate contemnitur, qu\u00e2 probatur_. Therefore he being _the King\neternal, immortal, invisible, and the only wise God_, of none can we so\ntruly and certainly learn these things, as of him who hath plentifully\ntaught us in his Word all things necessary to Salvation, _that the man\nof God may be perfect, throughly furnished to every good work_. Nay _he\nis the Father of Spirits_, and therefore truly knoweth, and can and doth\nteach us their Natures, Offices, and Operations.\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Orig. sacr._ _l._ 1. _c._ 1. _p._ 15.]\n\n[Sidenote: Levit. 18. 22, 23, 24.]\n\n4. The Scriptures (especially the Writings of _Moses_) considered only\nas Historical, are of more antiquity, verity, and certainty both as to\nDoctrine, Precepts, matters of Fact, and Chronology, than all other\nHistories whatsoever, whether of the Phenicians, Egyptians, Chaldeans,\nor Grecians, as the learned person Dr. _Stillingfleet_ hath sufficiently\nproved. Now if there had been such an one as a Witch, that made a\nvisible League with the Devil, and upon whose body he suckt, and with\nwhom he had carnal Copulation, something of that nature would doubtless\nhave been recorded in the Scriptures, of which notwithstanding there is\nnot the least tittle or mention. And _Moses_ who was so perfect a\nLaw-giver, as in a manner to omit no kind or sort of sin or evil that\nmen possibly could commit, but to forbid it, and make a Law against it,\ncould never have left out such an horrid, unnatural, and hellish\nwickedness as carnal Copulation with the fallen Angels, if there had\nbeen any such matter. For he saith, after he had forbidden all sorts of\nFornications, Adulteries, and Incests: _Thou shalt not lye with mankind,\nas with womankind: it is abomination. Neither shalt thou lye with any\nbeast to defile thy self therewith: neither shall any woman stand before\na beast to lye down thereto: it is confusion. Defile not your selves in\nany of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled, which I\ncast out before you._ Now it cannot be rationally imagined, that _Moses_\nhaving named and prohibited the less sins of bestial Copulation and\nSodomy, would have left out that which is the most horrid and execrable\nof all others, to wit, carnal Copulation with Devils, if there had been\nany such thing either in possibility or act. And therefore we may\nconclude according to the rules of sound reason, that there is no such\nmatter, and that the Scriptures are the most fit _Medium_ to decide\nthese Controversies.\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Thess. 3. 2.]\n\n5. The Scriptures and sound reason are the most fit Mediums to determine\nthese things by, because there is nothing that any hath written upon\nthis Subject (though the Authors be superfluously numerous) but if it\nagree not with the principles of right reason, and the rules of the\nScriptures, they ought to be rejected. For what is not consonant to\nright reason, ought not to be received by any that truly are rational\nCreatures; and what agrees not with the Word of God, ought not to be\nentertained by any that are or would be accounted good or true\nChristians. And if all the gross fables, lyes, impossibilities, and\nnonsensical stories that Demonographers and Witchmongers have related\nand accumulated together, were brought to the test of the Scriptures and\nsound reason, they would soon be hissed off the Stage, and find few\nbelievers or embracers of them. But alas! all (nay few men) have the\nright use and exercise of their rational faculty, but men to see to are\nin themselves as beasts; and therefore we may all pray with the Apostle\nto be delivered from unreasonable men, or men without reason, or absurd\nmen, that make no right use of reason, \u1f00\u03c4\u03cc\u03c0\u03c9\u03bd \u1f00\u03bd\u03b8\u03c1\u03ce\u03c0\u03c9\u03bd.\n\n[Sidenote: Dan. 4. 35.]\n\n[Sidenote: Gal. 4. 4.]\n\n[Sidenote: Joh. 9. 1, 2, 3.]\n\n[Sidenote: Joh. 5. 14.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Thom. Aquin. caten. aur. in loc._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Ut supr._]\n\n6. The Scriptures and right reason have declared all things concerning\nSpirits either good or bad, as also all sorts of Diviners (or Witches,\nif you will have them called so) and the nature, power, operations, and\nactions of them, more than any other Book that was written before the\ntime of our Saviours Birth (the dreams and whimsies of the Platonists\nonly excepted) or for the space of three hundred years after, and\ntherefore are the most fit Medium and Authority to determine these\nthings by. 1. For first it is manifest, that all things are ordered by\nthe wisdom of the Almighty, who hath done whatsoever he would both in\nHeaven, _and he doth according to his will in the army of heaven, and\namong the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say\nunto him, What dost thou?_ And these things God doth not by a naked\nprescience, but by his divine will, providence, and ordination, as a\nlearned Divine hath taught us in these words: _Est hoc inprimis\nnecessarium & salutare Christiano n\u00f4sse, qu\u00f2d Deus nihil pr\u00e6scit\ncontingenter, sed qu\u00f2d omnia incommutabili & \u00e6tern\u00e2, infallibil\u00edq;\nvoluntate & providet, & pr\u00e6ponit, & facit_. So it was only his will,\ndecree, and determination, that Christ should not be born, or assume\nhumane nature visibly, but at that precise time that he had appointed,\naccording to the evidence of the Apostle. _But when the fulness of time\nwas come, God sent forth his Son made of a woman, made under the law._\nAnd when that fulness of time was come that he sent him, then did the\ndivine Wisdom and Providence ordain all means, objects and occasions,\nwhereby the fulness of the Godhead that dwelt in him bodily, might be\nmade manifest, by working of miracles, both by himself and his Apostles,\ntherefore were there so many several sorts of Demoniacks, blind, lame,\ndumb, deaf, and diseased, not by chance, but by the providence of the\nFather, and only and chiefly that the work of God might be manifest in\nthem, for the Evangelist tells us: _And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man\nwhich was blind from his birth. And his Disciples asked him, saying,\nMaster, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?\nJesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents, but that\nthe works of God should be made manifest in him._ Upon which place Dr.\n_Hammond_ doth give this clear Paraphrase: \u201cAnd some of his followers\nasked him, saying, Sir, was it any sin of his own, when his soul was in\nanother body, or was it some sin of his parents at the time of his\nconception, which caused this blindness in him? Neither his own, nor his\nparents sins were the cause of this blindness of his, but Gods secret\nwisdom, who meant by this means to shew forth in me his miraculous power\namong you.\u201d And though the Doctor would bring in the opinion of\n_Pythagoras_ of the Transmigration of Souls (of which vain traditional\nfancies he is almost every where guilty) as received and imbibed in by\nsome of the Jews that then followed him: yet it appeareth plainly, that\nit was not interrogated by the Jews, but by his Disciples, \u1f41\u03b9 \u039c\u03b1\u03b8\u03b7\u03bb\u03b1\u1f76,\nand therefore it is a wonder the Doctor should be so grosly mistaken;\nand _Theophylact_ tells us thus much plainly: _Neq; enim Apostoli\nGentiles nugas receperunt, quo anima ante corpus in alio mundo versans\npeccet, ac deinde p\u0153nam quandam recipiat in corpus descendens.\nPiscatores c\u00f9m essent, neq; audiverant tale quiddam, quia h\u00e6c\nPhilosophorum dogmata erant._ And so declareth, that the Disciples\nhaving seen Christ heal the man that had thirty eight years been\nimpotent and lame, and had said unto him, _Behold thou art made whole,\nsin no more lest a worse thing come unto thee_, did conceive, that this\nman being born blind, it had been a punishment upon him, either for his\nown sins, or the sins of his parents, and so doubting asked the\nquestion. And so also do St. _Austin_ and _Chrysostome_ expound the\nplace, which is both sound and rational. And of our Saviours responsion,\n_That neither had this man sinned, nor his parents_, the learned Father\ngiveth a satisfactory answer, saying: _Nunquid vel ipse sine originali\npeccato natus erat, vel vivendo nihil addiderat? Habebant ergo peccatum,\n& ipse & parentes ejus, sed non ipso peccato factum est ut c\u00e6cus\nnasceretur. Ipse autem causam dicit quare c\u00e6cus sit natus, c\u00f9m subdit:\nsed ut manifestentur opera Dei in illo._ And to the same purpose\n_Gregory_ hath this notable passage: _Alia itaq; est percussio, qu\u00e2\npeccator percutitur, ut sine retractatione puniatur: Alia qu\u00e2 peccator\npercutitur, ut corrigatur: Alia qu\u00e2 quisq; percutitur, non ut pr\u00e6terita\ncorrigat, sed ne ventura committat: Alia per quam nec pr\u00e6terita culpa\ncorrigitur, nec futura prohibetur. Sed dum inopinata salus percussionem\nsequitur, salvantis virtus cognita ardenti\u00f9s amatur._ From whence it is\nmanifest, that as the Father in the fulness of time, by his Decree and\nProvidence sent out the Son, _in whom dwelt the fulness of the Godhead\nbodily_, with a purpose to manifest the same by his great and wonderful\nMiracles: so in his divine Wisdom he had ordered fit subjects and\nobjects upon whom that power might be made manifest. And therefore were\nthere such strange diseases offered, especially in Demoniacks, that can\nhardly be parallel\u2019d in any one Country of that small compass, and in so\nshort a time, and all that the works of God might be manifest by that\never-blessed Saviour of Mankind, Jesus Christ. And though there were so\nmany persons, so many several ways perplexed and afflicted both in their\nminds and bodies, as some made deaf and dumb, some torn and contorted in\ntheir members, some thrown on the ground, some into the fire, some\ndriven to live amongst the graves and monuments, and yet all these cured\nby our blessed Saviour: Yet is there no mention made of any that had\nmade a visible League with the Devil, nor upon whose bodies he suckt,\nnor with whom he had carnal Copulation, nor whom he had\ntransubstantiated into Wolves, Dogs, Hares, Cats, or Squirrels; to have\ncured which would have been as great a miracle as any of the rest, but\nthere were no such matters; and therefore we may safely conclude, there\nnever were, are, or can be any such matters, whatsoever may be said to\nthe contrary.\n\n[Sidenote: Act. 8. 9, 10, 11.]\n\n[Sidenote: Act. 13. 8.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Ibid._ 16. 16, 18.]\n\n[Sidenote: Act. 19. 13, 16.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Thess. 2. 9.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Chrysost. in loc._]\n\n2. In the New Testament there is mention made of several sorts of\ndeceiving Impostors, Diviners, or Witches, who were all discovered and\nconquered by that power that Christ had given unto the Apostles; as for\ninstance: _Simon, which before-time in the same city used sorcery, and\nbewitched_ \u03bc\u03b1\u03b3\u03b5\u03cd\u03c9\u03bd \u03ba\u1f76 \u1f10\u03be\u03b9\u03c3\u1ff6\u03bd _the people of Samaria, giving out that\nhimself was some great one. To whom they gave heed from the least to the\ngreatest, saying, This man is the great power of God. And to him they\nhad regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with\nsorceries_; \u03c4\u1ff6\u03c2 \u03bc\u03b1\u03b3\u03b5\u03af\u03b1\u03b9\u03c2 \u1f10\u03be\u03b5\u03c3\u03b1\u03ba\u03ad\u03bd\u03b1\u03b9 \u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u1f7a\u03c2, _seducebat populum suis\nmagicis pr\u00e6stigiis_, saith _Tremellius_; and _Beza_, _Exercuerat artem\nmagicam, & gentem Samari\u00e6 obstupefecerat_; who when he would have bought\nthe gift of the Holy Ghost with money, was rejected by _Peter_ as an\nImpostor and Counterfeit, and declared, _that he was in the gall of\nbitterness_. Such another was _Elymas_ the Sorcerer (for so is his name\nby interpretation) \u1f41 \u03bc\u03ac\u03b3\u03bf\u03c2 who was stricken blind by St. _Paul_. Such an\none was the Damsel that was possessed with a Spirit of Divination, which\nSt. _Paul_ cast forth. And such were the Jewish Exorcists, that took\nupon them to call over them which had evil Spirits, the Name of the Lord\nJesus, saying, _We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. But the man\nin whom the evil spirit was, leapt on them, and overcame them, and\nprevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and\nwounded._ But amongst these several sorts of Diviners, Impostors, or\nWitches, there were none that had made a visible League with the Devil,\nnor upon whose bodies he suckt, nor that had carnal Copulation with him,\nnor were changed into Cats, Dogs, or Wolves: but if the Devil had had\nany such power, or had there been any such sort of Witches, the divine\nWisdom and Providence would have ordained some of them then to have been\nmade apparent, that his power by Christ and the Apostles, might have\nbeen shewed as well in the greater as in the less: and that for the more\nfull manifestation of the Works of God, as for a more triumphant\ndeclaration of the power of Christ in conquering him and his Kingdom,\nand for a more ample warning and instruction to the Children of God to\navoid the snares and wiles of the Devil; but there being no such, then\nwe must rationally conclude, that there now is not, nor ever was, or can\nbe any such matter, but the vain believing of such figments and\nforgeries, is only the cunning and delusion of Satan, who works by lying\nand deceiving wonders \u03c4\u03ad\u03c1\u03b1\u03c3\u03b9 \u03c8\u03b5\u03cd\u03b4\u03bf\u03b9\u03c2, of which St. _Chrysostome_ saith\nthus: _Hoc est, omnem ostentabit potentiam, sed nihil veri, ver\u00f9m omnia\nad seductionem. Et prodigiis, inquit, mendacii. Aut ementitis ac\nludificantibus, aut ad mendacium inducentibus._\n\n[Sidenote: _Pag._ 9.]\n\nHaving now sufficiently proved, that the Scriptures and sound Reason are\nthe proper Mediums to decide these difficulties by, we shall in the next\nplace shew the invalidity of some ways used by the most Authors, to\nprove and defend these Tenents, and _ab uno disce omnes_, take Mr.\n_Glanvil_ for all, in his own words: \u201cThat this being matter of fact, is\nonly capable of the evidence of authority and sense: and by both these,\nthe being of Witches and Diabolical Contracts, is most abundantly\nconfirmed.\u201d To which we shall give this smart Reply. Not to make the\nProposition universal, generally to deny the evidence of authority and\nsense; no, far be it from me to run into that wild and senseless\nabsurdity, which were in a manner to destroy the credibility of all\nhumane testimony: But we shall here speak of the evidence of authority\nand sense with this restriction and limitation, to these Particulars. 1.\nThose Authors that write of Apparitions and Spirits. 2. Those that treat\nof Diabolical Leagues and Contracts. 3. Those that mention the Devil\nsucking of the Witches body, carnal Copulation with them, their being\nchanged into Hares, Dogs, Cats, and Wolves, and the like. These Authors\nwe say are to be read with caution, and their relations not to be\ncredited, except better proof be given to evidence the matters of fact,\nthan hitherto hath been brought by any, and that for these especial\nreasons and necessary cautions.\n\n[Sidenote: _Epist._ _lib._ 7. _pag._ 252.]\n\n[Sidenote: _De defect. oracul._ _p. mihi_ 700.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Plutarch. in vit. Marc. Brut._ _pag._ 361.]\n\n1. The Authors that have recorded stories of this nature, are to be\nseriously considered, whether they have related the matter of fact by\ntheir own proper knowledge, as eye and ear-witnesses of it, or have\ntaken it up by hear-say, common fame, or the relation of others: and if\nwhat they relate, were not of their own certain knowledge or \u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u03bf\u03c8\u03af\u03b1,\nthen is it of little or no credit at all; for the other that relates it,\nmight be guilty either of active or passive deception and delusion, or\nmight have heard it from another, or by common report: of all which\nthere is no certainty, but leaveth sufficient grounds for dubitation,\nand is sufficient to caution a prudent person altogether to suspend his\nassent, until better proof can be brought. There is a story related by\n_Plinius C\u00e6cilius_ to his friend _Sura_, of a House in _Athens_ that was\nhaunted by a Spirit in so terrible and frightful a manner, that it was\nleft utterly forsaken, and none would inhabit in it, until that\n_Athenodorus_ the Philosopher adventured upon it, and abode the coming\nof the Apparition or Phantasm, and upon its signs followed it to a place\nbelow, and then it vanished: he marked the place, and went to the\nMagistrate, and caused the place to be digged up, and found the bones of\na person inchained or fettered, and caused the bones to be buried, and\nso the House remained free afterwards. It is a wonder to think how many\nAuthors have swallowed this relation (nay even _Philip Camerarius_\nhimself, who though a very Learned man, yet in things of this nature too\nextremely credulous) and urged it for proof, as a matter of great credit\nand authority, when we cannot discern that it affords any credible\nground to a rational man to believe it, not only because the very matter\nit self, and the circumstances of it, do yield sufficient grounds of the\nsuspicion of its verity; but chiefly because _Pliny_ doth but relate it\nby hear-say, _exponam ut accepi_, and of it and the rest he desires the\nopinion of his Friend _Sura_, from whom we do not find any answer. The\nstory taken from _Plutarch_ (a grave Author, if he be considered as an\nHeathen and a Moralist) yet of no authority to decide such points as\nthese are of the voice that called upon _Thamus_, and commanded him to\ndeclare when he came at _Palodes_, that the great God _Pan_ was dead,\nwhich he performed, and that thereupon followed a great lamentation of\nmany: the story at large is related by many, and urged as a matter of\ngreat weight and credibility, when indeed there is no ground sufficient\nto perswade any that it was true. For if it had been related by\n_Plutarch_ as an ear-witness of it, yet was he but an Heathen, that we\nknow believed many fond, lying, and impossible things, especially of\ntheir Gods; and therefore in this case to a considerate Christian could\nbe of no great authority. And if his authority had been great, or of\nweight in such matters as these, yet was he but _singularis testis_,\nwhich is not sufficient in these things to be relied upon. And lastly\n(to our present purpose here) he doth not record it as a thing of his\nown certain knowledge, but of hear-say from _Epitherses_, who was but a\nsingle Relator, and a man of no certain veracity; and therefore we can\nhave no rational ground to believe the truth of the story, but it may be\nrejected with more reason, than it can be affirmed by. Of no greater\ncredit can his story be of _Brutus_ his _malus Genius_ appearing unto\nhim, because he received this by meer Tradition and hear-say, neither\ncould it have any other rise, but from the relation of _Brutus_ himself,\nwhose guilty confidence, and troubled brain, fancied such vain things;\nfor those that were near _Brutus_ neither saw nor heard any such matter,\nand therefore must have been a deception of Phansie, and no real\nApparition _ad extra_.\n\n[Sidenote: The invisible World, p. 245, 246, 247.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Jo. \u00e0 Jesu Mar._ _lib._ 5. _de Vit. Theres._ _cap._ 3.]\n\n[Sidenote: The invisible World, p. 305.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Ibid._ _p._ 284.]\n\n2. And as evidence of the matter of fact recorded from the relation of\nothers, is of no validity to a judicious person: so if the matter of\nfact be witnessed but by one single testimony (though an eye or an\near-witness) it is not sufficient, because one single person may be\nimperfect in some senses, or under some distemper, and so be no proper\nJudge of what it sees or hears; and the Word of Truth tells us, _That in\nthe mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established_;\nand therefore we are not (especially in such abstruse matters as these)\nto trust the evidence of one single testimony. To make clear this\nParticular, we shall relate a story or two from the credit of the\nReverend and Learned Bishop _Hall_, joyned with his judgment of such\nweak and feigned Tales, one of which runs thus: \u201c_Johannes \u00e0 Jesu\nMaria_, a modern Carmelite, writing the Life of _Theresia_ (Sainted\nlately by _Gregory_ XV.) tells us, that as she was a vigilant Overseer\nof her Votaries in her life, so in and after death she would not be\ndrawn away from her care and attendance: For (saith he) if any of her\nSisters did but talk in the set hours of their silence, she was wont by\nthree knocks at the door of the Cell, to put them in mind of their\nenjoyned taciturnity. And on a time appearing (as she did often) in a\nlightsome brightness to a certain Carmelite, is said thus to bespeak\nhim; _Nos c\u0153lestes, ac vos exules amore ac puritate f\u0153derati esse\ndebemus, &c._ We Citizens of Heaven, and ye exiled Pilgrims on earth,\nought to be linked in a League of love and purity, &c. Methinks the\nReporter (saith the Bishop) should fear this to be too much good\nfellowship for a Saint; I am sure neither Divine nor Ancient story had\nwont to afford such familiarity: and many have misdoubted the agency of\nworse, where have appeared less causes of suspicion. That this was (if\nany thing) an ill Spirit under that face, I am justly confident; neither\ncan any man doubt, that looking further into the relation, finds him to\ncome with a lye in his mouth. For thus he goes on; [We Celestial ones\nbehold the Deity, ye banished ones worship the Eucharist, which ye ought\nto worship with the same affection wherewith we adore the Deity] such\nperfume doth this holy Devil leave behind him. The like might be\ninstanced in a thousand Apparitions of this kind, all worthy of the same\nentertainment.\u201d This is a story from one single person, a lying\nCarmelite, one that for interest, and upholding of Superstition and\nIdolatry, had feigned and forged it; for in it self it appeareth to be a\nmeer falsity and figment, as any rational man may easily discern, and so\nare a thousand stories of this kind worthy of the like entertainment,\nthat is, to be condemned for most horrid lyes. Another he tells us:\n\u201cAmongst such fastidious choice of whole dry-fats of voluminous\nrelations, I cannot forbear to single out that one famous of _Magdalen\nde la Croix_, in the year of our Lord Christ 1545, &c.\u201d The third from\nthe mouth of another lying Fryar named _Jacobus de Pozali_, in his\nSermon, \u201cThat St. _Macarius_ once went about to make peace betwixt God\nand Satan, &c.\u201d Now whatsoever credit this Learned man (who in things of\nthis kind appeareth to be as vainly credulous as any) doth seem to give\nunto these, or what use soever he would make of them, it is undeniably\nmanifest to all impartial judgments, that they were but absolute\nforgeries and knacks of Imposture and Knavery, and (according to his own\nopinion) may justly be ranked amongst those thousand Apparitions of this\nkind, all worthy of the same entertainment, that is, to be rejected for\nabominable lyes or forgeries, and that for these reasons. 1. Because\nthey are not attested by any sincere and uncorrupt ear and\neye-witnesses, but by reports and relations, and that of those that were\ncorrupt and partial, or Accomplices to bring to pass the fraud and\nimposture. 2. If they be run up to their first Author or Venter of the\nTale, he will but be found a single Witness, which is utterly\ninsufficient in evidencing truly a matter of fact. 3. The Relaters of\nthem did publish them for interest sake, and upon design to advance\nfalse Doctrine, Worship, Superstition, and Idolatry, and therefore are\nnot of validity and credit. 4. In themselves (if strictly considered)\nthey will appear to be lying, ridiculous, contradictory in themselves,\nand contrary to the authority of Divine Writ, and dissonant to sound and\nright reason, and therefore ought to have no other entertainment, but as\nabominable lyes and forgeries.\n\n[Sidenote: Of Credul. and Incredul. pag. 159.]\n\n[Sidenote: A serious Disswasive from Popery, pag. 38, 39.]\n\n3. But if matters of fact be witnessed and attested by many or divers\npersons that were ear and eye-witnesses, yet may their testimony bear no\nweight in the balance of Justice or right Reason, because they may be\ncorrupt in point of interest, and so have their judgments mis-guided and\nbiassed by the corruption of their desires and affections, or relate\nthings out of spleen, envy, and malice; and so may not in these\nmysterious matters be fit authority to rely upon, nor competent evidence\nin these particulars, as Dr. _Casaubon_ is forced to confess in these\nwords: \u201cIn the relation of strange things, whether natural or\nsupernatural, to know the temper of the Relator, if it can be known: and\nwhat interest he had, or might probably be supposed to have had, in the\nrelation, to have it believed. And again, whether he profess to have\nseen it himself, or taken it upon the credit of others. And whether a\nman by his profession in a capacity probable to judge of the truth of\nthose things, to which he doth bear witness.\u201d Every one of these\nparticulars would require a particular consideration. For if there be\ninterest in point of Religion, then all authorities, all colour of\nreason is drawn in to make good this interest, and verity is commonly\nstifled in this contest for selfness and interest, and the adverse\nparties stigmatized with all the filthy lyes and enormous crimes that\ncan be invented, as is most manifest in these instances. The Popish\nparty finding themselves hindred and opposed in point of the highest\ninterest, have forged a thousand false stories and tales to make good\nthe interest of their Party, and have left no dirt and dung unscraped up\nto throw in the faces of their Opponents; and so have each Party done\nagainst other, where religious interest was the quarrel, as Bishop\n_Hall_ hath truly observed in this passage, where he is shewing the\nabominable corruptions of the Church of _Rome_: \u201cA Religion that cares\nnot by what wilful falshoods it maintains a part; as _Wickliffs_\nblasphemy, _Luthers_ advice from the Devil, _Tindals_ Community,\n_Calvins_ feigned Miracle, and blasphemous death, _Bucers_ neck broken,\n_Beza_\u2019s Revolt, the blasting of Huguenots, _Englands_ want of Churches,\nand Christendom, Queen _Elizabeths_ unwomanliness, her Episcopal\nJurisdiction, her secret fruitfulness, English Catholicks cast in Bears\nskins to Dogs, _Plesses_ shameful overthrow, _Garnats_ straw, the\n_Lutherans_ obscene Night-Revels, _Scories_ drunken Ordination in a\nTavern, the Edict of our gracious King _James_ (_An._ 87.) for the\nestablishment of Popery, our casting the crusts of our Sacrament to\nDogs, and ten thousand of this nature, maliciously raised against\nknowledge and conscience, for the disgrace of those whom they would have\nhated, e\u2019re known.\u201d\n\nThe rise of this opinion that we are disputing against, that the Devil\nmakes a visible and corporeal League with the Witches, that he sucks\nupon their bodies, hath carnal Copulation with them, and that they are\nchanged into Hares, Dogs, Cats, or Wolves, and the like, was soon after\nthe thirteenth hundred year of Christ, when as _Frederick_ the Second\nhad made a Law temporal, for the burning of Hereticks. And not long\nafter that, was the Inquisition set up in _Rome_ and _Spain_, and then\ndid the Inquisitors and their Adherents, draw in from the Heathen Poets,\nand all other Authors, whatsoever might carry any colour of authority or\nreason, the better to countenance their bloody and unjust proceedings,\nwhere they drew thousands of people into the snare of the Inquisition\nfor pretended Witchcraft, which they made to be Heresie. And whatsoever\nthese have written concerning these things, such as _Delrio_, _Bodinus_,\n_Remigius_, _Springerus_, _Niderus_, _Spineus_, _Grillandus_, and a\nwhole rabble besides not necessary to be named, are nothing but lyes and\nforgeries, and deserve no credit at all for these reasons. 1. Because as\nmany of them as either were Inquisitors themselves, or those that had\nany dependence upon them, or received benefit by their proceedings, are\nall unjust and corrupt Authors and Witnesses, as writing and bearing\nwitness for their own ends, interest, and profit, having a share in the\nGoods and Estates of all that were convicted and condemned: and the Wolf\nand Raven will be sure to give judgment on the Serpents side, that he\nmay devour the man, though never so innocent, because they hope to have\na share of his flesh, or at least to pick the bones. 2. These Authors\nthat were the first Broachers of these monstrous stories of Apparitions\nand Witches, and are so frequently quoted by others, (that ought to have\nbeen more wary, and might have seen reason enough to have rejected all\ntheir feigned lyes and delusions) were not only sharers in the spoil of\nthe Goods of the condemned (who were judged _per fas & nefas_) but also\nhad another base end and interest, to wit, to advance the opinion of\nPurgatory, praying for the dead, setting up the vain Superstitions of\nthe virtue of the sign of the Cross, holy Water, and the like. And\ntherefore they did forge so many stories of Apparitions, and Souls\ncoming forth of Purgatory, and recorded so many false, lying, and\nimpossible things from the forced, extorted, and pretended confessions\nof the Witches themselves, which were nothing else but an Hotch-potch of\nhorrid and abominable lyes, not to be credited, because the Authors only\ninvented them, to promote their own base ends and wretched interests.\n\n[Sidenote: _Lib._ 2. _de pr\u00e6stig. D\u00e6mon._ _cap._ 5.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vit. Germ. medic._ _pag._ 16.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Anim. mag._ _pr\u00e6f._]\n\nAgain, where Authors are engaged for interest sake, they fall into heat,\npassion, malice, and envy, and what they cannot make out by strength of\narguments, they labour to make good by lyes and scandals, as is most\napparent in this one Example we shall here give. _Henricus Cornelius\nAgrippa_, a person in his time well known to most of the Learned in\n_Europe_, and admired for his general and universal skill in all kind of\nLearning, having published a Piece which he styled, _A Declaration of\nthe incertitude and vanity of Sciences and Arts, and the excellency of\nthe Word of God_: wherein amongst other things he had sharply taxed the\nMonks and Fryars, and other Orders, of their ignorance, idleness, and\nmany other crimes and misdemeanors, whereby certain Theologasters of\n_Lovain_ (netled with their own guilt) did in bitter malice draw up\ncertain Articles against him, therein accusing him of Errour, Impiety,\nand Heresie, and had so far incensed _Charles_ the Fifth then Emperour\nagainst him, that he had commanded _Agrippa_ unheard to make a\nRecantation. But he writing a strong, polite, and pithy Apology, gave\nthem such a responsion, that afterwards they did never reply; by which,\nand the mediation of divers learned Friends, who gave _C\u00e6sar_ a right\ninformation of the end and drift of that Book, and of the things therein\ncontained, He was pacified, and brought to a better understanding of the\nmatter. Yet this could not protect _Agrippa_ from the virulent malice of\nthe Popish Witchmongers, but that they forged most abominable lyes and\nscandals against him, especially that wretched and ignorant Monk _Paulus\nJovius_, that was not ashamed to record in his Book intituled, _De\nElogiis doctorum Virorum_, that _Agrippa_ carried a Cacodemon about with\nhim, in the likeness of a black Dog, and that he died at _Lyons_, when\nit is certain he died at _Gratianople_. From all which horrid aspersions\nand lying scandals he is sufficiently acquitted by the famous Physician\n_Johannes Wierus_, one that was educated under him, and lived familiarly\nwith him; and therefore was best able to testifie the whole truth of\nthese particulars. But any that are so perversly and wilfully blinded as\nto have a sinister opinion of this person, (who _ab ineunte \u00e6tate in\nliteris educatus esset, qu\u00e2 fuit ingenii f\u00e6licitate, in omni artium ac\ndisciplinarum genere ita versatus est, ut excelluerit_) may have most\nample satisfaction from the modest and impartial Pen of _Melchior\nAdams_, who hath written his Life: as also from something that our\nCountryman, who called himself _Eugenius Philalethes_, hath clearly\ndelivered: so that none can be ignorant of this particular, but such as\nwilfully refuse to be informed of the truth.\n\n[Sidenote: Inquir. into vulgar Errours, pag. 34.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. vit. Germ. medic._ _pag._ 29.]\n\nNay where interest hath a share, truth can hardly be expected, though it\nbe but in more trivial things, as even but for aery fame and vain-glory,\nas may be manifest in _Hierome Cardan_, who was a man of prodigious\npride and vain-glory, which led him (as the learned Dr. _Brown_ hath\nnoted) into no small errours, being a great Amasser of strange and\nincredible stories, led to relate them by his meer ambition of hunting\nafter fame and the reputation of an universal Scholar. And of no less\npride and vain-glorious ambition was his Antagonist _Julius C\u00e6sar\nScaliger_ guilty, of whom it may truly be said, that he was of the\nnature of those of the _Ottoman_ Family, that do not think they can ever\nraign safely, unless they strangle all their Brethren; so he did not\nthink that he could aspire to the Throne of being the Monarch of general\nLearning, without stifling the fame and reputation of _Cardan_ and\nothers, against whom he hath been most fell, and impetuously bitter. But\nwhen men fall out about professional interest, then the stories that\nthrough malice they invent and forge one against another, are\nincredible, as is manifest in many Examples; but we shall but give one\nfor all, which is this. When _Paracelsus_, returning from his\nPeregrination of ten years and above, was called to be Physical Lecturer\nat _Basil_, where he continued three years, and more, having by his\nstrange and wonderful Cures drawn the most part of _Germany_, and the\nadjacent Countries into admiration; so that he was, and might\n(notwithstanding the envy and ignorance of all his enemies) justly be\nstyled, _Totius Germani\u00e6 decus & gloria_: yet this was not sufficient to\nquiet the violent and virulent mind of _Thomas Erastus_, who coming to\nbe setled at _Basil_, and finding that he could not outgo nor equal\n_Paracelsus_ in point of Medicinal Practice, and being strongly grounded\nin the Aristotelian Philosophy, and the Galenical Physick, did with all\npoyson and bitterness labour to confute the Principles of Chymical\nPhysick that _Paracelsus_ had introduced; and lest his arguments might\nbe too weak, he backt them with most horrible lyes and scandals,\nthinking that many and strong accusations (though never so false) would\nnot be easily answered, nor totally washt off: which after were greedily\nswallowed down by _Libanius_, _Conringius_, _Sennertus_, and many\nothers: so apt are men to invent, and suck in scandals against others,\nnever considering how false and groundless they are, or may be: for that\nhe wrongfully and falsely accused him in many things, will be manifest\nto any unbiassed person, that will but take pains to read his Life,\nwritten by that equitable Judge _Melchior Adams_, and that large Preface\nthe learned Physician _Fredericus Bitiskius_ hath prefixed to his Works\nprinted at _Geneva_ 1648.\n\n[Sidenote: History 1.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Resp. Rob. Flud. ad Foster._]\n\n[Sidenote: History 2.]\n\n4. But if the Authors that report matters of fact in reference to these\nfour particulars that we have named, were ear and eye-witnesses, and not\nsingle, but a greater number, and were not swayed by any corrupt or\nself-interest whatsoever; yet all this is not sufficient to give\nevidence in these matters, except they be rightly qualified in other\nthings, that are necessarily requisite to capacitate a person rightly to\njudge of these nice and difficult matters, some of the chief of which we\nshall here enumerate. 1. The persons that are fit to give a perfect\njudgment of these matters, ought to be perfect in the organs of their\nsenses, otherwise they may easily be deceived, and think the things\notherwise than indeed they are; so some defects or distempers in the\nears, eyes, or the rest of the sensories, may hinder the true perception\nof things acted or done. 2. They ought to be of a sound judgment, and\nnot of a vitiated or distempered Phantasie, nor of a melancholick Temper\nor Constitution; for such will be full of fears, and strange\nimaginations, taking things as acted and wrought without, when they are\nbut only represented within. These will take a bush to be a Boggard, and\na black sheep to be a Demon; the noise of the wild Swans flying high\nupon the nights, to be Spirits, or (as they call them here in the North)\n_Gabriel Ratchets_, the calling of a Daker-hen in the Meadow to be the\nWhistlers, the howling of the female Fox in a Gill, or a Clough for the\nmale, when they are for copulation, to be the cry of young Children, or\nsuch Creatures, as the common people call Fayries, and many such like\nfancies and mistakes. 3. They ought to be clear and free from those\nimbibed notions of Spirits, Hobgoblins, and Witches, which have been\ninstamped upon their Phantasies from their very young years, through\nignorant and superstitious education, wherewith generally all mankind is\ninfected, and but very few that get themselves extricated from those\ndelusive Labyrinths, that parents and ignorance have instilled into\nthem. From hence it is, that not only the stolid and stupid Vulgar, but\neven persons otherwise rational enough, do commonly attribute those\nsleights and tricks that our common Jugglers play, unto the Devil, when\nthey are only performed by Leger-de-main, or sleight of hand, Boxes, and\nInstruments aptly fitted; and will not stick to believe, and strongly to\naffirm to others, that they have seen the Jugglers Familiar or Devil,\nwhen it was but a poor Squirrels skin stuffed with hair or moss, and\nnimbly agitated by the hands of the Juggler: which makes me call to mind\na very lepid and pertinent Accident that once in my younger years\nhappened in _Burrow-bridge_ upon a great Fayr holden there upon St.\n_Barnabas_ day: I being in Company with divers Gentlemen, whereof two\nwere Masters of Arts, and walking in the Horse-Fayr, we espyed a great\ncrowd and ring of people, and drawing near, there was a person commonly\nknown through most of the Northern parts of _Yorkshire_ by the name of\n_John Gypsie_, being as black as any of that Tribe, with a Feather in\nhis Hat, a silk slasht Doublet, upon a fair Holland Half-shirt,\ncounterfeiting himself half drunk, and reeling to and fro, with a fine\nTape or Incle-string tyed fast together at the two ends, and throwing\nit, (as it were) carelesly two or three times about a smooth Rod, that\nanother man held by both ends, and then putting the bout of the Tape\nupon the one end of the Rod, and then crying, It is now fast for five\nshillings; but no sooner reeling and looking aside, the man that held\nthe Rod did put off the bout of the Tape again, and still _John Gypsie_,\nwould cry and bet that it was fast, then would there come two or three,\nand bet with him, and win, and go away (as it were) laughing him to\nscorn, yet still he would continue, and pray the Fellow that held the\nstick not to deceive him, and plainly shew the people, that it would be\nfast when the bout was put on, then would the Fellow that held the\nstick, still put off the bout when _John Gypsie_ looked away, whereby\nthe people believed that he was in drink, and so deceived by him that\nheld the Rod, and so many would come and bet with him, and lose: so that\nhe used to win much money, though the bout was put off every time, and\nnone could discern any alteration in the string. This strange Feat\n(which I confess, as he handled and acted it, was one of the neatest\nthat ever I saw in all my life) did so surprize all my Companions, and\nin part himself, that some of them were of opinion, that he had some\nstone in the Ring upon his finger, by virtue of which he performed the\nTrick. But the most part concluded, that it could not be done but by the\npower and help of the Devil, and resolved to come no more near _John\nGypsie_, as a man that was a Witch, and had familiarity with the Devil.\nBut I that then was much guilty of curiosity, and loth to be imposed\nupon in a thing of that nature, then also knowing the way and manner how\nall the common Jugglers about _Cambridge_ and _London_ (who make a Trade\nof it) did perform their Tricks, I slipt away from my Company, and went\nto the place again where I found him still playing; and thrusting in, I\ndesired to hold the stick, which he refused not; and so in a short time\nI perceived how it was done, and so returned to my Company, and shewed\nthem the sleight and mystery of it, which made them very much ashamed of\ntheir folly and ignorance. They may deride this story that list, and yet\nit may serve for instruction to the wisest, and there are hundreds yet\nliving that knew this person, and where he was born, which was at\n_Bolton-bridge_ near _Skipton_ in _Craven_, and have seen him play this\ntrick of fast and loose, as I have related it: so that if a man meet\nwith a crafty cunning Fellow, he commonly by way of Proverb calls him\n_John Gypsie_. 4. They ought to be free in their judgments as _in\n\u00e6quilibrio_, and not to be radicated nor habituated in the belief of\nthose things; for then they will hardly be disswaded from their\nopinions, but pertinaciously adhere unto them, though never so absurd,\nand will be apt to ascribe all effects, that they understand not, unto\nDevils and Witches, as is manifest in the Jesuit _Roberti Foster_,\n_Sennertus_, and many others, who attributed the effects of the\nHoplocrism or Weapon-salve, and the Sympathetick Powder unto the\noperation of the Devil and Witchcraft, when they are but meerly natural.\nWhich makes me call to mind a pretty story that happened when I was but\na young Boy. For where I once learned at the School, there was one who\nwas Rector of the Church, who was a very godly man, a good and constant\nPreacher, accounted very learned, and Bachelor of Divinity: this person\nbeing informed, that I and some other Boys could play some odd Feats of\nsleight of hand, especially to put a Ring upon our Cheek, and to throw\nit unto a staff holden fast by both the ends; this he by no means did\nbelieve could be done but by Diabolical means, and did advise and\nthreaten us to desist from such practices, as devillish and damnable. So\nready even the otherwise Learned may be, when once setled in these fond\nand absurd opinions of the too great power of Demons and Witches, to\nascribe that unto them, which is performed by Nature and lawful Art.\n\n\n\n\n                                CHAP. V.\n\n  _That these things now in question are but barely supposed, and were\n    yet never rationally nor sufficiently proved: And that the\n    Allegations brought to prove them by are weak, frivolous, and\n    absolutely invalid. With a full Confutation of all the four\n    Particulars._\n\n\n[Sidenote: _Pag._ 5, 6.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Bodin. D\u00e6monoman. ubiq_; of evil Spirits, _pag._ 304.]\n\nHaving in the preceding Chapter proved that the Scriptures and sound\nReason, are the proper Mediums to decide these difficulties by, and also\nlaid down the necessary qualifications requisite in an Author or Witness\nthat would evidence these things as matters of fact: We shall here once\nagain repeat the four Particulars, which we are about to confute, which\nare these. 1. That the Devil doth not make a visible or corporeal League\nand Covenant with the supposed Witches. 2. That he doth not suck upon\ntheir bodies. 3. That he hath not carnal Copulation with them. 4. That\nthey are not really changed into Cats, Dogs, Wolves, or the like. And\nthese four Particulars we affirm were never matters of fact, nor ever\nhad a being, except only in the fancy as meer Chimera\u2019s, nor that they\never were or can be proved to have been brought to pass or acted; and\n_de non apparentibus, & non existentibus eadem est ratio_, saith the\ngreat Maxime of our Law. But in the first place let us hear what the\nPatrons of this wretched and execrable opinion have to say to prove that\nthey are matters of fact, or were ever acted or performed. And first we\nhave Mr. _Glanvil_ arguing at this rate: \u201cAll Histories are full of the\nexploits of those instruments of darkness; and the testimony of all\nages, not only of the rude and barbarous, but of the most civilized and\npolisht World, brings tidings of their strange performances. We have the\nattestation of thousands of eye and ear-witnesses, and those not of the\neasily deceivable vulgar only, but of grave and wise discerners; and\nthat when no interest could oblige them to agree together in a common\nlye: I say we have the light of all these circumstances to confirm us in\nthe belief of things done by persons of despicable power and knowledge,\nbeyond the reach of Art and ordinary Nature. Standing publick Records\nhave been kept of these well attested Relations, and Epocha\u2019s made of\nthose unwonted events. Laws in many Nations have been enacted against\nthose vile practices; those among the Jews and our own are notorious;\nsuch Cases have been often determined near us, by wise and reverend\nJudges, upon clear convictive Evidence, and thousands in our own Nation\nhave suffered death for their vile compacts with Apostate Spirits.\u201d And\na little after he saith: \u201cAnd I think those that can believe all\nHistories are Romances; that all the wiser World have agreed together to\njuggle Mankind into a common belief of ungrounded Fables; that the sound\nsenses of multitudes together may deceive them, and Laws are built upon\nChimera\u2019s; that the gravest and wisest Judges have been Murderers, and\nthe sagest persons Fools or designing Impostors.\u201d Bishop _Hall_ maketh\nthe like Objection, saying: \u201cNeither can I make question of the\nauthentick Records of the Examinations and Confessions of Witches and\nSorcerers in several Regions of the World, agreeing in the truth of\ntheir horrible pacts with Satan, of their set Meetings with evil\nSpirits, their beastly Homages and Conversations. I should hate to be\nguilty of so much incredulity, as to charge so many grave Judges and\ncredible Historians with lyes.\u201d\n\nThese Objections at the first view seem very plausible, and to carry\nwith them a great splendour and weight of truth and reason; but if they\nbe looked into, and narrowly weighed in the balance of sound reason, and\nunbiassed judgment, they will be found too light, and will soon vanish\ninto Rhetorical fumes and frothy vapours: which that it may be more\nclearly performed, we shall rank them into the number of three, in which\nall their seeming strength lyes, and these are they.\n\n1. They pretend that these things are sufficiently proved by Historians\nof unquestionable credit and reputation.\n\n2. That the Confessions of Witches themselves, in divers Regions, at\nseveral times and places, who have all acknowledged these particulars,\nare sufficient evidence of the truth of these performances.\n\n3. That so many wise and grave Judges and honest Juries could not have\nbeen deceived, to put to death such great numbers of these kind of\npeople, called or accounted Witches, without sufficient proof of the\nmatters of fact. To all which we shall give a full response, in respect\nof the four particulars, mentioned in the beginning of this Chapter, and\nshall commix and adjoyn such positive Arguments as will be cogent to all\nrational persons, whose corrupt wills have not perverted their\njudgments.\n\n1. It is much to be admired, that Mr. _Glanvil_ (but especially Bishop\n_Hall_, a very Reverend and Learned person) should lye any great stress\nupon such a weak foundation: For there is none of these three Objections\nthat will amount to a necessary Proposition, but only to a contingent\none, which will infer no certain and necessary Conclusion, nor bring\nforth any certitude or science, but only bare opinion and probability.\n_Propositio contingens est, qu\u00e6 sic vera est, ut falsa esse possit_: and\nat the best the strength of all these are but _testimonia humana_, which\nare but weak, and no sufficient ground for a rational man to believe\nthem to be true, because _humanum est errare_. And the weight of these\nmatters is not a contention _de lana caprina, vel de umbra asini, sed de\npelle humana_, for the lives and estates of many poor Creatures, and\nthey professed Christians too, and therefore doth require stronger\nArguments than contingent Propositions, to establish a firm ground for\nthe belief of this opinion.\n\n[Sidenote: Prov. 12. 22.]\n\n2. It is one thing barely to affirm, and another thing to prove\nsufficiently and fully: For though they boldly alledge, that these\nthings are sufficiently proved by Authors of unquestionable credit and\nverity, we must return a flat negative, and that for these reasons. 1.\nLet them shew us any one Author of credible veracity, that ever was ear\nor eye-witness of the Devils making of a visible and corporeal League or\nBargain with the Witches, or that he ever suckt upon their bodies, or\nthat he had carnal Copulation with them, or that by the experience of\nhis senses ever certainly knew a man really transubstantiated and\ntransformed into a Wolf, or a Wolf into a man, and we will yield the\nwhole Cause. But we must assert and truly affirm, that this pretence of\ntheirs, that these things are sufficiently proved by Historians of good\ncredit, is a meer falsity, and a lying flourish of vain words. There are\n(we confess) a multitude of vain and lying stories, amassed up together\nin the Writings of Demonographers and Witchmongers of strange and odd\nApparitions, Feats, Confessions, and such like; but never any one\npositive proof of any of these four particulars by any Authors of credit\nand reputation: and this we dare boldly aver to the world. 2. Let them\nproduce any two Witnesses that were of honesty and integrity, sound\nunderstandings and ability, that ever were present, and ear and\neye-witnesses of a visible, vocal, and corporeal League made betwixt the\nDevil and the Witch; or let them tell us who was by, and watched, and\nreally and truly saw the Devil suck upon some part of the Witches body;\nor who were the Chamberlains, Pimps or Panders, when the Devil and the\nWitch committed carnal Copulation; or who were ever present when a Witch\nwas changed into a Cat, a Dog, an Hare, or a Wolf. If they can but bring\nforth any two credible Witnesses to prove these things by, then we shall\nbelieve them, but we must assert that never any such two could be\nproduced yet: and therefore cannot but wonder at the shameless impudence\nof such persons, that dare affirm these things that never were, nor can\nbe proved, and yet have not blushed to vent and trumpet forth such\nexecrable and abominable lyes to the World. Mr. _Glanvil_ confidently\naffirms these things to be matters of fact, and _affirmanti incumbit\nprobatio_, let him produce his Witnesses, and if they be persons of\njudgment, veracity, and impartiality, then we shall accept their proof;\nbut it is not figments, supposals, weak presumptions, or apparent\nfalsities that will perform it; for that which never was acted, can\nnever truly be proved, and things that appear not, are as though they\nwere not; therefore he must produce his testimonies, or lose both his\ncause and credit, and must be taken for an Assertor of never-proved\nFables. _Lying lips are abomination unto the Lord: but they that deal\ntruly are his delight._\n\nNow we know they use to do in this case, as Souldiers use, who when they\nare beaten forth of some Out-work or Trench, they then retreat into\nanother that they think more strong and safe. And being driven from\ntheir weak Hold of a bare affirmation without proof, that these things\nare verified to have been matters of fact, and really performed, both by\nauthority and the evidence of sense, which are both utterly false, then\nthey flye to this assertion: That the Confessions of so many Witches in\nall Ages, in several Countries, at divers times and places, all agreeing\nin these particulars, are sufficient evidence of the truth of these\nmatters. To which we shall rejoyn, that the Confessions of Witches,\nhowever considered, are not of credit and validity to prove these\nthings; but are in themselves null and void, as false, impossible, and\nforged lyes, which we shall make good by these following Reasons.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 1._]\n\n1. The Witch must be taken to be either a person _insan\u00e6, vel san\u00e6\nmentis_; and if they be _insan\u00e6 mentis_, their Confessions are no\nsufficient evidence, nor worthy of any credit; because there is neither\nReason, Law, nor Equity that allows the testimony or confession of an\nIdiot, Lunatick, mad or doting person, because they are not of a right\nand sound understanding, and are not to be accounted as _compotes\nmentis_, nor governed by rationability. For as by the Civil Law mad\nFolks, Idiots, and Old men childish, Bond-slaves, and Villains are not\ncapable of making a Will to dispose of Goods, Lands, or Chattels: so\nmuch more are all these sorts of persons excepted for giving evidence by\nconfessions, or otherwise in matters concerning life and death, which\nare of far greater weight and concernment. And that these persons are of\nunsound understandings, is manifest in all the points that they confess,\nand therefore are no proof, nor ought to be credited: and that for these\nreasons. 1. Because the things they confess are not attested by any\nother persons of integrity and sound judgment, and they must of\nnecessity be lyars, because the Bond-slaves of the Devil, whose works\nthey will do, and he was a lyar from the beginning. 2. Because they\nconfess things that are impossible (as we shall prove anon) and\n_confiteri impossibilia insanientis est_. 3. There is no good end\nwherefore they make these Confessions, neither do they receive any\nbenefit by them, either spiritual or temporal, internal nor external.\nAnd this doth sufficiently shew, that they are deluded, melancholy, and\nmad persons, and so their Confessions of no credit, truth, or validity.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 2._]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Thess. 2. 10, 11, 12.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Tim. 2. 26.]\n\n[Sidenote: Joh. 8. 44.]\n\n2. Their Confessions will be found null and false, if we consider the\nimpulsive cause that moves them to make them, and the end wherefore they\ndeclare such false and lying matters, and that in these particulars. 1.\nThe moving cause is not, nor can be the Spirit of God, which is a Spirit\nof truth and righteousness, nor any motion of true remorse for their\nsins, or any thing flowing from repentant hearts, because they are\npersons forsaken of God and his Grace, and given over to reprobate minds\nand senses, and therefore the truth of the Word of God is fulfilled in\nthem: _Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might\nbe saved, therefore God shall send them strong delusion, that they might\nbelieve a lye. That they all might be damned, who believed not the\ntruth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness._ 2. Neither is the end for\nthe glory of God, or their own Salvation, because they are the Vassals\nand Bond-slaves of Satan, being kept Captive at his will, and are Rebels\nand Traitors against God and Christ, his Church and Truth, having\nrenounced the Faith, and become Apostata\u2019s to the truth. 3. The\nimpulsive cause and chief end wherefore they make these and such like\nconfessions, is sometimes, and in some persons meerly to eschew torture\nand bodily pains, and sometimes the quite contrary solely to escape the\npresent miseries of a poor, wretched, and troublesom life; and therefore\nthese confessions not at all to be credited, as being vain and feigned.\n4. Sometimes they are by force, waking, craft, and cunning, in hope of\npardon and life, to make such confessions as the base ends and corrupt\nintentions of the Inquisitors themselves, or their Agents, have infused\ninto them, for the advancement of false Doctrine, Superstition, and\nIdolatry: such were the most (if not all) recorded by _Delrio Bodinus_,\nand the rest of the Witchmongers, to which no credit can be given at\nall. 5. But the chief end that Satan hath (who is the Forger, Contriver,\nand Deviser of these Confessions, if voluntarily and freely made, the\nprincipal Agent in all these matters) is to set forth the power and\nglory of his own Kingdom, thereby to lead men into, and continue them in\nlyes and errors; _for when he speaketh a lye, he speaketh of his own,\nfor he is a lyar, and the father of it_, and the Witches are his\nChildren, and the works of their Father the Devil they will do, and he\nwas, and is a Murtherer and Lyar from the beginning. And thus far we\nacknowledge a spiritual and mental League betwixt the Witch and the\nDevil, by virtue of which they confess these horrible and abominable\nlyes, of the glory of him and his Kingdom; but other League or Covenant\nthere is none, neither is there any the least spark of truth in all that\nthey say or confess, because their sole end in making of these\nconfessions, is to advance the credit and power of Satan. 6. The\nimpulsive cause that often makes them to utter such confessions of\nstrange and impossible things, is the strong passive delusion, that they\nlye under, contracted by ignorant, unchristian, and superstitious\neducation, which they have suckt in with their milk, heightned with an\natrabilarious temper and constitution, and confirmed by the wicked lyes,\nand teaching of others, which makes them confess these execrable things,\nwhich they in their depraved and vitiated imaginations, do think and\nbelieve they have done and suffered, when there was never truly acted\nany such matter _ad extr\u00e0_, but only in their mad and deluded\nPhantasies: and so no more credit to be given to them, than to the\nmaddest Melancholist that ever was read or heard of.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 3._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Lib._ 1. of Prognost.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. meditat._ _lib._ 4. _cap._ 13. _pag._ 280.]\n\n[Sidenote: History 1.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. nat._ _l._ 7. _c._ 52. _pag._ 103.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Doctor. Epist._ _pag._ 641.]\n\n[Sidenote: History 2.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Histor. Animal._ _lib._ 8. _cap._ 24.]\n\n3. That there is not any jot of truth in these Confessions, is manifest,\nif we consider the subjective matter of them, as is plain by these\nensuing grounds. 1. For the most of them are not credible, by reason of\ntheir obscenity and filthiness; for chast ears would tingle to hear such\nbawdy and immodest lyes; and what pure and sober minds would not\nnauseate and startle to understand such unclean stories, as of the\ncarnal Copulation of the Devil with a Witch, or of his sucking the Teat\nor Wart of an old stinking and rotten Carkass? surely even the impurity\nof it may be sufficient to overthrow the credibility of it, especially\namongst Christians. 2. There are many things that have no verity in them\nat all, that notwithstanding have verisimilitude; but these are not only\nvoid of truth, but also of truth-likeliness: for it is neither truth,\nnor hath any likelihood of it, to believe it for a truth, that the Devil\nshould carry an old Witch in the Air into foraign Regions, that can\nhardly crawl with a staff, to dancing and banqueting, and yet to return\nwith an empty belly, and the next day to be forced, like old _Dembdike_\nor _Elizabeth Sothernes_, and _Alizon Denice_, to go a begging with the\nsowr-milk Can: is this either probable or likely? would it not much more\nhave advantaged the Devils interest and his Kingdom, to have furnished\nthem with good and true meat and drink, and not with such imaginary\nCates, which would neither fill the stomach, nor satisfie the appetite?\nHad it not been more for the Devils benefit to have furnished them with\nplenty of gold and silver, than to let them go ragged and tattered,\nbegging their bread from door to door? 3. As these confessions have no\ntruth-likeliness in them, so they are things that are simply impossible\nto be performed by any created power, and therefore must needs be false\nand fictitious relations; for no Creature can perform any thing but that\nfor which by Creation it was ordered and designed to; but the Devils by\nCreation have no generative power given them, nor members or organs to\nperform the act of copulation withal; and therefore their having carnal\ncopulation with the Witches, is a most monstrous fiction, and an\nabsolute impossibility, and can have nothing in it more than the\nstirring up of the imaginative faculty, and thereby to move titillation\nin the members fitted for the act of generation, which is a thing that\nhappens to many both men and women, that are of hot constitutions, and\nabound with seed, which we call _nocturn\u00e6 prolutiones_, of which the\nDivines and Casuists make that great question, _An nocturn\u00e6 prolutiones\nsint peccatum?_ And it is as simply impossible for either the Devil or\nWitches to change or alter the course that God hath set in Nature, as to\ntransubstantiate a man or woman into a Cat, a Dog, or a Wolf; and\ntherefore are these confessions meer impossibilities and monstrous lyes.\n4. There can in sound and right reason no credit at all be given to\nthese confessions, because divers of them have been proved to be utterly\nfalse, as is plain in the man that did confidently affirm, that he was a\ntrue Wolf, and that he had hair under his skin, the woful tryal of which\nwas his death, though a pregnant and undeniable proof, that the delusion\nwas in the Phantasie, and that there was no real change of the mans body\ninto a Wolf; and therefore doth flatly overthrow the credibility of\nthese vain and lying confessions. To the same purpose is the story\nrelated by _Camerarius_ from _Johannes Baptista Porta_, a great\nNaturalist, and a person of competent veracity, which is this. \u201cOnce\n(saith he) I met an old Witch, one of those that are said to enter\nhouses in the night time, and there to suck the blood of little children\nlying in their Cradles. Having asked her a question of something, she\npromised forthwith, that within a while she would give me answer. She\nputs forth of her Chamber all those that went in with me to be witnesses\nof that which should pass. Having shut us out, she strips her self stark\nnaked, and rubs over all her body with a certain Oyntment, which we saw\nthrough the chinks of the door. The operation of the soporiferous\njuyces, whereof this Oyntment was compounded, made her fall to the\nground, and brought her into a deep sleep. Upon this we open the door,\nand some of us begin to strike and knock her well-favour\u2019dly; but she\nwas so soundly asleep, that to strike her body and a stone, it was all\none. Forth we go again, in the mean time the Oyntment had ended his\nworking, and the old Trot being awaked, and having put on her cloaths,\nbegins to tell tales of _Robin Hood_, saying, That she had passed over\nSeas and Mountains, and then gives us false answers. We tell her, that\nher body had never stir\u2019d out of the Chamber; she maintains the\ncontrary: we shew her the blows we had given her, she persisteth the\nmore stifly in her opinion.\u201d By the testimony of this Author, who was an\near and eye-witness of this passage, and other persons with him, which\nmanifests it to be good and sufficient evidence, it appeareth, that the\nWitches are under a melancholy and passive delusion, promoted by the\nhelp of soporiforous Oyntments, whereby they fancy and think they are\ncarried into far remote places, where they hear and see strange things,\nand do and suffer that which is not at all performed, but only as in a\ndream, their bodies in the mean time lying immoveable, and so do but\nrelate falsities and lyes, which is an unanswerable proof of the\nabsolute falsity of their confessions, the thing that here we undertook\nto make good. And some late Learned men (with Mr. _Glanvil_ himself)\ngiving too much credit to the things related by the Witches in their\nconfessions, to be true stories of things really performed at a great\ndistance, have been forced to revive that old Platonical Whimsie, of the\nSouls real egression forth of the body into far distant places, and its\nreturn again, with the certain knowledge of things there done or said,\naccording to the relation that _Pliny_ gives us in these words:\n_Reperimus (inquit) interempla, Hermotimi Clazomenii animam relicto\ncorpore errare solitam, vag\u00e1mq; \u00e8 longinquo multa annuntiare, qu\u00e6 nisi \u00e0\npr\u00e6senti nosci non possent, corpore interim semianimi: donec cremato eo\ninimici (qui Cantharid\u00e6 vocabantur) remeanti anim\u00e6 velut vaginam\nademerint_. To which notwithstanding he doth not seem to give credence.\nBut these Relations of the Witches are meer lyes and forgeries, and are\nbut taught them by the spiritual craft of the Devil, thereby to pretend\nto imitate the true Visions that the Prophets had from God. And though\nthere may be some peculiar persons that have the way to fall into\necstasies, (as _Helmont_ witnesseth of himself) and may thereby\nunderstand many mystical matters, yet in it there is no real egression\nof the Soul forth of the body, but a freeing or withdrawing of it from\nthe Phantasie and Senses, and then (as the Cabbalists and mystical\nAuthors say) it is joyned to the intelligible World, and beholds things\nas present, and though there may be something of truth in it, yet few\nAuthors of credit and veracity, have attested it upon their own\nexperience, and there may be much fallacy and danger in it, and\ntherefore we leave it to further search and inquiry. Another apparent\nground of the nullity of the truth or credit of these confessions, is\nthat which a learned Divine in his Letter to Dr. _Wierus_ gives us, the\nsubstance of which we shall give in English, which is this: \u201cI have\nknown (he saith) the year foregoing (he writ his Epistle _Anno_ 1565.)\nmany foolish things from the private confession of a certain old Woman,\nan Inchanter, who when she had heard in my Sermon the place in the 19.\nChapter of the _Acts_ explained, _That many of the Ephesians, being of\nthose who had exercised curious Arts, had brought their Books, and\nburned them openly, &c._ She forthwith (he saith) came unto me with a\nmind plainly troubled; and with tears pouring forth into my bosom the\nsecrets of her breast, did receive Christian instruction; and when she\nhad understood, by the blessing of God, the vanity of Diabolical\nImpostures, and perceived them with opened eyes, she was easily\nconverted to the light of truth, the smoak of lyes being laid aside.\nShe, truth being once received, hath most constantly confessed, that it\ndid appear to her more clear than the light at noon day, that Satan did\nonly deceive and blind the eyes of his Vassals, and that there was\nnothing done in verity, and this she declared with a detestation of her\nDiabolical Art.\u201d And so concludes it in these words: _Vno verbo dicam,\nme satis experienti\u00e2 didicisse, bonam partem incantationum mera esse\ninsomnia_. And whosoever shall read, and seriously consider the Epistle\nof that excellent and learned Divine, will find the most of those vain\nillusions laid open and confuted: so that in all (or the most) of the\nthings attributed unto Witches, we shall find no more of Diabolical\noperation in them, than an internal, mental, and spiritual delusion, in\nmaking the Witches to believe, and to draw on others to the same opinion\nthat the Devil hath a kind omnipotent Power and Soveraignty. Therefore\ndid _Aristotle_ well conclude: _Incantamenta esse muliercularum\nfigmenta_.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 4._]\n\n[Sidenote: Joh. 8. 44.]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Joh. 3. 8.]\n\n[Sidenote: Psal. 62. 4.]\n\n4. A fourth Reason of the meer falsity and incredibility of these\nConfessions is this: Is it possibly credible to a rational and unbiassed\njudgment, that the Witches (though never so many, at several times and\nplaces) having made themselves the Slaves and Vassals of the Devil, both\nin soul and body, and being led by his lying and deceitful Spirit\n(though making large and voluntary confessions) can be conceived to have\nany touch of truth in them at all? Surely no more truth in these\nconfessions, than there is in the Devil, who was a Lyar from the\nbeginning; and therefore we argue thus. Such kind of will, affections\nand inclinations as are in the Devil himself, such kind are in his\nChildren. But the will and affections of the Devil are against God, his\nTruth, and against all Gods people, and his inclinations tend to\ncontinual lying. Therefore the will, affections, and inclinations of his\nChildren (such as the Witches are, and are granted to be) are against\nGod, his Truth, and against all Gods people, and their inclinations tend\nto continual lying. The proof of the major and minor Proposition is the\nplain words of our Saviour, _Ye are of your father the devil, and the\nlusts of your father the devil ye will do_, \u03b8\u03ad\u03bb\u03b5\u03c4\u03b5 \u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03b5\u1fd6\u03bd, _and he was a\nmurtherer from the beginnings and abode not in the truth, because there\nis no truth in him. When he speaketh a lye, he speaketh of his own: for\nhe is a lyar, and the father of it._ And again St. _John_ tells us: _He\nthat committeth sin, is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the\nbeginning_. So that it may truly be said of them, _They delight in\nlyes_, and their confessions are nothing but lyes. And if they object\nand say, that here we confess a League with the Devil and the Witch,\notherwise the Witches could not be his Children, Vassals, and\nBond-slaves, which elsewhere we deny; we answer, it is a gross mistake,\nin not observing the distinction we make betwixt a mental and spiritual\nLeague, such as the Devil and _Judas_ made, and such as all wicked men\nmake with him, and under this League we acknowledge all Witches to be;\nbut a visible and corporeal League we positively deny, and so the\nobjection is of no validity. And thus we suppose we have sufficiently\nproved, that there ought no credit at all to be given to the Confessions\nof Witches, no more than to Devils, who are all lyars.\n\nNow let us proceed to their third main Objection: That so many wise and\ngrave Judges and honest Juries could not have been deceived, to put to\ndeath such great numbers of those kind of people, without sufficient\nproof of the matters of fact. Against which we oppose these following\nReasons.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 1._]\n\n1. It is but an Argument at the best to drive the other Party into an\nabsurdity, which is not of any such dangerous consequence, as may be\nsupposed; for it would but conclude, that many grave and wise Judges and\nJuries have been imposed upon, and deceived, which is but _argumentum ad\nhomines_, and doubtless many might, and have been. And do not we\nChristians hold, that the gravest and wisest Judges amongst the _Turks_\nand _Persians_ have been, and are deceived, and have done unjustly in\npersecuting and putting Christians to death, because they would not\nsubmit to the Religion of _Mahomet_, and yet we account it no absurdity\nor injustice to pass that censure upon them? And do not the Idolaters in\nall those large Empires and Kingdoms of _Tartary_, _China_, the _Moguls_\nCountry, and the rest of those Countries in the East of _Asia_ persecute\nand put many to death, for not worshipping their Idols, or embracing\ntheir Religion; and do we think it absurd to censure and condemn them of\ninjustice, though in their own Countries they be accounted grave and\nwise Judges? Surely we do not, and there is the parity of reason in both\nthe Arguments, for all are but men, and so may erre.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 2._]\n\n2. But as for the grave, learned, and wise Judges, and understanding and\nhonest Juries within His Majesties Dominions, we affirm they are clear\nand innocent from these imputations, and that for divers and sundry\nsound reasons. 1. Our Judges and Juries have no such sinister and\ncorrupt ends, to wrest the Laws, or wring forth and extort feigned and\nfalse Confessions, because they have no such ends as to uphold and\nmaintain idolatrous and superstitious Tenents, as praying to Saints,\nmagnifying of Holy water, or setting up of Purgatory, as had the Popish\nInquisitors, and the Demonographers, and Witchmongers that writ for\nthose ends. And therefore it is no absurdity to say or think, that they\ndealt unjustly in their proceedings, which our learned and pious Judges\nare not, nor can be guilty of. 2. The Inquisitors and their Agents had\nbenefit by the death of Witches, having a share in their Goods, and\ntherefore no absurdity to conclude, that their proceedings were unjust,\npartial, and corrupt, of which our judges and Juries are clear, as\nhaving no profit at all by the death of these wretched and deluded\npeople. 3. Our Judges are but sworn to the due execution of the Laws\nmade, and the Juries sworn to bring in their Verdicts according to their\nbest evidence: now if the Witnesses forth of malice, envy, ignorance, or\nmistake swear to matters of fact, for which death or other punishments\nare allotted by the Law, both the Judges and the Jury are absolutely\nexcusable; and if there be any guilt in the Witnesses, or falsity in\ntheir Evidences, it lyes at their own doors, and upon their own\nconsciences, and the Judges and Jurors are clear, and not to be blamed,\nfor no humane prudence can altogether prevent, that Witnesses may not\nerre or swear falsely.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 3._]\n\n3. Have there not been many thousands of true and faithful Martyrs, that\nhave suffered and been condemned in many Ages, in many and several\nCountries, at many different and distinct times? And some of these have\nbeen condemned by such as were called and accounted General Councils,\nParliaments, High-Courts of Justice, and other places of great\nJudicature, before Judges that were accounted wise, grave, and learned,\nand by Juries of honesty and understanding: were there therefore no true\nMartyrs, and were they all justly condemned and put to death? or is it\nabsurd to be guilty of such incredulity, as to think and hold, that so\nmany grave and wise Judges, and knowing Juries were deceived, and did\nunjustly? Let Mr. _Glanvil_ or any other solve this Argument; and carry\nthe cause; or else we must necessarily conclude, that _opinio qu\u00e6 \u00e0 se\nnon propellit absurda, per absurda non premit adversarium_.\n\nNow having given a full and satisfactory Answer to their main and\nstrongest Objections, and defeated the whole force of their first and\nmost furious Charge, we shall proceed to overthrow their main Battel, in\nproving the four Particulars mentioned in the beginning of the Chapter,\nto be false and impossible. And in doing of this, we shall handle the\nthree first promiscuously and all together, and the fourth about\nTransubstantiations or Change of Witches into Cats, Hares, Dogs, Wolves,\nor the like, we shall handle by it self.\n\n[Sidenote: Eph. 2. 2.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Thess. 2. 4.]\n\n[Sidenote: Luk. 22. 2.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Chrys. in Luc._ 22. 3.]\n\n[Sidenote: Joh. 13. 2.]\n\n1. And first we acknowledge an internal, mental, and spiritual League or\nCovenant betwixt the Devil and all wicked persons, such as are Thieves,\nRobbers, Murtherers, Impostors, and the like, whereby the temptations,\nsuggestions, and allurements of Satan, spiritually darted, and cast into\nthe mind, the persons so wrought upon, and prevailed withal, do assent\nand consent unto the motions and counsels of the evil Spirit, and so do\nmake a League and Covenant with the said evil Spirit, as saith the Text:\n_According to the Prince of the power of the air, that now worketh in\nthe children of disobedience_. He doth not only rule over them, but also\nworketh in them; for men are either the Temples of God, or the Temples\nof Satan and Antichrist, _who sitteth in the Temple of God, and opposeth\nand exalteth himself above all that it called God or worshipped_. Such a\nspiritual League or Covenant as this did _Judas_ make with the Devil,\nwhereby he agreed to betray his Master Christ. _Then entred Satan into\nJudas_: not that essentially or personally he entred into _Judas_, but\nthat he put it into his heart, \u03b2\u03b5\u03b2\u03bb\u03b7\u03ba\u03cc\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2, to betray him: which wrought\nso effectively in him in a spiritual manner, that he took up that\nDiabolical resolution to betray his innocent Master: and this was\nentring into a spiritual League with the Devil. For as _Theophylact_\nsaith upon the place. _Hoc enim significat, spospondit, hoc est,\nperfectam promissionem & pactum fecit._ And another saith: _In Judam\nSatanas intravit, non impellens, sed patulum inveniens ostium: nam\noblitus omnium qu\u00e6 viderat, ad solam avaritiam dirigebat intuitum_. And\nagain: _Missio ista spiritualis suggestio est, & non fit per aurem, sed\nper cogitationem: diabolic\u00e6 enim suggestiones immittuntur, & humanis\ncogitationibus immiscentur_.\n\n2. We acknowledge that this spiritual League in some respects and in\nsome persons may be, and is an explicit League, that is, the persons\nthat enter into it, are or may be conscious of it, and know it to be so;\nfor when a person resolves to murther, he cannot but know that he then\nmaketh a League with the Devil, who was a Murtherer from the beginning.\nAnd it is manifest, that in this League, and in no other, were all the\nPriests that belonged to the Oracles, who knew well enough that the\nIdols or false Gods they worshipped, did give no answers at all, but the\nresponsions given were only of their own devising and framing, to uphold\ntheir credit; and more colourably to cozen and deceive the people, they\ndid pretend that they had answers from their Gods or Idols, and thus far\nthe Devil was in all their impostures and jugglings. And so all the\nseveral sorts of the Diviners or Witches mentioned in the Old Testament,\nwere under a spiritual League with the Devil, and did very well know,\nthat what they did, was not by the finger of God, but either by the help\nof Art, Nature, Leger-de-main, Confederacy, or such like impostures and\ncheats: and yet they pretended, as did _Simon Magus_, and gave out that\nthey were some great men, thereby to deceive others, when explicitly\nthey plainly knew that themselves were but dissemblers and lyars, and\nthat for gain, credit, and vain-glory they pretended to do those things,\nwhich they could never truly perform. And under this spiritual League,\nexplicitly considered, are all our Figure-flingers contained, who take\nupon them (far beyond the Rules of the true Art) to declare where\nstollen Goods are, and to cause them to be brought back again, and many\nother such vain and lying matters, which they well know they have no\npower to perform, but that they willingly and knowingly take upon them\nto pretend to do these things for vain-glory and filthy lucre sake. And\nof this sort are all our pretending Conjurers, Diviners, Wizards, and\nthose that take upon them to reveal things by looking in Crystals,\nBeryls, and the like, (of which we may perhaps speak more largely\nhereafter) that indeed know well enough they do but deceive and cheat\nothers: of all which we could recite very lepid and apposite stories,\ncertainly known unto us, or discovered by us; but Mr. _Glanvil_ would\naccount them but silly Legends and old Wives Fables, and therefore we\nshall supersede here, and leave them to a fitter place.\n\n[Sidenote: Isa. 8. 19, 20.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Calvin in loc._]\n\n3. There are others that are under this spiritual League, though\nimplicitly, as are all those that we have granted to be passively\ndeluded Witches, those that by ignorant and irreligious education,\njoyned with a melancholy temper and disposition, to which they have\nadded Charms, Pictures, and other superstitious Ceremonies, which they\nlearned by Tradition. By all which they become so deluded and besotted\nin their Phantasies, that they believe the Devil doth visibly appear\nunto them, suck upon them, have carnal copulation with them, that they\nare carried in the Air to feastings, dancings, and such like\nNight-revellings; and that they can raise tempests, kill men or beasts,\nand an hundred such like fopperies and impossibilities, when they do nor\nsuffer any thing at all, but in their depraved and deceived\nimaginations. And so do blindly and implicitly believe that the Devil\ndoth perform all these things for them, when indeed and truth he doth\nnothing but dart and cast in these filthy and fond cogitations into\ntheir minds agreeable to their wicked wills and corrupted desires, and\nso are fast bound in this spiritual and implicit League. And under this\nspiritual implicit League are also comprehended all those that are\nWitchmongers, and believe the verity and performance of these things,\nand think that the Devil can both hurt and also help, and that there is\na bad and a good Witch, or with Mr. _Perkins_, a black and a white one,\nby which wicked opinion, the seeking unto Witches, Wizards, Mutterers,\nMurmurers, Charmers, South-sayers, Conjurers, Cunning-men and women (as\nwe speak here in the North) and such like, is still upholden by the\nAuthors and Favourers of this opinion, contrary to the direct counsel of\nthe Holy Ghost, who saith: _And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto\nthem that have familiar Spirits, and unto Wizards that peep and that\nmutter; should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the\ndead. To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to\nthis word, it is because there is no light in them._ And therefore saith\none: _Admonet etiam, nos adversus impios cultus & superstitiones tutos\nfore, si in lege Domini acquiescamus_. The League or Covenant betwixt\nthe Devil and the Witch, is that which is visible and corporeal, where\nhe is supposed to appear in some bodily shape unto the Witch, and to\nhave oral and audible conference with him or her, and so to make a\nLeague or Covenant; and this is the thing that we deny, and the\nconsequents thereof, that he doth not suck upon their bodies, nor hath\ncarnal copulation with them, nor carries them in the Air, nor for them,\nnor by them doth destroy or kill man or beast, raise tempests, or change\nthem into Cats, Hares, Wolves, Dogs, or the like; and this we oppose\nwith these following Reasons.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 1._]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Pet. 5. 8, 9.]\n\n[Sidenote: Rev. 12. 9.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Cor. 2. 11.]\n\n[Sidenote: Eph. 6. 11.]\n\n[Sidenote: Mat. 24. 24.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Tim. 2. 25, 26.]\n\n1. Whatsoever the Devil worketh, it is to bring advantage to his own\nKingdom, or otherwise he should act in vain. But whatsoever he worketh\nby a visible Covenant, is not for the advantage of his own Kingdom: and\ntherefore it is in vain. The major is plain from the Text: _Be sober, be\nvigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh\nabout, seeking whom he may devour, whom resist stedfast in the faith_.\nThe minor is manifest in these two particulars. 1. _Satan is that old\nSerpent, that was, and is more subtile than any beast of the field,\nwhich the Lord God hath created_: which notwithstanding the vain Cavils,\nand seeming Arguments of _Pererius_, must be understood of Satan the\nAdversary of Mankind, and not of the natural Serpent, which is not the\nmost subtile beast that God hath created, there being many others more\nsubtile than the Serpent; and the Scripture tells us of his cunning and\nwiliness: for the Apostle saith, _We are not ignorant of his wiles or\ndevices_ \u03bd\u03bf\u03ae\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1. And the Apostle in another place calls them \u03bc\u03b5\u03b8\u03bf\u03b4\u03b5\u03af\u03b1\u03c2,\n_his wiles_, which are so great, _that if it were possible, they might\ndeceive the very elect_. So that he wants no cunning nor subtilty to\nknow how to bring a sinner into his snare, and to hold him fast, and\nwhen he is fast, he knows he need do no more, and therefore acts not in\nvain. 2. Before he need attempt a visible apparition to the Witch (if\nany such thing could be) he knows that the Witch is sure and fast in his\nsnare by a spiritual Covenant already entred into, and therefore knows\nhe need do no more, and he is too cunning to act to no purpose, and\ntherefore doth St. _Paul_ warn _Timothy_, _That a Bishop must have a\ngood report, lest he fall into the snare of the devil_, all sins being\nthe snares of the Devil, and when men are fast taken in them, they are\nin Satans fetters, and he labours no more but to keep them there. And so\nthe same Apostle speaketh of those that oppose the Gospel, _that they\nmust be instructed in meekness, that they may recover themselves out of\nthe snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will_. So\nthat sins keep men in the spiritual snare of the Devil, and so are all\nthose that are accounted Witches, in that spiritual snare, holden fast\nenough by their own consents and corrupt wills, and need no bodily\napparition to make them surer: and so this visible League falls to the\nground, as having no ground nor end why it should be made. And for the\nDevil to appear like a Dog or a Cat, and speak, would sure not only\nfright and startle an old Witch, but even the boldest and most\nstout-hearted person.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 2._]\n\n2. The Witches by visible apparitions of the Devil (if any such thing\ncould be) in any shape, could have no more assurance of Satans\nperformances, than they have already, by mental perswasion, and the\ndominion of him in their hearts, _who is the Prince of the air, and\nworketh in the children of disobedience_, because by that visible\nappearance there is not brought any Hostages or Witnesses, which are\nabsolutely necessary to confirm such a League or Covenant. And these\nrepresentations being made in their imaginations and fancies, wherein\nthey think they see, do, and suffer these delusive Visions, they are\nmost firmly and pertinaciously confirmed in the belief of them, that any\nApparition externally must needs be vain and superfluous.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 3._]\n\n3. If the Witches be not superlatively mad (and if so, then so to be\njudged of, and all that in this point is believed of them either in\ndoing, suffering, or otherwise, must be judged extreme folly and\nmadness) they will not make a League with the Devil, knowing him to be\nthe Devil, because they cannot but know that he was and is a Lyar and a\nMurtherer from the beginning, and hath deceived many before them, that\nwere of the same way and profession. And a visible appearance can afford\nthem no certain security, but that he may and will deceive them still,\nand that he continueth a lyar and a deceiver. But while the delusion is\ninternal, and the imagination depraved, and led by the suggestions and\nmotions of Satan, they then are so blinded, that they see not, nor\nunderstand the danger they run into, nor the certainty of the deceit\nthey lye under, which a visible Apparition would sooner shake and\noverthrow, than any way confirm, and therefore is false and needless.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 4._]\n\n4. But how come the Witches certainly to know that the Devil can perform\nsuch things as they would have done? Surely by no means, but either by\ntraditional hear-say or inward delusion; the one they know not, but that\nit is a lye, and the other concludeth their passive delusion, to neither\nof which a visible Apparition like a Cat or a Dog, and speaking unto\nthem, can bring any confirmation, except the Devil should bring them\ngood store of gold or silver, or work some strange feat before their\neyes, as to kill some men or beasts, or the like; but none of these\nthings are ever proved to be performed. And therefore it is not rational\nto believe that Witches do make a visible and corporeal League with the\nDevil, because by it they can have no certain knowledge, that he either\ncan or will accomplish such things for them, as they desire.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 5._]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Sam. 16. 14.]\n\n[Sidenote: Mat. 8. 31, 32.]\n\n[Sidenote: Job 1. 10, 11.]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Pet. 5. 8.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Pet. 2. 4.]\n\n[Sidenote: Jude 6.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Aug. super Psal._]\n\n[Sidenote: Of evil _Aug._ _sect._ 3. _pag._ 279, 280.]\n\n5. The Devil cannot by his own power or will, either appear visibly in\nwhat shape he please, neither can he when he will, nor as he will,\nperform these strange tricks, because he is under restraint, and can act\nnothing but as the will of God orders and determines: so God sent an\nevil Spirit upon _Saul_, otherwise he could not have troubled him; and\nthe Devils could not enter into the herd of Swine, until leave was given\nthem by our Saviour; neither could he afflict _Job_, until that Gods\nhand was laid upon him, and God ordered him to be an instrument in that\naffliction. And though the Devil be said _to walk about like a roaring\nlion, seeking whom he may devour_, yet must that walking about be only\nunderstood (and is so taken by all sound Expositors) of the evil and\nwicked intention of his will, according to which he is always ready\nseeking whom he may devour, if he be so ordered or permitted of God\n(ordering and permission in this point, being but all one act of the\ndivine Will and Providence) and not in regard of his power or liberty to\nact or execute what he please, and when and as he lift; for the same\nApostle and also St. _Jude_ telleth us, _that he is kept in chains of\ndarkness to be reserved unto judgment_, and by those chains he is kept,\nthat he cannot hurt or destroy, when and where he list, but as he is\nsent and appointed of God, either to tempt or afflict the godly, or to\npunish the wicked; and therefore the sentence of St. _Austin_ is much to\nbe weighed and considered, who saith: _Diabolus plerumq; vult nocere, &\nnon potest, quia potestas ista est sub potestate: nam si tantum posset\nnocere Diabolus quantum vult, aliquis justorum non remaneret_. And\ntherefore I cannot but transcribe here the opinion of that pious and\nlearned person Bishop _Hall_ upon this very particular, which is this:\n\u201cCould _Samson_ have been firmly bound hand and foot by the Philistine\ncords, so as he could not have stirred those mighty limbs of his, what\nBoy or Girl of _Gath_ or _Ascalon_ would have feared to draw near and\nspurn that awed Champion? No other is the condition of our dreadful\nenemies, they are fast bound up with the adamantine chains of Gods most\nmerciful and inviolable Decree, and forcibly restrained from their\ndesired mischief. Who can be afraid of a muzled and tyed up Mastive?\nwhat woman or child cannot make faces at a fierce Lyon, or a bloody\n_Bajazet_ lockt up fast in an Iron Grate? Were it not for this strong\nand strait curb of divine Providence, what good man could breathe one\nminute upon earth? The Demoniack in the Gospel could break his iron\nfetters in pieces, through the help of his Legion; those Devils that\npossessed him could not break theirs; they are fain to sue for leave to\nenter into Swine, neither had obtained it (in all likelihood) but for a\njust punishment to those _Gaderene_ owners: How sure may we then be,\nthat this just hand of Omnipotence will not suffer these evil ones to\ntyrannize over his chosen Vessels for their hurt? How safe are we, since\ntheir power is limited, our protection infinite?\u201d So that if the Devil\nbe thus chained and restrained by the omnipotent Decree and Providence,\nthat he cannot execute any evil, but as he is ordered of God, and that\nGod doth not let him loose but for just causes and reasons; then can it\nnot be that the Devil doth visibly appear and make Leagues with Witches,\nnor work such strange things for them, because there is no just or\nreasonable end that can be assigned, why God should order him to do\nthese things; and therefore a visible League with Witches is meerly\nfalse and fraudulent.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 6._]\n\n6. This pretended League must needs be a lye and a figment, because of\nthe effects that are feigned to follow, as to have carnal copulation\nwith the Devil, to raise storms and tempests, to flye in the air, and to\nkill men and beasts. For if these things be done, they are either\nperformed by the Witches own natural power, or by the Devils. If by the\nWitches natural power, or the force of her resuscitated imagination and\nstrength of will to work _ad nutum_ (as _Van Helmont_ seems to hold)\nthen the Devil operateth nothing, but in playing the Impostor, and\ndeceiving the Witch, and that he may easily do by internal and mental\ndelusion, and needs no visible League to bring it to pass. And if the\nWitch kill men or beasts, or perform any of the fore-cited Feats by\nnatural means or Agents, then where is the Devils power, or wherein is\nthe Witchcraft or Fascination, or where is the effect of the League? And\nif the Witch kill by natural means, then the natural Agent is not simply\nevil, but in the use and application. As a Sword is a natural and lawful\ninstrument for an honest man to use, to defend his life withal, in using\nof it with his natural power and skill; but if a Thief or a Robber, with\nhis natural power and skill, use a Sword to kill and murther an honest\nman withal, it is wickedness in the use and end, but not in the agency\nof the Thief, nor in the effect of the Sword. So if the Witch by any\nnatural means (though never so secret) do kill a man or child, it is\nmurther; but wherein lyes the Witchcraft? Is it any thing else but\n_Veneficium_ (as both the Greek and Latine words do import) to kill by\nsome secret way of poysoning? Shew what Witchcraft there is in it\nbesides. If the Devil by his own power kill a man, or perform the\nWitches carrying in the air, and the like, let us know how, or by what\nmeans he performeth the same? If what the Devil performeth in natural\nand corporeal matter, be (as the Fathers, Schoolmen, and Divines most\ngenerally hold) by applying natural Agents, to fit passives, then the\neffect is natural, and so in killing any person, it is only wicked and\ndiabolical, in regard of the end, which is murther, but what Witchcraft\nis there in the means and operation? And therefore _Guiterrius_ strongly\nconcludeth thus. \u201cIf there be no natural Fascination, there can be no\ndiabolical; but there is no natural Fascination (as he thinketh he hath\nsufficiently proved) therefore he concludeth there is no diabolical\nFascination at all.\u201d There is no way to solve this Argument, but either\nin denying that the Devil worketh these things by natural means, and\nthen it crosseth the opinion of all the Learned in general, ancient,\nmiddle, and modern, or by proving that there is natural Fascination, and\nthen diabolical is but in vain and needless.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas 7._]\n\n7. How can the Witches (if not maniacal in the highest degree) believe,\nthat the Devil who is a Lyar, and the Father of lyes, and whom they\ncannot but know hath in the like cases deceived many, that have (in\ntheir opinion) made contracts with him, will prove true in the\nperformance of his promise? Or that he who is the enemy of all truth and\ngoodness, and laboureth to deceive all Mankind, will be faithful to\nperform his promise, or to do them any good, either real or apparent? Or\n(if the Witches be not incredibly mad) can they believe that he will\nperform without Hostages, Bonds-men, or Sureties? when we find that the\nweakest and maddest of Mortals, if he make a Covenant with another of\nknown loosness and deceit, though for a thing of a far less value, than\neither soul or body, will he not require sufficient Bonds-men and\nSecurity? Now what Bonds-men or Security can the Witches have?\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 8._]\n\n8. And if the Witches be not beyond measure deluded and mad, must they\nnot rationally know, that if the Devil deceive them (as he is sure to\ndo) there is no recompence to be had, nor any that can compel him to\nperform bargains? Before what Judicature, before what Judges, by what\nLaw must they call him to an account, or have him punished? So that in\nall reason and sound judgment we must conclude the Witches to be\nabsolutely mad, and then all these things also madness, lyes and folly,\nor that there is not, nor ever was any such League or Covenant.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 9._]\n\n[Sidenote: See the Arraignment of Witches in _Lancast. Ann._ 10.\n           _Jacobi._]\n\n9. But if all this were granted, yet who are the Witnesses to this\nvisible League or Covenant, can the Witches name or find any? The things\nthat cannot be proved by sufficient Witnesses, are never to be believed,\nand we have proved the nullity, impossibility, and falsity of the\npretended Confessions of Witches themselves, and therefore that no\ncredit at all ought to be given unto them, and however no Law nor Equity\nought to allow the Evidence of a Party, as in these cases all Witches\nare. And though some few of them have been so exceedingly mad to make\nsuch false and absurd Confessions, yet if the Records of all Ages and\nCourts were sought, it will be found that many hundreds of them have\nsuffered that never confessed the least tittle of any such matter; and\nthe supposed Witches of _Salmesbury_ in the County of _Lancaster_, the\ntenth year of the Raign of King _James_, were so far from this\nconfession, that they were cleared, and the accusation found to be\nfalse, and all acted by the imposture of one _Thompson_, or _Christopher\nSouthworth_. And I my self have known two supposed Witches to have been\nput to death at _Lancaster_ within these eighteen years, that did\nutterly deny any such League, or ever to have seen any visible Devil at\nall: and may not the confession of these (who both dyed penitently) be\nas well credited, as the confessions of those that were brought to such\nconfessions by force, fraud, or cunning perswasion, and allurements? But\nif there be any such League or Covenant betwixt the Witches and the\nDevil, how cometh the truth of this matter of fact (if ever there were\nor could be any such thing) to be certainly known and revealed? Have any\nof the Pen-men of the holy Scriptures recorded, that there ever was, is,\nor can be any such League or Contract? Or was it ever attested by any\nhonest rational men, that were ear or eye-witnesses of such a bargain\nand contract? Therefore we must once again conclude: _De non\napparentibus & non existentibus eadem est ratio_.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 10._]\n\n10. As for the Witches either Males or Females, having carnal Copulation\nwith Devils, either as an _Incubus_ or _Succubus_, and their stealing of\nseed from a man, and conveying it into the vessels of the woman, it is\nin it self so horrid, monstrous, and incredible, that I cannot well\nbelieve him to be a rational person, or _san\u00e6 mentis_, that believes it\nas a truth, and therefore cannot but think the rehearsal of it a\nsufficient confutation. Also herein I do appeal to all learned\nPhysicians, who do know the way that Nature breeds humane seed, the\ncauses that make it prolifical, and the members fit for its generation\nand reception, who (I doubt not) will deride this Tenent, and condemn\nit, as false and abominable. Moreover, the horrid absurdity of it hath\nbeen sufficiently demonstrated by _Wierus_, Dr. _Tandlerus_, Mr. _Scot_,\nMr. _Wagstaff_, and others: and therefore all we shall say is this:\n\u201cThat Devils, whether conceived to be corporeal or incorporeal, and to\nassume bodies (for the one it must of necessity be) were not created of\nGod to generate, neither have they, nor can have any seed, or members\nfit for generation; and therefore to copulate or generate is derogatory\nfrom the glory of Nature, and blasphemous against God and his Power.\u201d As\nfor the Devils sucking the Teats, Warts, or such like excrescences of\nthe Witches bodies, we should have passed it over as easily as the\nformer, but only that Mr. _Glanvil_ hath taken up the Cudgels to defend\nit: to confute which, we shall give these satisfactory Reasons.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 1._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Pag._ 18.]\n\n1. There can be no rational end assigned, why the Devil should perform\nthis action, for we must tell Mr. _Glanvil_ that supposals are no\nproofs, and _ex suppositis supposita consequuntur_, and in a thing of\nthis nature, arguments to prove it probable are insufficient. And if (as\nhe confesseth) for their being suckt by the Familiar, I say, (he saith)\n\u201cWe know so little of the Nature of Demons and Spirits, that \u2019tis no\nwonder we cannot certainly divine the reason of so strange an action\u201d:\nNow if he knew so little of their Nature, it must needs be vanity and\narrogance to take upon him to declare so much: and if he could not\ncertainly divine the reason of so strange an act, it was extreme folly\nand pride in him to bring in idle and vain conjectures and probability,\nwhere verity and certainty are expected. One while he supposeth them\ncorporeal, which if granted, will not prove that they are recreated by\nthe reeks and vapours of humane blood, because their bodies are of a\nmore pure Nature, than to be nourished with gross, and sometimes\n(especially in melancholick old men and women) corrupted blood; for if\nevery thing be nourished by its like, then they cannot be fed with\nhumane blood, for they have no flesh nor bones such as ours, that have\nneed to be nourished with blood. And for his next, _perhaps, and may be,\nthat it is a diabolical Sacrament_, we shall believe it when he proves\nit, and not before. But he hath a third supposal, which to him seemeth\nmost probable, _viz._ \u201cThat the Familiar doth not only suck the Witch,\nbut in the action infuseth some poysonous ferment into her\u201d. If this had\nbeen most probable, why did he bring in the other two, that are less\nprobable? surely he might have known that, _frustra fit per plura, quod\nfieri potest per pauciora_. And is his sucking now come to infusion and\ninjection? surely these will not accord: but enough of supposals.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 2._]\n\n[Sidenote: History.]\n\n2. But we must know of Mr. _Glanvil_, how he comes to know that the\nDevils sucking of the Witches bodies is a truth, or ever was proved to\nbe matter of fact, who were by and present that were ear or\neye-witnesses of it? A thing that never was proved ought never to be\nbelieved; and if he recur to the Witches confessions, that is fully\noverthrown before, and we are sure that in these late years that are\npast, when so many pretended Witch-finders were set abroad in _Scotland_\nand _Northumberland_, they never manifested, nor could verifie any such\nthing, but were found and discovered to be notorious Impostors and\nKnaves, pretending to discover Witches by putting sharp Needles or Pins\ninto the Warts and hollow Excrescences of divers persons, when the\npersons so dealt withal, did not see nor know; and if the persons did\nnot feel nor complain of pain, then (forsooth) they must be taken for\nWitches, and be burnt. So of many persons they got money and bribes,\nthat they might not be searcht or stript naked, and of others for\nfinding Excrescences upon them that were hollow and fistulous, and\ntherefore when the Pin was thrust into the fistulous cavity, that was\nskinned within, and so indolent, they were then accounted guilty, and\nwere either forced to compound with these notorious pretended\nWitch-finders, or to be prosecuted for their lives. By which wicked\nmeans and unchristian practices divers innocent persons, both men and\nwomen lost their lives; and these wicked Rogues wanted not greater\npersons (even of the Ministry too) that did authorize and incourage them\nin these Diabolical courses, as though this had been some way prescribed\nby God or his Word to discover Witches by, when it was an Hellish device\nof the Devil to delude Witchmongers, and bring poor innocent people to\ndanger and death. Yet it had prevailed further, if some more wise Heads\nand Christian Hearts had not interposed, by whom the Villany was\ndetected, and the Impostors severely punished; and that this is a most\ncertain truth, hundreds yet living can witness and testifie. And the\nlike in my time and remembrance happened here in _Lancashire_, where\ndivers both men and women were accused for supposed Witchcraft, and were\nso unchristianly, unwomenly, and inhumanely handled, as to be stript\nstark naked, and to be laid upon Tables and Beds to be searched (nay\neven in their most privy parts) for these their supposed Witch-marks: so\nbarbarous and cruel acts doth diabolical instigation, working upon\nignorance and superstition, produce.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 3._]\n\n3. But as this was never really proved _de facto_, that the Devil did\nsuck upon the body of a supposed Witch, so the possibility of it\nlikewise can never be demonstrated. For whether a Spirit be taken to be\ncorporeal, or to assume a body, yet it neither hath nor can have such a\nbody as our Saviour did appear in after his Resurrection, which was the\nsame real and numerical body that he suffered in, and was by the sense\nof seeing and feeling distinguished from any bodies that Spirits can\nhave and appear in, especially in solidity and tangibility; for a Spirit\nhath not flesh and bones, as he was felt and seen to have. And where\nthere is no flesh and bones, there cannot be any animal sucking, and we\nspeak not here of artificial sucking or attraction, of which there is a\ngreat question, whether any such thing be at all or not; but however the\nSpirits have no power to suck, because they have not flesh and bones.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 4._]\n\n4. That there are divers Nodes, Knots, Protuberances, Warts, and\nExcrescences that grow upon the bodies of men and women, is sufficiently\nknown to learned Physicians and experienced Chirurgions. Some have them\nfrom their mothers wombs, some grow afterwards, some proceed from\ninternal causes, some from external hurts, some are soft, some hard,\nsome pendulous, some not, some fistulous, and issue matter, some hollow\nand indolent, and many other ways. And these are more frequent in some\npersons, by reason of their Complexion and Constitution, in others by\nreason of their Age, Sex, and other accidents and circumstances,\nespecially in Women that are old, and their accustomed purgations staid,\nor by reason of Child-birth, and the like. Now if all these were\nWitch-marks, then few would go free, especially those that are of the\npoorer sort, that have the worst diet, and are but nastily kept. And for\ntheir being indolent, it doth argue nothing but ignorance; for many\nsorts of Tumors and Excrescences are without pain, as well as fistulous\nand hollow Warts. And it is a woful errour, to make that a sign and mark\nof a diabolical Contract, that hath natural causes for its production.\nAnd it is a strange kind of Logick to argue or conclude, that men or\nwomen are Witches, and have made a Contract with the Devil, because they\nhave such Warts or Excrescences that are indolent when pricked into:\nwhere is the coherence, connexion, or just consequence? Let all wise men\njudge.\n\n[Sidenote: _Psycholog._ _par._ 2. _pag._ 53. _&c._]\n\n[Sidenote: Dialog. Discours. _pag._ 149, _&c._]\n\n[Sidenote: Discovery of Witchcraft, _l._ 5. _c._ 1, _&c._]\n\nAs for that vain opinion, that Witches are, or can be really and\nessentially transformed into Dogs, Cats, Hares, and the like, or men\ntransubstantiated into Wolves, it is largely by numerous positive\narguments, confuted by _Casmannus_, and by the Authors of that learned\nTreatise of Spirits and Devils, written in the Raign of Queen\n_Elizabeth_, as also by _Wierus_, Mr. _Scot_, and others; so that we\nshall not bring all that others have written about this point, but note\nsuch things as are most material, and have been less handled or regarded\nby others, and that in these Particulars.\n\n[Sidenote: _De Civit. Dei_, _lib._ 18. _cap._ 18. _pag._ 583.]\n\n[Sidenote: _De Spirit. anim._ _cap._ 26.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. nat._ _l._ 8. _c._ 22. _p._ 114.]\n\n1. It is taken to be a great matter with some, because St. _Augustin_\nseemeth to favour this opinion of transformation, and tells us this: _Si\nenim dixerimus ea non esse credenda, non desunt etiam nunc, qui ejusmodi\nqu\u00e6dam, vel certissima audisse, vel etiam expertos se esse asseverent_.\nAnd then saith: \u201cAnd we, when we were in _Italy_, did hear such things\nof a certain Region of those parts, where certain Women that kept Inns,\nbeing skilled in these Arts (they did say) were wont to give in Cheese\nto Travellers that they could get to take it, whence forthwith they were\nturned into Juments, and carried necessary burdens, and when they had\ndone, did again return unto themselves, but that while they had not a\nbestial, but rational and humane understanding.\u201d And yet concludeth:\n_H\u00e6c vel falsa sunt, vel tam inusitata, ut merit\u00f2 non credantur_. To\nwhich we shall return these short answers. 1. Though St. _Austin_ were\nin many things a very Learned man; yet being but a man, might and did\nerre, not only in this point, but in many others. 2. His Reasons to\nprove it by are weak and groundless. 3. He speaketh nothing of his\ncertain and peculiar knowledge, but by common fame and hear-say; and\ntherefore the matters alledged to be done, are not credible. 4. He\nconfesseth that they are either false, or so unusual, that they are not\nworthy to be believed. 5. And when he hath said all he can, he\nconcludeth these Transformations (if any such were) to be but\nphantastical, that is, to seem so, but not really to be so, and what he\nmeaneth by a phantastical appearance, is not easie to judge, whether it\nwere a delusion of the Phantasie within, or of the senses without. 6.\nBut in another place he telleth us this: _Non est credendum, humanum\ncorpus D\u00e6monum arte vel potestate in bestialia lineamenta converti\nposse_; so that here is St. _Austin_ contradicting himself, or else he\nconcludeth nothing. 7. But his learned Commentator _Ludovicus Vives_\ndoth not give credit to those vain and lying Fables, but confuteth them\nby the Authority of Pliny (who might have given St. _Austin_\nsatisfaction, if he had read him) who tells us roundly: _Homines in\nlupos verti, rursumq; restitui sibi, falsum esse confidenter existimare\ndebemus, aut credere omnia qu\u00e6 fabulosa tot seculis comperimus_. And\nfurther saith: _Mirum est, qu\u00f2 procedat Gr\u00e6cia credulitas. Nullum tam\nimpudens mendacium est, ut teste careat._\n\n[Sidenote: Gen. 19. 26.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Antiq. Judaic._ _l._ 1. _c._ 12. _p._ 17.]\n\n[Sidenote: Exod. 4. 3, 4.]\n\n[Sidenote: Exod. 7. 9, 10, 20.]\n\n[Sidenote: Exod. 7. 20, 21.]\n\n[Sidenote: Job. 2. 9.]\n\n2. For essential Transformations we have examples in the Sacred\nScriptures, but these not wrought but by a divine Hand and an omnipotent\nPower. And such was that of _Lots_ Wife, who looking back contrary to\ncommand, was turned into a Pillar of Salt, _& fuit in statuam salis_, as\n_Arias Montanus_ renders it, which accordeth with the Hebrew exactly,\nthe vulgar Latine and others say, _versa est in statuam salis_: and this\nby the divine finger was a real transubstantiation, especially in\nrespect of her body, the substance of which was really changed into an\nabsolute Pillar of Salt, without regression or returning back to what it\nwas before, but remained so still, and was standing in the days of\n_Josephus_, if credit may be given to what he writeth. Another example\nwe have in _Moses_ his Rod, which God commanded him to cast upon the\nground, _and he cast it upon the ground, and it became a Serpent, and\nMoses fled from before it. And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine\nhand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it,\nand it became a rod in his hand._ This Rod afterwards _Aaron_ threw down\nbefore _Pharaoh, and it became a Serpent, and swallowed up the rods of\nthe Wise-men and Sorcerers, and it afterwards became a rod again_, and\n_Aaron_ used it in working some of the rest of the Miracles. So that\nthis was so true a transformation, that _Moses_ himself was afraid when\nhe saw the Rod a Serpent, that he fled from before it; and that it was a\nreal change, appeared in that it swallowed up the Rods of the Magicians,\nand still afterwards became a Rod again. So likewise all the Waters in\n_Egypt_ were really changed into blood: And our Saviour did really\nchange the Water into Wine at the Marriage in _Cana_ of _Galilee_. And\nall these were true and real transubstantiations, which neither Devils\nnor Witches can perform, as appeareth by these unanswerable Arguments.\n\n1. All real Transubstantiations are wrought and performed by a divine\nand omnipotent Power: but Devils and Witches have no divine nor\nomnipotent Power. Therefore Devils or Witches cannot work or perform any\nreal Transubstantiations.\n\n2. All Beings that work real Transubstantiations, must work contrary and\ndifferent from that order and course that God hath established in\nNature: but Devils and Witches cannot work contrary and different from\nthat order and course that God hath established in Nature. Therefore\nDevils and Witches cannot work any real transubstantiations at all. Let\nall the Witchmongers in the World answer these Arguments, if they be\nable.\n\n[Sidenote: Mat. 17. 2.]\n\n[Sidenote: Mar. 9. 2, 3.]\n\n[Sidenote: Luk. 9. 28.]\n\n[Sidenote: Rom. 12. 2.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Cor. 3. 18.]\n\n[Sidenote: Luk. 9. 29.]\n\n[Sidenote: Exod. 34. 33, 34, 35.]\n\n3. We find also external Transfiguration, as of Christ in the Mountain;\nfor the Text saith, in St. _Matthews_ Gospel: _And he was transfigured\nbefore them, and his face did shine as the Sun, and his raiment was\nwhite as the light_. And _Mark_ saith: _And he was transfigured before\nthem, and his raiment became shining exceeding white as snow: so as no\nfuller on earth can white them_. And St. _Luke_ saith: _And as he\nprayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was\nwhite and glittering_. The word used in those places for the\ntransfiguring or altering of his face by St. _Matthew_ and St. _Mark_ is\n\u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u03b5\u03bc\u03bf\u03c1\u03c6\u03ce\u03b8\u03b7, from \u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u1f70 _trans_, and \u03bc\u03bf\u03c1\u03c6\u1f74 _forma_, _figura_, the outward\nform, shape, figure, or lineaments; and this word is also used for the\nchange or transforming of the mind, will, desires, and affections: For\nso the Apostle saith: _And be not conformed to this world: but be ye\ntransformed by the renewing of your mind_. And again he saith: _We\nbehold as in a glass the glory of the Lord with open face: and are\ntransformed into the same image from glory to glory_. But St. _Luke_\ninstead of this word expresseth it thus: \u03c4\u1f78 \u03b5\u1f36\u03b4\u03bf\u03c2 \u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u03c0\u03c1\u03bf\u03c3\u03ce\u03c0\u03bf\u03c5 \u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6\n\u1f15\u03c4\u03b5\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd. _Tremellius_ renders it: _Transformatus est aspectus vult\u00fbs\nejus_. And _Beza_: _Species vult\u00fbs ejus alia_, which is nearest the\nGreek. So _Moses_ face, when he had been with the Lord upon the Mount,\nthe skin of it did shine, so that he put a veil upon it, when he spoke\nto the people, and put it off when he went in to speak unto the Lord. So\nthat these were external alterations of both Christs and _Moses_ face,\nby appearing glorious, resplendent, and shining like the Sun, and this\nwas wrought by a divine hand and power. From whence we may note,\n\n1. That though Christ was thus gloriously transformed (for so the word\ndoth bear) yet we are not to imagine, that Christ was essentially\nchanged into some other substance or nature; no, but that he was rather\nmade there most resplendent in glory.\n\n2. And where the Apostle wisheth the _Romans_ to be transformed: Is it\nto be essentially transformed into any other substance or natural thing?\nNay not so, but effectively into some other more sacred qualities, by\nthe renovation of their inward mind. And again where he saith: _And are\ntransformed into the same image from glory to glory_. His meaning is\nnot, that we are essentially transformed into the very image of God; for\nso should he very shrewdly confirm that foolish opinion of some, who\nhold that men are deified in God, and that God also is hominified in\nmen: But his purpose is, that we (by the operation of the holy Spirit)\nshould proceed and grow (by degrees) from glory to glory, until we be\ntruly conformed unto the similitude of that same glorious Image of God\nwherein we were first created; and so intendeth no essential\ntransformation at all.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. medic._ _pag._ 80, _&c._ _Id. pag._ 129.]\n\n3. We are here to note the difference betwixt this Transfiguration, and\nthat which may proceed from natural causes, as passions, affections, or\ndiseases; and also from artificial or counterfeited Transfigurations.\nFor it is wonderful to behold, how anger and rage doth alter the faces\nand countenances of some, and so grief, sorrow, despair, and the like,\nin others, causeth horrible changes all over the external parts both of\nthe face and body. Neither is any passion more prevalent than\ndeep-rooted fear mixed with despair, as hath been manifested in some,\nthat in a short time, nay even in the space of one night have had their\nhair, that formerly was black, turned into gray or white, as is\ntestified by Authors of unquestionable veracity. And for diseases, it is\nalmost incredible to think, what strange alterations Madness, Frenzy,\nthe bitings of a mad Dog, Melancholies (especially that kind which\nPhysicians call _Lycanthropia_, which is so wonderful, that it hath made\nmany dotingly believe, they were really transformed) will produce and\nbring forth. Examples of which at large may be seen in _Schenckius_; of\nwhich we shall speak more fully anon, as also of artificial and\ncounterfeited Transfigurations: and that Devils nor Witches can perform\nno such Transfigurations as this of Christ and _Moses_, is manifest by\nthe Arguments laid down before, because these were brought to pass by a\ndivine Hand and an omnipotent Power, which Devils and Witches have not,\nand therefore cannot operate any such things.\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Cor. 11. 13, 14, 15.]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Cor. 7. 31.]\n\n4. Moreover in the Scripture there is mention of counterfeit, simulated,\nand hypocritical transformation, such the Apostle mentioneth in these\nwords, speaking of the false Apostles: _For such are false Apostles,\ndeceitful workers, transforming themselves into the Apostles of Christ_.\nAnd no marvel, for Satan himself _is_ transformed into an Angel of\nlight. Therefore it is no great thing, if his Ministers also be\ntransformed as the Ministers of Righteousness, whose end shall be\naccording to their works. The word there thrice used is from\n\u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03c3\u03c7\u03b7\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03af\u03b6\u03c9, which cometh from \u1f15\u03c7\u03c9 _habeo, possideo, teneo_, and from\nthence \u03c3\u03c7\u1fc6\u03bc\u03b1 _habitus_: so that the compound Verb properly signifieth\n_effingo, assimulo_, and so of necessity must signifie in these three\nplaces. So the Apostle saith in another place: _The form of this world_,\n\u03c3\u03c7\u1fc6\u03bc\u03b1, _passeth away_, that is, the fashion, condition, custom, or usage\nof the world passeth away. This place of Scripture concerning Satans\ntransforming of himself into an Angel of light (though plain in it self)\nhath been and still is most usually alledged by Witchmongers, to prove\nthe Apparitions of Devils by: For thus they commonly argue; \u201cIf Satan\ncan transform himself into an Angel of Light; much more (arguing _\u00e0\nmajore ad minus_) into any other shape, and so may easily appear in the\nform of a Cat, Dog, or in any other shape whatsoever\u201d, and this they\nthink to be an invincible Argument. This way of argument were of force,\nif the Apostle in this place had meant or intended any real or essential\ntransformation; but that this is not the meaning of the Text, we shall\nprove by these following Reasons.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 1._]\n\n[Sidenote: Joh. 12. 5, 6.]\n\n1. The very signification of the word here, doth not bear nor intend any\nessential transformation; but only feigning, pretending, and\nassimulating, as when _Judas_ pretended charity and love to the poor,\nwhen he said: _Why was not this oyntment sold for three hundred pence,\nand given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor: but\nbecause he was a thief and had the bag, and bare what was put therein._\nThough _Judas Iscariot_ hypocritically feigned and pretended this\ncharity to, and care for the poor, yet was he not really a charitable\nman, or a lover of the poor, but a thief, and a most covetous wretch. So\nthese false Apostles did pretend much zeal and piety to preach and\npromote the Gospel, but therefore were they not really transformed and\nchanged into true Apostles, but were Deceivers, Dissemblers, and\nHypocrites. So Satan often pretendeth heavenly, angelical, and divine\nthings, and to do as the holy Angels do; but it is in deceit, cozenage,\nfalsity, and hypocrisie, and so he is by counterfeiting and dissembling\nsaid to be transformed into an Angel of Light, and not otherwise by any\nessential transformation at all.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 2._]\n\n2. The Text it self doth plainly manifest, that they were not\ntransformed into true Apostles, for then St. _Paul_ had had no cause to\nhave written so bitterly against them; but that notwithstanding that\nshew, form, or pretence that they held forth, and though outwardly they\nseemed to personate the true Apostles of Christ, yet that was but an\nexternal and hypocritical simulation; for really and truly they were\nfalse Apostles, \u03c8\u03b5\u03c5\u03b4\u03b1\u03c0\u03cc\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03bb\u03bf\u03b9, and deceitful workers, \u1f10\u03c1\u03b3\u03ac\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9 \u03b4\u03cc\u03bb\u03b9\u03bf\u03b9.\nAnd so Satan may make what shews or pretences he will of goodness,\npiety, and of heavenly things, and so may counterfeit, dissemble and\nlye, yet still he remaineth a very accursed Devil, and is never really\nchanged from his damned and diabolical Nature.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 3._]\n\n[Sidenote: Dialog. Disc. of Spirits and Devils, p. 234.]\n\n3. Satan is so transformed into an Angel of Light, as his Ministers are\ntransformed into the Apostles of Christ. But Satans Ministers are not\nessentially transformed into the Apostles of Christ. Therefore neither\nis Satan essentially transformed into an Angel of Light. For though\nSatans Ministers may pretend never so much piety and zeal, and labour to\npersonate and imitate the true Ministers of Christ, yet notwithstanding\nthat pretended transformation, they still really and essentially remain\nas they were, that is, Deceivers and Hypocrites. And Satan for all his\nseeming and apparent personating and imitating the Angels of Light, he\nstill remaineth in his essence and nature an Angel of Darkness, and a\nlying and accursed Wretch.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 4._]\n\n[Sidenote: _August. de Civ. Dei_, _l._ 2. _c._ 26.]\n\n4. The Devil is never nor can be really and essentially\ntransubstantiated into an Angel of Light, for then he could (indeed and\nin truth) be no longer a Devil, but his diabolical Nature would of\nnecessity cease. But all his transformation is, when he intendeth most\ndeeply to circumvent and deceive the sons of men, then he pretendeth the\nmost religious and the holiest shews of all. Pretending in all outward\nappearance the holy affections, sincerity, and zeal of the holiest\nAngels of Light. For as St. _Austin_ saith: \u201cUnless the malignity of\nSatan be sleightly and cunningly covered, his deceivable purpose is\nseldom or never effected.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 5._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Chrysost. in loc._]\n\n5. The best and most sound Expositors, both ancient, middle, and modern\ndo expound the place as we have urged it, of which we shall name only\ntwo or three. St. _Chrysostom_ tells us this: _Operarii dolosi: nam\noperantur quidem, sed revellunt ea qu\u00e6 sunt plantata: nam quoniam sciunt\nse aliter non posse esse acceptos, person\u00e2 veritatis sumpt\u00e2, erroris\nactum simulantes peragunt_. And a little after he saith thus: _Et multos\nDiabolus sic decipit, person\u00e2 in se accept\u00e2, & non factus Angelus lucis:\nsic illi personam Apostolorum circumferunt, non ipsam potentiam, neq;\nfortes sunt_. Dr. _Hammond_ gives the Paraphrase of this place thus:\n\u201cFor the truth is (he saith) these men that come to infuse false\nDoctrines into you, behave themselves as cunningly as they can, and do\nlabour to imitate, and seem to do those very things, that we true\nApostles do. And \u2019tis no unusual matter for Deceivers and Seducers to do\nso; for Satan himself pretends to do those things that the good Angels\ndo, makes as if he meant you all kindness, when he comes to destroy you.\nAnd therefore \u2019tis not any thing strange, if seducing Hereticks,\nimployed by him, do imitate the actions of the Apostles of Christ; but\naccording to the hypocrisie of their actions, so shall their ends be.\u201d\nSee _Theophylact_ and _Calvin_ upon the place. So that we positively\nconclude, that from this place of Scripture no real or essential\ntransformations of Devils can be proved at all.\n\n[Sidenote: Philosophical Transactions, numb. 64.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Barthol._ _Cent._ 2. _Hist._ 100. _pag._ 319. _Microgr.\n           obser._ 17. _pag._ 107.]\n\n6. There are natural Transformations by progression to perfection, as is\nmanifest in Insects, which at the first to our view do appear to be\nWorms, Maggots, Creepers, or Caterpillers, and yet afterwards do become\nseveral sorts of winged Creatures, as Butterflies of many and various\nkinds, Flies, and the like; as that Creature, which here in the North\nFishers do call a _May_-Fly, is first but a little Creeper inclosed in\nan Hull, as of pieces of straws, or the like: and so that which they\ncall a Cod-bait, is like a yellow Maggot with a black head inclosed in a\nsandy crustaceous Husk, and yet towards the middle of _August_, or the\nbeginning of _September_ becometh a fine yellowish Fly, which the\nFishers use to bait withal, and these are but gradual progressions\ntowards the perfection of the Animalcle, as the learned Author _Johannes\nSwammerdanus_ hath declared in these words, as we find it laid down in\nthe Philosophical Transactions: \u201cFirst it lays down the ground of all\nnatural changes in Insects; declaring, that by the word Change, is\nnothing else to be understood but a gradual and natural evolution and\ngrowth of the parts, not any Metamorphosis or Transformation of them,\nand a great deal more of notable observations concerning the most sorts\nof Insects, as may be seen in the piece quoted in the Margent.\u201d So\nlikewise there are very many strange transformations wrought by\npetrifactions both of Vegetables and Animals, or their parts, as may be\nseen by the Writings of many learned Authors, especially those noted in\nthe Margent, to whom we refer the curious Inquirer. These being natural\nTransfigurations (for so they may be properly called) we cannot\nrationally suppose that any man of judgment will imagine, that any such\ncan be produced by Devils or Witches, because they are brought forth by\nnatural Principles and Agents, which Devils or Witches cannot overrule,\nalter, nor hinder, else the whole and certain course that the Creator\nhath set in the order of the production and generation of natural\nthings, might be suspended, which is not possible to be performed\nwithout an omnipotent Power, which the Devils and Witches have not.\nBesides the most of these require a suitable time for their production\nand perfection, which must only be performed by the internal operation\nof Nature, or by Art accelerating the works of Nature, which Devils and\nWitches cannot bring to pass.\n\n[Sidenote: Exod. 4. 6, 7.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 King. 5. 27.]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Sam. 21. 13.]\n\n[Sidenote: _De Monst._ _l._ 24. _c._ 18. _p._ 565.]\n\n7. There are divers other Transformations (at least so accounted and\ncalled) which because they are not absolutely pertinent to our purpose,\nwe shall only mention slightly. 1. External changes of the body in\nrespect of diseases, and some by an extraordinary power, as that of\n_Moses_, to whom the Lord said: _Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And\nhe put his hand into his bosom: And when he took it out: behold, his\nhand was leprous as snow. And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom\nagain: And he put his hand into his bosom again, and plucked it out of\nhis bosom, and behold, it was turned again as his other flesh._ Here we\nsee that the same hand was made leprous white as snow, and was again\nrestored as his other flesh. And this was done by a divine Power, such\nas neither Devils nor Witches can perform. So _Gehazi_ of whom it is\nsaid: _The leprosie therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto\nthy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as\nsnow._ And here the judgment was permanent, and no restauration, and was\na great Miracle, which Devils and Witches cannot perform. 2. There is\nfeigned, and artificial transfigurations. So of _David_, of whom it is\nsaid: _And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad\nin their hands, and scrambled on the doors of the gate, and let his\nspittle fall down upon his beard_. And all this he prudently feigned,\nthat he might escape from _Achish_ the King of _Gath_, of whom he was\nsore afraid: So many Persons of Worth have disguised themselves\nstrangely, that they might escape the hands of their enemies, or not\nfall into their power, and yet these were not done by the Devils Art,\nnor by Witchcraft. So a Stage-player transfigureth himself, sometimes to\npersonate one person, and sometimes another; and though his outward\nhabit, speech, and action be changed, yet he remaineth the same in\nNature and Person that he was before those changes, and so maketh\nnothing for Witchcraft at all. 3. There are knavish Transfigurations and\nCounterfeiting for deceitful and wicked ends, as in those we call\nGypsies, that discolour their faces and skins, to be more fit to cheat\nand cozen. So likewise do many other vile and wicked persons counterfeit\nSores, Ulcers, Leprosie, Dropsie, and such like diseases, as may be seen\nat large in _Ambrose Par\u00e6us_ Book of Monsters, and we have seen and\ndetected divers; and all this done only to deceive and abuse mens\ngoodness and charity: But no more of Devil in any of these, but the\nwickedness of the mind, and the evil of the end and intention. Of a more\nwicked grain and temper are those, that for wicked and devilish ends\ncounterfeit themselves to be possessed, and labour to make the World\nbelieve, that the Devil doth move in divers parts of their bodies, and\ndoth speak in them, when it is nothing but only their own devilish\ncunning in lying and counterfeiting, as we shall have occasion to shew\nmore fully hereafter. 4. There are also divers kinds of sportive and\ndelusive Transformations, performed by those that use the Art of\nLeger-de-main or Juggling, wherein they pretend and seem to\ntransubstantiate one thing into another, when by the agility of their\nhands, and the gesture of their face and body, they do but draw your\neyes and attention another way, while they do but nimbly convey another\nthing in its place. And he that taketh these for Conjurers or Witches,\nand their Tricks for diabolical or Witchcraft, are surely under a\ndevilish delusion, and are most strangely bewitched. And as for the\nchanges wrought by _Pharaohs_ Magicians, we shall particularly handle it\nin another place.\n\n[Sidenote: Rom. 12. 2.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Thess. 2. 9, 10, 11, 12.]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Sam. 18. 10.]\n\n[Sidenote: Dan. 4. 32, 33, 34, 36.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Ibid._ _vers._ 16.]\n\n8. There are other Transformations mentioned in the Scripture, of which\nwe shall now speak. 1. That transformation that the Grace and Spirit of\nGod doth work inwardly in the minds and hearts of the Godly, which is\nnot by changing their Nature or Persons, but by transforming their\nminds, and altering their wills and affections from sinful and earthly\nthings, to those that are holy and heavenly: so the Apostle willeth the\n_Romans, that they be transformed by the renewing of their minds_, and\nso they come to be changed from glory to glory, and this were blasphemy\nto say, that either Devil or Witch could perform it. 2. There is a\ntransformation wrought in the minds of the wicked by the just judgment\nof God; for the Text saith, speaking of Antichrist: _Revealing even him,\nwhose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and\nlying wonders. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them\nthat perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they\nmight be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusions,\nthat they should believe a lye. That they all might be damned, who\nbelieved not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness._ So in the\ncase of _Saul_ the Text saith: _And it came to pass on the morrow, that\nthe evil Spirit from God came upon Saul_. These therefore are inward\njudgments for wickedness, sent by God by the ministry of Satan, of which\nwe shall speak more hereafter. 3. We lastly come to the main point, that\nis, concerning the transformation of _Nebuchadnezzar_, which the\nWitchmongers hold to be a real and an essential transubstantiation,\ntherefore let us hear the words as they run in our English Translation,\nwhich are this: _And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling\nshall be with the beasts of the field, they shall make thee eat grass as\noxen. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar, and he\nwas driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet\nwith the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like Eagles feathers,\nand his nails like birds claws. And at the end of the days I\nNebuchadnezzar lift up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding\nreturned unto me. At the same time my reason returned unto me._ And a\nlittle before: _Let his heart be changed from mans, and let a beasts\nheart be given unto him_. From this place they commonly frame an\nargument to this purpose. That _Nebuchadnezzar_ being really and\nessentially changed from a man to a beast or an ox, much more may Satan\nessentially transform himself into the shape of any Creature, and\nconsequently that he may really change the Witches into Hares, Dogs,\nCats, and the like. But we shall unanswerably prove that the assumption\nis false, that _Nebuchadnezzar_ was not transubstantiated, or\nessentially transformed at all: And if he had been really so, yet that\nthe consequence is invalid, and of no force, and that by these\nArguments.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 1._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. medic._ _l._ 4. _c._ 5. _p._ 239.]\n\n1. Because that being driven into the field, and eating grass as oxen,\nand having his body (it was his body, not the body of an oxe, and\ntherefore no corporeal nor real change) wet with the dew of Heaven, do\nnot at all conclude or infer, that his body was really and essentially\nchanged, nor in the external figure of it altered from what it was\nbefore; for he might go upon all four, and eat grass, and yet that doth\nargue no real change of his bodily shape at all; for so have divers\npersons done, that being young, have been lost in Woods and Desarts, and\nhave been brought up with Bears or Wolves. To which purpose take one\nstory for all from _Philip Camerarius_, that learned Counsellor of\n_Norimberg_, a man of great credit and reputation, in these words. \u201cIn\nthe year 1543. there was in the parts of _Hesse_ a Lad taken, who (as he\nreported afterwards, and so it was found true) when he was but three\nyears old, was taken away, and afterwards nourished and brought up by\nWolves. These Wolves, when they got any prey, would always bring the\nbest of it to a Tree, and give it to the Child, which did eat it: in\nWinter and time of cold, they would dig a pit, and strew it with grass\nand leaves of trees, and thereupon lay the Child, and lying round about\nit, preserve him from the injury of the weather: after they would make\nhim go upon all four, and run with him, till by use and length of time,\nhe could skip and run like a Wolf; being taken, he was compelled by\nlittle and little to go only upon his feet. He would often say, that if\nit had been in his power, he could have taken more delight to have\nconversed among Wolves, than among men: he was carried to the Court of\n_Henry Lantgrave_ of _Hesse_ to be seen.\u201d And in the same Chapter he\nrelateth another story to the same purpose of one that he himself had\nknown and seen, that was of admirable agility, and more to the same end.\nNow must we conclude, that because this Boy did live and lye in the open\nair, was fed with raw flesh, and went upon all four, that therefore he\nwas really and essentially charged into a Wolf? no, that would be\ninconsequent and ridiculous; and so would it be, if because\n_Nebuchadnezzar_ lay in the open field, was wet with the rain and dew,\nand did eat grass as an ox, to conclude, that therefore he was really\nchanged into a beast; the absurdities are both alike. This is as mad a\nkind of inference, as if we should say, Conies and Geese do eat grass\nlike an Ox, therefore they are Oxen or Asses, when notwithstanding they\nstill retain their essential beings and shapes, without any essential\ntransformations at all.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 2._]\n\n2. Because the hairs of his head (as the Text saith) were grown like to\nan Eagles feathers, and for that also the very nails of his hands and\nfeet were like the claws of a bird: yet it doth not prove that he was\nreally changed into a beast, and that for these Reasons. 1. Because it\nwould be more consonant to conclude, that he was rather transformed into\nsome bird, having feathers and claws, than into a beast that hath horns\nand hoofs, though there was in him no corporeal transformation at all,\nbut only a changed mind. 2. The Text is not according to the Hebrew\nPhrase used when there is real transubstantiation, as in _Lots_ Wife;\n_Et fuit statua salis_; but as _Tremellius_ renders it: _Usquedum pili\nejus ut Aquilarum plum\u00e6 crevissent, & ungues ejus ut avium_. And _Arias\nMontanus_ thus: _Donec capillus ejus sicut Aquilarum crevit, & ungues\nejus sicut avium_: which is exactly agreeable to the Hebrew. So that the\nassertion is not, that his hairs were changed into Eagles feathers, nor\nhis nails into birds claws, but that they were _sicut_ as the feathers\nof Eagles, and as the claws of birds; the hairs by being grown ruffled,\nsqualid, and rugged, and the nails by being grown long, hard, and\ncrooked for want of cutting, dressing, combing, and ordering; and more\nchange than this the words or sense do not bear. 3. There was no other\nchange, but what was by natural growth; for the Hebrew word \u200f\u05e8\u05b8\u05d1\u05b8\u05d4\u200e doth\nproperly signifie _multus fuit, succrevit in multitudinem_: so that the\nhairs were increased naturally in multitude and length, and the nails in\nmagnitude and length, and so there was no essential change at all, but\nonly an excessive augmentation of them both, he having lost the use of\nreason, whereby he could not use means to cut, cleanse, and order them.\nSo that they did but grow squalid and ill-favour\u2019d for want of using\nmeans to order and make them comely, even as many that have been lost,\nor left in Desarts, and desolate places, have after some length of time\nbeen found to be overgrown with hairs and ugly nails, that they have\nscarce been taken for men, but have appeared as savage and feral\nMonsters.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 3._]\n\n[Sidenote: Dan. 4. 34, 36.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Avenar. Diction._ _pag._ 313.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Palon._ _in loc._]\n\n3. His restauration doth plainly testifie what kind of change it was;\nfor that which was restored unto him, did bring him into the same\ncondition that he was in, before this transformation; and that was his\nknowledge or understanding. Now therefore if his knowledge or\nunderstanding did reduce him to the right use of reason, and brought\nthose conditions and qualities that he had before: Then it is most\nplain, that it was only his knowledge or understanding that was taken\naway or changed; and so there was no other transformation, but what was\ninternal in the mind, judgment, or imagination, by altering his will,\ndesires, cogitations, condition, and qualities, and so no essential\ntransformation at all, nor no change of his external shape, but what\ngrew naturally in regard of his hair and nails or skin, for want of due\nordering and decent dressing. And that this is an unanswerable truth,\nthe words in the Text do sufficiently testifie, which are in our\nEnglish: _And mine understanding returned unto me, and at the same time\nmy reason returned unto me_; therefore it was only his understanding and\nreason, that had for a time been turned from him, and at his\nrestauration they returned, or came again. _Tremellius_ renders the\nformer Verse: _Et mente me\u00e2 ad me revers\u00e2 Excelso benedixi_. And in the\nlatter: _Mente me\u00e2 revers\u00e2 in me_. In both Verses _Arias Montanus_\nrenders it: _Cognitio mea super me reversa est_; for the Hebrew word\nthere used \u200f\u05d9\u05b8\u05d3\u05b7\u05e2\u200e _scivit, restituit, cognovit, agnovit, propri\u00e8 est\nmentis & intellect\u00fbs_, as _Avenarius_ saith. And the Septuagint in both\nthe Verses do agree with the Hebrew, \u03b1\u1f31 \u03c6\u03c1\u03ad\u03bd\u03b5\u03c2 \u03bc\u03bf\u03c5 \u1f10\u03c0\u2019 \u1f10\u03bc\u1f72 \u1f10\u03c0\u03b5\u03c3\u03c1\u03cc\u03c6\u03b7\u03c3\u03b1\u03bd.\nAnd to this purpose doth the French, Italian, and Luthers Translation\nrender it, only the vulgar Latine gives it by the word _sensus, & figura\nmea reversa est_, which is altogether vicious. So that from hence we may\nsafely conclude, that this transformation was only internal and mental,\nand no essential change at all: of which a most learned Divine tells us\nthus much: _Sunt nonnulli, inter quos est Johannes Bodinus, qui putant\nhumanam figuram rever\u00e0 fuisse ei ademptam. Ac san\u00e8 Deus pro sua\nomnipotentia miraculum hoc in rege isto impio facere, & humanam ejus\nnaturam in bruti animalis essentiam mutare potuit: sed verisimilius est\nregem alienatum mente, vel etiam maniacum factum, adempt\u00e2 ei divinit\u00f9s\nmente, ut patet, ex sequente vers. 34. & in furorem versum, sive per\niram, sive per dolorem, ob acceptam ignominiam, qu\u00f2d regi\u00e2 dignitate\nesset orbatus. Sic Ericus Rex Sueci\u00e6 in furorem est actus per iram &\ndolorem, qu\u00f2d regno esset dejectus, Anno 1568._\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 4._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Obser. medic._ _p._ 57, 58.]\n\n[Sidenote: History 1.]\n\n[Sidenote: History 2.]\n\n[Sidenote: _De Hydrop._ _l._ 1. _c._ 12. _p._ 99.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Sennert. de Hydrop._ _pag._ 417.]\n\n[Sidenote: _De medend. morb._ _c._ 9. _p._ 97.]\n\n[Sidenote: History 3.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Obser. medic._ _l._ 10. _p._ 440.]\n\n[Sidenote: History 4.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Polan. Rolloc. & alios in Dan._ _c._ 4. _v._ 16.]\n\n[Sidenote: The World surveyed, _part._ 2. _c._ 19. _p._ 270. History.]\n\n4. That this was only a mental and internal transformation, as are many\nsorts of Melancholy, especially that which Physicians call\n_Lycanthropia_, or _Melancholia lupina_, _Rabies canina_, and the like,\nis most manifest by comparing it with some of these that we have named;\nof which (though we have related some before) we shall give some few,\nfrom Authors of credit and veracity. 1. And first concerning the effects\nof that Madness caused by the biting of a mad Dog, we have a most sad\nand deplorable story recited by _Philip Salmuth_, that experienced\nPhysician of _Anhalt_, which we shall here give in English: \u201cMany (he\nsaith) do verily think that the force of this poyson will break out, and\nappear within a few months or years. But experience doth altogether\ntestifie the contrary. As certain learned Authors do commemorate, that\nit hath laid hid in some the space of seven years, but in others it hath\nbroke forth in the twelfth. _Guainerius_ also mentioneth a certain\nperson, to whom the _Hydrophobia_ did happen the 18. year after he was\nbitten by the mad Dog. Moreover (he continueth) a most Noble person of\n_Hagen_ hath told me, that a certain Noble man was bitten in the face by\na little pretty Dog, which he much delighted in, and that the seeds of\nthat poyson, as it were nourished in his bosom for a long time, at the\nlast did suddenly break forth. For after that for some years feeling no\nmolestation nor trouble from that bite, he addressing himself to a\nVirgin did marry. And the nuptial Supper being ended, and the Bride\nbrought to the Marriage-bed, her Kinsfolks a little after do hear her\ncomplaining and lamenting. At which they laughed and jested, thinking it\nbut to be the Venereal sport. But that howling continuing late, they by\nforce do break the barred doors of the Chamber, and enter, and find that\nthe Bridegroom had bitten with his teeth, plainly after the manner of a\nDog, the face of the Bride, and also the shoulders and arms, and the\nfleshy places, and still did not give over the same sort of biting.\nBeing much astonished with this sad spectacle and cruel wickedness, they\nwith an ireful and provoked mind do forthwith slay him: and the new\nBride also died the same day.\u201d Though this he had but by relation, yet\nit was from a person of great quality; and if he had not been reasonably\nassured of the truth of it, he would never have writ it down amongst his\nMedical Observations. But this is also attested by other Authors of\nsufficient credit, of divers of this sort of persons, that have both\nbarked and bitten like Dogs, and this is testified by _Scribonius\nLargus_ and _Rhases_, as _Baptista Codronchus_ hath cited them; and\nlearned _Sennertus_ tells us this: \u201cThat some (if bitten with Dogs) do\nbark like Dogs, and flye at whomsoever they meet, and that against or\nbesides their will. For (he saith) _Gentilis_ relateth in his Comment\nupon _Avicen_, that a certain young man troubled with this rabiousness,\ndid exhort his Mother, that she should not come near him, for he could\nnot contain himself but bite those that came near him.\u201d 2. As concerning\nWolf-melancholy, we shall only give a short relation or two, the first\nfrom _Donatus ab alto mari_, who confesseth that he had seen two: of the\none of which he saith: \u201cThis person (he saith) having formerly known me,\ndid one day meet me when he was holden with this distemper; but I truly\nfearing went aside, and he looking at me a little went away. There was\nwith him a multitude of men, and he did bear upon his shoulders a whole\nthigh and a leg of a dead man: At last being cured he was well, who\nafterwards when he met me again, did ask me, if I had not been afraid,\nwhen he found me in such a place when he was mad: by which it is\nmanifest, that in him the memory was not vitiated.\u201d Another take from\nthat able Physician of _Delfe Petrus Forestus_ in English thus: \u201cA\ncertain Countryman was in the Spring-time seen at _Alemaria_ with an\nhorrid look, and mad, to stay about the Church-yard, and after to enter\nthe Church, and did leap upon a Seat or Plank (as we have seen him) only\nclimbing upwards, and another while downwards with great fury, and never\nresting in one place. He carried a long staff in his hand, but did\nstrike no body, but did with it beat off the Dogs; for he had his thighs\nand legs black and ulcered with black cruds or scurff by the biting of\nDogs. His whole body did appear squalid, very black, and melancholick,\nbut pale in the face, and his eyes exceeding hollow. From the foresaid\nsigns (he saith) I did judge the man affected with the _Lycanthropia_ or\nwolfish Melancholy. He never used any Physician that I know of.\u201d And\nthis both this Author, _Schenckius_ and _Sennertus_ do sufficiently\nconfirm from _Paulus_, _Aetius_, _Avicen_, and the like. From all which\nit is clear and manifest, that _Nebuchadnezzars_ distemper was but as\nsome kind of Melancholy, whereby the imagination was corrupted, and the\nuse of reason and right understanding for the time taken quite away, as\nsaith the Text: _Let his heart be changed from mans, and let a beasts\nheart be given unto him_. That is, let his thoughts, desires, and\naffections be made brutish; for by the heart in Scriptures the\ncogitations, will, and affections are understood, as, _my son give me\nthy heart_, that is, the love and affections of thy soul and heart. So\nthat when it is said, _Let a beasts heart be given him_, that is, let\nhis mind, thoughts, and affections be made bestial; and so there was a\nchange of the conditions and qualities of his mind and heart, but no\nreal or essential change of his natural heart at all. And in this sense\n_Tremellius_ doth take it, saying: _obbrutescat, nihil humanum sapiat_,\nand so doth _Polanus_, _Rollock_, and others understand it; for\n_Polanus_ saith: _Debuisse animum ejus prorsus obbrutescere, & mentem\njudici\u00famq; animi humani amittere: non enim intelligendum hoc de\nmetamorphosi aliqua in corpore facta, sed de animo tant\u00f9m\nobbrutescente_. So that from these examples it appeareth, that many\npersons, by reason of Melancholy in its several kinds, have been\nmentally and internally (as they thought, being depraved in their\nimaginations) changed into Wolves and other kind of Creatures, and have\nacted their parts, as though they had been really so, when the change\nwas only in the qualities and conditions of the mind, and not otherwise.\nAnd so only was the change of _Nebuchadnezzar_, which notwithstanding\n_Bodinus_, the Popish Writers, and Witchmongers have falsely and\nignorantly taken it to be a real transubstantiation, when it was only\nmental: so apt are men to mistake and urge things amiss, when it lyes\nfor their own gain or interest. But if these persons that thought\nthemselves really changed into Wolves, had been covered with a Wolfes\nskin fitted to their bodies, and gone upon all four, and so have acted\nthe parts of Wolves, then it might in all likelihood have more strongly\ninduced them to have believed a real transmutation indeed, though that\nway neither had there been any change of substance, but only a\ncounterfeit and cunning disguisement: of which we shall here insert (for\ndiversion sake) a pleasant story from the Pen of _Vincent le Blanc_ of\n_Marseilles_, and leave it to be judged of according to the credit of\nthe Author, which runs thus: \u201cAs concerning the _Anthropolychi_, I have\nnot heard (he saith) of any thing so strange, as that the Governor of\n_Bagaris_, related once to me. He told me, that going with some of his\nCompany from _Lionac_ to _Montpelier_, they overtook an old man with a\nSack on his shoulders, going a great pace towards the same Town, a\nGentleman of the Company out of charity told him, if he would, one of\nhis Servants, to ease him, should carry his burden for him: at first he\nseemed unwilling to be troublesom; but at length accepted the offer, and\na Servant of the Commanders Chamber called _Nicholas_ took the burden,\nand being late, every one doubled his pace, that they might get in in\ngood time, telling the good old man, they would go before, and he should\nfind them at the _White Horse_. The Servant of the Chamber coming in\nwith the first, had a curiosity to see what was in the Sack, where he\nfound a Wolfes skin, so properly accommodated for the purpose, that he\nhad a strong fancy to disguise himself in it: whereupon he got it upon\nhis back, and put his head within the Head-piece of the Skin, as \u2019twere\nto shew his Masters a Masquerade; but immediately a fury seized him,\nthat in the Hall where they supped, he made straight to the Company at\nTable, and falling on them with teeth and nails, made a dangerous rude\nhavock, and hurt two or three of them, so as the Servants and others\nfled to their Swords, and so plyed the Wolf with wounds, that they laid\nhim on the ground, and hurt in several places. But as they looked upon\nhim, they were amazed when they saw under the Skin a poor Youth\nwallowing in blood. They were fain to lay him presently on a Bed, taking\norder for his wounds and hurts, whereof he was recovered; and was long\nbefore he could be cured: But this cured him of the like curiosity\nagainst another time. The Company by this means had but a bad seasoned\nSupper, and many of them were sick either of hurt or apprehension. For\nthe old man Wolf, \u2019twas not known what became of him; but \u2019tis probable,\nthat hearing of this tidy accident, he was cautious to appear.\u201d Now if\nthis relation be true, as there is nothing in it that seems either\nimpossible or improbable, but that it might, then from it we may observe\nthese two things. 1. To consider for what end the skin of the Wolf was\nso fitted and prepared, which might be to act some part of a Tragedy or\nComedy in, or in sport to fright some persons withal; but then it is not\nlikely, but that the old man would have appeared and sought for it\nagain, which he might have done without fear or danger. But I rather\nconjecture it was for some more pernicious purpose, as in that disguise\nto fright Travellers and Passengers, that thereby they might (for\nwithout doubt the old man had other Companions) more securely rob them,\nand so escape, and not be discovered or apprehended, which might make\nhim afraid to be seen, or to seek it again. 2. We may note the curiosity\nof the young man, and the strength of his fancy, being moved to see\nhimself, so fitly to appearance, to be so like a Wolf, and not to the\nsteams flowing from the Wolfes skin to work upon his imagination, which\nwe leave to the inquisition of Naturalists, that live in Countries where\nWolves are, to make tryal of.\n\nSo having sufficiently disproved their supposition or assumption, that\n_Nebuchadnezzar_ was essentially transformed into a beast, we shall also\nshew the consequence that (if it had been true) they would draw from it,\nto wit, that if _Nebuchadnezzar_ were really transformed into a beast,\nmuch more may the Devil transform himself into the shape of any\nCreature, and may change Witches into Cats, Dogs, Hares, and the like,\nwhich can by no true Rules of Argument be good, because it stands upon\ndivers, or rather contrary efficients, namely God and the Devil. The one\nhaving of himself an absolute and indeterminate power, and therefore of\nhimself able to work what he will, where, when, and howsoever best\npleaseth himself. And so by consequence he might (if it had so seemed\ngood in his wisdom) have essentially transformed _Nebuchadnezzar_ into\nan ox. The other (the Devil I mean) he hath only a finite and limited\npower, and therefore utterly unable of himself to accomplish any one\nwork beyond the bounds of that power: and so by consequence he cannot\npossibly transform himself essentially into any Creature whatsoever,\nwithout a special power from God. Lastly we shall conclude all with this\nbinding Argument: what transubstantiations soever are wrought, the thing\ntransformed ceases to be what it was before, both in nature, and\nproperties, as _Lots_ Wife being transubstantiated into a Pillar of\nSalt, did cease to be flesh, blood, and bones, as she was before, and\nlost all the properties of humane Nature. So if Devils or Witches be\ntransubstantiated into other Creatures, they cease to be what they were\nbefore both in Nature and Properties. And then by consequence the Devil\nshould cease to be a Devil in Nature and Properties, and the Witches\nshould cease to have humane Nature and Properties in them.\n\nHaving laid down these positive Arguments, we shall in the next place\nshew the horrid absurdities of these Tenents, to wit, of holding a\nvisible Contract, that the Devil sucks upon the Witches bodies, that\nthey have carnal Copulation together, or that they are essentially\nchanged into Cats, Dogs, or Hares, or that they can flye in the air, or\nraise storms or tempests, and kill men or Cattel, and the like, and that\nin this order.\n\n[Sidenote: _Absurd. 1._]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Pet. 2. 4.]\n\n[Sidenote: Jude 6.]\n\n[Sidenote: Mat. 8. 31, 32.]\n\n[Sidenote: Mar. 5. 9. to 14.]\n\n[Sidenote: Job 1. 11, 12. 2. 5. 6.]\n\n[Sidenote: Joh. 19. 11.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Rolloc._ _in loc._]\n\n[Sidenote: Isa. 38. 29.]\n\n1. These Tenents do derogate from the Wisdom and Power of God in his\nGovernment of the World by divine Providence, because by these it is\nsupposed that the Devils and Witches do operate what, when, and\nhowsoever it pleaseth them, and so the life and estate of all Creatures\nshould be in their power to afflict, torment, or to destroy when they\nplease, which is both false and blasphemous. For the Devils and wicked\nmen are enemies and rebels against God, but yet conquered, and\nimprisoned, and chained close up by his Almighty Power, that they are\nnot able to act any thing at all (except the evil of their own wills)\nnor put that into execution, but as far as God doth license and order\nthem, which we shall make plain in these two particulars. 1. _The Devils\nare kept, in chains of darkness unto the judgment of the great day_,\nthat is, though their wills be corrupt, wicked, and evil, and that they\nhave a continual desire, _like a roaring lion, to seek whom they may\ndevour_; yet are they restrained from acting this evil, by the mighty\nPower of God, and can execute nothing at all, but only as far as God\ndoth order and command them: so the Devils could not by their own power\nenter into the herd of Swine, until Christ gave to them leave: neither\ncould Satan hurt _Job_ either in his goods or body (though he strongly\nand earnestly desired it) until he had leave and commission given him\nfrom God. No more can Devils or Witches perform these things that are\npretended; for it can never be proved that ever God did, or will give\nthem order or leave to perform any such filthy or wicked thing, for\nwhich there can be no reason or end assigned why God should order such\nthings to be done, so far different and opposite to the rules of his\nJustice, Wisdom, and Providence. 2. Nor can wicked persons act what they\nplease, but God doth bridle and restrain them as he pleaseth; for though\n_Pilate_ proudly thought and boasted that he had power to condemn\nChrist, or to let him loose, yet our Saviour tells him: _Thou couldst\nhave no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above_.\nUpon which place learned Dr. _Hammond_ saith thus: \u201cSo that thou hast\nneither right nor power to inflict any punishment on me, were it not\nthat God, who is my Father, hath in his great Wisdom and divine\nCounsels, for most glorious ends, for the good of the World, determined\nto deliver me up into thy power to suffer death under thee.\u201d Of which\nanother saith thus: _Verba h\u00e6c duobus modis accipi possunt: partim quia\nomnis potestas est \u00e0 Deo, & divin\u00e2 ordinatione; partim quia qui cum\npotestate est, nihil plan\u00e8 potest, nisi ex Dei efficaci dispensatione ac\nprovidentia_. So this is manifest in the excessive pride and boasting of\n_Sennacherib_ of his own power, and taking no notice of Gods inevitable\nDecree in his Providence, that it was he, even the Lord of Hosts that\nhad done it, and of ancient times had formed it, without which\n_Sennacherib_ could have done nothing; but because he despised Gods\nPower and Providence, therefore saith the Lord: _Therefore will I put my\nhook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back,\nby the way by which thou camest_, which was performed by the slaughter\nof his Army, and the sending him back into his own Country: so little do\nmens purposes and counsels prevail, when the Lords will and purpose are\nagainst them.\n\n[Sidenote: _Absurd. 2._]\n\n2. These Tenents do divert and obstruct the power and practice of\nGodliness: For while the Saints of God are taught, _that they are to\nfight the good fight of Faith_; and if they intend to be crowned, they\nmust fight stoutly, and gain the victory, knowing, _that they fight not\nagainst flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness in high\nplaces, and that therefore they are to take unto them the whole Armour\nof God_: Therefore they knowing that this warfare is spiritual, and\nagainst spiritual enemies, and that the weapons both offensive and\ndefensive are also spiritual; therefore they ought always spiritually to\nwatch and stand upon their guard, lest their subtile and cruel enemy the\nDevil take them unawares, or by his Stratagems surprize them. For he is\nthat old crafty Serpent, that hath innumerable wiles, and while he\nintendeth one thing, he pretendeth another; and like a cunning Enemy,\ngives a false Alarm at the one side of the Camp, while he assaulteth\nanother, or making false fires or shews he seemeth to march away, when\nin the dark of the night he intendeth to fall on. So lest the Christian\nshould be watchful and prevail, he laboureth by false Teachers, which\nare the Magicians and Sorcerers in the Mystery, to draw them from their\nvigilancy, by possessing their minds with these lying Tenents, that the\nDevil comes in the shape of a Cat or a Dog to a Witch, and bargains with\nher, and the rest, that whilst they are set at gaze to look for him in a\nbodily shape, they are made negligent in their spiritual watch, and so\nare diverted from the spiritual combate, and thereby the power and\npractice of Godliness is diverted and obstructed. Therefore we are to\ngive heed unto the counsel of the Holy Ghost; to resist the Devil in his\nspiritual assaults with the spiritual weapons that God bestows upon us,\nand not to give heed to old Wives Fables, or the false Doctrine of\nWitchmongers, that make us watch for the Devil where he is not, and in\nthe mean time not to resist him where he is, and that is within\neffectively in a spiritual manner, for he worketh in the children of\ndisobedience, and therefore a Devil within us is more to be feared, than\na Devil without us.\n\n[Sidenote: _Absurd. 3._]\n\n[Sidenote: Considerat. about Witchcraft, pag. 95, 96.]\n\n3. These Tenents do uphold that horrid, lying, and blasphemous opinion,\nthat our blessed Saviour did cast out Devils by _Beelzebub_ the Prince\nof Devils: For when they could not deny, nor disprove the plain and open\nmatters of fact, that our Saviour did really cast out Devils, then they\ndevilishly invented and vented, that though he did so, yet it was but by\nthe help of the Prince of Devils, with whom he had a compact, and so\nwrought by the greater power to over-power the less. Concerning which\nMr. _Glanvil_ is pleased to tell us this: \u201cIn his return to which he\ndenies not the supposition or possibility of the thing in general, but\nclears himself by an appeal to the actions of their own children, whom\nthey would not tax so severely.\u201d But by Mr. _Glanvils_ leave we must\naffirm, that though it be a bold assertion, yet it is not true; for our\nSaviour doth absolutely confute the supposition both in the general, and\nalso in reference to himself, by shewing the absurdities of it, and that\nby these Arguments.\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Dr. Hammond in Math._ 12. 25, _&c._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. loc. citat._]\n\n1. They supposed that the Devils had a Prince or a Ruler that was able\nto cast out Devils that were his Subjects, and inferior unto him, to\nwhich his answer is: _Every Kingdom divided against it self is brought\nto desolation, and every City or house divided against it self cannot\nstand. And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself, how\nshall then his Kingdom stand?_ Upon which a most learned Author doth\nthus paraphrase: \u201cIf any King mean to uphold his Kingdom, he will not\nquarrel and fall out with his own Subjects, and cast them out, which are\ndoing him service; such divisions and civil dissentions as these will\nsoon destroy his Kingdom, and therefore cannot probably be affirmed of\nany prudent Ruler or Prince. And Satans casting out Devils which are\nabout his business (possessing those he would have possest) would be\nsuch a civil dissention as this, and a breach.\u201d From whence he\nnecessarily concludeth, that either Satan doth not cast out Satan, or\nelse that his Kingdom is divided, and cannot stand, but come to\ndesolation. But Satans Kingdom is not destroyed nor brought to\ndesolation; therefore it is not divided against it self, and\nconsequently Satan doth not cast out Satan. Of this passage\n_Theophylact_ saith: _Quomodo enim D\u00e6mones seipsos ejiciunt, quum magis\ninter se conveniant? Satan autem dicitur adversarius._ And to the same\npurpose is that of S. _Chrysostom_: _Si divisus est, imbecillior factus\nest, & perit: si autem perit, qualiter potest alium projicere?_\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Hieron. in loc._]\n\n2. Our Saviour saith further: _And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by\nwhom do your children cast them out?_ For as the fore-cited Author\nsaith: \u201cWhy may not I cast out Devils by the Power and in the Name of\nGod, as well as your Disciples and Country-men, the Jews among you (who\nbeing evil are therefore more obnoxious to suspicion of holding\ncorrespondence with Satans Kingdom) do, at least pretend to do. When\nthey in the Name of God go about to cast them out, you affirm it to be\nthe Power of God, and so do I. Why should you not believe that of me,\nwhich you affirm of your own?\u201d _Si expulsio_ (saith S. _Hierom_)\n_D\u00e6emonum in filiis vestris Deo, non D\u00e6monibus deputatur, quare in me\nidem opus non eandem habeat & causam?_\n\n3. Christ further urgeth: _But if I cast out Devils by the Spirit of\nGod, then the Kingdom of God is come upon you or unto you_. \u201cBut if it\nbe indeed by the Power of God, that I do all this, then it is clear,\nthat although you were not aware of it, yet this is the time of the\nMessias, whose Mission God hath testified with these Miracles, and would\nnot have done so, if it had been a false Christ.\u201d So that he seemeth to\nconclude thus: \u201cYou Scribes and Pharisees seem to acknowledge, that\nthere are real possessions by Devils, and that they may be thrown out,\neither by the Power of God or the power of Satan. But I have shewed the\nabsurdity, that Satan doth not cast out the Devils his obedient Subjects\nthat are doing his service; and therefore that what I do must be by the\nfinger of God, and that must certainly denote unto you, that his Kingdom\nis come, and that I am the Messias.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Chrysost. in loc._]\n\n4. He proceedeth: _Or else how can one enter into a strong mans house,\nand spoil his goods? except he first bind the strong man, and then he\nwill spoil his house._ \u201cMy dispossessing Satan of his goods, and turning\nhim out of those whom he possesses, is an argument that I have mastered\nhim, and so that I do not use his power, but that mine is greater than\nhis, and imployed most against his will, and to his damage.\u201d _Qu\u00f2d enim_\n(as saith a learned Father) _non potest Satanas Satanam ejicere,\nmanifestum ex dictis est: sed quoniam neq; alius potest eum ejicere,\nnisi pri\u00f9s eum superaverit, omnibus est manifestum: Constituitur ergo\nquod & ante\u00e0, cum manifestiori abundantia. Dicit enim: Tantum absisto ab\nhoc qu\u00f2d utar Diabolo Coadjutore, qu\u00f2d pr\u00e6lior cum eo, & ligo eum: Et\nhujus conjectura est, qu\u00f2d vasa ejus diripio. Et sic contrarium ejus\nquod illi tentabant dicere, demonstrat. Illi enim volebant ostendere,\nqu\u00f2d non propri\u00e2 virtute ejecit D\u00e6mones. Ipse autem ostendit, qu\u00f2d non\nsol\u00f9m D\u00e6mones, sed & eorum Principem ligavit: quod manifestum est ab his\nqu\u00e6 facta sunt. Qualiter enim Principe non victo, hi qui subjacent\nD\u00e6mones direpti sunt?_\n\n5. Lastly he concludeth: _He that is not with me, is against me: And he\nthat gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad_. \u201cAnd it\u2019s proverbially\nknown\u201d (saith Dr. _Hammond_) \u201cthat he that is not on ones side, that\nbrings Forces into the field, and is not for a mans assistance, he is\ncertainly for his Enemy, engages against him, doth him hurt; and\nconsequently my casting out Devils, shews that I am Satans declared\nEnemy.\u201d By all which arguments he flatly overthrows the false\nsupposition of the Pharisees.\n\n[Sidenote: _Absurd. 4._]\n\n4. These Tenents do overthrow the chief Articles of the Christian Faith,\nto wit, the rational and infallible evidence of the Resurrection of\nChrist in the same individual and numerical body in which he suffered:\nand this we shall elucidate in these particular Considerations.\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Cor. 15. 14, 15, 16, 17, 18.]\n\n1. The whole strength of the Christian Religion consists in the\ncertainty of Christs Resurrection in his true and individual body. For\nas the Apostle argueth: _And if Christ be not risen, then is our\npreaching vain, and your faith is also vain: yea and we are found false\nwitnesses of God, because we have testified of God, that he raised up\nChrist: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if\nthe dead rise not, then is not Christ risen. And if Christ be not risen,\nyour faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins. Then also they which are\nfallen asleep in Christ, are perished. If in this life only we have hope\nin Christ, we are of all men most miserable._ So that all these sad\nconsequences must needs follow, and the whole Christian Religion be\nfound a lye, if Christ be not truly risen from the dead.\n\n2. And though the Apostle do enumerate sufficient Witnesses of his\nResurrection and appearance after death, _and that he was seen of\nCephas, then of the Twelve, after that he was seen of above five hundred\nBrethren at once, then of James, then of all the Apostles, and lastly of\nhimself_: Yet all this Cloud of Witnesses will prove little, but\ndissolve into vapour, if there were or are either Angels or Spirits,\nthat in their own or assumed bodies, may appear in his form, shape, and\nlikeness, and to sight and tangibility be in all properties as his body\nwas, to have flesh and bones, the print of the nails in the hands and\nfeet, and to eat and drink.\n\n[Sidenote: Mar. 6. 49.]\n\n[Sidenote: Mat. 27. 51.]\n\n[Sidenote: Mar. 15. 38.]\n\n[Sidenote: Mat. 28.6, 9.]\n\n[Sidenote: Mar. 16. 1.]\n\n[Sidenote: Joh. 20. 1.]\n\n[Sidenote: Luk. 24. 37.]\n\n[Sidenote: Joh. 20. 19, 26.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Rolloc. in Joh. 20._]\n\n3. That the Apostles held the opinion, that there was Apparitions and\nSpirits that did shew themselves in any form or likeness, is most plain\nand evident; for when they saw Christ walking upon the Sea, they\nsupposed it had been a Spirit or Apparition, for the Greek is \u03c6\u03ac\u03bd\u03c4\u03b1\u03c3\u03bc\u03b1,\nand cryed out. That is, either being cruelly affrighted and amazed,\ntheir Phantasies did represent strange thoughts in their minds: or else\n(which doubtless was the truth) seeing Christ walking upon the Sea,\nwhich they thought was not possible for a man to do without sinking or\ndrowning, they in great fear cryed out, and forgetting his former\nMiracles, did vainly suppose it some Spirit that had made an apparition\nin his likeness. But it is most strange, that the Disciples that had\nseen and been eye-witnesses of so many Miracles wrought by him during\nhis life, and those that accompanied him at his death, as the renting of\nthe veil of the Temple from the top to the bottom, and the Earth-quake,\nand the renting of the Rocks, and the Darkness that was over the Land\nfrom the sixth hour unto the ninth; and that after his Resurrection the\nGraves were opened, and many bodies of Saints that slept arose, and came\nout of the Graves, and went into the holy City, and appeared unto many,\nof which they could not be ignorant; It is (I say) most wondrous\nstrange, that after all these they could doubt of the verity of his\nResurrection, and imagine that it was a Spirit in his form and likeness.\nAnd most especially, considering that his Sepulchre was made sure, the\nstone sealed, and a Watch set to attend it, of which they could not be\nignorant; and likewise the certain affirmation and evidence of the two\n_Maries_, from the mouth of the Angel, and their own sight who\nworshipped him, and held him by the feet, and _Peters_ finding the\nSepulchre empty, and his appearing to the two Disciples that went to\n_Emmaus_, and yet for all this at his next appearance, not to be\nsatisfied, but to be terrified and affrighted, and to suppose they had\nseen a Spirit, is beyond all wonder, but that doubtless the heavenly\nFather had so ordained it in his inscrutable Wisdom, that the infallible\ncertainty of his Resurrection might be more evidently and punctually\nproved. For at his next appearing, when they were all together, Jesus\nhimself stood in the midst of them, and said unto them, _Peace_ be unto\nyou. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed they had seen\na Spirit, there the word is \u03c0\u03bd\u03b5\u1fe6\u03bc\u03b1. Now the cause of this supposing that\nthey had seen a Spirit, doubtless was because as St. John tells us,\n_That Jesus twice had stood in the midst of them, the doors being shut,\nbecause of the Jews_, and therefore they could not possibly imagine,\nthat he could have a body that could make penetration of dimensions, not\nconsidering that he had an omnipotent Power, and therefore nothing could\nbe impossible unto him. Though it may well be conceived to be done\nwithout penetration of dimensions, because by his Almighty Power he\nmight imperceptibly both open and shut the doors, and so enter, and\nsuddenly stand in the midst of them, and no humane sense be able to\ndiscern it. But however it was, the Disciples did not then believe that\nit was Christ with his individual body in which he suffered, but either\n(as some of the Fathers believed) that it was his very Spirit that he\nyielded up upon the Cross, that appeared in his figure or shape, that\nwas so pure, fine, and penetrable, that it could pass through any\nMedium, though never so dense or solid: or some other Spirit that\nassumed his form and shape, which is far more probable and sound. But\nhowsoever it was, they did believe that it was some Spirit in his\nlikeness, and not he himself, in that very numerical body in which he\nsuffered, as may be apparently gathered from the words of _Thomas_\ncalled _Didymus_, who strongly affirmed, saying: _Except I shall see in\nhis hands the print of the nails, and put my fingers into the print of\nthe nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe_.\n\n[Sidenote: _Rolloc. ubi supr._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Caten. Aur. Tho. Aquin. in locum._]\n\n4. To the grounds of all these doubts our Saviour gives a demonstrative\nand infallible solution, which we shall explain in these particulars. 1.\nHe doth not at all deny the existence or beings of Spirits; neither that\nSpirits do not, or cannot make visible apparitions: but doth grant both.\n2. But he restrains these apparitions to those inseparable properties\nthat belong to Bodies and Spirits, that is, a body (that is to say an\nhumane body) hath flesh and bones, but a Spirit hath neither, as Christs\nor humane bodies have; and therefore saith a learned Person upon the\nplace: _Docet se non esse Spiritum hoc modo: Spiritus, inquit, non habet\ncarnem & ossa. Ego ver\u00f2, ut conspicitis, habeo carnem & ossa: Ergo ego\nnon sum Spiritus. Vide igitur ex sensu & sensibilibus: sensu nimirum\nvisus; sensu tactus: ex visibilibus & tractabilibus se corpus esse non\nautem Spiritum edocet. Per sensum enim fides & gignitur & confirmatur._\nSo that whether Spirits be taken to be corporeal (and so appear in their\nown bodies) or to be incorporeal (and so to appear in assumed bodies)\nyet are they both to sight, and especially to feeling, not as humane\nbodies are that have flesh and bones. So that however they do, may or\ncan appear (for it must be considered in that latitude, else our\nSaviours argument would not be irrefragable and convincing) they to the\nresistibility of touching cannot be as flesh and bones are, for they to\nthe sense of touching do resist, and are solid, but so the bodies of\nSpirits in what appearance soever have not, nor can have, otherwise our\nSaviours argument falls to the ground, and proves nothing. 3. He\nconfirmeth this by the Disciples own proof of feeling and touching the\nprints or scars of the nails in his hands, and the print of the wound in\nhis side, and thereby manifesteth that it was he himself, and the very\nsame individual body in which he suffered, by which _Thomas_ his great\nunbelief and doubting was unanswerably satisfied, by putting his fingers\ninto or upon the very prints of the nails, and by putting his hand into\nor upon the wound or scar upon his side. And therefore though the same\npower that raised him from the dead, and rouled the sealed stone from\nthe Sepulchre, could have perfected his body to be without prints or\nscars of the wounds; yet did the divine Wisdom reserve them, thereby to\ncure the infidelity of his Disciples, and undeniably to confirm the\ntruth of his Resurrection; to which purpose one said well: _Ibi ad\ndubitantium corda sananda, vulnerum sunt servata vestigia_. And the\nfurther to establish and settle their Faith, he took a piece of a\nbroiled fish, and of an honeycomb, and eat before them; all which\nconcluded him to have a true body, and that he was not a Spirit: from\nwhence we draw these conclusions.\n\n1. That howsoever Spirits do or may appear, they have not, or can have\nsuch a body, that in respect of tangibility, is as flesh and bones. For\nflesh and bones are dense, solid, and make sensible resistance to the\ntouch; but the bodies of Spirits in their apparitions are not, nor can\nbe so. For as we deny not but there are and may be apparitions in any\nfigure or shape, yet they can but be as the figures and shapes in the\nClouds, which are often seen, and cause much wonder, though (we suppose)\nmany of them may be rather attributed to the assimilation made in mens\nfancies, than to their real existence in those forms or shapes. So they\nmay be as shadows, or the species of bodies that we see near or afar\noff, or as the images that we behold of our selves and other things in\nMirrours or Looking-glasses: which though without doubt they be not\nnon-entities, for _nullius entis nulla est operatio_, but these affect\nthe senses, which is an operation or action; yet do they all easily\nyield to the touch, and have no firmness nor solidity, as flesh and\nbones have; and this is all that can be justly deduced from our Saviours\nargumentation.\n\n2. Either we must believe that our Saviours argument is of no force and\nvalidity, which is blasphemous and horrid to affirm or imagine, he being\nthe way, the truth, and the life, and in whose mouth there was found no\nguile, and thereby overthrow the whole foundation of the Christian\nReligion: or else we must for certain believe that Spirits whensoever\nthey appear have no such solidity or resistibility as to touch, as flesh\nand bones have. And consequently that what strange things soever we may\nby sight and touch take to be the apparitions of Spirits, that to touch\nhave the solidity of flesh and bones, we must conclude that they are not\nSpirits, but must be some other kind of Creatures, of whose nature and\nproperties we are to inquire; for doubtless (as we shall manifest\nhereafter) there are many strange Creatures, that for their rarity or\nstrange qualities, have been and are mistaken for the apparition of\nSpirits. For the Disciples doubts must still have remained unsatisfied,\nif Spirits could appear to have bodies to touch, of that solidity that\nflesh and bones are of, and then the truth of our Saviours Resurrection\nfalls to the ground, and the Christian Faith is vain.\n\n3. Therefore that Demons do appear in the shape of Dogs, Cats, and the\nlike, and do carry the heavy bodies of Witches in the air, do suck upon\ntheir bodies, and have carnal copulation with them, must suppose them to\nhave bodies as solid and tangible as flesh and bones: and so overthrow\nthe main proof of our Saviours Resurrection, and consequently the very\nfoundation of the Christian Religion; _For if Christ be not risen our\nfaith is vain, we are yet in our sins, and are of all men most\nmiserable_, as having only hope in this life, and no further. And this\nis sufficient to shew the horrid and execrable absurdity of these\nopinions; which objection Mr. _Glanvil_ calls spiteful and mischievous,\nbut durst not undertake the solution, but with a plain shuffle leaves\nand over-runs it, as indeed being too hard a morsel for his tender\nteeth.\n\n[Sidenote: Gen. 18. 1, 4, 8.]\n\nAnd if any do object (as we have heard some do) that three Angels did\nappear unto _Abraham_ in the Plains of _Mamre_, as he sate in the\nTent-door, and did eat and drink, and washed their feet, and therefore\nthat they had flesh and bones; to that we return this responsion.\n\n1. It is a very froward and perverse way of arguing, to make one place\nof Scripture to clash with another, when they ought all to be expounded\naccording to the Analogy of faith, and it is a perfect Harmony which we\nought to labour to find out and rejoyce in.\n\n[Sidenote: Heb. 1. 1, 2.]\n\n2. It is no perfect way of arguing from the Dispensations in the time of\nthe Patriarchs and Prophets, to those that God useth now in the time of\nthe Gospel; for so they might argue that God should answer by _Urim_ and\n_Thummim_, because he did so in the time of the Levitical Priesthood,\nbut that is now ceased, and the Apostle tells us: _God at sundry times,\nand in divers manners spake in times past unto the Fathers by the\nProphets: But in these last days he hath spoken by his Son unto us_. So\nthough God did then vouchsafe to make himself manifest unto the\nPatriarchs by the visible appearance of Angels: yet it is no rational\nconsequence that he doth so now in these days.\n\n[Sidenote: _Ibid._ _v._ 17.]\n\n3. It is manifest, that though they were in number three, yet it is true\nthat it was Jehovah that appeared unto _Abraham_, and Jehovah said,\n_Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do_. Now we do not find\nthat the word Jehovah is communicable to any Creature, but only to God\nhimself; and therefore the best Expositors do understand\n(notwithstanding what _Pererius_ doth say to the contrary) that one of\nthem was Christ the second Person in the Trinity, who after was to take\nhumane nature upon him, and therefore did so appear.\n\n4. However these Angels had with them the assistance of a divine and\nomnipotent Power, which cannot rationally be affirmed of the common and\nordinary apparitions of Demons to Witches, and therefore doth conclude\nnothing against what we have laid down before.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAP. VI.\n\n  _That divers places in Scripture have been mis-translated thereby to\n    uphold this horrid Opinion of the Devils Omnipotency, and the Power\n    of Witches, when there is not one word that signifieth a familiar\n    Spirit or a Witch in that sense that is vulgarly intended._\n\n\n[Sidenote: _Wier._ _l._ 2. _p._ 89.]\n\n[Sidenote: A Candle in the dark, p. 10.]\n\n[Sidenote: The Question of Witchcraft debated, p. 1. &c.]\n\nConcerning the words in the Hebrew and Greek, that are commonly alledged\nto prove these things, they have been wrested and drawn to uphold these\nTenents by those Translators that had imbibed these Opinions, and so\ninstead of following the true and genuine signification of the words,\nthey haled them to make good a preconceived Opinion, and did not simply\nand plainly render them as they ought to have been. Which hath been\nobserved by divers, especially by _Wierus_, who got the learned _Masius_\n(a great Hebrician) to interpret them, of which he hath given a full\naccount, which was followed by Mr. _Scot_. As also Mr. _Ady_, who hath\nperfectly rendred them according to the Translation of _Junius_ and\n_Tremellius_, and likewise Mr. _Wagstaff_ hath prettily opened the most\nof them. So that our attempt here might seem to be superfluous and\nunnecessary, and may be condemned of arrogance and vain confidence. To\nwhich we reply, That it is far from us to compare our selves with those\nLearned men that were Masters of the Hebrew and Greek Tongues, being in\ncomparison but a Smatterer in those Languages, yet have in our younger\nyears both studied and taught them to others, and as far as we\nundertake, we hope we need not fear the censure of the most rigid\nCritick; intending to note some things that others have omitted, and to\nhandle them to the full, which others have but done briefly. And this we\nshall prosecute in this order.\n\n[Sidenote: Deut. 18. 10.]\n\n1. We shall take the words in the same order as they are recited in\n_Deuteronomy_, and the first mentioned is in these words: _There shall\nnot be found among you that maketh his son or his daughter to pass\nthrough the fire_. Now here we shall not enter upon that great Dispute,\nwhether they really burned and sacrificed by burning their children unto\nMoloch, or that they only dedicated them to that Idol, by making them\npass through the fire; but examine the reasons, why those that practised\nthis kind of Idolatry are ranked amongst the Diviners or Witches, and\nwere to have the same punishment, seeing it is no where mentioned, that\nthese used any kind of Divination at all, and these we conceive to be\nthe chief.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 1._]\n\n[Sidenote: Vers. 14, 15.]\n\n1. The Lord had promised his People to raise them up a Prophet from\namongst their Brethren like unto _Moses_, and that therefore they should\nhear him, and not go after other Gods or Idols. And therefore he sent\nthem many and divers Prophets, of whom they were to inquire: so likewise\nthey gave the Priest order to inquire by _Urim_ and _Thummim_, by which\nhe gave answers, and therefore they were to hearken to his Ordinances,\nand not to follow after other strange Gods: For the Nations that he cast\nout had hearkened unto Observers of times and Diviners, but they were\nnot to do so. And though these that caused their children to pass\nthrough the fire unto _Moloch_, used not Divinations, yet it was a\nwicked and abominable Ceremony, and the use and end of it to lead the\npeople to Idolatry, and therefore is reckoned amongst the rest.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 2._]\n\n[Sidenote: Prov. 16. 10.]\n\n[Sidenote: Isa. 3. 2.]\n\n[Sidenote: Exod. 22. 20.]\n\n2. They are solely condemned, because the end of all their Divinations\nand their other Feats, were only to draw and lead the people to\nIdolatry, and to serve other Gods. For it is manifest, that all ways and\nsorts of Divination were not in themselves evil and unlawful, for else\nAstronomy it self, that foretels the Entrance of the Sun and Moon into\nsuch Signs, and when Eclipses will happen, and the like, should be\nforbidden too, but they were not: so that the chief reason why they were\ncondemned, was _sub ratione finis, non medii_, in regard of the end, and\nnot of the means used, because all their Divinations, and other Arts,\nCrafts, or Feats, whether performed by natural or artificial means, or\notherwise, had still for their chief and principal end the leading of\nthe people unto Idolatry, and the serving of other Gods, which was above\nall things abominable and hateful unto God, who is a jealous God, and\nwill not give his glory to graven Images. And therefore all\nIdol-Priests, or those that lead the people to Idolatry, are in the\nScripture-sense Witches, Diviners, and the like. And that all\nDivinations were not forbidden, is most clear from that of _Solomon_, as\n_Arias Montanus_ translates it: _Divinatio super labiis regis_: and that\nof _Isaiah_, where the Lord threateneth to take away the staff and stay\nof _Jerusalem_, that is, the mighty man, and the man of war, the Judge,\nthe Prophet, and the prudent, _Divinum, sive Sagacem_. For it is the\nsame word, and from the same root \u200f\u05e7\u05b8\u05e1\u05b7\u05dd\u200e _Divinavit_: For as\n_Avenarius_, _Schindler_, and others say, _Est verbum medium, nam mod\u00f2\nin bonam, mod\u00f2 in malam partem accipitur_, of which _Tremellius_ saith\nthis: _Sagacitas, id est, consultissima prudentia in rebus dijudicandis,\npr\u00e6cavendis, & veluti addivinandis: nam vox Hebr\u00e6a media est sive\nanceps, qu\u00e6 non tant\u00f9m in malam partem accipitur, sed etiam in bonam_.\nTherefore was the Law so strict, that if any sacrificed unto any other\nGod, save unto the Lord only, he was utterly to be destroyed, much more\nthose that lead and incited the people to serve and sacrifice unto other\nstrange Gods, were to be rooted out.\n\n2. Is the word we have named before, to wit, \u200f\u05e7\u05b9\u05e1\u05b5\u05dd \u05e7\u05b0\u05e1\u05b8\u05de\u05b4\u05d9\u05dd\u200e, _Kosem\nKesamim, Divinans divinationes_: which, as we have shewed before, was\ntaken _in bonam & malam partem_, and is by the Septuagint fitly rendred\n\u03bc\u03b1\u03bd\u03c4\u03b5\u03c5\u03cc\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2 \u03bc\u03b1\u03bd\u03c4\u03b5\u03b9\u03b1\u03bd _vaticinans vaticinium_, and is almost with all\nTranslators rendred in that sense and propriety: so that we need not\ncomplain, that it is one of them that is mis-translated; but concerning\nit, we may note these things.\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Sam. 6. 1, 2. 3, 7, 8, 9.]\n\n[Sidenote: Hos. 4. 12. Ezek. 21. 21.]\n\n1. That there were and are almost innumerable ways, whereby men have\nundertaken to Divine and foretel things to come, some of which were by\nlawful means and ways, as all prudent, sagacious, and experienced men\nhave done, and may do. Some by vain, trivial, foolish, and groundless\nways, as by the flying of birds, their noise and motion, and so of\nbeasts, by casting lots, dice, and the like, which have no causality or\nefficiency in them at all to declare things to come, but were meerly\nvain and superstitious, with which the Heathen World doth still abound,\nand they are not yet totally eradicated from amongst Christians. The\nmost foolish of which was this, That when the Philistins had kept the\nArk of the Lord seven months, they called the Priests and the Diviners,\nto know what to do with it, and they advised them not to send it away\nempty, but to send five golden Emerods and five golden Mice, and to take\na new Cart and two Milch-kine, upon which there had com\u2019d no yoke, and\nto tye them to the Cart, and to bring their Calves home from them, and\nto lay the Ark in the Cart, and the Jewels of Gold to be put in a Coffer\nby, thinking that if they went up towards _Beth-shemesh_ that was the\nIsraelites Coast, that if they did so, then it was he that smote them,\notherwise that it was but a chance that happened unto them. And this in\nrespect of the Priests and Diviners was only a casual conjecture at\nRandom, though God in his Providence did order it according to his\nDivine Wisdom for the best. Like unto this was that mentioned by the\nProphet, a _Consulter with his staff_, as also that of _Ezekiel_: _For\nthe King of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the\ntwo ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted\nwith images, (Teraphim) he looked in the liver_. And besides these there\nwere others that pretended Visions and Revelations from their Gods or\nIdols; but how far either Idols, or Devils, or their Priests could truly\nforetel things to come, is very doubtful and hard to determine, of which\nwe shall have occasion to speak hereafter.\n\n2. We are to note, that though there were never so many ways of\nDivination used, and whether the means used to predict by, were natural\nor supernatural, lawful or unlawful, frivolous and superstitious, or\ntaken upon sound and rational grounds, yet were they all wicked and\nabominable, because they were used to withdraw the people from those\nOrdinances that God had appointed to give answers by, and to lead the\npeople to inquire of vain and lying Idols, and their Priests, and\nthereby to commit Idolatry; and so whatsoever the means were, the end\nwas wicked and damnable.\n\n[Sidenote: Psal. 115. 4, &c.]\n\n[Sidenote: Jer. 14. 14.]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Cor. 8. 4.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Dr. Hammond. in loc._]\n\n[Sidenote: Isa. 41. 23.]\n\n[Sidenote: Jer. 10. 5.]\n\n3. Moreover, what answers soever the Priests forged and gave (for it is\nmanifest, that the Idols gave none at all; _for they had mouths and\nspake not, ears and heard not, eyes and saw not, feet and walked not,\nneither was there breath in their nostrils_) were nothing but lyes and\nconjectures of their own devising, and there an Idol in the Hebrew is\nsometimes styled \u200f\u05d0\u05b1\u05dc\u05b4\u05d9\u05dc\u200e _nihilum_, and therefore saith the Prophet:\n_The Prophets prophesie lyes in my Name, I sent them not, neither have I\ncommanded them. They prophesie unto you a false vision and divination,\nand a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart._ Unto which the\nApostle alludeth, when he saith: _We know that an Idol is nothing in the\nworld, and that there is none other God but one._ That is, that an Idol\ntaken abstractively, without regard to the matter of which it was made,\nas gold, silver, stone, wood, or the like, which were natural\nsubstances, or respect to the figure or shape which was artificial, and\nthe work of the Work-man, it was plainly nothing, and had no real\nexistence as a God or Idol, but only in the Phantasies and minds of the\nblinded Worshippers; for it neither could truly foretel, nor act any\nthing of it self, but all that was done, was the lyes and inventions of\nthe Priests that served them, and got their living by that villanous and\nlying trade. For God by the mouth of his Prophet doth set down the true\ndifference of the true God, that could infallibly foretel and declare\nthings that were to come, from the false Gods and Idols, and doth\nchallenge them in this manner: _Shew the things that are to come\nhereafter, that we may know that ye are Gods: yea do good or do evil,\nthat we may be dismayed, and behold it together_. From whence it is\nplain, that the only \u03ba\u03c1\u03b9\u03c4\u03ae\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd to distinguish betwixt the Divinations\nthat are given forth by the Spirit of God in his Prophets or Apostles\nis, that they are plain, certain, and infallible, and the event never\nfaileth to answer the Prediction, but those that are given forth by\nSatan and his juggling and lying Ministers, are always ambiguous,\ndoubtful, and perplex, and evermore deceive such as trust in them, as\nwas manifest in Ahab, when all the false Prophets bade him go up to\n_Ramoth Gilead_, and prosper, yet there was he slain. And as they never\ntruly foretel things to come, so neither can the Idols do good or evil:\nall that is, or ever was done, was performed only by the cunning,\nconfederacy, and juggling of the knavish and deceitful Priests; and\ntherefore the Prophet admonisheth Gods people not to be afraid of them;\n_For they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good_.\n\n[Sidenote: Deut. 13. 1, 2, 3.]\n\n4. We are to note, that if a Sign or Wonder foretold do come to pass, we\nhave no Warrant to ascribe the bringing of it to pass either to Devil or\nWitch, for the Lord telleth us this: _If there arise among you a Prophet\nor a Dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder. And the sign\nor the wonder come to pass, whereof he spoke unto thee, saying; Let us\ngo after other Gods (which thou hast not known) and let us serve them:\nThou shalt not hearken to the words of that Prophet or that Dreamer of\ndreams: For the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether you love the\nLord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul._ So that what\nDivinations or Predictions soever be foretold by any, or what signs or\nwonders soever be brought to pass, if the persons that work or foretel\nthem, perswade us to serve other Gods, or go to seduce us to Idolatry,\nwe are not to follow them, but are to know that by them the Lord doth\nprove us, to try if we love him with all our heart, or not. And if there\nwere no other means to distinguish a true Miracle from a false, yet were\nthis infallibly sufficient to instruct and direct us.\n\n5. We may note, that of all the several sorts of Divinations pretended,\nand of all the acceptations of this Hebrew word in all the Bible, there\nis nothing that doth imply any such kind of killing Witch, as is\ncommonly imagined, nor none such as make a visible League with the\nDevil, nor upon whose bodies he sucketh, or hath carnal copulation with\nthem, nor no such as are really changed into Cats, Hares, Wolves, or\nDogs; which was the thing we undertook to prove.\n\n3. The next word we are to consider, is \u200f\u05e2\u05b9\u05e0\u05b5\u05df\u200e, which _Avenarius_,\n_Schindlerus_, _Buxtorsius_, and Mr. _Goodwin_ do derive from \u200f\u05e2\u05b9\u05e0\u05b5\u05df\u200e\n_obnubilavit, nubem obduxit, item pr\u00e6stigiis usus est_. From whence we\nmay note these things.\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Polyglot. in loc._]\n\n1. That the most of all the Translators do some render it by one word,\nand some by another, that no certainty can be gathered from them at all,\nas though it did signifie divers and many sorts of these kinds of\nAugury, Divinations, or juggling Feats, when in reason we cannot but\nsuppose that it only comprehended some one sort, and not so many as the\nTranslators do ascribe to it. The Septuagint render it for the most part\n\u03ba\u03bb\u03b7\u03b4\u03bf\u03bd\u03b9\u03b6\u03cc\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2, sometimes \u03b1\u03c0\u03bf\u03c6\u03b8\u03b5\u03b3\u03b3\u03cc\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2, and sometimes \u1f40\u03c1\u03bd\u03b9\u03b8\u03bf\u03c3\u03ba\u03bf\u03c0\u03ae\u03c3\u03b5\u03b8\u03b5,\nwhich are all of different derivations and significations; some others\nrender it other ways, as, _neq; auspicabimini, neq; observabitis horas,\nne vaticinemini, ne ominemini, nec observet somnia & auguria, nec qui\nexercet Astrologiam, &c._ Now from such a diversity no man is able to\ndraw a positive certainty.\n\n2. They do not keep to one word appropriate to the Hebrew, which if they\nhad not forgotten themselves, they would have done, and not left it\nuncertain. For _Arias Montanus_ in the 19. of _Leviticus_, _vers._ 26.\nrenders it, _neq; pr\u00e6stigiabamini_, and in the 2. of _Isaiah_, _vers._\n6. translates it, _augures sicut Philistim_. In _Isa._ 57. 3. he calleth\nthem _Filii Auguratricis_. And in the 27. of _Jeremiah_, _v._ 9. _Et ad\nAugures vestros._ Also _Micah_ 5. 11. he renders it _Pr\u00e6stigiatores_.\nNow what great difference there is betwixt any sort of Augury, and\nJuggling, or Leger-de-main, is known to any of indifferent reading. And\nthe rest of the Translators are far more wild, and more wide. And\n_Junius_ and _Tremellius_, who of all others, one might have thought\nwould have been more circumspect, yet fall into the same incertitude;\nfor in Deut. 18. 10. he renders it _Planetarius_, but in the place\nbefore-cited in _Leviticus_, they render it, _neq; utemini pr\u00e6stigiis_,\nthough in the Margent they mend it, with this note, _neq; ex nubibus\nconjicite, vel ne temporis observationi plus \u00e6quo tribuite_. And _Isa._\n2. 6. _Et pr\u00e6stigiatores sunt ut Polischt\u00e6i._\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid._ _Jo. Wier. de mag. Jus._ _c._ 1. _p._ 91.]\n\n[Sidenote: Of Divin. _lib._ 4. _cap._ 10. _p._ 183.]\n\n3. But if there be any certainty in adhering to the primitive\nsignification of the Hebrew root, that plainly intendeth _obnubilavit_,\nthat it is without question most safe and genuine to translate it\nPlanetarius, to which the most learned _Andreas Masius_ (as he is quoted\nby _Wierus_) doth incline in these words: _Veteres Hebr\u00e6orum dicunt id\nverbum ad eos propri\u00e8 pertinere, qui temporum momenta superstitios\u00e8\nobservant, atq; alia fausta rebus gerendis, alia infausta pr\u00e6scribunt_.\nTo which agreeth Mr. _Thomas Goodwin_, saying: \u201cBut of all I approve\nthose who derive it from \u200f\u05e2\u05b4\u05e0\u05b5\u05bc\u05df\u200e a Cloud, as if the Original signified\nproperly a Planetary, or Stargazer.\u201d\n\n4. But however thus far there is no word found, that signifieth a Witch\nin the sense we have laid down, nor any such person that hath a real\nfamiliar Spirit, either in them, or attending upon them, ready visibly\nto appear at their beck, this is not yet to be found out.\n\n5. The next is \u200f\u05d5\u05bc\u05de\u05b0\u05e0\u05b7\u05d7\u05b5\u05e9\u05c1\u200e from the root \u200f\u05e0\u05b4\u05d7\u05b5\u05e9\u05c1\u200e, _nichesch, auguratus\nest, observavit, augurium fecit_, which our English Translators have\nerroneously rendred an Inchanter, which it no way signifieth, nor hath\nany relation unto, having in the next verse named a Charmer, as though\nEnchanter and Charmer were not all one, when the word plainly (as Mr.\n_Goodwin_ and the learned _Masius_ do confess) importeth an Augur or\nSooth-sayer: That is, such an one, who out of his own experience draweth\nobservations of good or evil to come: of which we may note these things.\n\n1. The most of all the Translations given us in the _Polyglot_, do\nrender the Hebrew word by _auguratus est_, and so understand it to be an\nAugur or Sooth-sayer, a Conjecturer, or an Observer, from whatsoever it\nbe that he taketh his observations, as from the flying noise or motion\nof birds or beasts, looking into their entrails, and the like, and from\nthence taking upon them to foretel good or evil to come, or what was\nhidden and secret.\n\n2. The Hebrew word, is by the Septuagint rendred \u03bf\u1f30\u03ce\u03bd\u03b9\u03c3\u03bc\u03b1, _Augurium,\nAuspicium_, that is, an Augur, an Observer, or a Conjecturer, which\n_Luther_ translateth: =eyn de vp Voegell geschrey achte=. And in the Low\nDutch Bible it is rendred agreeable thereto; and the French render it\n_aux Oiseaux_, from the word _Oiseau_, _Avis, Volucris_; and the\nItalians render it _Auguropista_, which are all to one purpose, and no\ndifference at all, and so the gross mistake of our English Translators\nis most apparent, that make it to be an Inchanter or Charmer, to which\nit hath no relation at all.\n\n[Sidenote: Gen. 30. 27.]\n\n[Sidenote: Gen. 44. 5, 15.]\n\n3. This Hebrew word is taken _in bonam partem_, heedfully to consider,\nmark, or observe, as _Laban_ said, when he laboured to stay _Jacob_ from\ngoing from him: _I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed\nme for thy sake_. So that though _Laban_\u2019s heart was not upright toward\n_Jacob_, nor he a sincere Worshipper of the God of the Jews; yet so far\nhad the Lord convinced him, by the faithful and industrious service of\n_Jacob_ that he had experienced, and by tryal found that the Lord had\nblessed him for _Jacob_\u2019s sake. And the same word is used, when _Joseph_\nsaid: _Is not this the cup wherein my Lord drinketh, and whereby indeed\nhe divineth, or maketh tryal?_ And again: _Know ye not, that such a man\nas I can certainly divine, or make tryal?_ And though _Pererius_ hath\nmade a large Dispute about this matter, and reciteth the Opinions of\nmany Authors concerning it; yet it is manifest, that _Joseph_ knew his\nBrethren before, and had caused the Cup to be put into _Benjamins_ Sack,\nand that all this was but done in a just and prudent way, the better to\nprepare his Brethren for his revealing of himself unto them, and so had\nreference to no unlawful conjecturing at all, though it was plain, that\nhe had the special gift from God of interpreting of Dreams, and\nforetelling of things that were to come.\n\n4. It is too hard a task to enumerate all the several ways that the\nHeathens used, by observation to foretel things to come, and more\ndifficult so declare all the subjects from whence they gathered the\nsigns of their Predictions. The chiefest that the old _Romans_ used,\nwere _Augurium quasi Avigerium dictum, vel Avigarium, ab avium scilicet\ngarritu quem auspicantes observabant_: And so _Auspicium, quasi\nAvispecium, ab avibus spectandis_. And these observations were taken,\neither from the feeding, flying, or noise of the birds. So they had\ntheir _Haruspices_, _Harioli_, and _Haruspicina_, which was derived _ab\nharuga, hostia, ab hara in qua concluditur & servatur_.\n\n[Sidenote: Matth. 16. 2, 3.]\n\n[Sidenote: Luke 12. 54.]\n\n5. But all these sorts of Observations, Guessings, and Conjectures may\nbe considered these three ways. 1. Some of them are natural, rational,\nand legal; as is the Prognostick part of the Art of Medicine, Political\nPredictions of the change, fall, and ruine of Kingdoms, States, and\nEmpires. Some Civil taken from the course and carriage of men, as when\none seeth a rich young Heir that followeth nothing but vice, luxury, and\nall sorts of debauchery, it is easie to foretel that his end will be\nbeggery and misery. Some from the due observation of beasts and fowls,\nwhich live _sub dio_, may easily conjecture the alteration of the\nweather. And so by observing the change, or colour of the Stars and\nPlanets, the Clouds and Elements, may easily foretel the change of\nweather. And we find that these predictions from the Signs gathered from\nnatural causes, are not condemned by our Blessed Saviour, who saith:\n_When it is evening, ye say it will be fair weather, for the skie is\nred. And in the morning, it will be foul weather to day, for the skie is\nred, and lowring._ And again: _When ye see a cloud rise out of the West,\nstraightway ye say, there cometh a showre, and so it is. And when ye see\nthe South wind blow, ye say, there will be heat, and it cometh to pass._\n2. There are some conjectures that are false, groundless, and\nsuperstitious, as were, and are all the predictions taken from the\nfeeding, flying or noise of Fowls, or the signs appearing in the\nintrails of Beasts; for in all such like, there is no connexion betwixt\nthe cause and effect, and they therefore are false and vain, and this\nwas one of the reasons why they were forbidden amongst the Jews. 3.\nThere were some that in regard of their use and end were wicked and\nIdolatrous, and in this respect all divinations and predictions are\nwicked and unlawful, if they be used (as was and is yet among the\nHeathen) to lead the people unto, or confirm them in, the worship of\nIdols, and false Gods. And from all this it appeareth, that yet we can\nfind no proper or fit word for such a kind of Witch whose existence we\nhave denied and are disproving.\n\n5. The next word in this place of _Deuteronomy_ is \u200f\u05d5\u05bc\u05de\u05b0\u05db\u05b7\u05e9\u05b5\u05bc\u05c1\u05e3\u200e\n_Umechascheph_, which our Translators render a Witch, but in what sense\nor propriety, I think few can conjecture, for it comes from the Hebrew\nroot, \u200f\u05db\u05b9\u05bc\u05e9\u05b5\u05bc\u05c1\u05e3\u200e _Coscheph_, which _Avenarius_ rendreth, _Fascinavit,\neffascinavit_, but _Schindlerus_ translates it, _Pr\u00e6stigias, maleficia\naut magiam exercuit, mutavit aliquid naturale ad aspectum oculi, ut\naliud appareat qu\u00e0m est_. And by _Buxtorsius_ it is rendred,\n_Pr\u00e6stigi\u00e6_, and the derivations from it through the whole Old\nTestament, which is the most certain propriety of the word, as these\nfollowing considerations will make manifest.\n\n[Sidenote: Chap. 7. 11, 22.]\n\n[Sidenote: Chron. 2. 33. 6.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Kings 9. 22.]\n\n1. That the most of the Translators in rendering this word whether in\nthis place, or in others, have been very inconstant, and one place not\nagreeing with another, as _Arias Montanus_ in this place gives it\n_maleficus_, but in _Exodus_ he makes it, _Pr\u00e6stigiatores_, and in the\n22 and 16 of the same Book he makes it _Pr\u00e6stigiatricem_; and in another\nplace where the very same word is used in the Hebrew, he saith of\n_Man\u00e1sseh, & Pr\u00e6stigiis vacabat_. And yet in another place, he rendereth\nthe very same word _veneficia_. So uncertain was this learned Man, and\nso inconsiderate in his versions, wherein he ought to have had a more\nspecial care. Now _Tremellius_ in all the places named before, doth use\nthe words _Pr\u00e6stigiatorem_, and the words from the same derivation in\nthe Latine, which sheweth certainty and constancy.\n\n2. The most of all the translations in the Polyglott, do render this\nword doubtful and various: As _maleficus_, _magus_, _pr\u00e6stigias\nfaciens_, _Incantator_, and the like, which are all dubious, and\nvarious, and no certainty can be produced from them. Only those we call\nthe _Septuagint_ do keep close to words of the same signification,\ndeducted all from \u03c6\u03ac\u03c1\u03bc\u03b1\u03ba\u03bf\u03bd, which properly doth signifie no more than\n_venenum_, poison, though the circumstances do manifest that they were\nbut Jugling and Imposture. And the High-Dutch, Low-Dutch, French and\nItalian translations do all render it with the same uncertainty, so that\nnothing sure can be drawn from them.\n\n[Sidenote: Moses and Aaron _l._ 4. _c._ 10. _p._ 191.]\n\n[Sidenote: Com. upon Exod. _c._ 7. _p._ 72.]\n\n3. But to leave these uncertainties, it is manifest that this word doth\nsignifie as _Buxtorsius_ and _Schindlerus_ do render it, for they are\nbest to be trusted, because they are not guilty of contradiction as the\nmost of the others are; That is, a Jugler, or one that by himself, or\nthe help of his Confederates, doth by sleight of hand, and such like\nconveyances perform strange things to the astonishment of the beholders.\n\u201cAnd therefore doth Mr. _Goodwyn_ tell us this: A Witch, properly a\nJugler. The original (he saith) signifieth such a kind of Sorcerer, who\nbewitcheth the senses and minds of men, by changing the forms of things,\nmaking them appear otherwise than indeed they are. And these Dr.\n_Willet_ saith (speaking of _Pharaohs_ Magicians) were _Pr\u00e6stigiatores_,\nwhom we call Juglers, which deceived mens senses. And though learned\n_Masius_ (speaking of those that _Nebuchadnezzar_ called to interpret\nhis dream) doth make this objection, that if this word be translated\n_Pr\u00e6stigiatores_, he doth not see, _quid illi ad explicandum somnium\nadferre su\u00e2 arte potuissent, qu\u00e6 tota fallax & delusoria est_:\u201d Yet is\nthis of little or no force at all, for the rest that were called, were\nas well Impostors as these if not more, and the King and those with him\nknew not certainly (as the event shewed) that they could perform any\nsuch matter, but was ignorant of the manner of their delusions and\ncheats, and was only led by common rumour and belief, grounded upon the\nvain and lying boasts that such sort of people are apt to give out of\nthemselves, and the wonders they pretend to perform. So that from his\nand his Courtiers opinions of either the matter, or manner, of what they\npretended to do, will no consequence be drawn, from what they truly\ncould do, because belief and action are two different things as might be\nmanifested by the vain credulity of the vulgar, that those kind of\ndeceivers can do strange things, but in trial and experiment they are\nfound to be Cheaters and Impostors.\n\n[Sidenote: Chap. 7. 11.]\n\n4. But that this word doth bear this signification is manifest from the\nthings they performed, for in _Exodus_ they are called \u200f\u05db\u05b7\u05e9\u05b0\u05bc\u05c1\u05e4\u05b4\u05d9\u05dd\u200e,\n_and they in like manner cast down every man his rod and they became\nserpents_: not that their rods were really transubstantiated into true\nserpents as _Aarons_ was, for that could not be done but by an\nOmnipotent and Divine power, which they had not; It was only done as\nJuglers, do seemingly, by sleight and cunning, and so had an appearance\nof true serpents, but were not so indeed; or else in making a shew to\nthrow down their rods, they secretly conveyed them away and threw down\nserpents in their stead, as might easily be done by sleight of hand, as\nwe shall shew more fully hereafter.\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Kings 9. 22.]\n\n[Sidenote: Chap. 21. 8. 22. 51. 9. 21. 18. 23.]\n\n[Sidenote: Chap. 5. 20.]\n\n5. That this is the genuine meaning of this word is manifest from the\ncircumstances of some other places duly weighed, and compared together:\nfor one text saith as our English Translators have rendered it, _And it\ncame to pass when Joram saw Jehu that he said, Is it peace Jehu? And he\nanswered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel,\nand her witchcrafts are so many?_ Now why they should translate it\nwitchcrafts, cannot well be imagined, except it were to draw the\nScriptures to speak according to their preconceived opinions, for the\nword used there is the same we speak of, to wit, \u200f\u05d5\u05bc\u05db\u05b0\u05e9\u05b8\u05c1\u05e4\u05b6\u05d9\u05d4\u05b8\u200e, which\nthough _Arias Montanus_ rendereth, _& veneficia ejus_, that according to\nthe Latine signification is but poysonings, or poyson making, which doth\nnot intimate Witchcraft in that sense that is vulgarly understood, which\n_Tremellius_ properly renders, _& pr\u00e6stig\u00e6 ejus_: and _Luther_ renders\nit by the words =Toeverye=, and so doth the Low-Dutch: Though the proper\nHigh-Dutch word for _pr\u00e6stigiator_, a Jugler, be =Baucsler=, which is as\n_Calepin_ tells us, that _Pr\u00e6stig\u00e6 sunt incantationes, delusiones,\ncujusmodi sunt, qu\u00e6 manuum quadam dexteritate alia apparent quam rever\u00e2\nsunt_. Now what whoredoms or fornications had _Jezebel_ committed?\nSpiritual whoredoms, and not Carnal ones; for she had her self gone a\nwhoring after Idols, and strange gods, and as much as in her lay drew\nthe people of _Israel_ into the same whoredoms, and for this it was that\nso fearful a judgment fell upon her. And what Witchcrafts (if they must\nbe so called) had she practised or followed? Was it any other than in\nsetting up, maintaining, and defending the Priests of _Baal_ and of the\ngroves, who practised several sorts of divination, jugling, impostures,\nand delusions, whereby they were seduced and blinded to follow and\nworship the false god and Idols? And from this it is plain that all her\nWitchcrafts were only impostures and delusions whereby the people were\nled unto idolatry: and so the true signification of this word is a\ndeceiver and an impostor, and intendeth no other kind of Witchcraft at\nall. And in the same sense must the word given by those we call the\nSeptuagint which is \u03c4\u1f70 \u03c6\u03ac\u03c1\u03bc\u03b1\u03ba\u03b1 \u1f00\u03c5\u03c4\u1fc6\u03c2, _Pharmaca vel venena sua_, her\npoysons, that is her deceits and delusions that she set up by the lying\nDivinations, Juglings, and Impostures of the Priests, by which the\npeople were seduced, and blinded, and poysoned with the filthy Doctrine\nand practice of Idol-worship. And in the same sense must the words be\ntaken in the Revelation where the words \u03c6\u03b1\u03c1\u03bc\u03b1\u03ba\u03b5\u03af\u03b1, \u03c6\u03b1\u03c1\u03bc\u03b1\u03ba\u03b5\u1f7a\u03c2, \u03c6\u03ac\u03c1\u03bc\u03b1\u03ba\u03bf\u03c2\nare used. For the Text saith: _And a mighty Angel took up a stone like a\ngreat milstone, and cast it into the sea, saying; Thus with violence\nshall that great City Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more\nat all_. And after: _For thy merchants were the great men of the earth:\nFor by thy sorceries were all nations deceived_. These words are spoken\nmystically of spiritual _Babylon_, in which Antichrist ruleth, who (as\nthe Apostle saith) _sitteth in the temple of God, and exalteth him self\nagainst all that is called god; and this is he whose coming is after the\nworking of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders_. So that\nit is plain that his working being by lying wonders, his Merchants must\nneeds be lyers and deceivers, and it is these Sorceries, impostures and\ndelusions by which all Nations are deceived, and caused to err: and so\nis no other Witchcraft but meer lying, delusion and imposture. And to\nthis purpose doth Dr. _Hammond_ Paraphrase it in these words; speaking\nof the destruction of _Babylon_: \u201cAnd three eminent causes (he saith)\nthere are of this; First, Luxury which inriched so many Merchants, and\nmade them so great. Secondly, seducing other people to their Idolatries\nand abominable courses by all arts of insinuation. And thirdly, the\npersecuting and slaying of the Apostles and other Christians.\u201d And in\nthe same sense must this word also be taken in the _Galathians_, which\nthough translated Witchcraft, must needs mean imposture, deceit and\ndelusion by which people are led from the true Doctrine and Worship of\nChrist, to vain and lying Superstition and Idolatry, and not bodily\npoysoning.\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Sam. 15. 23.]\n\n6. Thus far we can find no such Hebrew word as signifieth any such kind\nof a Witch as Dr. _Casaubon_, or Mr. _Glanvill_ intend, or labour to\nprove, and therefore we may proceed to the next. Only we cannot but take\nnotice of one other text, that our English Translators have erroneously\nrendered, and that is this: where _Samuel_ is rebuking _Saul_ for\nsparing _Agag and the best of the spoil_, he saith, _For rebellion is as\nthe sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry_:\nWhich _Tremellius_ renders thus: _Quin sicut peccatum divinationis est\nrebellio: & sicut superstitio & Idola est repugnantia_. And _Arias\nMontanus_ gives it thus: _Quia peccatum divinationis est rebellio, &\nmendacium vel Idolum, & Teraphim transgredi_, which both are agreeable\nto the Hebrew word \u200f\u05e7\u05b6\u05e1\u05b6\u05dd\u200e which signifieth properly Divination. So that\nthis place noteth, not rebellion against an earthly or temporal King,\nbut against the King of Heaven; and to disobey his command, and to\nfollow our own wills and judgments, and to persevere therein, is as\nodious and detestable, as to set up lying Divinations thereby to follow\nIdols and false gods: for the following the fancies of our own brains,\nis to follow the divinations of our own counsel, and to make an Idol,\nand a Teraphim of our own frail, weak and blind judgments, and to\nforsake the pure and perfect Law of the Lord, which ought to be a\nlantern to our feet, and a light unto our paths, and is spiritual\nrebellion, even as the divinations of Idol-priests and Idol-worship\nwere.\n\n7. The next Word in this place of _Deuteronomy_ is \u200f\u05d5\u05b0\u05d7\u05b9\u05d1\u05b5\u05e8 \u05d7\u05b8\u05d1\u05b6\u05e8\u200e\n_utens incantatione, vel incantans incantatione, aut jungens\njunctiones_, from the root \u200f\u05d7\u05b8\u05d1\u05b7\u05e8\u200e _Sociatus est, junctus fuit alteri,\ncopulatus est_, for so _Avenarius_ renders it. And _Schindlerus_ saith,\n_Incantator vel qui consortium habet cum D\u00e6monibus, conjurator, qui\nincantationibus multa animalia in unum locum consociat vel congregat,\nvel ne l\u00e6dant associat_. From whence we may note thus much:\n\n[Sidenote: Chap. 14. 3.]\n\n[Sidenote: Exod. 36. 10.]\n\n1. That it primarily signifieth to joyn together, as in that of\n_Genesis_ speaking of the Kings that went to War, _All these were joyned\ntogether in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea_. And in another\nplace, _And he coupled the five curtains together_; and in the same\nsense in diverse other places: by all which it appeareth, that when it\nis used for incantation or charming, it is because of some conjunction\nor coupling together.\n\n2. It is very remarkable that in all the translations in the Polyglot,\nthere is no variance, neither do _Arias Montanus_, _Buxtorsius_, or\n_Tremellius_ differ at all, and the Greek Translators do agree with\nthem, who render it, \u1f10\u03c0\u03b1\u03b5\u03af\u03b4\u03c9\u03bd \u1f10\u03c0\u03b1\u03bf\u03b9\u03b4\u1f74\u03bd, and the Germane, Low-dutch,\nFrench, and Italian Translators do accord herewithal, and it is likewise\nso rendered in _Isa._ 47. 9, 12. and in other places. So that it is\nplain it signifieth such as took upon them by strange words and charms\nto prevent venemous beasts to hurt, bite or sting, and many other\nwonderful things; but what they brought to pass, or effected, besides\ndeluding and deceiving of the people and leading of them to Idolatry, is\nhard to determine, of which we shall speak in another place.\n\n3. There are divers opinions concerning this incantation or charming,\nwhy it should be accounted conjunction, or association; and some, as\n_Schindlerus_ and _Bithner_, do judge it is because they associate or\nbring together many Serpents or noysom Creatures into one place, and\nthen destroy them. But this is but a conjecture, for it is by the best\nlearned strongly disputed on both sides, whether charms and inchantments\ncan really and truly perform any such effects, and divers instances and\nexamples brought both ways, some for the affirmative, some for the\nnegative, so that the matter of fact is not certainly known or granted.\nOthers by association do understand, the league or compact made betwixt\nthe Charmer and the Devil, by virtue of which such strange things are\nbrought to pass by them, and of this opinion was Mr. _Perkins_ (if that\nBook of Witchcraft, that goeth under his name, be truly his) who\nstrengthening his conceit with that verse in the _58 Psalm_ thought that\nhe had found out an invincible argument to prove the Compact betwixt\nWitches and Devils, and therefore it is necessary and expedient to\nexamine that text to the bottom to sift out the true translation, and\nsense of that place, which we shall do at large as followeth in these\nparticulars.\n\n1. Our English Translators render it thus, speaking of the deaf Adder or\nAsp; _Which will not hearken to the voice of the charmers, charming\nnever so wisely_; and in the margent, or _be the Charmer never so\ncunning_, where they take no notice of the conjoyning of conjunctions,\nand consequently none of such a league or compact.\n\n2. _Tremellius_ gives it thus: _Qu\u00e6 non auscultat voci mussitantium,\nutentis incantationibus peritissimi_, which piece of Latine were very\ndifficult to put into perfect Grammatical construction, because\n_mussitantium_ is the plural number, but _utentis_ and _peritissimi_ are\nof the singular, which we shall leave to the censure of Criticks, and\ngive the marginal note that is there added. _Surd\u00e6 id est, calid\u00e8\nagentis adversus incantamenta, ut sequentia exponunt, nam aurem utramq;\nab ea obturari_, &c. Of the deaf Adder \u201cThat is to say, that acteth\ncraftily against the incantations, as the following words do expound:\nFor she stoppeth both her ears, by fixing one to the earth, and\ncovering, and stopping the other with her tail;\u201d and that _Hierome_,\n_Augustine_, _Cassiodorus_, and others do so expound the place. Whether\nthis be true of the Asp or not is much to be doubted, for I find no\nAuthor of credit that doth averr it of his own knowledge, and the thing\nis very difficult to bring to experiment, and the Psalmist might speak\naccording to vulgar opinion, of which there was no necessity that it\nshould be literally and certainly true. Further he goes on and saith,\n_mussitantium_ \u201cThat is to say, pronouncing their incantations to charm\nher, whispering and very low; which study of charming, lest any should\nthink that _David_ doth approve of them in this place, he learnedly\nuseth the very words of the prohibition, which God laid down _Deut._ 18.\n11. For (he saith) these fascinators in the Hebrew appellation are said\nto consociate society, because they apply the society of the Devil to\ntheir arts.\u201d\n\n3. Those we call the Septuagint do render it thus: \u1f2d\u03c4\u03b9\u03c2 \u03bf\u1f50\u03ba \u03b5\u1f30\u03c3\u03ba\u03bf\u03cd\u03c3\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9\n\u03c6\u03c9\u03bd\u1f74\u03bd \u03b5\u03c0\u1fb3\u03b4\u03cc\u03bd\u03c4\u03c9\u03bd, \u03c6\u03b1\u03c1\u03bc\u03ac\u03ba\u03bf\u03c5 \u03c4\u03b5 \u03c6\u03b1\u03c1\u03bc\u03b1\u03ba\u03b5\u03c5\u03bf\u03bc\u03ad\u03bd\u03bf\u03c5 \u03c0\u03b1\u03c1\u1f70 \u03c3\u03bf\u03c6\u03bf\u1fe6. And that which\nis ascribed to _Hierome_ in the eight Tome of his works printed at\n_Basil_ 1525, gives two Latine versions to this, the one answering to\nthe Septuagint which is this: _Qu\u00e6 non exaudiet vocem incantantium &\nvenefici incantantis sapienter_. The other according to the Hebrew thus,\n_Ut non audiat vocem murmurantium, nec incantatoris incantationes\ncallidas_. So that this maketh the meaning to be, that the deaf Asp is\nso cunning in stopping of her ear, that she doth not hear the voice of\nthose that murmur, and mutter charms, though it be a Charmer that\nuttereth the most cunning and powerful charms: So that here is no regard\nhad to conjoyning or associating either of Serpents together, or of the\nsociety of the Charmer and the Devil.\n\n4. _Luthers_ Translation of this place is remarkable, which is this,\n=Dass sie nicht hoere die stimme dess Zauberers, dess Beschwerers der\nwol besch weren kan=. Which in English runs thus, That doth not hear the\nvoice of the Magicians or Charmers, the Conjurors or Exorcists, that\nwell conjure can. And agreeable to this is the translation of the\nLow-Dutch. So that the sense is, that the deaf Asp stoppeth her ear\nagainst the voice of the Charmers, those that have sworn together (it\nmay be that common error and opinion had prevailed so far with learned\n_Luther_, as doth appear by his exposition upon the third Chapter to the\n_Galathians_, that he believed that the Witch, and the Devil were in\ncompact, and sworn together) and that were most cunning in that art. But\nthis doth but in a manner beg the question, not prove it, for all will\nbut amount to this, that the Asp cannot be charmed, no not by those that\nhave the greatest skill in the matter of incantation.\n\n5. The French Translators render it thus: _Lequel n\u2019\u00e9coute point la voix\ndes enchanteurs, ni du charmeur fort expert en charmes_, Which will in\nno point hear the voice of the inchanter, nor of the Charmer that is\nexpert in charms. And this proveth nothing at all of joyning societies,\nnor of compacts. The Italian version giveth it thus, _Accioche non oda\nla voce de glivoce incantatori, del venefico incantante incantationi di\ndotto_. In English thus, Which doth not hear the voice of the inchanter,\nof the Witch (if that be the signification of the word _venefico_, a\npoysoner) inchanting with the incantation of the learned: And this is\nmost near the Hebrew of all the rest, and beareth thus much, That the\nAsp doth not hearken to the voice of the inchanter, of the Charmer which\nuseth the charms that were framed and conjoyned by a learned Clerk: so\nthat if associating be comprised, it must be understood of the framing\nand joyning of the charms, which doubtless was the composure of those\nthat were very learned, especially if they work by a natural operation,\nof which we shall discourse hereafter.\n\n6. But now we come to the Hebrew itself, which _Arias Montanus_ renders\nthus, _Qu\u00e6 non audiet ad vocem mussitantium: jungentis conjunctiones\ndocti_. And in the margent thus, _Qu\u00e6 non obtemperabit voce\nincantantium, incantantis incantationes sapienter_. Which we may thus\nEnglish, Which hearkeneth not to the voice of the mutterers, of the\nlearned joyner of conjunctions. And the other thus; Which obeyeth not\nthe voice of the Charmers, of the person charming charms wisely. So that\nit may mean, that the Asp hearkeneth not to the voice of those that\nmutter or mussitate the charms of the Charmer that doth wisely use them,\nor of him that is a wise Charmer. But it is needless and improper to\nmake an half period at _mussitantium_, for then there will be no\ncoherence in Grammatical construction betwixt the former and latter part\nof the verse: and therefore according to the order of Grammar, it should\nbe rendered thus: _Qu\u00e6 non audiet ad vocem mussitantium incantationes,\ndocti incantantis_. And so the meaning is plainly this, that the Asp\ndoth not hearken to the voice of those that mutter the charms of a\nlearned Charmer. And so there is no intimation of association or compact\neither one way or another, but it doth meerly imply that the Asp doth\nresist and frustrate the charms of the mutterers that use them, though\nthey be wise in the using of them, which doubtless is the most genuine\nrendring, and the true meaning of the place: or else it may be thus\naptly translated: _Qu\u00e6 non audiet ad vocem mussitantium conjunctiones\njungentis docti_; That is thus, Which hearkeneth not to the voice of\nthose that mutter the Conjunctions of a learned Joyner. So this way the\nsense will be, that she resisteth the Charms, or Conjunctions of the\nlearned Joyner or Framer of them, and consequently that it hath not\nrespect, either to the associating or gathering of the Asps into one\nplace, or an association or compact betwixt the Charmer and the Devil,\nwhich are both beg\u2019d, and too far fetcht, and cannot be intended\nproperly in this Metaphor. But it (if thus Translated according to\n_Arias Montanus_) referreth punctually and properly to the cunning and\nwise composure of the letters and words used in the Charm, that if they\nhad been never so cunningly contrived, or joyned together by those that\nhad the greatest skill of all others in framing and composing of charms;\nyet were they utterly inefficacious against this kind of Serpent. And so\nwe conclude this, having as yet found no such Hebrew word as signifieth\na Witch in the vulgar sense and common acceptation.\n\n7. Another word that followeth in this place of _Deuteronomy_ is\n\u200f\u05d5\u05b0\u05e9\u05b9\u05c1\u05d0\u05b5\u05dc \u05d0\u05d5\u05b9\u05d1\u200e _requirens Pythonem_, which what it meaneth is more\nobscured, and erroneously translated, than any of the rest. And this our\nEnglish Translators have ignorantly or wilfully, but however erroneously\nrendered in all the places where it is used, to be one that hath a\nfamiliar spirit. From whence note these things.\n\n[Sidenote: Job 32.19.]\n\n1. This word, as _Buxtorsius_, _Schindlerus_, and _Avenarius_ observe,\nhath two significations, the one is, _uter vel lagena_, the other\n_Python_, and so saith learned _Masius_, _significat vero vox Ob utrem\nvel lagenam_; \u201cFrom whence the Jewish Nation did call those Devils which\ndid give answers forth of the parts of Men and Womens Bodies, _Ob_, and\nin the plural number _Oboth_; As it is only once for bottles used in\nthat of _Job_, _Behold, my belly is as wine that hath no vent, it is\nready to burst like new bottles_.\u201d And to the same purpose speaketh\n_Schindlerus_ in these words: \u201cFrom thence it seemeth to be called \u200f\u05d0\u05d5\u05d1\u200e\n_Pytho_, because those that had it, or were possessed with it, being\npuft up with wind, did swell like blown bladders, and the unclean spirit\nbeing interrogated did forth of their bellies give answers of things\npast, present, and to come, from whence also they were called\n\u1f10\u03b3\u03b3\u03b1\u03c3\u03c4\u03c1\u03af\u03bc\u03c5\u03b8\u03bf\u03c2, _ventriloqui_, speakers in the belly, or out of the\nbelly.\u201d So that in the sense of these men, it was a Devil or Spirit that\nspoke in them, as though they had been essentially and substantially\npossest with a Demon; so prone were they to ascribe all things (almost)\nunto the Devils power, not considering that they had no other Devil, but\nthat of Imposture and Delusion, as we shall shew anon with unanswerable\narguments.\n\n[Sidenote: Ovid. _Metam._ _lib._ 1.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Mytholog._ _l._ 4. _c._ 10. _p._ 36. 362.]\n\n2. The most or all the translations in the Polyglott do render it\n_Pythonem, vel spiritum Pythonis_ in this place of _Deuteronomy_, and\nother places: But what is to be understood by _Python_, or the Spirit of\n_Python_ is as difficult to find out, as the meaning of the Hebrew word\n_Ob_, because it must be digged forth of the rubbish of Grecian lies:\nFor some will have it to be derived from the word \u03b1\u03c0\u1f78 \u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u03c0\u03c5\u03bd\u03b8\u03ac\u03bd\u03b5\u03c3\u03b8\u03b1\u03b9,\n_\u00e0 consulendi & interrogandi usu_. But that they were called so rather\nfrom the Epithete given to _Apollo_, who (as the Poets fabled) did soon\nafter _Deucalions_ flood slay the Dragon _Python_, \u03c0\u03cd\u03b8\u03c9\u03bd, so called a\n\u03c0\u03cd\u03b8\u03b5\u03c3\u03b8\u03b1\u03b9 _quod est putrescere_, because he was said to be bred of the\nputrefaction of the Earth; and so he was called _Apollo Pythius_, and\nthose that kept the Oracle at _Delphos_, and gave answers, were called\n_Pythii vates_, and the Oracles _Oracula Pythia_: as may be seen in\n_Plutarch_, _Thucydides_, and _Lucian_: and _Suidas_ and _Hesychius_\nsay, \u03a0\u03cd\u03b8\u03c9\u03bd _dicebatur etiam D\u00e6monium cujus afflatu futura pr\u00e6dicebant,\n&_ \u1f41\u03b9 \u03c0\u03cd\u03b8\u03c9\u03bd\u03b5\u03c2, _\u00e8 ventre hariolantes_: From whence _Pythius Apollo_ came\nbecause of slaying the Dragon, nam \u03c0\u03cd\u03b8\u03b5\u03c3\u03b8\u03b1\u03b9 _putrescere significat, ut\nest in his carminibus_.\n\n               \u2014\u2014\u1f49 \u03b4\u2019 \u1f10\u03c0\u03ae\u03c5\u03be\u03b1\u03c4\u03bf \u03c6\u03bf\u1fd6\u03b2\u03bf\u03c2 \u1f08\u03c0\u03cc\u03bb\u03bb\u03c9\u03bd,\n               \u1f18\u03bd\u03c4\u03b1\u03c5\u03b8\u03bf\u1fd6 \u03bd\u1fe6\u03bd \u03c0\u03cd\u03b8\u03b5\u03bd \u1f10\u03c0\u1f76 \u03c7\u03b8\u03bf\u03bd\u1f76 \u03b2\u03c9\u03c4\u03b9\u03b1\u03bd\u03b5\u03af\u03c1\u03b7.\n\n               \u2014\u2014_Sic inde precatus_ Apollo _est:\n               Putrescas tellure jacens campoq; feraci_.\n\nAnd from hence were the Pythian Games instituted:\n\n               _Neve operis famam posset delere vetustas,\n               Instituit sacros celebri certamine ludos\n               Pythia perdomit\u00e6 serpentis nomine dictos._\n\nThough, if we will believe _Natalis Comes_ and some others, it was not a\nSerpent or Dragon that _Apollo_ slew, but a man whose name was _Python_,\nand his sirname _Draco_, and from that Victory _Apollo_ was called\n_Pythius_, and those that kept his Oracle at _Delphos_ were called\n_Pythios vates_, Pythian Priests, or Diviners of _Python_. So that all\nthat can be gathered from hence is, that to have the Spirit of _Python_,\nwas to undertake such Divinations, as the Priests used at the Pythian\nOracle at _Delphos_, and that was no more in truth and effect, but\nCheaters and Impostors.\n\n[Sidenote: _De defect. Oracul. mihi._ _p._ 691.]\n\n[Sidenote: _In Pr\u00e6fat. de defect. Oracul._]\n\n3. Those that we call the Septuagint expressing the manner of the\nperformance of this kind of Imposture do (as _Masius_ confesseth, and is\ntrue) constantly call them by the name of \u1f10\u03b3\u03b3\u03b1\u03c3\u03c4\u03c1\u03b9\u03bc\u03cd\u03b8\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2, because they\ndid speak forth of their Breasts or Bellies, that was by turning their\nvoices backwards down their Throats, which some of the Latines imitating\nthe Greek word have not unfitly called them _ventriloquos_, that is,\nspeaking in their Bellies. And that there were such in ancient times is\nwitnessed by _Plutarch_, who saith, speaking of the ceasing of Oracles,\nthus: \u201cThat it is alike foolish and childish to judge that God himself,\nas the _Engastrimuthoi_, (that is to say, the _Genii_ hariolating forth\nof the Belly) which in times past they did call _Eurycleas_, now\n_Pythonas_, hiding himself in the Bodies of the Prophets, and using\ntheir mouth and voice as instruments, should speak.\u201d From whence we may\nnote these things. 1. That in _Plutarch_ time who lived in the Reign of\n_Trajan_, there were of these persons that could speak (as it were)\nforth of their Bellies. 2. That though _Plutarch_ was a very learned,\nsagacious person, yet he either knew not, or else concealed the manner\nhow these _ventriloquists_ performed this speaking, in their Breasts or\nBellies, it being nothing but a cheat and artificial imposture, as we\nshall shew anon, of whom his learned Translator _Adrianus Turnebus_, and\nof these vanities speaketh thus. \u201cTherefore (he saith) we condemn all\nsorts of Divinations which are not received from the sacred writings,\nand do judge them to have been found out, either by the craftiness of\nmen or the wickedness of Devils; but we rejoice to our selves that being\nDivinely taught, we here see far more than the most learned _Plutarch_\ndid, who beheld but little light in this his disputation of the defect\nof Oracles.\u201d 3. We may note that these words (that is to say, the\n_Genii_ hariolating forth of the Belly) which we have inclosed in a\n_Parenthesis_, are not found in the Greek written by _Plutarch_, but are\nonly added as the conjecture of _Turnebus_. 4. _Plutarch_ doth hold it\nchildish to believe that God doth hide himself and speak in the belly of\nthese couzening Diviners, and therein though an Heathen was wiser than\nmany that profess Christianity now, who believe it to be some Spirit,\nwhen it is nothing but the cunning Imposture of those persons, that by\nuse have learned that artifice of turning their voices back into their\nThroats and Breasts. 5. As to matter of fact it is manifest that in the\ntime of _Plutarch_ there were those that practised this cunning trick\nthereby to get credit or money by the pretence of Predictions and\nDivinations, and such an one doubtless was the Woman at _Endor_, and the\nMaid mentioned in the _Acts_ of the Apostles, of which we shall speak\npresently.\n\n[Sidenote: _Antiq._ _lect._ 8. 10.]\n\nAlso _Tertullian_ a grave Author, affirmeth that he had seen such Women\nthat were Ventriloquists, from whole secret parts a small voice was\nheard as they sate, and did give answers to things asked. And so _C\u00e6lius\nRhodiginus_ doth write that he often saw a Woman Ventriloquist at\n_Rhodes_, and in a City of _Italy_ his own Country, from whose secrets\nhe had often heard a very slender voice of an unclean Spirit, but very\nintelligible, tell strangely of things past or present, but of things to\ncome for the most part uncertain, and also often vain and lying; which\ndoth plainly demonstrate that it was but an humane artifice, and a\ndesigned Imposture.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist._ 1.]\n\n[Sidenote: _De Mag. Infam._]\n\n_c._ 14. _p._ 141.\n\n\u201cBut most notable is that story related by _Wierus_ from the mouth of\nhis Sons who had it from the mouth of _Adrianus Turnebus_, who did\nopenly profess that before-time he had seen at _Paris_ a crafty fellow\nvery like _Euricles_ mentioned by _Aristophanes_, who was called _Petrus\nBrabantius_, who as oft as he would, could speak from the lower part of\nhis Body, his Mouth being open, but his Lips not moved, and that he did\ndeceive many all over by this cunning, which whether it be to be called\nan art, or exercitation, or the imposture of the Devil is to be doubted.\nAnd further relateth that at _Paris_ he deceived a Widow Woman and got\nher to give him her Daughter in Marriage, who had a great Portion; by\ncounterfeiting that his so speaking in his Breast, or Belly, was the\nvoice of her deceased Husband, who was in Purgatory, and could not be\nloosed thence, except she gave her Daughter in Marriage unto him: By\nwhich deceitful knavery he got her, and about six Months after, when he\nhad spent all her Portion, the Wife and Mother-in-law being left, he\nfled to _Lions_: And there hearing that a very rich Merchant was dead,\nwho was accounted living a very wicked man, who had gotten his riches by\nright and wrong; this _Brabantius_ goeth to his Son called _Cornutus_,\nwho was walking in a Grove or Orchard behind the Church-yard, and\nintimateth that he was sent to teach him what was fit for him to do. But\nwhile that he telleth him that he ought rather to think of the Soul of\nhis Father, than of his Fame, or Death; upon the suddain while they\nspeak together a voice is heard\u2014imitating his Father\u2019s: Which voice\nalthough _Brabantius_ did give out of his Belly, yet he did in a\nwonderful manner counterfeit to tremble: But _Cornutus_ was admonished\nby this voice, into what state his Father was faln by his injustice, and\nwith what great torments he was tortured in Purgatory, both for his own,\nand his Sons cause, for that he had left him the Heir of so much ill\ngotten goods, and that he could be freed by no means, unless by a just\nexpiation made by the Son, and some considerable part of his goods\ndistributed to charitable uses unto those that stood most need, such as\nwere Christians made Captives with the Turks. Whereupon he gave credit\nto _Brabantius_, with whom he discoursed, as a Man that was to be sent\nby Godly persons to _Constantinople_ to redeem the prisoners, and that\nhe was sent unto him by Divine Power for the same purpose. But\n_Cornutus_, though a Man no way evil; and although having heard these\nthings, he understood not the deceit: yet notwithstanding because of the\nword, that he should part with so much money, made answer that he would\nconsider of it, and willeth _Brabantius_ to repair the day following to\nthe same place. In the mean time being staggered in his thoughts he did\nmuch doubt, in respect of the place, where he had heard the voice,\nbecause it was shadowy, and dark, and subject to the crafty treacheries\nof Men, and to the Eccho. Therefore the next day he leadeth _Brabantius_\ninto another open plain place, neither troubled with shadows nor bushes.\nWhere notwithstanding the same tale was repeated, during their\ndiscourse, that he had heard before: This also being added, that\nforthwith six thousand Franks should be given to _Brabantius_, that\nthree Masses might be said every day, to redeem his Father forth of\nPurgatory; otherwayes that there could be no redemption for him. And\nthereupon the Son obliged both by conscience and religion, although\nunwillingly, delivers so many to the trust of _Brabantius_; all lawful\nevidence of the agreement and performance being utterly neglected. The\nFather freed from the fire and torments afterwards hath rested quiet,\nand by speaking did not trouble the Son any more. But the wretched\n_Cornutus_, after _Brabantius_ was gone, being one time more pleasant\nthan wonted, which made his Table-companions much to wonder; and\nforthwith opening the cause to them inquiring it, he was forthwith so\nderided of all, because that in his judgment he had been so beguiled,\nand cheated of his money besides, that within few days after he died for\nplain grief, and so followed his Father to know the truth of that thing\nof him.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist._ 2.]\n\nBut to make this more plain and certain, we shall add a Story of a\nnotable Impostor, or Ventriloquist, from the testimony of Mr. _Ady_;\nwhich we have had confirmed from the mouth of some Courtiers that both\nsaw and knew him, and is this: \u201cIt hath been (saith he) credibly\nreported, that there was a Man in the Court, in King _James_ his days,\nthat could act this imposture so lively, that he could call the King by\nname, and cause the King to look round about him wondering who it was\nthat called him, whereas he that called him stood before him in his\npresence, with his face towards him: but after this Imposture was known,\nthe King in his merriment would sometimes take occasion by this Impostor\nto make sport upon some of his Courtiers, as for instance; There was a\nKnight belonging to the Court, whom the King caused to come before him\nin his private room (where no Man was but the King, and this Knight, and\nthe Impostor) and feigned some occasion of serious discourse with the\nKnight; but when the King began to speak, and the Knight bending his\nattention to the King, suddenly there came a voice as out of another\nroom, calling the Knight by name, Sir _John_, Sir _John_, come away Sir\n_John_; at which the King began to frown that any Man should be so\nunmannerly as to molest the King and him: And still listning to the\nKings discourse, the voice came again, Sir _John_, Sir _John_, come\naway, and drink off your Sack; at that Sir _John_ began to swell with\nanger, and looked into the next rooms to see who it was that dared to\ncall him so importunately, and could not find out who it was, and having\nchid with whomsoever he found he returned again to the King. The King\nhad no sooner begun to speak as formerly, but the voice came again, Sir\n_John_, come away, your Sack stayeth for you. At that Sir _John_ began\nto stamp with madness, and looked out, and returned several times to the\nKing, but could not be quiet in his discourse with the King, because of\nthe voice that so often troubled him, till the King had sported enough.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist._ 3.]\n\nI my self also have seen a young man about 16 or 17 years of age, who\nhaving learned at School, and having no great mind to his Book, fell\ninto an Ague; in the declination of which he seemed to be taken with\nconvulsion-fits, and afterwards to fall into Trances, and at the last to\nspeak (as with another small voice) in his Breast or Throat, and\npretended to declare unto those that were by, what sinful and knavish\ntricks they had formerly acted, or what others were doing in remote\nplaces and rooms. So that presently his Father and the Family with the\nneighbourhood were perswaded that he was possest, and that it was a\nspirit that spoke in him, which was soon heightned by Popish reports all\nover the Countrey. But there being a Gentleman of great note and\nunderstanding his Kinsman caused him to be sent over unto me, to have\nmine opinion whether it were a natural distemper or not. The Father and\nthe Boy with an old cunning Woman (the made creature to cry up the\ncertainty of his possession, and the verity of a spirit speaking in him)\ncame unto me, who all appeared to my judgment and best reason fit\npersons to act any designed Imposture. The Father having been one that\nhad lived profusely, and spent the most of his means, being sufficiently\nprophane and irreligious: The Boy by his face appearing to be of a\nmelancholy complexion, and of a subtile and crafty disposition; the\nWoman cunning, who would have forced me to believe whatsoever he\nrelated, thinking to impose upon me as she had done upon others. I\npresently judged it to be neither natural disease, nor supernatural\ndistemper, but only knavery and Imposture, and so made the Woman silent,\nand told her she was a cheater, and deserved due punishment, and that\nwhat she told, were the most of them lies of her own inventing; and told\nthe Father and the Son that I could soon cast forth all the Devils that\nhe was possessed with; but then I must have him in mine own custody, and\nnone of them to come near him nor to speak with him. A long time I\nexpected to have seen him in one of his fits, but his Devil was too\ntimerous of my stern countenance and rough carriage. Well after they\nthree had consulted together, the Lad by no means could be gotten to\nstay with me, no not for that night, nor be prevailed with again to be\nbrought into my presence; but away they went the Lad riding behind his\nFather, and when about a quarter of a mile from the Town the Father\nturned the Horse to come back again unto me, the Lad leapt from off the\nHorse, and run away crying from the Townwards as fast as he could. They\nwent that night to a Popish House where were concourse of people\nsufficient, and many tales told of the Divinations of the spirit in the\nBoy, but not one word either of me or against me. Soon after the\nGentleman that was of kin to the Boy came over, and I gave him\nsatisfaction that it was a contrived cheat, and after he returned, he\nwould have prevailed with them to have sent the Boy to me, but by no\nmeans could effect it; and so he never after gave any regard unto them,\nand soon after it vanished to nothing.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist._ 4.]\n\nI my self also knew a person, in the West-riding of _Yorkshire_, who\nabout some forty years or above, to have made sport, would have put a\nCoverlet upon him, and then would have made any believe (that knew not\nthe truth) that he had a child with him, he would so lively have\ndiscoursed with two voices, and have imitated crying and the like. And\nalso the said person under a Coverlet, and coming upon all four would so\nexceeding aptly, even to the life, have acted a skirmish betwixt two\nMastiffs, both by grinning, snarling and all other motions and noise,\nthat divers understanding persons have been deceived and verily believed\nthat there were two Mastiffs under the Coverlet, until their eyes have\nconvinced them of their error: So delusive may art or cunning be, being\nseconded by use and agility.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist._ 5.]\n\nI also have sometimes seen a person that lived in _Southwark_ near\n_London_, who holding his lips together, and making no sound or noise at\nall, would notwithstanding have, by the motion of the muscles of his\nface, and the agitation of his head and hands and other gesticulations\nof his Body, made any of the beholders understand, what tune he had\nmodulated in his fancy, which was very strange and pleasant to behold,\nand that which I could not have believed if I had not seen it.\n\n[Sidenote: Stow p. 864.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist._ 6.]\n\nWe might hereunto add the Story of the pretended sleeping preacher, who\nhad drawn many into admiration and belief that he did it either by\nDivine inspiration or vision, and yet was but a voluntary cheat and a\ndelusive Imposture, as may be seen at large in _Stowes_ Chronicle. We\nhave been thus tedious in giving these examples, that it may appear how\nimproperly Men fly to supernatural causes to solve effects by, that are\nand may be performed by natural means; and that Men need neither fetch a\nDevil from Hell nor a Soul from Heaven to solve these effects that mens\ncunning, art and craft are able to perform.\n\n[Sidenote: Acts 16. 16.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Not. in Act. Apost. in loc._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid._ Beza _not. in loc._]\n\n[Sidenote: &]\n\n[Sidenote: A Candle in the dark, p. 67, 68.]\n\n[Sidenote: Luke 7. 47. 8. 2.]\n\n4. Next the more fully to explain this we may consider the place in the\n_Acts_ which is rendred thus, \u03a0\u03b1\u03b9\u03b4\u03af\u03c3\u03ba\u03b7\u03bd \u03c4\u03b9\u03bd\u1f70 \u1f14\u03c7\u03bf\u03c5\u03c3\u03b1\u03bd \u03c0\u03bd\u03b5\u1fe6\u03bc\u03b1 \u03a0\u03cd\u03b8\u03c9\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2 of\nwhich the learned and judicious _Isaac Casaubon_ saith thus: \u201cAn ancient\ninterpreter readeth \u03a0\u03cc\u03b8\u03c9\u03bd\u03b1, and the _Syrian_ version rendereth _spiritum\ndivinationis_. It may be quere\u2019d, seeing _Apollo_ is understood, why S.\n_Luke_ doth use the Epithete of him rather than the proper name: And the\nreason is because the ancients did call the Ventriloquists \u03a0\u03cd\u03b8\u03c9\u03bd\u03b5\u03c2\nPythonists.\u201d And it is plain that it was Divination, that was telling of\nsecret things, whether past, present or to come, that the Maid pretended\nand undertook: for the text saith, _Which brought her masters much gain\nby soothsaying_; \u03bc\u03b1\u03bd\u03c4\u03b5\u03c5\u03bf\u03bc\u03ad\u03bd\u03b7, that is, by Vaticination. _Beza_ in his\nLatine translation saith in his Marginal Notes, \u201cThat that Spirit of\nOracling, was only an expression alluding to the Idol _Apollo_, which\nwas called _Python_, and gave answers unto them that asked, namely, by\nthe Priests that belonged unto it, of which Idol the Poets feigned many\nthings; so that they that had the Imposture of Divination were said by\nthe Heathen to be inspired by the spirit of _Apollo_. And in this place\nof the _Acts_, S. _Luke_ speaketh after the common Phrase of the\nHeathen, because he delivereth the error of the common people, but not\nby what instinct the Maid gave Divinations; for it is certain that under\nthe Mask of that Idol, the Devil plaid his deluding pranks, and this\nspirit of _Apollo_ was nothing, but as much as to say, an Imposture, or\ndeluding trick of the Devil practised by the Priests of _Apollo_.\u201d So\nmuch saith _Beza_, who plainly expoundeth, \u201cThat that Spirit of\nDivination or Oracling, was only a Devilish deluding Imposture, and not\na familiar Devil as many do fondly imagine: And whereas it is said in\nthe verse following, that S. _Paul_ did cast that Spirit out of the\nMaid, it was, that he by the power of the Gospel of _Jesus_ rebuked her\nwickedness: so that her Conscience being terrified, she was either\nconverted, or else at the least dared not to follow that deluding craft\nof Divination any longer: as when Christ did cast out seven Devils out\nof _Mary Magdalen_, it is to be understood that he did convert her from\nmany devilish sinful courses in which she had walked.\u201d Thus far learned\n_Beza_ and Mr. _Ady_, who both seem to understand no other Demon in the\ncase than only a crafty and devilish Imposture and Cheat, and most\ncertainly it could be nothing else.\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Kings 10. 18, to 26.]\n\n5. But to come to the stress of the business, these things are to be\nconsidered. 1. Some thought that they were really, and essentially\npossessed with an evil spirit that did speak in them and gave forth\nanswers, and this is the most common, though most false opinion: which\nif it were true, it maketh nothing for those familiars that are ascribed\nto our Witches, for by that they mean a visible Devil without them in\nthe shape of a Dog, a Cat or the like, and both these are equally absurd\nand false, as we shall shew anon. 2. Some thought that an evil spirit\n_ab extra_ did but work upon their minds, and so inspired them with\nthese Divinations, and this seems to have been the opinion of _Plutarch_\nand some others of the Heathen. 3. But others (which is that which we\naffirm) did hold that they were but counterfeiting deluding Impostors,\nand what they did was only by Ventriloquy, Jugling and confederacy, and\nthat all their pretended Divinations and predictions, were nothing but\nlying conjectures and ambiguous equivocations. But to open it fully we\nmust conceive that they did pretend and take upon them to foretel and\ndeclare things to come, which notwithstanding were but false forgeries\nand lies: for if they had really had any certain foreknowledge of things\nto come, then when _Jehu_ was made King, and in subtilty pretended to\nsacrifice to _Baal_, and so got together all the Priests to sacrifice,\nif these base, lying, cheating Impostors had really had any skill in\nDivination, then they might have known, that their calling together was\nnot truly to advance their Idolatry, but to take away their lives; and\nit may safely be concluded that those that could not foresee the danger\nthreatning their own lives, could not truly foretel contingent effects\nto others; and though the Scripture give us many such examples as these,\nyet to eschew prolixity this may suffice to evince that all their\npretended predictions were nothing but conjectures, or lying forgeries.\n\nAnd as they did take upon them to foretel things to come, so this Woman\nof _Endor_, and in likelihood the rest, did pretend to do it by raising\nup, or causing to ascend those that were dead to give answers of the\nthings demanded.\n\nNow therefore the state of the question will be, whether this Woman had\nreally a familiar or supernatural spirit that gave her answers, or that\nshe raised such an one, or that only she was a deceiver and Impostor\nthat could cast her self into a Trance, and so speak in her Breast, or\nthat she had a place contrived for the purpose (as they had at the\nOracle at _Delphos_) by which means she could speak, as in a Bottle or\nhollow cavity, and had other Confederates sutably fitted to accomplish\nher design. Here we shall only speak as to the significancy of the words\nrelating to this matter, and shall handle the History of the matter of\nfact elsewhere: And in the first place we allow and grant that she had\nthe cooperating power of the Devil, in her mind and will, leading her to\ntake upon her to foretel things to come, of which she was utterly\nignorant: so that we grant her under a spiritual league with the Devil,\nas all wicked persons are, but we deny that she had any other familiar\nspirit, but only the spirit of delusion and Imposture, as we shall make\ngood by these arguments.\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Sam. 28. 9.]\n\n[Sidenote: Isai. 29. 4.]\n\n1. Because the word sometimes signifieth the persons pretending to be\nskilful in this sort of Divinations; for so the Woman saith unto _Saul_:\n_Behold thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off_ \u200f\u05d4\u05b8\u05d0\u05d1\u05d5\u05b9\u05ea\u200e\n_Pythones_, that is, the persons that pretended, and practised that kind\nof Divination. And so again in that of _Isaiah: And thy voice shall be_\n\u200f\u05db\u05b0\u05bc\u05d0\u05d5\u05b9\u05d1\u200e _sicut Pythonis_ as the voice of one that useth this kind of\nDivination. So that it is clear that the act is ascribed unto, and was\nperformed by the persons practising this couzening craft, and not unto a\nfamiliar or Devil.\n\n2. Sometimes it is taken for the means that they pretended they\nperformed it by, as in _Sauls_ deluded and despairing sense; for he\nsaith, _Divina qu\u00e6so mihi_ \u200f\u05db\u05b0\u05bc\u05d0\u05d5\u05b9\u05d1\u200e _in Pythone, vel per Pythonem, and\ncause to ascend whom I shall name unto thee_. So that he vainly thought\nthat she could call up, and make to ascend whomsoever he should name, so\nblind and deluded was he when the spirit of the Lord was departed from\nhim, and was justly delivered up to believe lies, because he had not\nreceived the love of the truth.\n\n[Sidenote: Nahum 3. 4.]\n\n3. It doth not appear that she had any familiar spirit, or called up\nany; for the name that is there given her is \u200f\u05d1\u05b7\u05bc\u05e2\u05b2\u05dc\u05b7\u05ea \u05d0\u05d5\u05b9\u05d1\u200e _Dominam\nPythonis vel utris_; the Mistriss of the Bottle, or of the Oracle, for\nSaul saith, seek me a Woman that is Mistriss of the Bottle, or of the\nOracle, for so it must signifie, if it be genuinely and fitly\ntranslated; and his servants tell him, that at _Endor_ there is a Woman\nthat was Mistriss of _Ob_, the Bottle or Oracle. For though some\ntranslate it _mulier habens Pythonem_, or as _Tremellius, mulier pr\u00e6dita\nPythone_, it will but reach thus much, that she was possessed of or had\nin her power, this _Ob_, Bottle, or Oracle, that could be nothing but\nthe fit contrived place to give answers, as they did at the Oracle. For\nif they meant that she had a familiar spirit in her Belly, then it was\npossest of her, more than she could be said to be possest of it. But\nthere is another Text that doth fully agree with this, and will help to\nexplicate it, and is this, speaking of the destruction of _Nineveh_ or\nthe Jewish Nation, and the causes of it: _Because of the multitude of\nthe whoredoms of the welfavoured harlot, the Mistriss of Witchcrafts_,\n\u200f\u05d1\u05b7\u05bc\u05e2\u05b2\u05dc\u05b7\u05ea \u05db\u05b0\u05bc\u05e9\u05b8\u05c1\u05e4\u05b4\u05d9\u05dd\u200e, _Domina vel patrona_, the Mistriss, or Patroness\nof Juglings and delusions. So that in propriety of language she of\n_Endor_ is called the Mistriss of _Python_ or Oracle, because she could\nplay the couzening feats that belonged unto it.\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Chron. 33.6.]\n\n[Sidenote: Gen. 6. 14. 16.]\n\n[Sidenote: Psal. 115. 3.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Id._ 136. 4.]\n\n4. Amongst all the several ways of Idolatry that _Manasseh_ set up, or\ncaused to be set up, this is one \u200f\u05d5\u05b0\u05e2\u05b8\u05e9\u05b8\u05c2\u05d4 \u05d0\u05d5\u05b9\u05d1\u200e, _& fecit Pythonem_, or\n_fecissetq; Pythonem_, he made _Ob_, or _Pytho_; and though Translators\nhave been much perplexed, and hard put to it, to give a signification\nagreeable to their preconceived opinion, yet have they, were it right or\nwrong, brought it to their minds, though it be utterly false and\nerroneous; for _Tremellius_ renders it, _instituitq; Pythonem_, which\nthough pretty near, yet is altogether short of the propriety, and the\nmost of the rest have run quite Counter; but our English Translators the\nworst of all others, who give it, _and dealt with a familiar spirit_.\nWhen it is plain that this word must be taken in this place, as it is in\nthe third verse of this Chapter, _he made groves_, _fecitq; lucos_,\nbecause the words are both from the same root which is \u200f\u05e2\u05b8\u05e9\u05b8\u05c2\u05d4\u200e _fecit_,\n_confecit_, _perfecit_, and so it is, and must be taken in other places;\nand is especially manifest in these. _God said to Noah, make thee an Ark\nof Gopher wood_, and after, _a window shalt thou make to the Ark_. The\nPsalmist saith: _But our God is in heaven, he hath done whatsoever he\npleased_, and again, _To him who alone doth great wonders_. We might add\nforty places more, where the word is used that cometh from this root and\nhath the same punctual signification; so that from hence we may\nconclude, 1. That _Manasseh_ could not make a Devil nor a Spirit, and\ntherefore that the word _Ob_ doth not intend nor bear forth any such\nmatter in true and genuine signification. 2. That he could not make a\nMan or Woman, and therefore the word properly doth signifie neither. 3.\nThat he only could make, and cause to be contrived the Groves, in such\nan order, as the Idol-Priests might direct, as most fit for them to play\ntheir couzening and Jugling feats and delusions in. So he might make or\ncause to be contrived the \u03bc\u03b1\u03bd\u03c4\u03b5\u03af\u03bf\u03bd or place for the Oracle, and prepare\nthose knacks and implements, wherewith and in which place the Diviner\nmight either by him, or her self, or with the help of confederates bring\nto pass strange things, which they made the blind and ignorant people\nbelieve were performed by the God worshipped in and by those Idols, or\nby Demons and Spirits, or the calling up of the dead. When in truth\nthere was nothing at all performed, but either in raptures, feigned and\nforced Furies, Trances; and thereby lying predictions and ambiguous\nequivocations were uttered, whereby the people were deluded and drawn\nunto Idolatry: or by giving dark and obscure responsions by Ventriloquy,\nspeaking in Bottles, or through hollow Pipes and cavities, whereby they\ndid peep and mutter; or lastly by having knavish confederates hidden in\nsecret, and cunningly contrived places, and suitably habited to\npersonate those that were desired to be raised up, as is most probable\nin this Woman of _Endor_ and the forged and pretended _Samuel_: So that\nthere was no Devil nor familiar but a couzening Knave or a Quean, more\ncrafty than the Demons themselves.\n\n[Sidenote: Isai. 8. 19.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Id._ 29. 4.]\n\n[Sidenote: Calvin _in loc._]\n\n5. That they had no familiar Spirit is manifest, if we consider the\nmanner how they carried themselves in these cheating actions and\nperformances, for the Prophet tells us thus: _And when they shall say\nunto you, seek unto_ \u200f\u05d4\u05b8\u05d0\u05b9\u05d1\u05d5\u05b9\u05ea\u200e _ad Pythones_, unto Oraclers, and unto\nWizards that peep, and mutter; If they had a familiar Spirit or Demon,\nwhat need they chirp, peep, or mutter? could it not speak loud and plain\nenough? Yea doubtless it could if they had any such, but it is to\nconceal their own deceit and knavery, lest it should be found forth and\ndiscovered: And without such chirping and muttering they could neither\nperform their Jugling delusions, nor keep them from being known, and\nderided. _Tremellius_ his note upon this place is very remarkable: \u201cThe\nProphet (saith he) aggravateth the heinous crime of those Witches from\nthe vanity of those Divinations, which the very manner of them\nbetrayeth: those seducers have not so much wit, that they dare speak to\nthe people the thing they pretend to speak in plain and open terms, with\nan audible clear voice, as they that are Gods Prophets, who speak the\nword of God as loud as may be, and as plain as they can to the people;\nbut they chirp in their Bellies, and very low in their Throats, like\nChickens half out of the shells in their hatching.\u201d And this doth\nplainly declare their knavery and cheating Juglings. The same Prophet in\nanother place speaking of the destruction, and bringing low of\n_Jerusalem_ he saith: _And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak\nout of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust. And thy\nvoice shall be as of a_ Pythonist, _Ob_, or as of an Oracler, _out of\nthe ground, and thy speech shall whisper_, peep or chirp _out of the\ndust_. The word there, and in the former place used is from the root,\n\u200f\u05e6\u05b7\u05e4\u05b0\u05e6\u05b5\u05e3\u200e _garrivit more avium_, he hath peeped or chirped like a Bird.\nNow this doth plainly allude to these kind of Pythonists, or Oraclers,\nwho in giving their Oracles, or Divinations, did speak out of the\nground, that was from hollow Vaults and Caves contrived on purpose for\nthem to perform their tricks in, and such a place as this, called in the\nHebrew _Ob_, did _Manasseh_ make and prepare, _And thy speech shall be\nlow out of the dust_, like these deceivers who fall into Trances, and\nlie upon their faces the better to conceal and hide their Impostures,\nand so do change their voice, and mutter as it were out of the dust,\nthereby to make the people believe that it is the Demon\u2019s or Spirit\u2019s\nvoice that speaketh in them, when it is nothing but their own\ncounterfeiting. And thy voice shall be like one of these Oraclers, out\nof a low and hollow place, to whisper and chirp like a Chicken coming\nforth of the shell, the more to make them believe that it is the voice\nof a Spirit, and not their own, by craft and cunning altered and\nchanged. Upon which place learned and judicious _Calvin_ saith thus\nmuch: \u201cFor the voice of them, who before were so lofty and cruel, he\ncompareth to the speech of _Pythonists_, who when they did utter the\nOracles, did give forth I know not what kind of murmur, from some low\nand dark place under the earth.\u201d\n\n8. The next word that followeth in this place of _Deuteronomy_ is\n\u200f\u05d9\u05b4\u05d3\u05b0\u05bc\u05e2\u05b9\u05e0\u05b4\u05d9\u200e from the root \u200f\u05d9\u05b8\u05d3\u05b7\u05e2\u200e _novit, sivit, proprie est_ (_ut_\nAvenarius _inquit_) _mentis & intellectus_. Which word our Translators\n(contrary to their usual custom) have kept a constancy in, and alwaies\nhave rendered a Wizard, a name (as we conjecture) not improper, for we,\nin the North of _England_, call such as take upon them to foretel where\nthings are that have been stoln, or to take upon them to help Men or\nGoods, that the vain credulity of the common people have thought to be\nbewitched, we (I say) call them Wise Men, or Wise Women, without regard\nhad to the way or means by which they undertook to perform these things.\nDivers others do render it _sciolus_, which is proper and consonant to\nthe former. The other Translations that we have either seen, or were\nable to understand, are so uncertain, various, wide and wilde, that it\nwere lost labour to examine or recite them; and the word Wizard (though\na general one) is the most proper that we can find. But we must\nconclude, that hitherto we find no such word as signifieth a Witch in\nthat sense we have allowed, and endeavoured to confute.\n\n9. The last word mentioned in this Text of _Deuteronomy_, is a\nNecromancer, or one that consulteth with the dead. Now whether this were\nsome special kind of Divination, or but a comprehension of all the\nkinds, being but in all their several sorts, a leading of the people to\ninquire of dumb and dead Idols, may be a great and material question.\nAnd though no Interpreter or Commentator that we have seen, read, or do\nremember, do hint at any such, matter, but still strike upon the common\nstring, that it should be some kind of Magick, whereby they could make\nthe dead appear, and consult with them: yet notwithstanding all this we\ncannot but propose our doubts in these reasons following.\n\n1. _Moses_ in this Text doubtlesly did not set down all the particular\nsorts of Divinations and Impostures used amongst the Heathen, for that\nhad hardly been possible, but the chiefest kinds of them. And this is\nnot rationally probable that he would do it by a Tautology, or\nrepetition of the same thing twice. For inquiring of the dead, or\nconsulting with them, was intended in the word _Ob_, and the Woman of\n_Endor_ said; _Whom shall I raise up_, or cause to ascend unto thee?\nWhereby it appeareth that she pretended (and also _Saul_ vainly\nbelieved, who said; Divine unto me in or by _Ob_) that she could cause\nthe dead to ascend, and to have answers from them of things to come, as\nis manifest in the Story of the pretended apparition and prediction of\n_Samuel_. And so this thing should be twice repeated in this place,\nwhich is not probable that _Moses_ would have done.\n\n[Sidenote: Isai. 44. 19.]\n\n2. He doth not forbid these several sorts of Divination only because\nthey were evil and unlawful in themselves (for some of them might be\nlawful, and performed by natural or artificial means) but because of the\nthing they all centred in, and the end they all tended to, which was to\nlead and draw the people to inquire of and to serve deaf, dumb and dead\nIdols. For though the Idols were Silver and Gold, the work of Mens\nhands, and had eyes and saw not, _ears and heard not, feet and walked\nnot, mouths and spoke not_, neither was there breath in their Nostrils:\nAnd though the common people could not but know this, for as _Isaiah_\nsaith they were so blinded that, _None considereth in his heart, neither\nis there knowledge or understanding to say, I have burnt part of it in\nthe fire; yea also I have baked bread with the coals thereof, I have\nroasted flesh and eaten it, and shall I make the residue thereof an\nabomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?_ Yet\nnotwithstanding were they so deluded by the crafty Impostures, and\nsubtile Divinations of all the several sorts of these Jugling Priests,\nthat they ran to ask counsel at these dead Idols, who (as they falsly\nperswaded the people) did inspire them, and gave them answers, when the\nIdols were all dead things, and gave no answers at all. And this is that\nconsulting with the dead, that all these couzening Priests did draw the\npeople unto, and therefore in general is here forbidden.\n\n[Sidenote: Isai. 8. 19.]\n\n3. The words of the Prophet, where he saith [_And when they shall say\nunto you, seek unto them that are_ Ob or Oraclers, _and unto wizards\nthat peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for\nthe living to the dead?_] do fully prove as much; for the sense must be\nthis: That the people of God ought to seek unto their own God, who was\nand is a true and a living God, and to his Law & Testimonies, and not to\nthose peepers and mutterers that seek counsel of the dead Idols only;\nand doubtless this is the true meaning of consulting the dead.\n\n4. This exposition includeth no absurdity, nor bringeth any\ninconvenience, and is genuine, and not wrested; whereas the other doth\nhurry in a whole heap of most absurd doubts, questions and opinions. But\nif in this exposition we be Heterodoxal, we crave pardon, and referr it\nto the judgment of those that are learned, of what perswasion soever\nthey be.\n\n[Sidenote: _In Dan._ _c._ 1. _v._ 20. _p._ 87.]\n\n10. Another word that is used in divers places of Scripture is\n\u200f\u05d7\u05b7\u05e8\u05b0\u05d8\u05bb\u05de\u05b4\u05bc\u05d9\u05dd\u200e, which though _Avenarius_ doth derive from \u200f\u05d7\u05b6\u05e8\u05b6\u05d8\u200e _stilus\n&_ \u200f\u05d0\u05b8\u05d8\u05b7\u05dd\u200e _clausit_, yet the learned person _Masius_ saith, _Est autem\naliarum nationum vocabulum, ab Hebr\u00e6a lingua alienum & peregrinum,\nusurpatum tamen ab Hebr\u00e6is_. And also the judicious _Polanus_ is of the\nsame opinion, that it is a word strange and foreign from the Hebrew\nlanguage. The Translators are all so various about the proper derivation\nand signification of it, that it were but lost time and labour to recite\nthem: But it is manifest that it was a general word for one that was\nskilful in all, or divers sorts of these Divinations, and might best be\nconstantly rendred _magos_, and that for these reasons.\n\n[Sidenote: A Candle in the dark, p. 11.]\n\n1. It is the opinion of _Masius_ and Mr. _Ady_ that it is a general\nword, and signifieth one that hath skill in many of these kind of arts,\n(if they may be so called) the latter of which saith thus: \u201cIt is taken\nin the general sense for _magus_ a Magician; that hath one, or all these\ncrafts or Impostures.\u201d And the former quoting the sentence of _Rabbi\nIsaac Natar_, saith: _Hoc nomine vocatos esse ab Hebr\u00e6is quosvis, qui\ninter gentes singularem profitebantur sapientiam; pr\u00e6sertim c\u00f9m ea ad\nsuperstitionem pertineret_.\n\n2. Because that in _Exodus_ 7. 13. those that there are called\n_Hachamim_ and _Mechassephim_, that is _sapientes & pr\u00e6stigiatores_, as\n_Tremellius_ renders it, which is most proper and genuine, are there\ncalled _Hartummim Mezeraim_, that is _Magos \u00c6gypti_, the Magicians of\n_\u00c6gypt_; by which it appeareth plainly that it is a general name, and\nmay most properly be rendered a Magician.\n\n3. It may most properly be taken for a Magician, because those that\nacted before _Pharaoh_ are called by that name, and excepting their\nopposing of _Moses_, and their superstition, it doth not appear that\nthey dealt with unlawful Magick, as we shall prove undeniably hereafter.\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Sam. 12. 19.]\n\n[Sidenote: Psal. 41. 7.]\n\n[Sidenote: Isai. 26. 16.]\n\n11. There is also another word which is used in divers places, which is\n\u200f\u05dc\u05b8\u05d7\u05b7\u05e9\u05c1\u200e _mussitavit_, he hath muttered, or murmured, and is taken\ngenerally for any kind of murmuring for any cause whatsoever, as in this\nplace, _But when David saw that his servants whispered_. And again, _All\nthat hate me, whisper together against me_. And in another place:\n_Fuderunt submissam orationem_, a low whispering prayer. In which places\nit is taken for any kind of low speaking, whispering or muttering. Of\nthis we may observe these things.\n\n1. Sometimes by a Metonymie it is taken for a low and modest speech, the\nart of Oratory, or Eloquence, as _Isaiah_ 3. 3. _& intelligentem vel\nperitum eloquenti\u00e6_, and sometime for an ear-ring _inauris_, as in the\n20. verse of the same Chapter.\n\n[Sidenote: Psal. 58. 6.]\n\n2. It is also ascribed unto Charmers or Inchanters as in the Psalm,\n_That doth not hearken unto the voice of the charmers_: Where it is\nplain that all Charmers were whisperers and mutterers, but not on the\ncontrary, that all whisperers or mutterers are Charmers.\n\n[Sidenote: Eccles. 10. 11.]\n\n3. And whereas our English translation readeth it, _Surely the serpent\nwill bite without inchantment, and a babler is no better_; It may as\nwell be read, as _Arias Montanus_ translates it, _Si mordeat serpens in\nnon susurro, vel absq: susurro_, If the Serpent bite without hissing, or\nsibilation. And _Schindlerus_ to the same purpose: _Si mordebit serpens\nabsq; incantatione, vel murmure, id est sibilo_. And so _Avenarius_: _Si\nmordeat serpens absq; susurratione, id est absq; sibilo_. And though\n_Tremellius_, and the whole troop of Translators do render it, as our\nEnglish Translators do, yet that will not make sense: for it would\ninferr that as a Serpent will bite except it be charmed, so will a\nbabler do also. But who ever heard of a bablers being charmed? So that\ntruly considered that cannot be the sense of the place.\n\nBut if it be taken exactly according to the Hebrew, then the sense runs\nthus, If the Serpent bite without, or in not hissing, and excellency is\nnot to him that hath a tongue; that is, The Serpent doth hurt with his\nbiting, without making a noise with his tongue; but a babler doth make a\nnoise, but effecteth nothing, or speaketh to no purpose.\n\n[Sidenote: Jerem. 8. 17.]\n\n4. There is another Text in _Jeremy_ which is commonly rendered thus:\n_For behold I will send serpents, cockatrices among you, which will not\nbe charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the Lord_. But it may be as\nfitly read, To whom there is no hissing, and they shall bite you. And\nwhether way soever it be read, the sense is good; that is, their enemies\nshall be so fierce and cruel, that no words can stay or appease their\nfury; or that they shall be so sly and cunning, that they shall destroy\nyou, before they speak, or give you warning: And whether way soever it\nbe, there is a pronoun in the Hebrew which is superfluous, a thing that\nis usual in that language.\n\n5. But if in both places it be taken for charming, yet will it not prove\nthe being and existence of such a kind of Witch, as we have denied and\nconfuted; nor doth it shew any fit appellation for such a one.\n\n[Sidenote: Psal. 104. 4.]\n\n[Sidenote: Malach. 4. 1.]\n\n12. Moreover there is another word as much mistaken, and as falsly\ntranslated as any of the rest, and that is \u200f\u05dc\u05b8\u05d4\u05b7\u05d8\u200e, _Inflammatus est,\nflammescebat_, and is understood a shining brightness, as in the Psalm:\n_Who maketh his Angels spirits: his ministers flaming fire_. And in\nanother place, _& inflammabit eos dies veniens_; The day cometh that\nshall burn as an oven. From whence we may note these things.\n\n[Sidenote: Gen. 3. 24.]\n\n[Sidenote: Nahum 3. 3.]\n\n1. From this root doth come \u200f\u05dc\u05b7\u05d4\u05b7\u05d8\u200e _Flamma_, Metaphorically (as\n_Schindlerus_ saith) a polished and shining piece of Metal, as a Sword\nor the like. But _Avenarius_ tells us, it is, _Flamma rutilans, lamina\nfulgens & vibrans_; as, _And he placed at the East of the garden of\nEden, Cherubims, and a flaming or bright shining sword which turned\nevery way, to keep the way of the tree of life_. And in another place,\n_The horseman lifteth up the bright sword, and the glittering spear_.\nBoth places plainly shewing that it signifieth Metal so polished, that\nwhen it is shaken in the light, or shining of the Sun, and moved\nquickly, it doth then glitter like a red and shining flame.\n\n2. There is also the word \u200f\u05dc\u05d0\u05d8\u200e _Involvit, velavit, arcanum_, and the\nlike which the vulgar Latin do attribute to _Pharaohs_ Magicians, when\nour translation saith, _And they did in like manner with their\ninchantments_: It is _& fecerunt similiter per sua arcana_, thinking the\nword there had been derived from \u200f\u05dc\u05d0\u05d8\u200e _arcanum_, when it is from\n\u200f\u05dc\u05b7\u05d4\u05b7\u05d8\u200e, _Flamma, lamina_; a polisht and bright piece of Metal.\n\n3. In all the places of Exodus where mention is made of the Magicians,\n_that they did in like manner with their inchantments_, the word is\n\u200f\u05d1\u05b0\u05bc\u05dc\u05b7\u05d4\u05b2\u05d8\u05b5\u05d9\u05d4\u05b6\u05dd\u200e which if truly rendered, is this: And they did in like\nmanner with their bright, glittering lamens, or plates of Metal. And how\nthe Translators could hale it by head and shoulder to signifie\nInchantment, cannot be conjectured; but because the Magicians are there\ncalled, _sapientes & pr\u00e6stigiatores_, Wise Men and Juglers, they vainly\nthought that they wrought by a secret compact with the Devil, and so all\nmust be done by their imaginary Witchcraft and inchantment, when it is\nplain that what they did was by natural Magick, and sleight of hand, and\nnot by Diabolical Magick at all. But let them shew us any one place in\nall the Old Testament, where any of the derivatives from this root, are\ntranslated Inchantments, but only in these places of _Exodus_, and we\nwill yield the whole cause.\n\n[Sidenote: Isai. 19. 3.]\n\n13. There is also another Text which we have omitted of purpose until\nnow, which our English Translators do, according to their usual manner,\nthus render: _And they shall seek to the Idols, and to the Charmers, and\nto them that have familiar spirits, and to the Wizards_: In which there\nis a word not used in that sense in all the Old Testament besides; of\nwhich place we may note these things.\n\n1. The word there in doubt is \u200f\u05d0\u05b8\u05d8\u200e, _Lenis, lenitas_, and it oft\nbecometh an Adverb, _leniter, pedetentim_. The root \u200f\u05d0\u05b8\u05d8\u05b7\u05d8\u200e, _leniter\nincessit_, _Avenarius_ saith it is not used in the plural number, and\nsignifieth Inchanters or Diviners, and is \u200f\u05d4\u05b8\u05d0\u05b4\u05d8\u05b4\u05bc\u05d9\u05dd\u200e which he rendereth\n_Incantatores_; because as some think they do easily and gentilely\npronounce their charms.\n\n2. But _Tremellius_ doth translate it thus: _Consulent sua Idola, &\npr\u00e6stigiatores Pythonesq; & ariolos_: And giveth this note, Their Idols,\nthat is to say Devils, that give them answers, especially the Idol of\n_Latona_ in the Town called _Butun_ over against the Sebenitick mouth of\n_Nilus_, of which _Herodotus_ speaketh: where he expoundeth also divers\nconsultations of these Idols. But how or in what sense he holdeth that\nthe Devils gave answers, except by the lying Impostures of the Priests,\nhe doth not shew, nor _Herodotus_ his Author neither.\n\n3. But this place according to _Arias Montanus_ is rendered thus: And\nthey shall seek unto their vain things or Idols, and to their Diviners\n(that is this word _Haattim_) and to the Pythonists, or Oraclers, and to\nWizards. But those we call the Septuagint do render this place very\nodly, as they seldom do elsewhere, which is this: \u039a\u03b1\u1f76 \u1f10\u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03c9\u03c4\u03ae\u03c3\u03bf\u03c5\u03c3\u03b9 \u03c4\u03bf\u1f7a\u03c2\n\u03b8\u03b5\u03bf\u1f7a\u03c2 \u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u03c9\u03bd, \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03c4\u1f70 \u1f00\u03b3\u03ac\u03bb\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1 \u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u1ff6\u03bd, \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03c4\u03bf\u1f7a\u03c2 \u1f10\u03ba \u03c4\u1fc6\u03c2 \u03b3\u1fc6\u03c2 \u03c6\u03c9\u03bd\u03bf\u1fe6\u03bd\u03c4\u03b1\u03c2, \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76\n\u03c4\u03bf\u1f7a\u03c2 \u1f10\u03b3\u03b3\u03b1\u03c3\u03c4\u03c1\u03b9\u03bc\u03cd\u03b8\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2, that is, _And they shall ask their gods, and their\nimages, or painted statues, and those that give their voice forth of the\nearth, and those that speak in their breasts or bellies_.\n\n[Sidenote: _Strab. Geograph._ _l._ 16.]\n\n14. There is also another word which is \u200f\u05d0\u05b7\u05e9\u05b8\u05bc\u05c1\u05e3\u200e, and signifieth (as\n_Avenarius_ saith) _Sophus, sapiens in Astrologia & in auspiciis, augur,\naruspex_. _Rabbi Abraham_ thinketh it signifieth a Physician, who\nknoweth the alteration of the body, by the pulse of the arm, or by the\nurine. And _Schindlerus_ translateth it, a Philosopher, an Astronomer\nand a Physician, and saith that such were Astronomers and Physicians\namongst the _Chaldeans_, of whom _Strabo_ saith: \u201cThere was a certain\nhabitation appointed in _Babylon_ for their home-bred Philosophers, who\nwere much conversant about Philosophy, and were called _Chaldeans_.\u201d And\nfurther, \u201cthat they were Physicians that could judge of the passions of\nthe Body, which dreams did imitate, by the Pulse and urine.\u201d And\n_Polanus_ tells us that it is a _Chaldee_ word because it is found no\nwhere else but in _Daniel_.\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Kings 4. 30.]\n\n15. Lastly there is one word we shall touch more, and that is \u200f\u05d7\u05b8\u05db\u05b0\u05de\u05b8\u05d4\u200e,\n_sapientia_, the wisdom of Divine and Humane things, Magick or skil in\nnaturall things; and cometh from the root \u200f\u05d7\u05b8\u05db\u05b7\u05dd\u200e, _sapuit mente,\nsapiens fuit, sapientia pr\u00e6ditus est_. And this is that wisdom that is\nascribed to Solomon, of whom it is said: _And Solomons wisdom excelled\nthe wisdom of all the children of the East countrey, and all the wisdom\nof \u00c6gypt_.\n\nSo have we run over all the words in the Old Testament, that can any way\nconcern this subject, and yet amongst them all there is not one that\nproperly and genuinely, without stretching, wresting or mistranslating,\ndoth, or can signifie any such Witch or Diviner, that can kill or\ndestroy Men or Beasts, or that maketh a visible compact with a Devil, or\non whose Body he sucketh, or that they have Carnal Copulation together;\nor such a Witch as is or can be really changed into a Cat, Dog, or such\nlike, which was the task we undertook in this Chapter. And for the words\nthat are in the New Testament, we shall handle them when we answer the\nobjections made from thence. And therefore we would admonish Mr.\n_Glanvil_, and all other candid, and sober persons to beware of false or\nmistranslations, and not to labour to establish dangerous and erroneous\ntenents upon such slippery and sandy foundations: For one falsity once\nsupposed or taken for good, doth bring a numerous train of absurdities\nat the heels of it.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAP. VII.\n\n  _Of divers places in the Old Testament that are commonly wrested, and\n    falsly expounded, thereby to prove apparitions, and the power of the\n    Devil and Witches._\n\n\nThus far we conceive that we have sufficiently proved, that there is no\nword in the Old Testament, that in the original Hebrew, can genuinely\nand truly be translated, that doth signifie such a kind of Witch, whose\nexistence we have denied. And now we shall proceed to answer those\nplaces in the Old Testament, that commonly are produced, to prove the\nDevils or the Witches power in those particulars that we have oppugned.\nAnd because the whole stress lyeth upon the true interpretation of those\nplaces pretended to prove such matters by, we think it convenient and\nmuch conducible to the business in hand, to lay down those rules of\ninterpretation, that the most learned Divines have declared and\nassigned; and that in these particulars.\n\n[Sidenote: James 1. 5, 17.]\n\n[Sidenote: Luke 24. 45.]\n\n1. That truly to understand the Scriptures according to the mind of the\nHoly Ghost that gave them forth, and by whose inspiration they were\nindited, it is most necessary that we implore the help of that blessed\nSpirit, that did reveal them to those that penned them; because, as S.\n_James_ saith: _If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that\ngiveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given\nhim. For every good gift, and every perfect gift is from above, and\ncometh down from the father of lights, with whom if no variableness,\nneither shadow of turning._ And it is said of the Disciples of Christ:\n_Then opened he their understandings, that they might understand the\nScriptures_. So that all Men whether wise or unwise, learned or\nunlearned, have need of the teaching and spirit of Christ to open their\nunderstandings to understand the Scriptures; and therefore have all men\nneed of faithful and fervent Prayers, that God may enlighten their minds\nin the understanding of them; otherwayes, they are but as blind Men,\nthat go without a guide, and so must needs fall into the Ditch of\nignorance and error.\n\n2. That a most due and diligent collation and comparison be made of the\nseveral versions, with the Fountains and Originals themselves, that so\nthe truth of the translations may be ascertained. For if an error in\nthis point be committed, all the expositions and deductions drawn from\nthence, must needs be erroneous and vitious.\n\n3. That there be a due comparing of the Antecedents and Consequents in\nthe context, that the purpose, scope, theme, arguments, disposition and\nmethod, may be perfectly and maturely considered: otherwise the\nsleighting or omitting any one of these particular points, the whole\nplace may be mistaken, and an error easily faln into.\n\n4. There must a due and serious consideration be had of the Phrases and\nmanner of speaking; especially in regard of that language it was first\nwritten in: For every several language hath its peculiar Phrases and\nforms of speaking, which may not be proper in another tongue, the not\nregarding of which may sooner lead into a great deviation from the\ngenuine sense of the place.\n\n5. That there be a most diligent comparing of the place of the Scripture\nto be explicated, with others of the same similitude or dissimilitude,\nFor oftentimes one Scripture doth unfold and open another, and one Text\ndoth enucleate and make plain another: Which for want of a due\ncomparison one with another, may occasion the mistaking of the true\nsense of the place that is to be expounded.\n\n6. And chiefly in explicating any place, regard must be had to the\nAnalogy of faith: Because the Scriptures do not contradict one another,\nespecially in the Articles of faith, and the chief points necessary to\nbe believed.\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Pet. 1. 20.]\n\n[Sidenote: Rom. 8. 7.]\n\n[Sidenote: Isai. 29. 14.]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Cor. 1. 19, 20.]\n\n7. There ought a due comparison be made with the judgments and\nsentiments of other Interpreters, according as the Apostle saith: _That\nno Prophecie of Scripture is of any private interpretation_: Which ought\nto be rendered as learned _Beza_ and Dr. _Hammond_ give it: \u201cNo\nProphecie of Scripture is _propri\u00e6 incitationis_, of a Mans own or\nproper incitation, motion, or loosing forth;\u201d for so the Greek is, \u1f30\u03b4\u03af\u03b1\u03c2\n\u1f10\u03c0\u03b9\u03bb\u03cd\u03c3\u03b5\u03c9\u03c2 \u03bf\u1f50 \u03b3\u03af\u03bd\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9. Of which _Beza_ gives this learned note. \u201cThe\nProphets truly are to be read, but so that the gift of interpretation be\nbegged of God, that the same God may be the Author and Interpreter of\nthe Prophetical writings.\u201d For though a Man have by nature never so\ngreat endowments, of understanding, judgment and reason, or have never\nso large and ample acquirements, or presume never so highly to be\nassisted with the Spirit; yet his own single judgment ought not to be\nrelyed upon in the exposition of the Scriptures; but he ought to call in\nto his aid, and to consider the sentiment and opinion of others. For it\nis obvious into what dangerous errors the _Arrians_, _Pelagians_ and\n_Antitrinitarians_ of old, and the _Socinians_ and _Arminians_ of later\nyears have faln, by making their innate notions and the strength of\nnatural reason to be the chief and principal rules for interpreting of\nthe Scriptures by. And there is hardly any one thing that the Scriptures\nare more against, or do more condemn, than the too much extolling and\nidolizing of Humane and Carnal reason. _Because the carnal mind_ \u03c4\u1f78\n\u03c6\u03c1\u03cc\u03bd\u03b7\u03bc\u03b1 \u03c4\u1fc6\u03c2 \u03c3\u03b1\u03c1\u03ba\u1f78\u03c2, _is enmity against God, and is not subject to the\nlaw of God, neither indeed can be_; of which _Beza_ saith: _Probatio cur\nintelligentia carnis sit mors, quia, inquit, Dei est hostis_. And again,\nthe Text saith: _For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the\nwise_, \u03c4\u1f74\u03bd \u03c3\u03bf\u03c6\u03af\u03b1\u03bd \u03c4\u03ce\u03bd \u03c3\u03bf\u03c6\u1ff6\u03bd, _and will bring to nothing the\nunderstanding of the prudent_; \u03c4\u1f74\u03bd \u03c3\u03cd\u03bd\u03b5\u03c3\u03b9\u03bd \u03c4\u03c9\u03bd \u03c3\u03c5\u03bd\u03b5\u03c4\u03c9\u03bd. And again, _Hath\nnot God made foolish the wisdom of this world?_ \u03c3\u03bf\u03c6\u03af\u03b1\u03bd \u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u03ba\u03cc\u03c3\u03bc\u03bf\u03c5\n\u03c4\u03bf\u03cd\u03c4\u03bf\u03c5. And the words of the Hebrew in that place of _Isaiah_ do\nsignifie all that height of wisdom or understanding, that Men either\nhave by Nature, or acquire by Art and Industry. Neither is it safe for a\nMan to rely upon his own single acquired parts, be they never so vast or\ngreat; because in the most ages, the most pestilent Errors and damnable\nHeresies have been vented and maintained by Men that were of the\ngreatest acquired endowments. And that it is often as vain to presume\nupon having the guidance of the Spirit, as are the other two, is\nmanifest in the late times of Rebellion and Confusion; where every Man\npretending the Spirit, made such wild and extravagant expositions of the\nScriptures, as few ages have known before; and is still kept up by the\ngiddy troop of Fanatical Quakers, and the like.\n\nThere is another rule which the learned do use, in expounding of the\nScriptures, which is often either too far extended, or not rightly\nlimited and applied, which is this; That Men in interpreting of the\nScriptures should keep close to the literal sense, if it include not an\nabsolute absurdity. Whereby Allegorical, Metaphorical, Mystical and\nParabolical Expositions are not only cried down, but by some even\nabhorred and detested, which thing ought not absolutely and simply to be\napproved of; and therefore we shall make it plain in some few\nparticulars.\n\n[Sidenote: John 9. 6, 7.]\n\n1. In Historical relations of matters of fact, we ought to keep close to\nthe literal meaning, and not to deviate a jot from it, otherwise we\nshould overthrow the best part of the Christian Faith, and destroy the\nchief foundation of Scripture truths. But notwithstanding this, though\nwe ought to hold to the literal sense in respect of the matter of fact,\nyet we are not always to be bound to the bare letter in the mood, means\nor manner of the performance. As may be plain in these examples. 1. It\nis apparent that our Saviour Christ cured the Man that was born blind,\nand the means and manner is described: _He spat on the ground and made\nclay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the\nclay. And said unto him, Go wash in the pool of Siloam (which is by\ninterpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore and washed, and came\nseeing._ Now as to the matter of fact, that the Man born blind was cured\nand had his sight restored, is a truth according to the sense of the\nletter; and that the manner, which was by spittle and earth made into\nClay, and his eyes covered or anointed with it, and washing in the pool\nof _Siloam_, was also literally true, is manifest. But it were absurd so\nfar to stick to the letter, as to believe that clay, and spittle, and\nwashing in the poole _Siloam_, were true and real natural means to\nproduce that effect; no, that were absurd, and therein the literal sense\nis not to be followed.\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Kings 22. 19, 20, 21, 22, 23.]\n\n[Sidenote: Jerem. 23. 24.]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Kings 8. 27.]\n\n[Sidenote: Rom. 16. 27.]\n\n2. Again concerning _Ahab_, thus much is literally true in matter of\nfact that he was perswaded to go up to _Ramoth Gilead_ by his false\nProphets in whose mouths there was a lying Spirit. But the manner there\ndeclared of sending the lying Spirit into their Mouths, cannot\nrationally be presumed to be true in a literal sense, but in a\nMetaphorical; for that the Lord was set on his Throne, and all the Host\nof Heaven standing by him, on the right hand and on the left, must needs\nbe a Metaphor taken from an Emperour or a King that sits on his Throne,\nand all his Counsellors, Princes, Estates and Officers about him, to\ndeliberate and consult what is to be done. And this is the highest and\nmost apt Metaphor that the supream Majesty of Heaven and Earth can be\nrepresented by; not that in the literal sense it must be believed to be\nacted just in that mood and manner, but as the most apposite Metaphor\nthat can be found to express the proceedings of the Heavenly Majesty by,\nand that for these reasons. 1. God is Infinite and is every where by his\nPower, Essence and Presence, and therefore cannot literally be said to\nbe comprehended in any locality, but after a Metaphorical sense and\nexpression. For the Prophet saith: _Do not I fill Heaven and Earth,\nsaith the Lord?_ And as _Solomon_ confesseth: _But will God indeed dwell\nupon the earth? Behold, the heaven, and heaven of heavens cannot contain\nthee: how much less this house that I have builded?_ 2. God who is only\nwise, and before whose eyes _all things lie open, and naked_, cannot\nlitterally be said to consult or deliberate, or to ask his creatures how\na thing shall be done or brought to pass, because his wisdom is, like\nhimself, Infinite, and need ask counsel of none, and therefore must the\nmanner of the performance of the deceiving of _Ahabs_ Prophets needs be\nMetaphorically understood, and not literally, which is the thing that we\nwould demonstrate.\n\n[Sidenote: 1 John 1. 5.]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Tim. 6. 16.]\n\n3. Further concerning Satans afflicting of _Job_ in his Goods, Cattels,\nChildren, Servants, and in his own Body, is a real truth literally so\ntaken as to the matter of fact; but the manner of Satans appearing\nbefore God, with the Sons of God, cannot without manifest absurdity be\nunderstood in a literal sense but in a Metaphorical, that God who is\nOmnipotent, did command, order, send and limit him, what and how far he\nwas to act. For otherwise _God is light in whom there is no darkness at\nall, dwelling in the light which no Man can approach unto_; but Satan is\nbound _in chains of everlasting darkness_, and therefore cannot be said\nliterally to appear in person before God, but by way of a Metaphor. So\nwhen the Angel telleth the Virgin _Mary_, that the should conceive in\nher womb, and she not understanding how that should come to pass,\nbecause she had not known Man, the Angel answered, _the Holy Ghost shall\ncome upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee_.\nThough the matter of fact be an undoubted truth, and an Article of\nfaith, literally so taken; yet the manner of the Holy Ghosts coming upon\nher, and the power of the highest overshadowing her, cannot be\nunderstood in a literal sense, as though it were by that natural and\nhumane way that Men and Women do beget and conceive Children by, for\nthat were horrid and absurd (as some late prophane, wretched and\ndebauched Atheists have spattered forth) but after a Metaphorical sense,\nand a most mystical meaning. So that it is plain that where a matter of\nfact may be literally and Historically true, yet the manner how that\nmatter of fact is brought to pass may be, nay must be Metaphorical, or\nelse an absurdity will follow, which was the thing undertaken to be\nproved.\n\n4. There is nothing more common and usual in Scripture than Metaphors,\nas when Christ saith, _I am a vine, I am the door of the sheep, I am the\nliving bread that came down from heaven_: Though they be Metaphors, yet\nthe things signified and intended by them are as really and certainly\ntrue, as are the Metaphors themselves, and sometimes more true; because\nsometime the Metaphor is not used for the verity of its existence, but\naccording to the common use and opinion, as _O foolish Galatians who\nhath bewitched you?_ doth intend no more but an allusion to vulgar\nopinion, that held that men might be bewitched and inchanted. And so\nChrist in the true mystical and spiritual meaning is as really a\nspiritual vine, door and bread, as there are any of such things in\nnature, or being. But as that which is Literally and Historically true\nin matter of fact, or meaning, is not to be deceeded from; so that which\nis a Metaphor ought not to be turned into a literal thing, nor on the\ncontrary, the literal sense ought not to be made Metaphorical.\n\n[Sidenote: Matth. 7. 24, 25, 26, 27.]\n\n5. Parables are Similitudes taken from things that may have been done,\nor that are supposed to have been done, and so the thing to which the\ncomparison is made, or from whence the Similitude is taken, need not\nalways be a thing that hath been performed in all the circumstances and\nmanner thereof; it is sufficient that the thing was possible, or\nrationally probable to have been acted, or at least supposed so to have\nbeen. As for instance in that Parable, where our Saviour saith: _That\nthose that hear his words and do them are like a wise man that built his\nhouse upon a rock; and he that heareth them, and doth them not, is like\na foolish man, that built his house upon the sand_: now it is not\nnecessary that there should be two such men, that in matter of fact did\nafter that manner (though there might have been many men before the time\nof our Saviour that might have done so) but it was sufficient that the\nthing from which the comparison was made, was possible, rational and\nprobable. But the thing intended by the Parable or Similitude, is\nalwayes a spiritual truth and certainty. Concerning which learned _Beza_\nupon the Parable of the Rich Man and _Lazarus_ doth give us this\nremarkable Marginal note: \u201cAlthough Christ doth relate an History,\nnotwithstanding he writeth spiritual things under Figures, which he knew\nwere suitable to our sense. For neither are Souls endowed with Fingers\nand Eyes, neither do they suffer thirst, neither have they mutual\nconference one with another. Therefore the sum is, that faithful Souls\nafter they be departed from their Bodies, do lead a pleasant and blessed\nlife without the World: And that most horrible torments are prepared for\nthe reprobates, which can no more be conceived by our minds, than the\nimmense Glory of Heaven.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _De Civitat. Dei_ _lib._ 13. _c._ 21. _p._ 404.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Ut supra_ _l._ 15. _c._ 27. _p._ 475.]\n\n6. As for an Allegory, which is a continuation of a Metaphor, and\nproperly signifies a figure expressing one thing by another, from \u1f04\u03bb\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2,\nand \u1f00\u03b3\u03bf\u03c1\u03ad\u03c9, _enuntio_, and this is very frequently used in the\nScriptures, as when the Apostle speaking of the two Sons of _Abraham_,\n_the one from Hagar a bond-woman, the other from Sarah a free woman_,\nsaith: _These things are an Allegorie_, \u1f05\u03c4\u03b5\u03bd\u03b1 \u1f00\u03bb\u03bb\u03b7\u03b3\u03bf\u03c1\u03cc\u03c5\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03b1, which\nthings do express one thing by another; From whence we may note, 1. That\nAllegories that tend to edification, keeping the Analogie of Faith, and\nnot perverting or overthrowing the literal sense, ought not to be so\nmuch cried down nor condemned, as some have done both against _Origen_\nand others. \u201cFor the Apostle here, as _Beza_ hath noted, made it\nmanifest, that he had followed the footsteps of the Prophet _Isaiah_,\nwho did foretel that the Church was to be constituted of the Children of\nSarah that was barren, that is to say of those who meerly and\nspiritually were by Faith to be made the Sons of _Abraham_, rather than\nof _Hagar_ that was fruitful, even then foretelling the rejection of the\nJews, and the vocation of the Gentiles.\u201d 2. Allegories may be used, and\nthe literal sense nevertheless preserved also for the History is\nliterally true that _Sarah_ and _Hagar_ were two living Women, the one\n_Abrahams_ Wife a free Woman, the other his Servant, and a bond-woman,\nand yet this did not hinder but that thereby an Allegory might be used,\nand they might, and did signifie and express another thing than what was\nmeerly contained in the letter. 3. We cannot here but add the grave and\nlearned opinion of S. _Augustin_ upon this very point, who rejecting the\ntenent of some that made Paradise and the things therein contained,\nmeerly corporal, and of some that made it only spiritual and\nintelligible, doth run a middle course betwixt these two extreams,\nsaying thus: \u201cAs though Paradise could not be corporal, because also it\nmight be understood to be spiritual: As though therefore there were not\ntwo Women _Agar_ and _Sarah_, and of them two Sons of _Abraham_, one of\nthe bond-woman, the other of the free woman, because the Apostle saith\nthat the two Testaments were prefigured in them; or therefore that water\nhad flowed from no rock _Moses_ smiting, because there by a figurative\nsignification Christ also may be understood, the Apostle saying, _and\nthe rock was Christ_.\u201d And after concludeth thus: \u201cThese and some others\nmay be spoken of understanding Paradise spiritually, and may be spoken\nwithout contradiction, while notwithstanding the most faithful verity of\nthat History may be believed in the commendable narration of the things\ndone or performed.\u201d This same opinion this learned Father doth maintain\nin another place, where he is speaking of the Ark of _Noah_.\n\nHaving premised these rules for the right expounding of the Scriptures,\nwe shall now come to the main things that we purpose to handle in this\nChapter. And those that would uphold a kind of omnipotency in Devils,\nand maintain their great power in Elementary and Sublunary things, the\nbetter to defend the great power of Witches, do alledge divers places of\nScripture, and expound them in favour of their gross tenents, which now\nwe shall examine and confute in order as they lie.\n\n1. The first colourable argument that they produce, is from the Devils\nor the Serpents tempting and seducing of _Eve_, where labouring to prove\nthe Devils power, and his visible apparition to Witches, and making a\ncompact with them, they pretend that in the seducing of _Eve_ he did\nvisibly appear unto her and vocally discourse with her, and to that\npurpose that he essentially entred into the Body of the Serpent, and\nspoke through its Organs, or that he assumed the visible and corporeal\nshape of a Serpent, and so discoursed, and had collocution with her. To\nanswer which (that we may proceed methodically,) we shall lay down and\nlabour to prove these two positions. 1. That if it were granted that he\ndid it either way, it would be no advantage, thereby to prove the\nordinary power of Devils or Witches.\n\n2. That that place of Scripture, if rightly weighed and considered, will\nno way make it rationally appear, that the Devil performed that\ntemptation any other way but only mentally; and that the History there\nin the manner and circumstances of it, is only to be Allegorically and\nMetaphorically expounded. And as to the first, if it were granted it\nproves nothing to the purpose, for the power of Devils or Witches, as\nthese two Arguments will sufficiently evince.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 1._]\n\n1. From no single instance or particular proposition, can ever a general\nconclusion be rightly drawn by any known and certain rules of Reason or\nLogick; for _Syllogizari non est ex particulari_, is known to any\nTyronist in that Art. But if Satan for that once should have entred into\nthe natural Serpent, or assumed his shape, it is a deceivable and\nvitious way of arguing, that therefore he hath such a power over all\nBodies at all times when he pleaseth, or that he can assume what shape\nhe please, and therefore it certainly and rationally concludeth nothing\nof validity.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 2._]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Cor. 10. 13.]\n\n2. In the temptation of _Eve_, there was something more extraordinary\nthan can be assigned in any other temptation whatsoever, except that of\nChrist. And therefore was there a more peculiar and extraordinary\ndispensation from God in that case than can be shewed in any others but\nthat of Christ. For now it pleaseth God in his merciful providence, so\nto order and overrule the malice of his hellish will, and to restrain\nand bridle his envious nature, that though his will be never so wicked,\nyet is he kept in his chains of darkness, _and God will not suffer his\npeople to be tempted, above what they are able, but will with the\ntemptation also make way to escape that they may be able to bear it_.\nNow _Adam_ and _Eve_ were in an extraordinary condition in respect of\nthe Saints of God in this life, or of any other persons, and there was a\nmore high and greater end in the providence of God in ordering and\npermitting of that temptation than there is or can be in any others, but\nthat of Christ: And therefore from what the Lord permitted, and ordered\nto do in that temptation, or the liberty that he might grant him to\nexert his own power then, will no argument rationally follow that he can\ncommonly and at his pleasure perform as much, and so maketh no firm\nconclusion.\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Pererii Comment. in locum._]\n\nAnd as concerning that place of Scripture in the third of _Genesis_ the\ngreat and learned Jesuit _Pererius_ doth undertake with tooth and nail\nto prove that it is to be literally interpreted, and that Satan did\nreally enter into the Body of the natural Serpent, and spoke in him, or\nthrough his Organs; and laboureth (though in vain) to enervate and\noverthrow the strong arguments of his Brother in Religion, the most\nlearned Cardinal _Cajetan_, Where he rejecteth the opinion of those that\nhold that the Devil did assume a Body in the shape of a Serpent; because\n(he saith) that Satan presently after the temptation ended must have\ndeposited and put off the assumed body, but that the Serpent was after\nin Paradise, and therefore that he did not act it in an assumed Body.\nTherefore we shall also pass by that opinion of assuming of Bodies, as\nbeing a meer groundless figment invented by the dreaming Schoolmen, as\nwe shall demonstrate hereafter. But to proceed in order, We shall first\nshew that the place must of necessity admit of an Allegory or Metaphor.\nAnd secondly, we shall lay down positive Arguments to shew the absurdity\nand impossibility of the Devils speaking in the Serpent, or by his\nOrgans. And thirdly, we shall answer all objections that are material,\nand that in these particulars.\n\n1. The thing that in that History is to be taken literally, is that\n_Eve_ was tempted and seduced; but the instrument by which it was done,\nthe manner and circumstances, must of necessity have an Allegorical or\nMetaphorical interpretation, otherwise no sense rationally can be made\nof the place at all.\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Dialog._ Discourses of Spirits and Devils. _Dialog._ 4.\n           _p._ 110.]\n\n2. \u201cThere can no blame of the action be imputed to Satan himself, if\nneither absolutely, nor properly, nor Historically, nor Allegorically,\nnor Metaphorically, nor no ways else he be named in that very History of\n_Evahs_ tentation, wherein the action it self with the several\ncircumstances is fully and plainly expressed. For the action especially\nbeing so weighty a matter, was necessary to be known in every point: And\ntherefore it is not to be doubted, but that the History concerning the\nsame is so exactly set forth, with every circumstance, as that any Man\nmay be able to judge of the principal Actors therein at the least. So\nthen, although the Devil in that History, be neither absolutely, nor\nHistorically, nor properly expressed by name; yet must we acknowledge\nhim to be therein Allegorically and Metaphorically set forth at the\nleast, or otherways impose no blame upon him at all concerning the\naction.\u201d And therefore must _Pererius_ needs confess a Metaphor in the\nplace, or else the Devil cannot be made an actor in the business.\n\n3. It was no natural Serpent but the Devil himself Metaphorically set\nforth by the name of a Serpent, who gave the onset upon _Evah_ in that\ntentation. For by Allegories and Metaphors there is evermore some other\nthing meant than that which is literally expressed. And that this is so,\nis thus proved. If in that action the Devil himself be not Historically\nand properly, but Allegorically and Metaphorically, called a Serpent,\nbecause he is most crafty and subtile; then undoubtedly the objection of\na natural Serpent to be used in that action is very inconvenient: But\nthe antecedent is true, and therefore also the consequent.\n\n[Sidenote: Apoc. 12. 3, 4, 5.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Id._ 20. 2.]\n\n4. The antecedent to that Hypothetical Argument foregoing is easily thus\nproved: It is an accustomed thing in the Sacred Scriptures to use the\nnames of other creatures in setting forth to our sense the Intellectual\nCreatures themselves. Hereupon it is that in the _Apocalypse_ the Devil\n(by a perpetual Allegory) is called a Dragon or Serpent: And therefore\nin this History of _Evahs_ tentation, by the like perpetual Allegory he\nis also called a Serpent. For no Man can be so absurd and foolish to\nthink that the Devil literally and properly (in that of the Revelation)\ncan be called a Dragon or Serpent; but only in a Metaphorical and\nMystical sense, and therefore must in right reason be taken so in that\nplace of _Genesis_; for one part of Scripture is alwaies best\ninterpreted by another.\n\n[Sidenote: Gen. 49. 9.]\n\n[Sidenote: Revel. 5. 5.]\n\n[Sidenote: Matth. 3. 7.]\n\n5. Again how can _Judah_ literally _be a lions whelp_, or Christ _called\nthe lion of the tribe of Judah_? must it needs be understood that Christ\neither assumed the shape of a natural Lion, or that he entred into the\nBody of a natural Lion? Surely not, that were most absurd to think or\nbelieve. Even so must it be accounted most absurd and abominable for\n_Pererius_, or any other to fancy that the Devil may not properly enough\nin an Allegory, or Mystical sense be called a Serpent in that action of\ntempting of _Evah_, without either assuming the shape of a Serpent, or\nentring into the Body of a natural one. I appeal to all rational Men to\njudge if the absurdities of both be not alike, if barely and literally\ntaken. But this being one of _Cajetans_ Arguments, was too hard a morsel\nfor the teeth of _Pererius_; and therefore he past it over without an\nanswer. Further when our Saviour called the Pharisees, and Sadducees _a\ngeneration of vipers_, must any Man be so extreamly mad as to believe\nthat naturally and literally they were generated by vipers? Must it not\nbe understood that they were called so from their poysonous and wicked\nminds, by way of Metaphor? Yes surely: and so is the Devil called a\nSerpent by a Metaphor, or else literally so taken, both appellations are\nequally absurd. And let _Pererius_ or any other unloose this knot.\n\n[Sidenote: John 8. 44.]\n\n6. How can the Devil be a very _murtherer from the beginning_, (which he\nis Mystically so considered) if he had no hand in the destroying of\n_Evah_ and _Adam_ both in Souls and Bodies? But if by the Serpent the\nDevil was not understood, then he stands acquitted, and was not guilty\nof the murdering _Adam_ and _Evah_ both in Souls and Bodies. But we must\naffirm that all learned and rational Divines, whether antient, middle or\nmodern, that have expounded or commented upon that place, do by the\nwords of our Saviour _calling Satan a murderer from the beginning_,\nunderstand the murdering of _Adam_ and _Evah_ both in Souls and Bodies;\nAnd we dare referr all those that have taken, or will take pains to\nexamine them upon that piece of Scripture, that they shall be found as\nwe have averred.\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Cor. 11. 3.]\n\n7. _Moses_ (in that action) doth purposely intitle the Devil by the name\nof a Serpent, because (by his effectual creeping into the interiour\nsenses, as also by infecting Mens minds with venomous perswasions) he\ndoth very lively represent the nature, disposition and qualities of the\nvenemous Serpent. And in this same sense was the Apostle jealous over\nthe _Corinthians_, left as _that Serpent_ \u1f41 \u1f44\u03c6\u03b9\u03c2, (which must\nnecessarily be understood of Satan by a Metaphor of that Serpent)\n_beguiled Evah through his subtilty_, so they might by the cunning of\nSatan in his false Apostles _have their minds corrupted from the\nsimplicity that is in Christ_.\n\n8. The Serpent that tempted _Evah_ in Paradise, is there said to be\n_more subtile than every beast of the field_, the which (if the writing\nof such as have observed and described the nature of all sorts of\nanimals be true) cannot be avouched truly of the natural Serpent. For\nthere are many other creatures more subtil than the Serpent. And\ntherefore it must needs be understood of the spiritual Serpent, that is,\nSatan who is (indeed) the old Serpent.\n\n[Sidenote: Judg. 9. 7, 8, 9, 10, &c.]\n\n9. _Moses_ doth therefore purposely attribute speech to the Serpent\nwhich tempted _Evah_, to the end we (knowing by experience that speech\ncannot properly accord with a natural Serpent) might the rather be\ninduced to believe that the same must metaphorically be understood of\nthe spiritual Serpent. For we may with like absurdity imagine that _the\nolive, the fig, the Vine-trees and the Bramble_ did vocally and\narticulately speak one to another; as to suppose that either the\nSerpent, or the Devil in the Serpent did use an articulate voice and\ndiscourse unto _Evah_; they are both alike credible, and both alike\nabsurd.\n\n10. The punishment inflicted by God, hath no conveniency at all with the\nnatural, but with the spiritual and mystical Serpent, which is the\nDevil. For neither can the going upon her belly, nor the eating of dust\nbe any punishment at all to the natural Serpent, because (before the\ntentation) both those properties were peculiarly allotted unto her, she\ntaking her name from her creeping condition, for _Serpens_ is derived _\u00e0\nserpendo_, and in the Hebrew she is called \u200f\u05e8\u05b6\u05de\u05b6\u05e9\u05c2\u200e _reptile \u00e0_\n\u200f\u05e8\u05b8\u05de\u05b7\u05e9\u05c2\u200e, _reptavit, serpsit_. Neither yet may we imagine that the said\nSerpent being of some better form before the tentation, was then (by the\njust judgment of God) transformed into a viler proportion, property or\nshape, she being in the History of the Creation accompted amongst the\ncreeping Creatures.\n\n[Sidenote: Exod. 4. 3.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Aug. ad Gen._ _lib._ 11. _cap._ 1.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Greg. in Mor\u00e0l._]\n\n[Sidenote: Pet. Martyr in Gen. 3. 1.]\n\n11. _Moses_ maketh no mention at all of the Serpents coming to _Evah_\nabout that business, nor of her departure after the action, nor of any\none special property whereby she might be essentially discerned to be\n(indeed) a true natural Serpent, nor of any manner of amaze, or suddain\nfear in _Evah_ at her suddain approach and extraordinary speech: whereas\nyet _Moses_ himself was afterwards horribly afraid at the only sight of\na Serpent. And where it is said, _Thou art cursed above all the beasts\nin the field_; there the very bruit beasts (to the horrible confusion of\nSatan) are preferred before him; not in absolute power, but in an\nespecial regard of that happy continuance and timely conservation of\ntheir original nature. For, the beasts of the field, they do not forgo\nany heavenly happiness, which they never yet had: But they continue\nforth their course in that self same primary estate they took at the\nfirst. But Satan is accursed because he kept not his first estate, but\nfell from it, and therefore is worse than the beasts of the field.\nNeither is this way of expounding the Scriptures metaphorically, where\nthe literal sense includeth an apparent absurdity, either singular or\nnovel, for both Antients and Moderns have allowed the same course, for\nS. _Augustine_ saith: \u201cWhen any thing is found in the Scriptures which\ncannot (without an absurdity) be possibly interpreted literally, That\nthing without doubt is spoken figuratively, and must receive some other\nsignification, than the bare letter doth seem to import.\u201d And _Gregory_\nsaith: \u201cWhen the order of the History becometh defective of it self in\nthe literal sense, then some mystical sense as it were with wide open\ndoors doth offer it self: yea and that mystical sense must be received\ninstead of the literal sense it self.\u201d And therefore (saith _Peter\nMartyr_) \u201cthat malediction or curse which the Lord did cast on the\nSerpent, must be Allegorically understood of the Devil, and those things\nwhich seem properly to accord to the Serpent indeed, must metaphorically\nbe transferred to Satan understood in the Serpent.\u201d So then, by all the\npremises it is very apparent, that it was the Devil himself, and no\nnatural Serpent, who set upon _Evah_ in that tentation, he being only\nmetaphorically set forth by the name of a Serpent: And therefore had no\nneed in that action essentially to assume to himself the Body of a\nnatural Serpent, for the better accomplishment of the intended business.\n\nThe next is to lay down positive Arguments to prove that the Devil did\nnot essentially enter into the body of the Serpent and if he did, that\nyet neither he by himself, nor the Serpent, and he joyned, could thereby\nmake any articulate sound or discourse. Which if the Devil in the\nSerpent be supposed (as it is) to perform any such matter, it must be\neither by considering him as an incorporeal or as a corporeal creature,\nbut we affirm he could perform neither way, and that for these reasons.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 1._]\n\n1. If the Devil be considered as an incorporeal creature simply and\nabsolutely, then it will follow, that he cannot act upon any corporeal\nmatter, because an incorporeal substance can make no contact upon a\nbody, unless it were it self corporeal; for, _quicquid agit, agit per\ncontactum, vel mediatum, vel immediatum._ But both those are caused by\nthe touch of one body upon another, as when ones hand by touching a\nstraw doth immediately move it forth of its place, or else by blowing\ndoth remove it, which is by the mediation of the air; but that which is\nmeerly incorporeal can perform neither: Because that which is meerly\nincorporeal hath no superficies, whereby to touch the body to be\nremoved; and therefore can make no motion of it at all; and where there\nis no motion, there can be no alteration, and consequently no speech nor\narticulation at all. And therefore the Devil (if incorporeal) could not,\nmove the Organs of the Serpent at all, and so could not speak in the\nSerpent nor move his organs, if they had been fit for articulate\nprolation, which they were not. Which was the thing required to be\nproved.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 2._]\n\n2. The Serpent by the ordinance of God in the Creation was specificated\nto an inarticulate sound, not to an articulate: but the Devil neither\nhath, nor ever had any power to change and overturn the course of Gods\nordination in nature, and therefore hath not power, nor never had to\nmake the Serpent speak articulately; for that were to overthrow the\ninviolable order of God set in the Creation, which no man of sound\njudgment did ever aver that the Devil could do.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 3._]\n\n3. I take it to be one of the most firm maximes that ever the Schools\nhad, that, _immateriale non agit in materiale, nisi eminenter ut Deus_:\nTherefore that the Devil being incorporeal and immaterial cannot act\nupon that which is material, as was the body of the Serpent, unless he\nhad had a super-eminent and omnipotent power, which were blasphemous to\nattribute unto him, therefore could he not articulately speak in the\nSerpent unto _Evah_, because immaterial, and had no omnipotent power.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 4._]\n\n4. And if he be conceived to be corporeal, then he could either of\nhimself speak articulately and audibly, or else not. And if he could do\nso of himself, then to enter into the Serpent was needless and\nsuperfluous. And if he could not, then the entring into the Serpent\nwould not have contributed that faculty unto him, and so neither way he\ncould have performed it; For a Frog creeping into the body of a Man,\nwill not cause the Frog to speak, though it may make some noise or\ncroaking.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 5._]\n\n5. Though the Devil being corporeal should have entred into the body of\nthe Serpent, yet by no motion that could be made with or upon her\norgans, could they have been framed to have uttered an articulate sound,\nbecause they were not fitted for that purpose, but only to have made a\nsibilation or hissing. For in Instruments that are artificial, the\nseveral sounds and tunes made by them, are but agreeable to the\ndiversity of their parts and their several compactions; so an Harp\ncannot (when made) be ordered to give forth a sound like a Trumpet, nor\nthe noise of a pair of Organs; nor on the contrary: and if any of their\nparts be wanting, defective or broken, then the orderly sound and Musick\nis spoyled. And though a Parret or Paraquet may by vocal and external\nteaching be brought to learn and speak some words; yet it is not by the\nteachers entring into her belly, but by his outward, vocal teaching,\nwhereby her senses and phantasie are audibly wrought upon, and not\notherwise. But in this action ascribed unto Satan, he is not supposed to\nbe able to speak articulately, nor to have taught the Serpent vocally\nand audibly, which if he could have done, yet were not her organs\ncapable of any such matter; and therefore it had been more subtilty in\nthe Devil rather to have chosen a Parret than a serpent.\n\nThe only objection worth taking notice of that _Pererius_ bringeth\nagainst the sound and reasonable opinion of learned _Cajetan_, is this:\nThat _Adam_ and _Evah_ being in the state of innocency could not be\nwrought upon by an interiour tentation, because that neither the\nsensitive appetite nor the phantasie were corrupted; and therefore Satan\ncould not internally work upon them, and therefore that the whole\ntentation must be extrinsecal. To which we return this sufficient reply.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 1._]\n\n1. It is but a bare assertion without any proof at all, and he doth but\nonly shelter it under the authority of S. _Austin_ and _Gregory_, whose\nauthority in many other matters he doth often reject when they agree not\nwith his humour, end and interest. But however they are but _testimonia\nhumana_; and we are not to regard what the Men are that do speak, so\nmuch as to consider the weight and reason of what they do speak.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 2._]\n\n2. He proceeds upon false supposition, that the sensitive appetite and\nconsequently the Phantasie could not be wrought upon nor drawn, but by a\nsensible and exteriour object, when it is manifest that the sight of the\nSerpent alone could not have stirred the sensitive appetite; for it is\nrationally to be supposed as a certainty that _Evah_ had seen the\nSerpent before that time. Neither could it be the discourse with the\nSerpent, barely considered as discourse, that could have moved it; for\nit is certain she had heard, and had had audible, vocal and articulate\ndiscourse with her Husband before this time of the temptation. Neither\ncould it be the beholding of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for\nby the discourse it appeareth that she had before seen it, and it is\nprobable that the tentation was in the view of it, and its species that\nappeared to her eye of the said tree was the same that it was before. So\nthat it will be as most manifest that the tentation took effect from the\nstrong lie that Satan told her, _that their eyes should be opened and\nthey should be as Gods knowing good and evil_, and so her deception was\nfirst made in her mind and understanding, and thereby the will was\ndrawn, and the sensitive appetite moved, whereupon _she took of the\nfruit of the tree, and did eat._ And this may far more reasonably be\nthought to be brought to pass by a mental discourse and internal\nmotions, than by external collocution, which must first work upon the\nmind, before that the Phantasie or sensitive appetite could at all be\nmoved or drawn.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 3._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid._ Is. Piscar. _in locum_.]\n\n3. If the tentation had been this way that _Pererius_ supposeth it, our\nfirst parents could not have been seduced; for Satans argument lay not\nto perswade _Evah_, that it was pleasant for the taste or good for the\nStomach thereby to have drawn the sensitive appetite and the Phantasie,\nbut that it was good and profitable to make them wise, _and to be like\nGods_, whereby he insnared her understanding with a fallacious and lying\nargument, thus framed, as learned _Piscator_ lays it down: \u201cThat thing\nwhich will bring you Divine Wisdom and Felicity, that thing ye ought to\nmake use of. But the eating of this fruit can bring you Divine Wisdom\nand Felicity: Therefore the eating of the fruit of this tree, ye ought\nto make use of.\u201d And so the seduction was not at all by the sensitive\nappetite (that could receive no more benefit by it than by the other\nfruits in the Garden) but by her understanding being blinded with a\nspecious shew of an apparent (not a real) benefit, and thereby her will\ndrawn and led to put forth her hand, and to eat. And therefore\nconsequently there was no need at all of an extrinsecal tentation, which\nmight and was brought to pass by an intrinsick discourse, working upon\nher understanding.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 4._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Tom._ 3. _l._ 3. _c._ 19. _p._ 156.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hieronym. in_ Job. _c._ 24.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Tom._ 7. _p._ 187.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Cor. 2. 11.]\n\n4. Surely if _Pererius_ had been aware of the many inconveniences that\nthis opinion of his doth hurry along with it, he would never have\nplunged himself into a Labyrinth of such perplexities; some of which we\nshall here enumerate and so conclude. 1. If this opinion were true, that\n_Evah_ by reason of her perfection in the state of innocency could not\nbe tempted nor seduced, but only by an external way and means: Then how\ncould it come to pass that the Angels in their Primitive Estate, which\nwas as perfect (if not more) than that of _Evahs_, were without a\ntempter or any external means drawn unto that defection, who left their\nestate and station, and abode not in the truth? 2. How could the\ndefection have been so general (for multitudes of them fell) if they had\nnot had some way or means to have communicated their cogitations and\nintentions one to another? For though we are not able to apprehend the\nmanner how they discourse or commune one with another, yet it must be\ntaken for a truth that they have a way and means to manifest their\ncogitations one to another, which is some way Analogous to that which we\ncall speech or discourse. Therefore concerning this point doth learned\nand judicious _Zanchy_ thus conclude. \u201cTherefore (he saith) that which\nwe do by a sensible voice, the same thing the Angels and blessed Souls\nin Heaven, yea the Devils in the infernal pit, and in the air, do\nperform, but without voice, in a spiritual manner.\u201d 3. If this opinion\nwere true, then the blessed Souls, being divested from their Bodies,\nshould not have a communion one with another, nor should jointly praise\nand glorifie God together, which were false and absurd; and therefore\nthe learned Father said well: \u201cIt is to be holden stedfastly that the\noffices of the Heavenly Hoast are by no means performed in silence;\nseeing, we may read that the Angelical powers before the Throne of the\nLord, do sound forth his praise with unwearied voices.\u201d 4. The sleights\nand subtil machinations (for he hath his \u039d\u03bf\u03ae\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1 or devices) of Satans\nKingdom could not be carried on, if he had not a way and means to\ncommunicate them to the rest of the Crew of his inferiour Fiends, and\ntherefore doth plainly prove that there is a way of hidden, Mystical and\nSpiritual discourse, which the Devil might, and did represent to the\nmind and understanding of _Evah_, whereby she was seduced, and that\nthere was no need of a vocal and audible interlocution; and so much in\nanswer to his objection.\n\nThe next place of Scripture that is commonly brought and urged thereby\nto prove the great power of Devils and Witches, is that of _Pharaohs_\nMagicians, from whence they argue thus: If the Magicians of _Pharaoh_\nwere able by the power and assistance of the Devil to change their Rods\ninto Serpents, the Water into Blood, and to produce Frogs; Why may not\nWitches, by the power and assistance of the Devil, change themselves and\nother things into strange and several shapes, and do the rest of the\nfeats that are ascribed unto them?\n\nBut though this be but _petitio principii_, a begging of the question,\nthat by the assistance of the Devil they did these things, which is\nneither supposed nor granted, but ought first to have been proved; And\nthough in the case of hardening _Pharaohs_ heart, there might be (and\nwas) a peculiar dispensation from God at that time: yet it will not\nfollow that God doth always dispense with, and give the Devil leave to\noperate the like things; and so nothing firmly can be concluded from\nhence. Yet (I say) though these be so, we shall pretermit them, and come\nto the full opening and discussion of the matter; and that in these two\nparticulars. 1. How far the Devils power and assistance did concurr with\nthe actions and performances. 2. And wherein he did not concurr nor act\nat all.\n\n[Sidenote: Ephes. 2. 2.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Tim. 3. 8.]\n\n1. We shall grant that _Pharaoh_ and the Magicians being Idolaters, and\nworshippers of false gods, their ends were principally to magnifie the\npower of their Idols, and to manifest that their supposed gods could\nwork, and bring to pass as strange miracles or wonders as _Moses_ and\n_Aaron_ could perform by the assistance of the God of the Hebrews; and\nin respect of this end they had all the assistance that Satan and his\ndark kingdom of Angels could afford them in a spiritual and hellish way;\n_for he is the Prince of the power of the air that worketh in the\nchildren of disobedience_, for such were both _Pharaoh_ and his\nMagicians. And to this purpose doth the Apostle tell us, speaking of\nfalse and seducing teachers: _That they were like Jannes, and Jambres\nthat withstood Moses, in their resisting of the truth_: so that the\nMagicians of _Pharaoh_ were condemned for resisting the truth of that\nmessage that _Moses_ and _Aaron_ brought, and of those real miracles\nthat they performed; and so in respect of the wicked end they aimed at,\nthey were assisted with the power and concurrence of the Devil, and in\nthat respect only were his servants and instruments.\n\nBut as for the second particular, namely, the efficient causes and means\nof the producing of those things that the Magicians did, we affirm they\nwere performed by the power of nature and art, and that the Devil was no\nefficient cause of their production, and that by these irrefragable\narguments.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 1._]\n\n1. Those that affirm that the Devil did or can produce such strange\neffects, do also acknowledge, that what he performeth in natural and\nelementary Bodies, is done by applying natural agents to natural and fit\npatients, which do truly bring to pass such strange effects, and that he\ndoth no more, but only make the local application of them. From whence\nit must necessarily follow that the effects flow from natural agents,\nand so no causality at all can be ascribed unto him, except that\nfictitious one of being _causa sine qua non_, which is as much as no\ncause. And besides that, there is no proof that he maketh this local\napplication; for if he be incorporeal, then it is simply impossible that\nhe should perform any such matter; and however, a man by natural power\nand means, if he know the fit and apt actives and passives, may perform\nthem himself, and so his assistance is needless; and we have never yet\nmet with any argument that bore any convincing force that might induce\nus to believe that he is so great a Naturalist.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 2._]\n\n[Sidenote: _De secret. oper. Art. & natur._ _c._ 5.]\n\n[Sidenote: Gen. 30. 37, 38, 39. _&c._]\n\n2. There are many persons that think themselves no mean sharers in the\nmost sorts of learning, and others that are very strait laced in their\npretended zeal for godliness, and in detesting the works of Satan, that\neven startle and shew an abhorrency at the word Magick, if it be but\nonce named, as though there were no Magick but what is diabolical, or\nthat which they call diabolical were any other way evil but only in the\nend and use: for there are many plants and minerals, that though\npoysonous, are yet notwithstanding good in respect of their Creation,\nand the good uses that may be made of them, as to kill noxious animals\nthat are hurtful unto man. But if any force of malice and wickedness\nshould use them to poyson and destroy Men and Women, it were wicked and\ndiabolical in the end and use, yet were the means lawful and natural. So\nwhatsoever the Devil may do by wicked Men, his instruments, in leading\nand drawing them to make use of the great _magnalia natur\u00e6_, to work\nstrange wonders by, thereby to confirm Idolatry and Superstition, or to\nresist the truth and such devilish ends, though the end and use may be\nwicked and diabolical, yet the efficient cause is natural and lawful.\nAnd therefore we can find no other ground or reason of dividing Magick\ninto natural and Diabolical, but only that they differ in the end and\nuse: for otherwise they both work by a natural agency and means, seeing\nthe Devil can do nothing above or contrary to that course that God hath\nset in nature. Therefore may men do without the aid of Devils whatsoever\nthey can do, seeing they have no advantage over us, but operate only by\napplying active things to passive, like as Men do: And therefore said\nthat most learned Philosopher, Chymist and Mathematician, our\nCountreyman _Roger Bacon_, excellent well in these words: _non igitur\noportet nos uti magicis illusionibus cum potestas Philosophi\u00e6 doceat\noperari quod sufficit_. Therefore are those men that came from the East\nto worship Christ called Magicians, not because that great knowledge\nthey had in the secrets of Nature was Diabolical or unlawful; for the\nname of a Magician was honourable and laudable, until Knaves and\nImpostors made use of it to cheat and couzen withal, and for wicked and\nungodly ends; but because they had made use of it for the glory of God,\nand the good of mankind, therefore were they Magicians in the genuine,\nand best sense, as working by lawful and natural means, and to a good\nend: when the Magicians of _Pharaoh_ may be called Cacomagicians,\nbecause they used the good and excellent causes and agents of nature to\na wicked and Diabolical end, namely to resist the truth: and so the only\ndifference of Magick is from the end and uses, and not from the causes\nor agents, that are both natural. So what these Magicians of _Pharaoh_\ndid, though it were strange and wonderful, yet was it meerly by natural\nmeans and causes; and yet being for a wicked end was therefore\nDiabolical. So _Jacob_ when he _set the pilled rods with white streakes\nin them, before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs, that\nwhen the Rams and the Sheep came up to drink, and coupled together, they\nmight conceive and bring forth ring-streaked, speckled and spotted young\nones; It came so to pass_, and is confessed by _Pererius_ himself, and\nthe most of learned Expositors upon that place, to be from natural\ncauses, and was a strange feat of natural Magick; but not evil because\nnot directed to a wicked end: but that of _Pharaohs_ though wrought\nlikewise by a natural causes (for so it was whether ascribed to the\nDevil, that can but work by natural means, or not) was wicked and\nDiabolical; because they did it to resist _Moses_ and _Aaron_ the\nmessengers of the Lord Jehovah.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 3._]\n\n3. The most or all the learned Expositors that have Commented upon this\nplace of _Exodus_ (as may be seen in Dr. _Willets Hexapla_ and divers\nother learned Authors) though they attribute these things done by the\nMagicians to the power and assistance of Satan, yet in the manner they\ndo acknowledge them not to be done really and in truth, but only in shew\nand appearance. But what they mean by shew and appearance is not so\neasie to find out and determine; for if by it they mean, that they did\nit as Juglers and those that use the Art of Leger-de-main do, that is,\nby shewing one thing, and then by nimble sleight and agility convey it\naway, and suddainly and unperceiveably substitute another thing in its\nplace, which they perform by leading the Eyes and attentions of the\nspectators another way with staring and using of strange and\ninsignificant words, then we should be soon accorded, for so they might\nprobably and easily have been performed as we shall prove anon, but this\nis not the thing they mean or intend. But some do mean that the Devil\ndid only deceive the Phantasie and imagination of the beholders, in\ncausing them to imagine and believe that the rods were changed into\nSerpents, when they were not changed at all, but only their imaginations\ndeceived in thinking them to be Serpents when they were but only rods,\nas melancholy persons, Men in Feavers, Phrensies and Maniacal distempers\ndo often think and affirm that they see strange things when they see no\nsuch things externally, but the Phantasie is only deceived with the\nspecies and images of those things within. This might be granted if\n_Pharaoh_ and all the Spectators could be proved to be Men under those\nforenamed distempers and the like, though yet that might (and doth\noften) come to pass from meer natural causes, where the Devil hath\nnothing to do at all. But the beholders of these actions of the\nMagicians are neither proved, nor can rationally be supposed to be Men\nunder any such distempers; but must be understood to be Men of several\nconstitutions, tempers, and of sound health, and therefore not any way\ncapable of any such illusions, neither could the Devil in a moment have\nso vitiated their imaginations, which we affirm he can no ways do,\nexcept the humours, fumes and spirits in the Body be first altered by\nnatural causes, which cannot be done instantaneously, and if it could,\nthen it would follow that no Man could certainly tell, when he were\ndeceived in his imagination, when not: neither could it be, (as some\nimagine,) by casting a mist before their Eyes; for though Christ did\nhold the two Disciples Eyes going from _Emaus_, that they did not know\nhim, it were blasphemous to think that Satan could do so also. And a\nmist casting before their Eyes might make them to see more dimly and\nconfusedly, and cause things to appear greater than they were, but not\nto make one thing seem a quite contrary. But it never was yet proved\nthat Satan could do such a thing, and what was never proved, may safely\nand rationally be denied. Some do suppose that the Devil did cloath or\ncover the Magicians rods with some such vestment of an airy substance,\nas might make the rods appear to the eye like Serpents; but this is as\ngroundless a whimsey as any of the rest, and as it hath no proof, so it\nneeds no confutation.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 4._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 1._]\n\n4. But to come more close to the matter, it is most plain and\nperspicuous that what they did was meerly by Art, or by Art and Nature\njoined with it; for if we may trust any thing to propriety of the words\n(as we have proved sufficiently before) they are called _mechassephim_,\n_pr\u00e6stigiatores_, that is Juglers, such as by sleight of hand, and\nnimble conveyance, could perform strange and wonderful things, and after\nthey are called _Hartummin_, that is, Magicians, such as had skill in\nnatural things, and by knowing their causes, and making due and timely\napplication of them to passives that were suitable, could produce\nwonderful effects. And if we seriously consider the few things that they\nperformed, they might easily be brought to pass by Leger-de-main alone.\nFor, as for holding a rod in their hands, and seeming to throw it down\nupon the ground, how soon might they throw down an artificial Serpent in\nits stead, and immediately and unperceivedly make conveyance of the rod?\nAnd if it be thought difficult or impossible, I shall unriddle the\nmystery, as I have sometimes seen it performed, and is but thus. The\nJugler that is to perform this feat is usually provided before-hand with\na wiar so twined and wrested, that it may be pressed together with the\nlittle finger in the ball of the hand, and when let loose it will extend\nit self, like a spring, and make a pretty motion upon a Table, this is\nfitted with a suitable head, and a piece of neatly painted linnen,\nperfectly resembling a Serpent, with Eyes and all. This thus fitted he\nholdeth in his right hand betwixt his little finger, and the ball of his\nhand, then with his left hand he taketh up a little white rod that he\nhath upon the Table, with which he maketh people believe he performeth\nall his feats: And then telling them a Story to amuse them, that he will\nlike _Moses_ and _Aaron_, transform that rod into a Serpent, then he\npresently beginneth to stare about him, and to utter some strange and\nnonsensical words, as though he were invoking some Spirit or Goblin, and\nso immediately conveyeth the rod either into his lap (if sitting) or\ninto his sleeve (if standing) and then lets loose the Serpent forth of\nhis right hand with pushing it forward, that what with the wiar, and the\nnimble motion of his hand, he maketh it to move a pretty space upon the\nTable, which he continueth, while offering with the one hand to catch it\nby the neck, he nimbly with the other puts it forward, and turneth it by\ntouching the tail, and the mean while hisseth so cunningly, that the\nby-standers think it is the Serpent it self, and presently whips it up\nand conveys it into his pocket. And such a trick as this well acted\nmight make _Pharaoh_ and the beholders believe there was as much done,\nas _Moses_ and _Aaron_ did, but only that _Aarons_ rod swallowed up\ntheir Serpents, or his Serpent theirs, which they might easily excuse.\nAs for the changing water into blood, and the producing of Frogs, they\nwere so easy to be done after the same manner, that they need not any\nparticular explication, for by this the manner of their performance may\nmost easily be understood. Though I once saw a Gentleman that was much\ndelighted with these kind of tricks, and did himself play them admirable\nwell, who performed it with a living Snake, that he had got for one of\nhis Children to keep in a box; for in this North Countrey they are\nplentiful, and are also innoxious; and it might have deceived a very\nwary person. So that it is very foolish and absurd to bring in a Demon\nfrom Hell, or an Angel from Heaven, or a Soul from above, to solve a\nthing that seems strange and uncouth by, when the craft and cunning of\nMen (if duely considered and examined) are sufficient to perform the\nsame, and much more.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 5._]\n\n5. And in this place of Exodus where our Translators say: _and the\nMagicians did so_ or in like manner _with their inchantments_, the word\nbeing _Belahatehem_ ought to have been rendered, _suis laminis_ (as we\nhave proved before) that is, with their bright plates of metal, for the\nword doth not signifie Inchantments in any one place in all the Old\nTestament. And if truth and reason may bear any sway at all, it must be\nunderstood that they were deeply skilled in natural and lawful Magick\n(as generally the _\u00c6gyptians_ and the Eastern Nations were) though they\ndid use and apply it to an evil end, namely the resisting the power of\nGods miracles wrought by _Moses_ and _Aaron_: and so by this word _suis\nlaminis_, with their plates of Metal must be understood, Metalline\nbright plates framed under certain fit constellations, and insculped\nwith certain figures, by which naturally (without any Diabolical\nassistance) they did perform strange things, and made the shapes of some\nthings appear to the eye. And though we may be derided and laughed to\nscorn by the ignorant, or hardly taxed and censured by the greatest part\nof Cynical Criticks, yet we cannot so far stifle the knowledge of our\nown brains, nor be so cowardly in maintaining the truth, but we must\nassert, That anciently there hath been a certain lawful art, whereby\nsome sorts of metals might be mixed together under a due constellation,\nand after ingraven in like fit Planetary times with sundry figures, that\nwould naturally work strange things; And this piece of learning though\nit may justly be numbred amongst the _Desiderata_, and might very well\nhave been placed in the Catalogue of the _Deperdita_ of _Pancirollus_;\nyet was it well known unto the ancient Magicians, and by them often with\nhappy success put into practise; And amongst those many noble attempts\nof that most learned and experienced (though much condemned) person\n_Paracelsus_, this part of learning was not the least, that he laboured\nto restore. The truth of which we thus prove.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 1._]\n\n[Sidenote: Exerc. 196. 6. _p._ 637.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 1._]\n\n[Sidenote: Cap. 2.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 2._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Gaffarel_ Unheard of curiosities, _p._ 165. &c.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Epist. ad Vazet._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 3._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 4._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Ut supra_ p. 164.]\n\n1. That there have been formerly in the World many such like planetary\nSigills or Talismans, (as the _Persians_ called them) is manifest from\nthe authority of divers Authors of good credit and account. For the\nlearned and most acute _Julius Scaliger_ relateth this saying: \u201cThe\nnovelty of this History also may sharpen the wits of the studious. In\nthe Books of the _Arabick \u00c6gyptians_ (he saith) it is thus written. That\n_Hameth Ben Thaulon_ the Governour of _\u00c6gypt_ for the _Arabians_ did\ncommand that a certain leaden Image or Picture of a Crocodile, which was\nfound in the ground-work of a certain Temple, should be melted in the\nfire. From which time the inhabitants did complain, that those Countreys\nwere more infested with Crocodiles than before, against whose mischief\nthat Image had been framed, and buried there by the more ancient\nWise-men or Magicians. _Junctin_, upon the Sphear of _Sacrobosco_,\naffirms that his Master who was a _Carmelite_, named _Julianus Ristorius\n\u00e0 Prato_, one that was not any whit superstitious, was intreated by a\nFriend of his to make one of these Images for the cure of the Cramp,\nwhich he was very much subject to. This learned Man resenting his\nFriends sufferings, taught him the manner how to make one: so that he,\nnot content to make only one, made divers of them when the Moon was in\nthe Sign _Cancer_; and that with so good success, and with such\ncertainty, as that he immediately found the benefit of it. _Confecit_\n(saith he) _plures imagines, pro se, & amicis suis: quibus effectis,\nunam pro se accepit, & liberatus est_. The same he reports of a certain\nFlorentine, a very Pious Man, who made one of these Talismans, for to\ndrive away the _Gnats_, which he did with good success. _Nicolaus\nFlorentinus_, (saith he) _Vir religiosus fecit in una constellatione\nannulum ad expellendum culices, quas vulgo_ Zanzaras _dicimus, sub\ncertis & determinatis imaginibus; & usus fuit constellatione Saturni\ninfortunati, & expulit culices_.\u201d Another Story take from an Arabick\nCosmographer, cited by _Joseph Scaliger_ thus: \u201cThis Talisman (he saith)\nis to be seen in the Countrey of _Hamptz_, in a City bearing the same\nname; and it is only the Figure of a Scorpion graved upon one of the\nStones in a certain Tower; which is of so great virtue, as that it\nsuffers not any, either Serpent or Scorpion to come within the City. And\nif any one, for experiment sake, bring one of these out of the field\ninto the City, it is no sooner at the Gate, but that it dies suddenly.\nThis Figure hath this virtue besides; that when any one is stung with a\nScorpion, or bitten by any other Serpent, they need but take the Image\nof the Stone with a little clay, and apply it to the wound, and it is\ninstantly healed.\u201d Unto which Mr. _Gaffarel_ addeth this: \u201cIf any one\ndoubt (saith he) of the credit of this Cosmographer, he may yet\nadventure to believe Mr. _de Breves_, as having been an eye-witness of\nthe like experiment: who says in his Travels, that at _Tripoli_ a City\nof _Syria_, within a Wall that reacheth from the Sea-side to the Gate of\nthe City, there is a certain inchanted stone; on which is figured, in\nRelief, or by way of Imbossment, the Figure of a Scorpion, which was\nthere placed by a Magician, for to drive away Venomous Beasts, which\ninfested this Province, as the Serpent of Brass in the Hippodromus at\n_Constantinople_ did. And a little above the City, there is a certain\nCave, which is full of the Carkasses and Bones of Serpents, which died\nat that time.\u201d And further _Gaffarel_ saith: \u201cNow whereas he calls this\nan inchanted Stone, and says that it was placed there by a Magician, you\nmust note, that he there speaks according to the sense of the\ninhabitants, who knew not how to give any other account of the thing, as\nnot understanding any thing at all of the natural reason of it.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 2._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Observat. Communicat._ 7. _p._ 329.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 5._]\n\n[Sidenote: _De simpl. medic. facul._ _p._ 1076.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Pharm. med. Chym._ _c._ 9. _p._ 24.]\n\n[Sidenote: Deut. 33. 13, 14.]\n\n2. And that the election of fit times according to the Configuration of\nthe Stars and Planets, is of great efficacy and virtue, is sufficiently\nknown to Husbandmen and Sailers, and of no small power both in respect\nof natural and artificial things, as we shall shew in this instance.\n_Lazarus Riverius_ who was Counsellor and Physician to the French King,\na person of extraordinary learning and experience in the Medical\nprofession, both in the Galenical and Chymical way, doth give us this\nrelation saying: \u201cI have not seldom experienced, and I have many\nwitnesses of this thing, that Peony gathered under its proper\nConstellation, to wit, the Moon inclining (_inclinante_) being in\n_Aries_, doth loose the _Epilepsie_, by application alone: for the\nmiddle and chief root divided by the greater Longitude, I have (he\nsaith) compassed about the neck and the armes of a certain Virgin in the\nHospital, of eighteen years of age, who had been afflicted with this\nDisease from her childhood, and had the _Paroxysmes_ every day; but from\nthat day seemed altogether to be cured. From whence it is manifest how\ngreatly the observation of the Stars is to be esteemed of in the Art of\nMedicine.\u201d Agreeable unto which is the judgment of that Industrious\nperson _Galen_, who affirmeth that Peony by appension doth cure the\n_Epilepsie_, though he declare not the fit time for its collection. From\nwhence it is most clear that the careful and precise observation of the\nHeavenly influences is most necessary to a Physician, and to all others\nthat would produce strange and desired effects. Therefore doth learned\n_Schroderus_ tell us this concerning the power and efficacy of those\ninfluences, saying: \u201cThe influences of the Stars are _effluvia_, or\nSteams endowed with peculiar faculties, by which they make strong (if\nthey be in their strength and vigour) things that are familiar to them,\nand do prosper and promote their virtues; but on the contrary they\ndebilitate, hinder and make worse things that are not agreeable to\nthem.\u201d And this is that which _Moses_ fully mentioneth in these words,\nas they are fitly rendred by _Arias Montanus_. _Et ad_ Joseph _dixit,\nBenedicta Domini terra ejus, de delicia C\u0153lorum, de rore, & de voragine\ncubante deorsum: & de delicia proventuum Solis, & de delicia ejectionis\nlunarum_. Which our Translation gives thus: _And of Joseph he said,\nBlessed of the Lord be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for\nthe dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath; And for the precious\nfruits brought forth by the Sun, and for the precious things put forth\nby the Moon_. The full evidence of the truth of these influences of the\nStars, and necessity and utility for due and proper seasons for the\ncollection of Flowers, Fruits, Roots and Plants, may be seen in that\nlearned piece that _Bartholom\u00e6us Carichterus_ Chief Physician to\n_Maximilian_ the Second, writ and dedicated to his Master in the German\nTongue. As also, what is written in the same Language by those learned\nGermans, _Johannes Pharamundus Rhumelius_, and _Israel Hebueras_ that\nlearned Mathematician, in a Treatise which he calleth, _Mysterium\nSigillorum herbarum & lapidum_, which do compleatly verifie the certain\nefficacy and virtue of Planetary Seals, Images or Figures.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 3._]\n\n[Sidenote: Usefulness of Exper. Phil. _c._ 10. _p._ 207.]\n\n[Sidenote: _De Lapid. & Gemm._ _l._ 2. _c._ 11.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 6._]\n\n[Sidenote: _De Gemm. & Lapid._ _l._ 1. _c._ 23.]\n\n[Sidenote: _De Lapid. & Gemm._ _l._ 2. _p._ 102.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Mod. Intrand._ _p._ 604.]\n\n3. These things are confirmed by the effects of appensions of many\nnatural things which produce strange and wonderful effects, some of\nwhich we shall give in the words of that honourable person Mr. _Boyl_,\nwho saith: \u201cThat great cures may be done by bare outward applications,\nyou will scarce deny if you disbelieve not the relations which are made\nus by learned men concerning the efficacy of the _Lapis Nephriticus_,\nonly bound upon the Pulses of the wrists (chiefly that of the left hand)\nagainst that stubborn and Anomalous disease the Stone. And that which\ngives the more credit to these relations is; That not only the judicious\n_Anselmus Boetius de Boot_ seems to prize it, but the famous _Monardes_\nprofesseth himself, not to write by hear-say of the great virtues of\nthis _Indian Stone_, but to have made tryal of it himself upon persons\nof very high quality: And that which is related by _Monardes_ is much\nless strange than those almost incredible things which are with many\ncircumstances delivered of that Stone, by the learned Chymist\n_Vutzerus_. And although it must be acknowledged that some Stones that\ngo under that name have been ineffectually applied in Nephritick\nDistempers. Yet the accurate _Johannes de Laet_ himself furnisheth us\nwith an answer to that objection, informing us that many of those\nNephritick Stones (which differ much in colour, though the best are wont\nto be greenish) although not at all counterfeited or sophisticated are\nof little or no virtue. But that yet there are some others of them which\ncan scarce be distinguished from the former, but by tryal upon\nNephriticks, which are of wonderful efficacy, as he himself hath more\nthan once tryed in his own Wife. _Garcias ab orta_ mentions a Stone\nfound in _Balagat_, called _Alaqueca_; of which he tells us, that though\nit be cheap: _Hujus tamen virtus_ (to use his own words) _reliquarum\nGemmarum facultates exuperat, quippe qui sanguinem undequaq; fluentem\nillico sistat_. _Monardes_ (_cap. 35._) relates the great virtues of a\nStone against Hysterical suffocations, and concludes; _Cum uteri\nsuffocationem imminentem pr\u00e6sentiunt, adhibito lapide subit\u00f2 levantur, &\nsi eum perpetu\u00f2 gestant (Hysterici) nunquam simili morbo corripiuntur:\nexempla hujusmodi faciunt ut his rebus fidem adhibeam_. The same Author\nin the next Chapter, treating of the _Lapis Sanguinaris_ or Blood-stone,\nfound in _New Spain_ (having told us, that the _Indians_ do most\nconfidently believe, that if the flesh of any bleeding part be touched\nwith this Stone, the bleeding will thereby be stanched) adds this\nmemorable observation of his own: _Vidimus nonnullos h\u00e6morrhoidum fluxu\nafflictos remedium sensisse, annulos ex hoc lapide confectos in digito\ncontinue gestando; nec non & menstruum fluxum sisti_. And to these for\nbrevity sake, we shall only mention the virtues of the Jasper, which is\nblood-red throughout the whole body of the Stone, which _Boetius de\nBoot_ of his own experience doth avouch in several trials to have\nstopped Fluxes of Blood, only by bare appension: As also the child of a\nfamous Chymical writer, who had his child (supposed to be bewitched)\ncured by hanging a piece of that Noble Mineral by _Paracelsus_ called\n_electrum minerale immaturum_, of which _Helmont_ tells us this:\n_Imprimis electrum minerale immaturum Paracelsi, collo appensum,\nliberat, quos spiritus immundus persequitur, quod ipse vidi. Illius\npotum ver\u00f2 plures \u00e0 veneficiis solvisse, memini. Nemo autem, qui appenso\nillo simplici, non pr\u00e6caverit, ne injecta intromittantur: vel ab\nimportunis ligationibus confestim non solvatur._\u201d All which do manifest\nthe great and wonderful virtues, that God hath endowed Stones, Minerals,\nPlants and Roots withal, that the Devil need not be brought in to be an\nadjutant or operator in their effects.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 4._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Ut supra._ 209.]\n\n[Sidenote: Helm. _de Febr._ _c._ 2.]\n\n[Sidenote: Paracels. _in Archidox. mag._ _l._ 6 _p._ 714.]\n\n4. And it is also manifest that Metals may be so artificially in fit\nConstellations commixed together, that their effects will be rare and\nstupendious, as the aforesaid honourable person doth transcribe and\nrelate to us in these words: \u201cWhat _Monardes_, (he saith) mentions of\nthe virtue of the _Lapis Sanguinaris_ to cure Hemorrhoidal Fluxes, puts\nme in mind of a yet much stranger thing, which _Helmont_ affirms,\nnamely, That he could make a metal, of which if a Ring were worn, the\npain of the H\u00e6morrhoids would be taken away, in the little time\nrequisite to recite the Lords Prayer; and within twenty four hours the\nH\u00e6morrhoids themselves, as well internal as external, how protuberant\nsoever, would vanish, and the restagnant blood would (as he speaks) be\nreceived again into favour, and be restored to a good condition. The\nsame Ring he also commends in the suffocation and irregular motion of\nthe Womb, and divers other Diseases: But if _Paracelsus_ be in any case\nto be credited in an unlikely matter, we may think by his very solemn\nprotestations that he speaks upon his own experience, that he had a Ring\nmade of a metalline substance, by him called _electrum_, (which by his\ndescription seems to be a mixture of all the metals joined together\nunder certain constellations) which was of far greater virtue than this\nof _Helmont_, For, _hoc loco_ (says he) _non possum non indicare\nadmirandas quasdam vires virtutesq; electri nostri, quas fieri his\nnostris oculis vidimus, adeoq; cum bona veritatis conscienti\u00e2 pr\u00e6ferre\nattestariq; possumus. Vidimus enim hujus generis annulos, quos qui\ninduit, hunc nec spasmus convulsit, nec Paralysis corripuit, nec dolor\nullus torsit, similiter nec Apoplexia, nec Epilepsia invasit. Et si\nannulus hujusmodi Epileptici digito annulari, etiam in Paroxysmo\ns\u00e6vissimo, insertus fuit, remittente illic\u00f2 Paroxysmo, \u00e6ger \u00e0 lapsu\nillico resurrexit_, &c.\u201d And though Mr. _Boyle_ a person of a\nperspicuous judgment, and of a great understanding, doth seem to\nquestion his authority with a kind of dubitation, being in probability\nstaggered by the groundless censures of his greatest adversaries; yet we\nmust affirm that it is very hard that his veracity and experience (which\nwas as great as any Mans) should be undervalued, by reason of the\nignorance and idleness of those that judge him: who were never able in\nregard of their ignorance to understand the meaning of his mystical and\ndark way of writing, nor because of their supine negligence had ever\nmade trial of those things he treateth of, with that curious diligence\nand care that is requisite to accomplish such occult effects withal; not\nconsidering that, _Dii sua bona laboribus vendunt_. But notwithstanding\nthis, and the monstrous lies and horrid calumnies of that pitiful\nRapsodist _Athanasius Kircherus_, we shall add one testimony more from\nthe same Author, which in English runs thus: \u201cAlso (he saith) I cannot\nhere pass over one great wonder, which I saw performed in _Spain_ of a\ngreat Negromancer, who had a Bell not exceeding the weight of two pounds\nwhich as oft as he did Ring, he could allure and stir up many and\nvarious Apparitions and Visions of Spirits. For when he lift he did\ndescribe certain words and characters in the inward superficies of the\nBell: After if he did beat and ring it, forthwith the Spirits (for\nshapes) did come forth or appear of what form or shape soever he\ndesired. He could also by the sound of the same Bell, either draw unto\nhim or drive from him many other Visions and Spirits, as also Men and\nBeasts, as I have seen many of these performed by him with mine own\neyes. But whensoever he did begin any new thing, so oft he did renew the\nwords and Characters also. But notwithstanding he would not reveal (he\nsaith) unto me, those secrets of the words and characters, until I my\nself more deeply weighing and considering the matter, at last by chance\nfound them forth. Which notwithstanding, and the examples of which I\nhere studiously do conceal. But it is not obscurely to be noted here,\nthat there was more of moment in the Bell, than in the words: For this\nBell was certainly and altogether compounded or made of this our\n_Electrum_.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 5._]\n\n[Sidenote: _In Verb. Herb. & lapid. mag. vis est._ _p._ 579.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. lib. de Doctr. promisc._ _c._ 24. _p._ 187.]\n\n[Sidenote: _De secret. oper. artis & natur._ _c._ 2.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Paracels. Archidox. magic._ _lib._ 1.]\n\n5. And that there are great and hidden virtues both in Plants and\nMinerals, especially in Metals and Precious Stones as they are by Nature\nproduced by Mystical Chymistry prepared and exalted, or commixed and\ninsculped in their due and fit constellations, may not only be proved by\nthe instances foregoing, but also by the reasons and authorities of\npersons of great judgment and experience in the secrets of nature, of\nwhich we shall here recite some few. And first that learned and\nobservant person _Baptista van Helmont_ tells us thus much: \u201cBut this\none thing (he saith) I willingly admit: To wit, that metals do by many\ndegrees surpass Plants and Minerals in the art of healing. And therefore\nthat metals are certain shining glasses, not by reason of the\nbrightness; but rather that as often as they are opened, and their\nvirtues set at liberty, they act by a dotal light, and a vital contact.\nTherefore metals do operate, by a manner attributed to the Stars, to wit\nby aspect, and the attraction of an alterative biass or motion. For the\nmetals themselves are glasses, I say the best off-spring of the\ninferiour Globe, upon which the whole central force, by some former\nages, hath prodigally poured out its treasure, that it might espouse\nmost richly, this liquor, this sweat, and this off-spring of Divine\nProvidence, unto those ends which the weakness of nature did require.\nBut (he saith) I call them shining glasses, which have the power of\npenetrating and illuminating the _Archeus_, from its errors, furies and\ndefects.\u201d Neither are those arguments of that learned person _Galeottus\nMartius_, for defending the natural and lawful effects of Planetary\nSigills, when prepared forth of agreeable matter, and made in their due\nconstellations, of such small weight as some insipid ignorants have\npretended, but are convincing to any considerate and rational person, as\nthis one may manifest, where he is speaking of the Figure of a Lion\ningraven in a Golden Plate in these words: \u201cThe Figure of a Lion (he\nsaith) insculped in the fit hours, in a right constellation, doth not\nact, but doth bring the beginning of the action, as S. _Thomas_ and\n_Albertus magnus_ do testifie: not as a Figure and Image impressed\nMathematically, but that it may effect this or that preparation in the\nthing figured: which may in divers moods receive the Celestial action\nwithout difficulty: Because if the Image of a Dog, or an Horse, or some\nother Animal were insculped in a Golden Plate, there would not be that\ndisposition of the matter, which doth accompany the Image of a Lion &c.\nFrom whence (he saith) we conclude, that this aptitude to draw in the\nCelestial virtue in the Figure, is not as Figure, but as the Gold is\nformed more dense or thin, by the condition of the Image. For even in\nlooking-glasses, the variety of the Figure, doth bring a most vast\ndifference. For how much a Concave doth differ from a gibbous\nLooking-glass, is even known unto old Wives.\u201d Of these things also our\nlearned Countreyman _Roger Bacon_, who was second to none in the secrets\nof Art and Nature, doth teach us thus much: \u201cBut they who know in fit\nconstellations, to do their works according to the configurations of the\nHeavens; they may not only dispose Characters, but all their operations,\nboth of Art and Nature, agreeable to the Celestial virtues. But because\nit is difficult in these things to know the certitude of Celestials;\ntherefore in these there is much error with many; and there are few that\nknow to order any thing profitably and truly.\u201d But we shall shut up this\nparticular with that memorable and irrefragable responsion of\n_Paracelsus_ to the common objection, which in English runs thus: \u201cBut\n(he saith) they will thus urge; how comes it to pass, I pray thee, that\nMetals, with their assigned Characters, Letters and Names, should\nperform such things, unless they be prepared and made by Magical and\nDiabolical power intervening? But (he saith) to these I return this\nanswer. Therefore thou believest (as I hear) that if such things be made\nby the help of the Devil, then they may have their force and operations.\nBut should not thou rather believe this? that also the Creator of\nNature, God who dwelleth in the Heavens, is so powerful, that he in like\nmanner can give and confer these virtues and operations to Metals,\nRoots, Herbs, Stones and such like things? As though forsooth the Devil\nwere more strong, more wise, more omnipotent, and more powerful than the\nonly Eternal, Omnipotent and Merciful God, who hath created and exalted\ntheir degrees, even of all these aforesaid Metals, Stones, Herbs, Roots\nand all other such like things that are above, or within the Earth, and\ndo live and vegetate in the Water or Air, for the health and commodity\nof Man?\u201d\n\nThis argument we desire that any of the Witchmongers or Demonographers\nshould answer, ere they conclude so strongly for the power of Devils and\nWitches.\n\n[Sidenote: Exod. 8. 19.]\n\nSo we conceive we have sufficiently proved that what _Pharaohs_\nMagicians did perform, might rationally, and probably be brought to pass\nby Natural Magick or confederacy, and sleight of hand, without any other\nDiabolical assistance than what was mental and spiritual in regard of\nthe end, which was the resisting of _Moses_. And by all they did, as in\nchanging their Rods, bringing in of Frogs and changing Water into Blood,\nit doth not rationally appear, that they had any supernatural\nassistance, for then they could not have been so amazed at the miracle\nof turning the Dust into Lice; for what skill did the Devil want that he\ncould not perform this? If by his power the former things were brought\nto pass, could there be more difficulty in doing of this, than in the\nbringing of Frogs? Neither could their Legierdemain have failed them but\nthat they were surprized, and taken unawares, being not provided to play\nall kind of tricks, but only some few for which they had made provision.\nAnd so to excuse their own inability, they cryed out, _this is the\nfinger of God_; a pitiful shift to excuse their own knavery, and\ncouzenage, for there could be no more of the finger of God in this than\nthe former, but only a shift to put off their own shame.\n\nAnother place from whence they would draw arguments to maintain the\npower of the Devil and Witches, is the Story of _Balaam_ in the Book of\n_Numbers_, from whence in the first place they would conclude that he\nused wicked and Diabolical Divinations, and that by words he could\neither bless or curse. In answer to which we shall give these pressive\nreasons.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 1._]\n\n[Sidenote: Numb. 22. 6.]\n\n[Sidenote: Numb. 23. 8, 23.]\n\n1. Though it might be granted that he used Divinations that were not\nlawful, yet what is that to a killing and murthering Witch? Surely\nnothing at all. And though _Balak_ believed that _whosoever he blessed\nwere blessed, and whosoever he cursed, were cursed_, and therefore\nfetched him so far, yet there is nothing apparent to prove that _Balaam_\ncould do any such matter, and from _Balaks_ belief to _Balaams_\nperformances proceedeth no argument, for his belief that he could either\nbless or curse, did not confer any power to _Balaam_ to produce such\neffects withall. And _Balaams_ blessings, or cursings might be\nintentional, and declarative, but could not be effective, for he\nconfesseth a great piece of truth: _How should he curse, whom God had\nnot cursed, or how should he defie, whom the Lord had not defied?_ He\nmight have done it verbally, but it would have been frustrate, and to no\neffect, and therefore he concluded: _Surely there was no inchantment\nagainst Jacob, nor no Divination against Israel_.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 2._]\n\n[Sidenote: Chap. 24. 1.]\n\n2. And though it be said, that he went not as at other times, to meet\nAuguries (for as we have before shewed, the word doth properly signifie\nthat) It must be understood, and is manifest that at the former times he\nwent to attend solitarily what the Lord would say unto him, and those\ntwo times that he went before was only to meet the Lord, to hear and\nreceive what he would say unto him. But here he did not, nor had need to\ngo, for the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he took up his\nParable, and prophesied. Where though his going to meet the Lord, be\ncalled to meet Divinations, yet it cannot be taken in the worse sense,\nfor unlawful Divinations, but for such as were sent him and taught him\nby God, by Visions, Angels, Trances, or other such like wayes as God in\nthose times used to reveal his Will to his Prophets by: For from first\nto last, it appeareth that he neither professed, nor did (in this case)\nutter any thing but what the Lord commanded him, and so was no false\nProphet.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 3._]\n\n[Sidenote: Numb. 22. 18.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Ibid_ _c._ 24. 4, 16.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Caten. Aur. Tho. Aquin._ _p._ 10.]\n\n3. He was no false Prophet, that is, he had, nor used any Divinations,\nbut what he had from God, is most clear from these particulars. 1. When\n_Balak_ first sent messengers unto him, his responsion was: _If Balak\nwould give me his house full of Silver and Gold I cannot go beyond the\nword of the Lord my God, to do less or more_. \u201cWhereby it is apparent\nthat he feared the Lord Jehovah, and calls him his God, thereby shewing\nthe confidence that he had in him, and that he acknowledged him for his\nonly God. 2. In the whole transaction of the business betwixt him and\n_Balak_, he never took upon him to declare any thing, but what the Lord\nwould say unto him, neither did he at all vary from the same in the\nleast tittle.\u201d 3. He confesseth all along, _that he had his eyes opened,\nand that he heard the words of God, and had seen the vision of the\nAlmighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open_. And these\nwere things that were not peculiar to any, but such as were the true\nProphets of the Lord Jehovah. 4. The truth of his Prophecie, which was\nof the Kingdom of Christ, and the Glory and Dominion of it, with the\nprosperity of his people, doth plainly evince that he was a true Prophet\nof the Lord, and that his Divinations came from the Almighty. And this\ncaused S. _Hierome_, and some other of the Fathers believe, that by this\nProphecie of _Balaam_, the _Magi_ or Wise men were directed, to come to\n_Hierusalem_ to seek and worship Christ the Saviour of the World.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 4._]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Pet. 2. 15, 16.]\n\n[Sidenote: Jude 11.]\n\n[Sidenote: Revel. 2. 14.]\n\n[Sidenote: Jonah 1. 3. & 4. 1.]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Kings 13.]\n\n4. Though this Prophet fell into hainous crimes, and enormous sins, as\ntempting of God, who when the first Messengers came from _Balak_ unto\nhim, was positively commanded not to go with them, and yet as though God\nwould change his mind entertained them again, whereby Gods anger was\nkindled against him. And though he was drawn _to love the wages of\nunrighteousness_, and so was rebuked by the dumb Ass, and though _he\ntaught Balak to lay a stumbling-block before the children of Israel_,\nand therefore had that judgment to be slain among the Midianites: Yet\nnone of these do conclude at all, that therefore he used Diabolical\nDivinations, or had not what he declared from Divine Revelation, no more\nthan the flying of _Jonah_ to _Tarshish_, when he was commanded to go to\npreach against _Nineveh_, or his repining at Gods mercy shewed to that\ngreat City, manifested him to be a lying Prophet, or to use devilish\nDivination. Neither the Prophets being seduced, _that cried against the\naltar at Bethel_, before _Jeroboam_, by the old Prophet, _and his being\nslain in the way by a lion, & his carkase left there_, did at all argue\nthat his Prophecie was false, or that he had not his message from God,\nbut they only shew, that even those that have been truly inspired by God\nand been truly taught by him, have notwithstanding often disobeyed him,\nand have had therefore fearful temporal judgments faln upon them, and\nyet no argument that they used unlawful Divinations.\n\nFrom hence also the Witchmongers use to urge a frivolous and groundless\nargument which is this; that the Angel did speak in _Balaams_ Ass, and\ntherefore the Devil may speak in a Dog, or a Cat to a Witch, but this is\nconfuted by these reasons.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 1._]\n\n1. What the Angel did there was by command and commission from God, but\nwe never read, nor can it be proved that the Devil is sent upon such\nidle, and ordinary errands, to work a miracle, to speak in a Dog, or a\nCat, to a Witch; for God doth not work wonders for any such wicked and\nabominable ends. And if he be not sent of God, he cannot of himself\nperform any such matter, who could not enter into the Swine, without\nChrists leave and order; but is kept in chains of everlasting darkness,\nfrom whence he is not loosed, but when God sends him as an instrument to\naccomplish his will, which is always for good and just ends, and not for\nsuch execrable and wicked purposes.\n\n[Sidenote: Numb. 22. 26, 27.]\n\n[Sidenote: Verse 28.]\n\n2. They take up a false supposition, for the Angel was not in the Ass\neither essentially, or effectively, for at the very instant that the Ass\nspoke, _the Angel was standing in a narrow place, where was no way to\nturn either to the right hand or to the left_, and then _seeing the\nAngel of the Lord she fell down under Balaam, and spoke_, and the Angel\ncould not both stand in the narrow way and likewise be in the Ass, in\nthe same moment of time, except we should grant that absurdity that a\ncreature may be in two distinct places at one and the self same time,\nwhich was never yet allowed to any created being. But they openly belie,\nand falsifie the words of the Text, for it doth not say that the Angel\nspoke in the Ass, but that the Lord, (the word is _Jehovah_) opened the\nmouth of the Ass. So that (we suppose) here is enough demonstrated that\nfrom none of the places of Scriptures hitherto enumerated, any\ncolourable grounds can be drawn to uphold those particulars that we have\nlaboured to confute, and therefore we shall pass to another Chapter.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAP. VIII.\n\n  _Of the Woman of_ Endor _that pretended to raise up_ Samuel, _and of\n    some other places in the Scriptures, not handled yet, and of some\n    other objections_.\n\n\nConcerning the Woman of _Endor_, that our English and many other\nTranslators have falsly rendered a Witch, or a Woman that had a familiar\nSpirit, we have spoken sufficiently, where we treated of the\nsignification of the word _Ob_. And there have shewed plainly, that she\nis only called the Mistriss of the bottle, or of the Oracle, and that\nwhat she there did, or pretended to do, was only by Ventriloquy, or\ncasting her self into a feigned Trance lay groveling upon the earth with\nher face downwards, and so changing her voice did mutter and murmur, and\npeep and chirp like a bird coming forth of the shell, or that she spake\nin some hollow Cave or Vault, through some Pipe, or in a Bottle, and so\namused and deceived poor timerous and despairing _Saul_, or had a\nconfederate apparelled like Samuel to play his part, and that it was\nneither _Samuels_ Body, Soul, nor no Ghost or Devil, but only the\ncunning and Imposture of the Woman alone, or assisted with a\nconfederate. And though this might be amply satisfactory to all sound\nand serious judgments, especially if hereunto be added what Mr. _Scot_,\nMr. _Ady_, Mr. _Wagstaff_, and the learned Authors of the Dialogue of\nSpirits and Devils have written upon this subject: yet because we have\npromised before to speak something of the History and matter of fact,\nand that Mr. _Glanvil_ a Minister of our English Church hath of late\nespoused the quarrel, we shall confute his arguments and clear the case\nas fully as in reason can be required, and that in these particulars\nfollowing.\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Sam. 3. 19. _Id._ _c._ 7. _v._ 13.]\n\n[Sidenote: Confid. about Witchcraft, p. 8.]\n\n1. The certain and infallible prophecies of _Samuel_ so punctually\ncoming to pass according as he foretold them, for it is said: _And\nSamuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words\nfall to the ground_; were manifestly known to all _Israel_, as in the\ncase of the destruction of _Eli_, and his house, and by the overthrow of\nthe _Philistines_ at _Eben-ezer_, and in the anointing of _Saul_ to be\nKing, and in the case of sending Thunder and Lightning in Harvest time,\nand such like. And as these were publickly known unto all _Israel_, and\nthey had seen, and tryed what infallible certainty followed upon them,\nso it was as generally known, that _Samuel_ had told _Saul_ that God had\nrejected him from being King over _Israel_, and that he had anointed\n_David_ to be King in his stead; and therefore any rational Man, that\nknew these things, and also saw that _David_ prospered in all things\nthat he did, and that it was quite otherwise with _Saul_, might\ncertainly know that the Kingdome would be transferred from him unto\n_David_, and so there needed neither spirit nor Devil be fetched up to\npredict this, being sufficiently known unto all, of which also the Woman\nat _Endor_ could not be ignorant as a thing of concern to her,\nespecially in the point of her practise which was meer couzenage and\nImposture. And therefore Mr. _Glanvils_ argument concludes nothing,\nwhere he saith: \u201cAnd this _Samuel_ truly foretold his approaching fate,\n_viz._ That _Israel_ should be delivered with him into the hands of the\n_Philistines_, and that on the morrow he, and his Sons should be in the\nstate of the dead, which doubtless is meant by the expression that\n[_they should be with him_:] which contingent particulars, how could the\ncouzener, and her confederate foretel, if there were nothing in it\nextraordinary and preternatural?\u201d To answer which we say, that there was\nno contingent particular that was foretold, but Mr. _Glanvil_ might have\nforetold it, if he had been there, and known but that which was\npublickly divulged in _Israel_, without incurring the danger of being\nreputed a Witch or a Diviner.\n\n[Sidenote: Isa. 63. 16.]\n\n1. Because _Samuels_ prophecies were certainly known to come to pass,\nand he had openly declared, that the Kingdom should be rent from _Saul_,\nand given to _David_. 2. She or her confederate might have guessed as\nmuch, because of the extream fear and consternation that _Saul_ was in,\nfor heartless and fearful Generals seldom or never win Battels. 3.\nBecause that he confessed that God had forsaken him, and when he saw the\nhoast of the _Philistines_, he was afraid and his heart greatly\ntrembled, and those that God doth forsake cannot prosper. 4. The word\n_to morrow_ in the Hebrew doth not precisely denote the day following,\nbut the time to come, so that how true soever Mr. _Glanvil_ may think\nit, there was but a piece of ambiguous Equivocation in it, for it cannot\nbe made out that it was fought the very next day, neither were all\n_Sauls_ Sons slain with him, at that very time. 5. And if nothing must\nbe supplied but meerly what is _totidem verbis_ in the Text (as he\nurgeth against Mr. _Scot_) then how will it be proved, that the Phrase\n(_to morrow thou and thy Sons shall be with me_) is to be understood of\nthe state of the dead, seeing the words (if literally to be taken) do\nimply a locality, not a state or condition? 6, But if it be supposed to\nbe the Devil, how comes he to know contingencies so certainly? It is a\nthing that is easily affirmed, but was never yet sufficiently proved.\nFor if it be said he gathered it from the Prophecie of _Samuel_, so\nmight the Witch have done without any assistance of a Devil. 7. And if\nhe take it to be _Samuels_ Soul (as he seems to hold) how come departed\nSouls to know, and foresee what contingent effects are to fall out here\nbelow? Where reads he or finds any such Divinity except in Popish\nAuthors? But he may consult the Text: _Doubtless thou art our Father,\nthough Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not_.\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Sam. 9. 2. & 10. 23.]\n\n2. That this Woman was a meer dissembling and lying cheater, and used\nnothing but Imposture, is manifest from these reasons. 1. Because that\nshe was but of the same Crew and Stamp that _Manasseh_, and _Ahab_ set\nup, is most plain, but they were meer Impostors and deceivers pretending\nto divine for other persons, and in other matters, but could not foresee\ntheir own destruction, and therefore in probability she was of the same\npractice. 2. Because she falsly faigned that she knew not _Saul_, of\nwhom she could not be ignorant, he being so publickly known, and seen,\nand was taller by the head and shoulders than any man in _Israel_. 3. If\nshe had not known that it had been _Saul_, when he came to her at the\nfirst, she would never have relyed upon his oath when he swore by\n_Jehovah_, for there was none but the King that could protect her from\ndestruction. 4. She must needs be a most notorious dissembling cheater,\nbecause she pretended to call up any, for she said: _whom shall I bring\nup unto thee?_ which is most certainly false, she had no such universal\npower, no nor all the Devils in Hell, if they had all assisted her. 5.\nShe did plainly dissemble, for the Text saith, _and when the woman saw\nSamuel she cried out with a loud voice_; now if she saw _Samuel_ (whom\nhe could not but know) why did she answer to _Saul_, when he asked,\n_what sawest thou?_ She answered, _I saw gods ascending out of the\nearth_. Let Mr. _Glanvil_, and all men judge if this be not gross and\npalpable lying, Gods is plural, but _Samuel_ was but one.\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Sam. 16. 14.]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Sam. 15. 23, 27.]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Sam. 28. 6.]\n\n3. As it is manifest that this Woman was an active deceiver, and one\nthat intended to cheat and couzen, so it is as plain that _Saul_ was in\na condition fit to be deluded, and imposed upon, even by those that had\nbeen less cunning and skilful than she was in the craft of cheating,\nwhich is apparent from these reasons. 1. The Spirit of the Lord was\ndeparted from him, and consequently, Wisdom, Prudence and Discretion,\nand so that which should have guided his Will, Affections and Actions in\nthe right way, had totally left him. And when these are gone, what is\nman, but a fit instrument to undergo and suffer even the worst and\nlowest of delusions and abuses? 2. The Spirit of the Lord had not only\nleft him, but an evil Spirit from the Lord was come upon him that vexed\nand terrified him. And to what madness, folly and wickedness is not he\nsubject to, who is led by the Spirit of lies and darkness? 3. The Lord\nhad openly declared, that because he had rejected the word of the Lord,\ntherefore the Lord had rejected him from being King over _Israel_, and\nthat the Kingdom should be rent from him, and given to one more worthy\nthan him. Now what despondency of mind, what torture and vexation of\nSpirit must needs be in him, that having been a King, is thus threatned\nto have his Kingdom rent from him and given to another, is easy to be\nimagined. 4. He must needs be under a most fearful consternation of mind\nnot only because of these things named, but especially having before in\nhis dangers and straights received counsel and advice from the Lord,\nthough he now _inquired of the Lord, yet the Lord answered him neither\nby dreams, nor by Urim, nor by Prophets_. The Lord answered him not by\ndreams; for the union and converse that had been betwixt him and the\nLord before, was now broken by reason of his Sins and Rebellion. Neither\ndid the Lord answer him by Urim, for the Urim was not in the possession\nthen of _Saul_, but of _David_, Chap. 23. 6, 9. Neither did the Lord\nanswer him by Prophets, for _Samuel_ had left him, after his last\ndenouncing judgment against him, and came no more at him until his\ndeath. 5. He must needs be in a most fearful case, and a fit subject for\nthe most weak and simple Imposture of the World, because the\n_Philistines_ were upon him with a potent and numerous Army, and he able\nto gather but few and weak forces, the best and most of the people being\nrevolted from him, and were in their affections, or persons with and for\n_David_. And from hence may easily be collected, how facile a thing it\nwas to delude, and deceive _Saul_, even by those that had far less craft\nthan this Woman, who doubtless was devilish cunning in her couzening\ntricks.\n\n4. There is much question who was the Penman of this first Book of\n_Samuel_, but whosoever it was (for we cannot determine it) it cannot be\nrationally supposed that he had the Story of this transaction betwixt\n_Saul_ and the Woman from Divine Revelation, for then doubtless it would\nnot have been left so ambiguous and doubtful, but the whole truth, both\nof the matter, manner and circumstances, would in all probability have\nbeen fully set down: and have been declared whether it were a miracle\nwrought by God, a delusive apparition of Satan, the Soul of _Samuel_, or\nthe Imposture of the Woman, the certainty of which had been mainly\nprofitable and expedient for the people of God and his Church to have\nknown. And if the Penman had it from the relation of _Saul_ or either or\nboth of his Servants, then it must needs have been according to their\ndeluded imaginations and their deceived apprehensions, as is most\nrational to believe that it was; or if he had it from the Woman, or\nthose of her family, (which is not rationally probable) then it is sure\nto have been represented for the most advantage, and credit of the\nWomans skill and cunning. But the most learned persons do judge it to be\nrelated, meerly according to the deceived opinion and apprehension of\n_Saul_.\n\n[Sidenote: Consid. about Witchcraft, p. 86.]\n\n5. But to come more near the stress of the business, though Mr.\n_Glanvil_ confidently say, that Mr. _Scots_ Tenent, that the Woman was\nin one room and _Saul_ in another, when the feat was acted, is but a\npretty knack and contrivance, and but an invention without ground, and\nnot as much as intimated in the History: Yet we must soberly averr, that\nnothing is more plain in the Text, than either that they were in diverse\nrooms, or that _Saul_ saw nothing at all, but what he had was from her\nrelation, or the acting of a confederate, and this we shall prove by\nthese undeniable reasons. 1. After _Saul_ had pacified the pretended\nfears of the Woman, who falsly counterfeited that she knew not _Saul,\nwho was taller by the head and shoulders than any man in Israel_, the\nnext thing we hear of in the Text is, _and when the Woman saw Samuel_:\nNow if they were both in the same room, and _Samuel_ a visible object,\nhow comes it to pass that _Saul_ saw him not? for if they were both in\none room, and _Samuel_ visible, how is it that he did not or could not\nsee him? were his corporal eyes as blind, as the eyes of his\nunderstanding? surely not. What fiction or invention must salve this?\nsurely Mr. _Glanvil_ must pump to find it out. 2. The next thing is,\nthat when the Woman saw (for blind _Saul_ saw nothing) _Samuel, she\ncried with a loud voice, magna voce_, or (as the Hebrew hath it) _in\nmagna voce_. And (I pray you) if they had been both in one room, or near\ntogether, what need she to have cried with a great voice, might not an\nordinary tone have made him to have heard her? What was he deaf as well\nas blind? Or it might be it was the more to amuse and amaze the wretched\nand deluded King, or to shew the wonderfulness of the apparition she\nfeigned that astonishment, the more to magnifie her skill and cunning.\nWell, admit these were so, yet however it is manifest, notwithstanding\nher great voice, that as yet _Saul_ saw nothing, but stood waiting like\na drown\u2019d Puppet to hear what would be the issue, for all he understood\nwas from her cunning and lying relation. And so either thus far it is\nmanifest that they were in distinct rooms, or there was nothing that he\ncould see. 3. The next thing is, he saith, _be not afraid, what sawest\nthou?_ that is, though I be _Saul_, yet be not afraid, I have sworn, and\nthou shalt receive no harm, but _what sawest thou?_ As who should say, I\nsee nothing as yet at all, but I suppose thou hast seen something; for\notherwise his question doth not agree with the words the Woman spake\nbefore. But however it is manifest that as yet he saw nothing, and\ntherefore rationally it must be supposed that they were in distinct\nrooms, or that there was nothing visible, that he could see. Further,\nhis question is not in the present tense but of the time past, _what\nsawest thou?_ or what hast thou seen? which could not be congruously\nspoken, if they had been both in one room, but however do undeniably\nconclude that as yet he saw nothing at all. 4. The next is the Womans\nlying and forged answer, thereby to magnifie her own craft, and the more\nto amuse and astonish poor deluded _Saul_, saying; _Behold I saw gods\nascending out of the earth._ Well, it is still apparent that as _Saul_\ncould not before see _Samuel_, now he neither seeth these Gods she\ntelleth him of, nor any such thing: So that all that he apprehended was\nfrom her forged Stories, for he saw nothing as yet, either because he\nwas not in the same room with her, or that there was no visible\napparition. 5. Then he maketh another absurd question, like a distracted\nMan in the house of _Bethlem_, saying, _what form is he of?_ when his\nquestion should have been, what forms are they of? for she spoke of Gods\nwhich are plural, and more than one, but he asketh in the singular,\n_what form is he of_. By all which it is manifest, that he yet saw\nnothing at all. For when we plainly see a thing, we do not usually ask\nothers what form it is of, because our eyes can inform us of that. So\nthat he saw nothing, either because he was not in the same room, or that\nthere appeared nothing that was visible. 6. Now after all these\nambiguous lies, and delatory cheats, the crafty quean doth begin to come\nmore near, to give satisfaction to the blinded expectation of _Saul_,\nwho all this while stood gaping to see the appearance of _Samuel_, and\nso she tells him (who was fit to believe any thing, though never so\nabsurd, or impossible) _behold an old man comes up, and he is covered\nwith a mantle_. In the beginning of the action, the Text saith, _and\nwhen the woman saw Samuel, she cried out_, then she said, _she saw gods\nascending out of the earth_, and now after all this discourse and\nexpence of time _Samuel_ is but coming up, all was lies and delayes the\nmore to blind and delude the poor credulous King. But yet thus far it is\nplain that _Saul_ saw nothing at all, and so must needs all this while,\neither be in another room, or else for certain there was no apparition\nvisible, and all the satisfaction that he had, was from the lying\nstories the Woman told him. Now let Mr. _Glanvil_ consider and answer,\nwhether it be not only intimated, but clearly holden forth in the Text\nthat either they were in two distinct rooms, or that nothing visible did\nappear before _Saul_. 7. Now after all this the Text saith, _and Saul\nperceived that it was Samuel_, the Hebrew word doth signifie to know or\nto perceive, and relates to the understanding: but how did he know, or\nperceive that it was _Samuel_? not by the sight of his eyes, for we have\nmade it plain that he was either in another room, or that no visible\napparition presented it self before his eyes, but he only perceived it\nby the description of the crafty Woman, who knew well enough what habit\nor garments _Samuel_ wore in his life time, as one that was the most\npublickly known Man in _Israel_: and therefore the subtil and crafty\nquean, knowing that _Saul_ only required _Samuel_ to be brought up and\nno other, doth at the last frame her tale agreeable to _Sauls_ desire,\nand so describes him an old Man, covered with a mantle, and such an one\n_Saul_ had known him to be, while he was living. But if _Saul_ had seen\nany such thing as the shape or form of _Samuel_, then the Hebrew Verb\nthrice used in that action, that properly signifieth to see with the\neyes, would have been used in this place (as well as when it relateth\nwhat she saw) and not the verb for knowing or perceiving that relateth\nto the mind, and _Samuel_ he saw not, but only believed the lies she\ntold him. For otherwise it would have been, And _Saul_ saw _Samuel_, and\nnot, _Saul_ perceived that it was _Samuel_, which he could not do but\nonly by her relation, and forged tales. 8. The last thing in this\naction, is, that _Saul stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed\nhimself_: now to what did he stoop and bow, seeing he had seen nothing\nwith his own eyes, neither knew any thing that appeared, but as the\nWoman told him? Could it be to any thing but to an imaginary _Samuel_\nand such an one as she had described, whom he conceited in his Phantasie\nto be _Samuel_ himself? Surely in rational consequence it could be\nnothing else. For all that she had done and said before, being\nundeniably lies and cheats, this also in just and right reason, must be\njudged to be so also. So that it was either the Woman, that being in\nanother room, did change and alter her voice, and so plaid the part of\n_Samuel_, or else that she had a confederate knave, whom she turned out\nto act the part of dead _Samuel_.\n\n6. The last thing that we shall handle concerning this controverted\nsubject, is the examination of the grounds and reasons of those that are\nof a different judgment, which may be comprised in these three several\nheads. 1. Some do conceive that it was the Body of _Samuel_ that was\nraised up, and acted by his soul or by Satan. 2. Some hold that it was\n_Samuels_ Soul that appeared in the shape and habit, that he had living.\n3. Others do positively affirm that it was the Devil that assumed the\nshape of _Samuel_, and so acted the whole business, by a compact betwixt\nhim and the Woman. These we shall confute in order.\n\n[Sidenote: Philipp. 3. 21.]\n\n[Sidenote: Matth. 27. 52, 53.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Caten. Aur. Tho. Aquin. in_ Matth. 27.]\n\n[Sidenote: Revel. 14. 13.]\n\n1. That it was not the Body of _Samuel_ that was raised up, nor the Soul\njoyned with it, that acted _Samuels_ part, is manifest from these\nreasons. 1. Because _Samuels_ Body had lain too long in the grave, for\nsome account it near two years, and therefore must needs in a great part\nbe corrupted, wasted and disfigured, that none could have certainly\nknown that it was _Samuel_. 2. It must have been so putrified and\nstinking, that none could have endured near it, for the noisome and\nhorrible smell. 3. Who should have covered it with the mantle, which had\nit been buried with him, must in so long a time, have been rotten and\nconsumed? Surely there were no Taylors in the Grave, to make him a new\none, but (in reason and likelihood) if it had been his Body, it should\nhave appeared in Linnen, or a winding-sheet, if that had not been rotten\nlikewise. 4. To raise a Body, so long dead, must needs have required an\nomnipotent power, for it is the Almighty power of Christ alone, that\nraiseth up the vile Bodies of his Saints, and maketh them like his\nglorious Body. And therefore neither the woman with all her Divinations,\nnor all the Devils in Hell, nor any created power, but the Lord\nAlmighty, could have wrought this miracle, who would never have done it,\nto gratifie the humour, or to magnifie the cheating craft of an\nidolatrous, wicked and couzening Witch. And if the Devil or any created\npower could raise up the Body of a departed Saint, then the rising out\nof the Graves of many Bodies of Saints, that had slept, and their coming\ninto the holy City, and appearing unto many, after Christ was risen from\nthe dead, had been no certain, or convincing argument, of the undoubted\ntruth of the Divinity and Resurrection of our most Blessed Saviour. But\nthey were most infallible evidences of them both, as saith the Father S.\n_Hierome_ in these words, _Sic multa corpora sanctorum resurrexerunt, ut\ndominum ostenderent resurgentem, & tamen cum monumenta aperta sunt, non\nante resurrexerunt qu\u00e0m resurgeret dominus, ut esset primogenitus\nresurrectionis \u00e0 mortuis_. 5. That it was not _Samuels_ Soul joyned with\nthe Body, that acted this, we thus argue: That Tenent that is flatly\ncontrary to the plain Doctrine of the Scripture, must needs be false.\nBut this tenent of _Samuels_ Soul acting in the Body after death, is\nflatly contrary to the plain Doctrine of the Scripture, _ergo_ it is\nfalse. The major (we suppose) no Orthodox Christian can justly deny; and\nthe minor is proved thus. The Scripture doth assure us, that _those that\ndie in the Lord_ (as without all doubt _Samuel_ did) _are blessed, and\nrest from their labours_. Therefore must this Tenent be abominably\nfalse: for if the Soul of _Samuel_, after his death had been brought\nagain to act in the Body, then he had not rested from his labours, but\nhad been disquieted, and brought to new trouble, to have been vexed to\nhave seen _Saul_ committing more wickedness than before, in taking\ncounsel from a cursed Idolatrous Woman, such as the Lord had commanded\nto be destroyed. And there is no one point in all this transaction of\n_Saul_ with the Witch, that speaketh her Imposture more apparently than\nwhere this counterfeit _Samuel_ saith, _Why hast thou disquieted me?_ As\nthough the Saints of God after death could be disquieted by a Devil, or\na Witch, who (according to Gods infallible truth) are blessed, and rest\nfrom their labours, and are in the hands of the Lord, where no Torments\ncan touch them. And therefore none would have spoken those lying words,\nbut a devilish cheating quean, or a damnable suborned confederate.\n\n6. If _Samuels_ Soul was again joined to his body so long after\nseparation, and so performed vital actions, who was the author of this\nconjunction or union? could the Witch or the Devil or any created power\neffect that union? Surely not, none but the almighty power of Jehovah,\nwho breathed into _Adam_ the breath of life. And therefore we are bold\nto assert (with all the company of learned Christians) that this opinion\nis erroneous, impious and blasphemous.\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Sam. 15. 33.]\n\n[Sidenote: Verse 29.]\n\n2. The second opinion, that it was _Samuels_ Soul that appeared in his\nwonted shape and habit, that he wore while he lived, hath been\nstrenuously maintained by the Popish party, and as strongly confuted by\nthe reformed Divines. But we shall not trouble our selves and our\nreaders with them all, but only urge two or three that are most cogent,\nthereby to answer Mr. _Glanvils_ fopperies, and they are these. 1. If it\nwere _Samuels_ Soul that appeared, it cannot be supposed to come\ncontrary, or whether God would or not, for hardly any rational Man (we\nbelieve) will affirm that, because God doth whatsoever he will, both in\nHeaven and Earth, and who hath resisted his will? 2. And it cannot be\nrationally thought that _Samuel_, who whilst he lived, was so punctually\ncareful to do nothing (especially in his prophetick office) but what he\nwas commanded of God, would after his death run an errand without his\nconsent or licence. 3. And that his Soul did not come by the command of\nGod is most certain: Though Mr. _Glanvil_ ask the question, who saith\nthat happy departed Souls were never imployed in any ministeries here\nbelow? To which (though we have answered it before) we now again reply,\nthat all learned Divines of the reformed Churches have said, and\nmaintained it, and so do we both say and affirm, that they never were\nnor are imployed in ministeries here below, because never created, nor\nordained of God, for any such end or purpose, but there are legions of\nAngels, that are ordained to be ministring Spirits, and not the Souls of\nthe Saints departed this life. But Mr. _Glanvil_ goeth further, and\nsaith, that _Samuel_ was not raised by the power of the Witches\ninchantments, but came on that occasion on a Divine errand. And though\nwe have before unanswerably proved in the general, that no Souls of\nthose that are dead do after death appear, or wander here below, nor\ncome such sleveless errands, as he supposeth: yet we shall add one or\ntwo here in particular, to prove that _Samuels_ Soul came not on a\nDivine errand as sent by God, without which mission it could not have\ncome at all. 4. For fourthly, if Mr. _Glanvil_ had proved by any\nargument, or colour of reason, that his Soul had come upon such a Divine\nerrand it had been something, but he hath only laid down an affirmation,\nwithout either proof, reason or authority, and we may with as good\nreason deny it, as he affirm it, for bare affirmations prove nothing at\nall. 5. It is manifest that God in all his ordinances of providence,\nespecially in the order of his miracles, doth work chiefly to confirm\nand witness truth, for that (as the worthy and learned _Stillingfleet_\nhath observed) is the most proper _criterium_ of a miracle; and to send\na Soul from the dead must needs be miraculous. Now if the chief end in\nGods working of miracles (for none else but he can work them) be to\nestablish truth, and settle his own Divine and pure worship, then it\ncannot be to uphold lies and Idolatrous courses. But if God should have\nsent _Samuels_ Soul on a Divine errand, when the Witch was practising\nher Diabolical Divinations and cheating tricks, it had been to have\ncountenanced and confirmed both _Saul_, and the Witch, in their wicked\nwayes, and to have contradicted his own law and command, which did\npositively order, that all that used Divinations should be put to death,\nand all those that sought for counsel from them to be severely punished.\nNow let Mr. _Glanvil_, or any other prove, that God orders that to be\ndone by the dead, which he forbad to be done by the living. 6. If it had\nbeen the true _Samuel_ that appeared, it is not rational, nor credible\nto imagine, that he would neither rebuke _Saul_ for consulting with a\nWoman that practised those things, that were forbidden by the law upon\npain of death; nor that he would either reprove, or punish so wicked a\nWoman, finding her in the very act. We say it is not credible, unless we\nsuppose _Samuel_ less zealous for the law and commands of God, being\ndead, than he was for them being living. Surely he that living _hewed\nAgag in pieces_, only because God had commanded he should be slain,\nwould (if it had been the true _Samuel_, which without all question it\nwas not) have done as much or worse, to the cursed and Idolatrous\ncheating Witch, though after his death, if he had come upon a Divine\nerrand. 7. God should have shewed himself very mutable, if he had\nanswered _Saul_ in a miraculous way by a dead Prophet, that had refused\nto answer him by one living. And _Samuel_ while living knew certainly\nthat the Lord had rejected _Saul_ from being King over _Israel_, and had\ntestified unto him, that _the strength of Israel would not lie, and that\nhe was not like a man that he should repent_. But if it had been the\ntrue _Samuel_ that had been sent to speak to _Saul_, he knowing both by\nhis own knowledge and relation of _Saul_ himself, that God had refused\nto answer him by Prophets, must in that conference both have made God a\nliar, and mutable, and also himself, who living had testified the\ncontrary, and therefore it could not be either the true _Samuel_ nor his\nSoul. 8. It is manifest that the Lord had before withdrawn his good\nSpirit from _Saul_, and an evil one from the Lord was come upon him, and\ntherefore it was no way probable, that the Lord would in a miraculous\nmanner answer such a wicked person, whom he had utterly rejected as a\nreprobate. Neither is it like that God would shew him an extraordinary\nfavour by a dead Prophet, that would not vouchsafe him his Spirit in an\nordinary way. And _Samuel_ that came not at him for a long time (though\nbut a little distance asunder) while he lived, was not like to make so\nlong a journey in a Divine errand to visit him after his death. 9. And\nif _Abraham_ at the request of the rich Man _would not send Lazarus to\nwarn his brethren, lest they should come into that place of torment_,\nwhich bore with it a fair shew both of Charity and Piety; much less\nwould God give way (or _Samuel_ be desirous to come) to send a blessed\nSoul from its rest for such a frivolous matter, and in no wise to\nconnive at the wickedness of both _Saul_ and the Witch, and never move\neither of them to the amendment of their lives. 10. Where doth Mr.\n_Glanvil_ find it mentioned in any part of Scripture? or where is it\nrecorded in the writings of any reformed or Orthodoxal Divines? or where\nin any of their works is it declared, that ever any blessed Soul after\ndeath, was either sent, or did come upon a Divine errand to any here\nbelow? Is it not monstrous confidence (not to say impudence) to utter\nsuch groundless assertions, without any proof, reason, or authority at\nall? Let all learned and judicious persons consider and judge.\n\n3. That the Devil assumed the shape of _Samuel_, and acted the whole\nbusiness, is the opinion of all, or the most of the learned Divines of\nthe reformed Churches, of whom we shall crave pardon, if we dissent from\nthem, it being no fundamental of Religion, nor any Article of the Faith.\nAnd this we profess is not done out of the spirit of contradiction, nor\nfor singularity, but only because (as we conceive) the Tenent hath no\nsufficient grounds neither from Scripture nor sound reason, to support\nit, and therefore we shall labour its confutation, by these ensuing\narguments.\n\n1. Because this opinion, that the Devil should perform this apparition,\ndoth beg two suppositions, never yet sufficiently proved, and that have\nin them no certain truth. For first they take for an Hypothesis, that\nDevils are meerly and simply incorporeal Spirits, which we shall prove\nhereafter to be false. Secondly they take for another Hypothesis, that\nSpirits and Devils can assume what bodies they please, and appear in any\nfigure or shape, which is a meer figment invented by the doating\nSchoolmen, as we shall sufficiently make good hereafter.\n\n2. We are not of their opinion, that think, that the Devils do move, and\nrove up and down in this elementary world at their pleasure, to act what\nthey list, and appear when, how and in what shapes they please, for then\nthe World would be full of nothing almost but apparitions, and every\ncorner replenished with their ludicrous tricks, as formerly in the times\nof blind Popery and ignorance, there was no discourse almost, but of\nFairies, Hobgoblins, apparitions, Spirits, Devils and Souls, ranting in\nevery house, and playing feats in every Town and Village, when it was\nnothing but the superstitious credulity, and ignorant fancies of the\npeople, joined with the Impostures of the Priests and Monks. And if this\nwere true, then how should Men know a true natural substance or body,\nfrom these fictitious apparitions? Nay how could a Man have known his\nFather or Mother, his Brethren or Sisters, his Kinsmen or Neighbours?\nmight they not as well have believed them to be Phantasms, and assumed\nbodies, as real and true creatures?\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Kings 22.]\n\n[Sidenote: Isa. 37.]\n\n3. But though faln Angels in respect of their malice, wicked wills, and\nenvious desires whereby they seek (as much as in them lies) the ruine of\nall mankind both in Soul and Body, may in that particular end and\nregard, be said to be like roaring Lions going about and seeking whom\nthey may devour, and compassing the earth and walking to and fro in it:\nyet we must affirm that in respect of executing their wicked, envious\nand malicious wills and desires, they are restrained, nay kept in the\nchains of everlasting darkness, from which fetters and chains they go\nnot out, but when and so far as they are sent, ordered, licensed (or as\nsome would have it worded) permitted, by the purpose and decree of the\nDivine and Almighties providence. So that it is most certain, that the\nfaln Spirits cannot go forth of their chains, when they list, to act\nwhat mischief they would, contrary to the will of the Almighty, who hath\nfettered, and still keeps them in those chains: but when they are at any\ntime let loose, it is only by the will, decree, licence and order of\nJehovah, who sends them forth to accomplish his will, either for\npunishment to the wicked to inflict upon them his just judgments, for\nwhich they are the appointed ministers and executioners, and in the\nperformance of these offices of his wrath, they are limited and bounded\nhow far they shall proceed, and no further; or else they are sent forth\nto tempt, or afflict the godly for the trial of their faith, and herein\nthey are so restrained and bounded by the power of the Almighty as they\ncannot act one jot beyond the limit of his commands or Commissions, as\nis manifest in the case of _David_, who was tempted by Satan to number\nthe people, and in the affliction of _Job_, wherein he was bounded how\nfar he should act, and no further. And when the evil Angels are thus\nsent forth, and limited by God, what, and how far they shall act, it is\nalways for just and righteous ends, as in the case of _Ahab_, when a\nlying Spirit was sent by God into the mouths of his Prophets, that he\nmight be persuaded to go up to _Ramath Gilead_ that he might be slain\nthere, or as it was for a judgment and destruction upon _Sennacheribs_\nArmy, that _Jerusalem_ might be saved and freed, and he sent back with\nshame and confusion into his own countrey, or it is to manifest his\nglory, goodness and mercy to his Saints, so _David_ was moved to number\nthe people, that falling under that temptation, and he and the people\ntherefore plagued, might be brought to a greater degree of repentance,\nand to know that their defence stood not in the multitude of men, but in\nthe benignity of Jehovah, who was their strength and their defender, and\nso _Job_ was so sore afflicted, that his Faith and Patience might be\nmade manifest, and remain for an example to all succeeding posterities.\nBut it is utterly irrational and incredible that God would send the\nDevil (without whose mission he could not have done it) to appear in the\nshape of _Samuel_, either to magnifie the skil, or practice of a lewd,\nwicked, and Idolatrous Woman, which thing he had forbidden by his plain\nand open law, nor to gratifie the curiosity of a wretched Reprobate,\nsuch as was _Saul_, whom he had denied to answer by living Prophets, and\ntherefore would not answer him by the apparition of a Devil, to have\ncommitted a counterfeit Imposture, in the shape of holy _Samuel_. And\ntherefore we conclude, that it was no apparition of the Devil, but\nmeerly the Imposture of the Woman, either alone, or with a Confederate.\n\nThere is also a fourth opinion concerning the transaction of this Woman\nof _Endor_, that holds, that it was neither the Body, or Soul of\n_Samuel_ that was raised up, neither the Devil that appeared in his\nshape, nor that it was the Imposture of the Witch alone, or with a\nConfederate, but that it was the Sydereal, or Astral Spirit (as they are\npleased to term it) of _Samuel_ that was made to appear, and speak by\nthe art and skill of the Woman. But because this Tenent is not of much\nAntiquity, nor hath many assertors of it, as also because it taketh that\nfor an Hypothesis, to wit, that there are three parts in Man, the Body,\nSoul, and Spirit; and that the Soul goeth immediately after death either\nto Heaven or Hell, the Body to the grave, and that the Spirit doth for a\ncertain time after death wander in the air, and may be (by a certain\nkind of art) brought to appear visibly, and to give answers of all\nthings that it knew living, which as yet hath never been sufficiently\nproved, therefore we shall pass it over here, having (perhaps) occasion\nto speak of it more largely hereafter.\n\nWe shall now come to mention some places in the New Testament that are\nproduced by some, thereby to prove the great power of Devils and Witches\nin transferring and carrying bodies in the air, as is that of our\nSaviours temptation, where it is said that the Devil took him into an\nexceeding high Mountain, and that he set him upon the pinnacle of the\nTemple in _Jerusalem_, from whence they thus argue: That if the Devil\nhad power to carry our most blessed Saviour in the air into an high\nmountain, and to set him upon the pinnacle of the Temple, that much more\nhath he power to carry the bodies of Witches who are his sworn vassals\nin the air, whither he pleaseth, or they desire. To annul the force of\nwhich objection we give these reasons.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 1._]\n\n[Sidenote: Matth. 3. 16.]\n\n[Sidenote: Luke 3. 22.]\n\n[Sidenote: Judg. 15. 15.]\n\n1. If it were granted that the Devil did transport our Saviour in the\nair, yet it will not follow that he can at any time when he pleaseth\ncarry the Bodies of Men or Women so likewise, for no particular\nproposition will, according to the rules of art, infer a general or\nuniversal conclusion, nor one example or instance inductively prove a\ngeneral practice; one Swallow doth not make a Summer. For though once\nwhen our blessed Saviour was baptized, the Holy Ghost did descend like a\nDove, and light upon him, it will not follow, that in all other of his\nactions of preaching, or working of miracles, the holy Spirit should\nappear also in the form of a Dove, nor when other Saints are Baptized\nwill it follow that it doth, or should alwaies appear in the same form.\nAnd though _Samson_ did once slay a thousand of the _Philistines_ with\nthe jawbone of an Ass, it doth not follow, that either he did so in like\nmanner in every battel, or that every Man may do the like.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 2._]\n\n2. If it were granted that the Devil did carry Christs Body in the air,\nit will not follow that he can do so at any other times, when he\npleaseth, because in the temptation of Christ there was an extraordinary\ndispensation of God for the same, which cannot be presupposed in the\nordinary transportation of Witches, and therefore the argument falls\nquite to the ground.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 3._]\n\n3. In the actions of Satan (especially in elementary things, for we\nspeak not of the acts of his will) the will, order and licence of God is\nchiefly to be considered, because his power (in respect of execution) is\nunder the power of the Almighty, so that he can do nothing in this\nrespect but what he is ordered and commanded to do. And therefore the\nend of the action is principally to be regarded; for if God should have\ngiven way that Christ should be carried by Satan in the air, it was for\na glorious and good end, that the obedience of his will to the Father\nmight be shown, and that his victory over the Devil might be made\nmanifest: but in carrying the Bodies of Witches in the air, there can be\nno good, just or pious end wherefore the Devil should be licensed, or\npermitted to carry them in the air, except it were to promote filthiness\nand abominable wickedness, which were absurd and blasphemous to imagine.\nAnd therefore we may rationally and plainly conclude, that the carrying\nof the Bodies of Witches in the air, by the power of the Devil, is a\nfalse, wicked and impious opinion.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 4._]\n\n[Sidenote: Ezek. 8. 3.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Beza in Luc._ 4. 5.]\n\n[Sidenote: Matth. 4. 1.]\n\n[Sidenote: Mark 1. 12.]\n\n[Sidenote: Luke 4. 1.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Caten. Aur. Tho. Aquin. in_ Luke 4.]\n\n4. Some are of opinion that this whole transaction was visible, sensible\nand corporeal, as _Theophylact_, and many others. Some are of opinion\nthat it was wholly in a Vision. And some take a middle way that it was\npartly sensible and visible, and partly mental, and by way of vision. Of\nwhich opinion the great _Cameron_ seems to be, who compares it with that\nof _Ezekiel_ who saith: _And the spirit lifted me up between the earth\nand the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem_: And\nsheweth that the word \u1f08\u03bd\u03ae\u03c7\u03b8\u03b7 doth agree with the Hebrew word \u200f\u05e0\u05e9\u05d0\u200e,\nwhich is as applicable to lifting up or carrying in a vision, as to\nbodily transportation. And that it was either altogether, or partly in a\nvision, the learned _Beza_ gives us this note: _Hoc videtur satis\nostendere h\u00e6c omnia per visionem quandam, non corporali transvectione &\nostensione esse gesta, quomodo nempe humanitus videre potuisset omnia\nregna orbis, & gloriam eorum in momento?_ But though it be the more\nsound and rational opinion that the whole transaction was mental, and in\na vision, yet we shall not altogether stand upon that, but if it be\ngranted that it was corporeal and visible, yet it doth not appear that\nour Saviour was in his Body carried by the power of the Devil in the\nair, either to the top of an high mountain, nor set upon the pinnacle of\nthe Temple in _Jerusalem_, and that for these reasons. 1. Our Saviour\ndid not go to undertake this combat with Satan unwillingly, that he need\nbe constrained, or carried to try the utmost power and malice of the\nDevil, but readily and willingly by the conduct and leading of the holy\nSpirit, for the Text saith in _Matthew_; _Then was Jesus led up of the\nspirit into the wilderness, to be tempted of the Devil_: And S. _Mark_\nsaith; _And immediately the spirit driveth him into the wilderness_. And\nS. _Luke_ saith: _He was led by the spirit into the wilderness_. _Beza_\nsaith, _subductus fuit in desertum_, and _Tremellius_ saith, _ductus\nfuit_, upon the place in S. _Matthews_ Gospel. And in S. _Luke_\n_Tremellius_ saith; _Et duxit eum spiritus in desertum_, and _Beza_,\n_actus est ab eodem spiritu in desertum_. And in S. _Mark_ _Tremellius_\nsaith, _deduxit eum spiritus in desertum_, and _Beza_ rendreth it,\n_expellit eum spiritus in desertum_. And because of the Greek word which\nis there \u1f10\u03ba\u03b2\u03ac\u03bb\u03bb\u03b5\u03b9, he addeth this note, _Non significatur expulsio\nviolenta, sed vis divina, qu\u00e6 Christum, (qui ad illud usq; tempus ut\nprivatus vixerat) nova persona induit, ac luct\u00e6 proxim\u00e6 & ministerio\npr\u00e6paratur_. Therefore saith _Origen_: _Sequebatur plan\u00e8 quasi athleta\nad tentationem sponte proficiscens, & quodammodo loquebatur: Duc quo\nvis, & invenies me in omnibus fortiorem_. So that it is most plain that\nhe was no otherwise led or carried by Satan, but as he was led by the\nHoly Ghost, so that he went whithersoever Satan would desire him of his\nown mind and accord, and needed not to be carried by the Devil, for S.\n_Luke_ useth the same Greek word both for the Holy Spirit leading of\nhim, and Satans leading of him, so that Satan did not carry his body in\nthe air, as Men vainly conceive. 2. Though S. _Matthew_ use the word\n\u03c0\u03b1\u03c1\u03b1\u03bb\u03b1\u03bc\u03b2\u03ac\u03bd\u03b5\u03b9, which may signifie _assumpsit_, he took him, and set him\nupon a pinnacle of the Temple, and took him into an high mountain; yet\nit cannot be understood thereby that he took him, and carried his Body,\nbut that he went before, and led Christ to those places, that he thought\nmost fit for him to prevail in his temptations, to which places Christ\nwent not by an unwilling constraint or hurried and carried in the air,\nbut by a ready willingness, as one that certainly knew, and was assured,\nthat he should win the Victory where ever, or how great soever the\ncombat and temptations were. And therefore S. _Luke_ useth the same word\nfrom \u1f04\u03b3\u03c9, _duco_, both for the Spirits, and Satans leading, as\nsignifying no more, but to go before, and lead the way, or to draw one\nto such or such a place by persuasion and desire, and not to be carried\nin the air, which appeareth to be a vain and forged interpretation, and\nnot the true meaning of the places.\n\n[Sidenote: Acts 8. 9.]\n\nConcerning _Simon Magus_ we have before in this Treatise sufficiently\nproved that he was only a deceiver and Impostor, and what strange feats\nhe had done to astonish, and stupifie the _Samaritanes_, were only\njugling knacks, or deceits by confederacy, and no supernatural things,\nso that here we will say no more, but only add: That though our English\ntranslation say that he bewitched the people of _Samaria_ with\nsorceries, and that he himself, when he beheld the miracles and signs\nthat were done, wondered; yet the word that they translate in the one\nplace bewitching, and in the other wondered, are both from one _Thema_\nwhich is \u1f28\u03be\u03af\u03c3\u03c4\u03b7\u03bc\u03b9, _de statu mentis dejicio, facio ut aliquis mente non\nconstet, perterrefacio, obstupefacio_. And therefore either it ought to\nbe that the _Samaritanes_ were astonisht at the feats that _Simon_\nwrought, and that he himself was astonisht at the miracles of _Philip_,\nor that they were both bewitched, for they were both under the same\namazement, and there is no reason at all to give it one sense in one\nplace, and a different one in the other.\n\n[Sidenote: Acts 13. 10.]\n\n[Sidenote: Acts 19. 13, 16.]\n\nWe need not here say any thing of _Elymas_ who is stiled a Magician,\nbecause it is manifest that he was a false Prophet, full of all\nsubtilty, and all mischief, a Child of the Devil, and an enemy of all\nrighteousness: which character truly given to him by the unerring\nsentence of S. _Paul_, may be really ascribed to the whole tribe and\nprofession of such kind of seducers and deceivers. Like unto whom were\nthose _seven Sons of Sceva a Jew_, who are called _exorcists_, that\n_took upon them to call over them that had evil spirits, the name of the\nLord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preacheth_, but\nwere soundly beaten for their pains, a fit reward for such vagabonds;\nAnd if all that profess or practise such wicked, vain and lying things\nwere duely punished, the poor ignorant people would not be so much\nabused as they are.\n\nThe other places in the New Testament we have handled, and answered, and\nalso have touched upon that Text in the _Galathians_ where we spoke of\nFascination, but lest it be not sufficient, we shall handle it fully\nhere. The words are, _O foolish Galathians, who hath bewitched you, that\nyou should not obey the truth?_ From whence they use thus to argue: If\nWitchcraft in the Apostles time had not been known, and practised, he\nwould not have made use of that Phrase then; concerning which we return\nthese responsions.\n\n[Sidenote: _Delrio._ _l._ 3. _q._ 4. _sect._ 1. _Concl._ 2.]\n\n1. If we consider natural Fascination was by the Philosophers and Poets\nonly taken to be contagious steams flowing from the eyes, or breaths of\nmalevolent and envious persons, that had some infectious diseases, as we\nsee in the Plague, Small-pox, _Lues Venerea_, soreness of Eyes, Tinea\u2019s,\nand the like, which are contagious to others that lie with them, or\nconverse near them, the infected atomes or steams issuing in a certain\nSphear of activity, are received by the pores, or mouths of the sound\npersons, by which they come to be infected also. And this the Poet\nwitnessed: _Nescio quis teneros oculus mihi fascinat agnos_. Now this\nbeing the common opinion, the Apostle taketh the metaphor from thence,\nas who should say, who with their virulent and poysonous opinions have\ninfected you, that you should not obey the truth. And this is the\ngenuine meaning of that metaphorical phrase, and no other sense can\nrationally and congruously be put upon the place, and this conduceth\nnothing to that opinion of Witchcraft that we oppose. For _Philosophica\nseu Physica fascinatio non nisi impropri\u00e8 dici potest fascinatio,\npropri\u00e8 ver\u00f2 est contagio, seu infectio_. And therefore did the learned\n_Vallesius_ to the same purpose speak this. _Sed neq; si quis pestilenti\naffectus febri, aut etiam sine febre deferens secum seminaria pestis\nalium intuens intuentem inficiat, dicetur fascinasse, sed peste\naffecisse._\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Jo. Lazar. Guttier. de fascino._]\n\n2. Some of the fathers (which may be offered for an objection) do seem\nto hold that S. _Paul_ here meant of diabolical fascination, and so\n_Tertullian_ in English thus: For there is also something amongst the\nGentiles to be feared, which they call fascination, being a more\nunfortunate event of praise, and great glory: this we sometimes\ninterpret of the Devil. And S. _Hierome_ saith upon this place:\nFascination is when some things by Magical illusions are shewed to the\neyes of Men, otherwise than they are. Also Fascination is vulgarly\ncalled that, which doth hurt Children, for the eyes of certain persons\nare said to burn with looking, and this act of theirs is called\nFascination, and it may be that the Devils are subservient to this Sin.\nAnd _Thomas Aquinas_ saith: And this also may be done by Devils, who\nhave power of moving false imaginations, and bringing them to the\nprinciples of the Senses, by changing the Senses themselves. From whence\nwe may note these things. 1. That _Tertullian_ saith that they sometimes\ninterpret this of the Devil, but how truly or upon what grounds he\nsheweth not, and it seemeth that sometimes they did interpret it of\nsomething else, for so his words must needs imply. 2. Secondly, S.\n_Hierome_ sometime calleth fascination Magical illusions, and sometime\nthat which doth hurt Children, by the burning of some eyes; and then\ncomes in with a may be that the Devils are subservient to this sin. So\nthat he is not certain in his opinion, nor truly knows what fascination\nis, but according to vulgar opinion, or blind conjectures. 3. And all\nthat the Angelical Doctor saith, doth but amount to the delusion of the\nSenses, by false imaginations, so that here is no proof either of the\nDevil, or his instruments, to cause any real fascination.\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Guttier. passim._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Galen. de Incantat._]\n\n3. Those that hold that _Paul_ did allude unto natural, or diabolick\nfascination, do but mean magical illusions, whereby the senses are\nabused and deceived, to take things to be that which really they are\nnot, and so are but cheating Incantations and delusory Juglings, for as\n_Galen_ (if that piece be truly his) saith: _Incantationes verba sunt\ndecipientia rationales animas secundum spei inceptionem, aut secundum\ntimoris incisionem_. So that though S. _Paul_ had taken the metaphor\nfrom that which was commonly accounted fascination, there is no\nnecessity, that therefore the metaphor must in all points be true: it is\nsufficient that the common opinion was so, from whose usage of such\nterms the Apostle useth the word, to fascinate, or inchant. And of this\nopinion was S. _Hierome_ himself who saith thus much: _Dign\u00e8 Paulum, qui\netsi imperitus est sermone non tamen & scientia, debemus exponere non\nquod scierit esse fascinum, qui vulg\u00f2 putatur nocere, sed usus sermone\nsit trivii, & ut in c\u00e6tero, ita & in hoc quoq; loco verbum quotidian\u00e6\nsermocinationis assumpserit_. So that from hence it is most evident,\nthat the using of the word fascination by the Apostle, doth not inferr\nthe being of the thing, but only the opinion of the vulgar, that\nbelieved things that were not. And of the same judgment is _Thomas\nAquinas_ in these words: _Propri\u00e8 dicit Apostolus, quis vos fascinavit?\nquasi dicat, vos estis sicut homo ludificatus qui res manifestas aliter\naccipit qu\u00e0m sint in rei veritate_. Therefore we shall conclude this\npoint with the sentiment of S. _Hierome_: _Nunc illud in causa est, quod\nex opinione vulgi sumptum putamus exemplum, ut quomodo tenera \u00e6tas\nnoceri dicitur fascino, sic etiam Galat\u00e6 in Christi fide nuper nati, &\nnutriti lacte, & solido cibo velut quodam fascinante sunt nociti_.\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Valles. de sacr. Philosoph._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Galen_ _l._ 8. _de compos. medic._]\n\n4. But howsoever fascination might be understood, yet it is plain, that\nexcept the _Effluvia_ or steams of Bodies that had contagious diseases,\nentring into other sound Bodies, and thereby infecting them with their\nnoysome vapours, or Atomes, there is nothing, but what was vain belief\nand credulous superstition, as the learned _Vallesius_ tells us in these\nwords, thus rendered in English: \u201cBut if this be the way or reason of\nfascination, any one may easily understand, that fascination is a\ncertain superstitious fear, arising from foolish credulity, of which\nsort are many other things in the life of Man, as for argument, that\nthis opinion is more approved of by Women than by Men, and far more of\nthe unlearned than of the learned. Although (he saith) I also see that\nthere are those amongst the learned that are rather lovers of subtilty\nthan verity, who take care to defend those things that the vulgar do\nadmire. By which they would be accounted judicious magical Juglers, and\nMen skilful of secrets.\u201d And therefore he thus concludeth: \u201cTherefore\nthe name of fascination is ancient, and according to the ancient\nsignification, it doth not signifie any natural disease, but a vain\nsuperstition, arising from vulgar opinion, and therefore neither\n_Hippocrates_, nor _Galen_, nor any of the ancient Physicians, that I\nknow of do mention fascination, neither amongst the differences nor\ncauses of Diseases. From whence again is taken no small argument of its\nvanity.\u201d Therefore we shall conclude this point with that remarkable\nsaying of _Galen_. \u201c_Fals\u00e6 etenim opiniones animas hominum\npr\u00e6occupantes, non solum surdos, sed & c\u00e6cos faciunt, ita ut videre\nnequeant, qu\u00e6 aliis conspicua apparent._\u201d\n\n5. The Angelical Doctor with the consent of the most part of all the\nlearned do affirm that the Devil by his own power cannot change\ncorporeal matter, unless he apply proportionate actives to fit passives,\nto produce those effects he intendeth; As for instance, he can cause\nburning, because there is a combustive agent in nature; but if that were\nawanting, or if there were no combustible matter, how should he cause\nany ignition? But if he be supposed to work diabolical fascination, for\nwhich there is no agent in nature, it being but an imaginary thing in\nthe heads of the deluded vulgar; then it will necessarily follow, that\nhe can work no fascination at all, and so the whole opinion of the\nWitchmongers falls to the ground. For it is manifest that there is\ncontagion, by the infected _Effluvia_ or steams issuing from a diseased\nBody to another by which it may be contaminated, but otherwise there is\nno natural fascination, nor any agent in nature to produce that effect,\nand therefore there can be no Diabolical fascination at all.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAP. IX.\n\n  _Of Divine permission, providence and prescience._\n\n\nThere is no one thing that hath more promoted this false and wicked\nTenent of a kind of omnipotency in Devils, and the exorbitant power\nascribed to Witches, than the misunderstanding of the true and right\nDoctrine of Divine Providence, and the admitting of a bare permission in\nGod as different and distinct from his providence. From whence it cometh\nto pass that not only the vulgar, but such as tread in the steps of\n_Arminius_, do hold a meer bare permission, and that God sits as a quiet\nbeholder by his Prescience from the event of things to see what will be\neffected by Devils and wicked Men, who in the mean time run and rove\nabout, acting what, when and how they please, and that God hath neither\nhook in their nostrils, nor bridle in their mouths, neither keeps them\nin any restraint, order or government, and so we must needs have a mad\nrule in this World, during this permission and naked inspection.\n\nBut that we may proceed in such order, as may be clear and intelligible\nto the Readers, we shall here propose the state of the matter that we\nundertake to confute, which is this: That there is not in God a nude,\npassive permission, separate from the positive and active decree, order\nand will of his Divine Providence and Government, but that he doth rule\nall things according to the power and determination of his own positive\nand actual will. And this we shall prosecute in this following order and\nparticulars.\n\nThose that deny that there is in God a passive permission separate from\nhis decretive and actual will in his providence are accused by others,\nthereby to infer the absurdity, that God is the author or efficient\ncause of sin; which pretended absurdity, in truth and reason cannot be\nany, because it is a simple and absolute impossibility, that God should\nbe the author of sin as these arguments do sufficiently testifie.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 1._]\n\n[Sidenote: James 1. 13.]\n\n[Sidenote: Psal. 5. 4.]\n\n[Sidenote: Deut. 32. 3.]\n\n1. That of necessity must be false, which the Scriptures do declare to\nbe so, in open and plain terms. But that God should be the author of sin\nor evil, the Scriptures do deny in open and plain terms, as where the\nText saith: _God cannot be tempted with evil_: where both the act, and\nthe possibility of it is absolutely denied. Again: _For thou art not a\nGod that hast pleasure in wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with\nthee_. Therefore it is false that God is, or can be the author of sin;\nand so by consequence the supposed absurdity is a meer impossibility;\nand an absurdity urged that is impossible, is most of all absurd.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 2._]\n\n2. He is _ens summ\u00e8 perfectum, & quicquid est in Deo, est Deus_; but sin\nhowsoever understood, or accepted, is an imperfection, defect and an\naberration from a just and perfect rule, and therefore it is simply\nimpossible that God can be the cause of any thing that is imperfect,\nsinful or evil, if sin be considered as _malum culp\u00e6_.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 3._]\n\n[Sidenote: Rom. 4. 15.]\n\n3. God is not under any binding law given to him by some other, for then\nhe should cease to be supream, independent and omnipotent: Now to whom\nthere is no law given to observe, there can be no transgression, for the\nApostle saith, _where there is no law, there is no transgression_; and\ntherefore it is simply impossible that God should be the author, or\ncauser of sin, or evil, because there is no law that he can transgress\nagainst.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 4._]\n\n[Sidenote: _De Civitat. Dei_, _l._ 2. _c._ 7.]\n\n4. God prohibiteth and hateth sin, as the Scriptures do every where\ntestifie, but God is the cause of nothing but that which he loveth, and\ntherefore cannot be the cause of the evil of sin. And to speak properly\nsin hath no efficient cause, but a deficient, such as is the will of\nfaln Angels, and wicked Men, whose irregularity of will, from the\ncommand of God, is all the cause that sin and evil hath or can have. An\nefficient cause is only of those things that are good, because every\nefficient cause doth by working put something in being: But privations\n(of which sort are sins) do put nothing in being, but do truly note the\nabsence of beings. Therefore did S. _Augustine_ say well: _Mali causa\nefficiens nulla est, sed tant\u00f9m deficiens_.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 5._]\n\n[Sidenote: Gen. 1. 3.]\n\n[Sidenote: John 8. 44.]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 John 3. 8.]\n\n5. That which properly hath an efficient cause, hath also an end\nproperly so called: But sin hath not an end properly so called, because\nthe end is being, and therefore good, and the perfection of the thing.\nBut the Scripture doth declare that _all things that God created were\nexceeding good_; and that the cause of sin was Man, and the Devil; for\nthe text saith, that _the Devil was a murderer from the beginning, and\nabode not in the truth_: And again, _He that committeth sin, is of the\nDevil, for the Devil sinneth from the beginning_. Therefore from hence\nit is clear, that God neither is nor can be the author or causer of sin.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 6._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Schar. de miser. hom. stat. sub peccato_, _c._ 3.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Fulgent._ _lib._ 1. _ad Monim_]\n\n6. That which God is the author of, doth not make Man worse. but sin\ndoth make Man worse, therefore God is not the author of it. And all sin\nis perpetrated, because thereby it receeded from the order that\nrespecteth God, as the ultimate end of all things; but God doth incline\nall things unto himself, as to the ultimate end, neither doth he turn\nthem from himself, because he is _summum bonum_. And further as\n_Fulgentius_ saith: _Deus non est ejus rei autor, cujus est ultor. At\nDeus est peccati ultor, ergo non autor._ And therefore we conclude, that\nthis is a vain pretence of an absurdity, because it is impossible that\nGod should be the author or causer of sin.\n\n[Sidenote: Job 13. 7.]\n\nThis plausible pretence to seem to be zealous, not to make God the\nauthor of sin, we commend as allowable; but it is but like the zeal of\nthe Scribes and Pharisees, which was without knowledge, because they\npretend that for an absurdity, that is a simple impossibility. And they\nought to remember the argument of _Job_, which is this: _will ye speak\nwickedly for God? and talk deceitfully for him?_ For as we ought not to\nsuppose, or imply him to be the author of sin; so we ought not to rob\nhim of his Glory, by detracting from his power and providence, nor in\nascribing that unto Creatures, that is only due unto the Creator; as\nthose do that hold a nude passive permission in him separate from his\nwill and decree in his providence. Neither doth the denying of this any\nway imply that he is the author of sin, for a providential permission we\nallow as the act of his will and decree, as we shall shew hereafter.\n\nNow concerning permission in God, being a suspension of his efficiency\nin regard of some acts permitted to the creatures, and that for just and\ngood ends, the definition of it and its affections or properties are so\ndarkly handled even by those that make most ado about it, that it would\nserve rather to divert Men from the right way than to guide them in it,\nor unto it. Therefore here we shall only note these three things, and\npursue it more fully hereafter. 1. There must be the person or power\npermitting that hath ability, right and authority so to do. 2. There\nmust be the person or power permitted that hath ability to perform the\nthing permitted, otherwise it would be in vain, and to no purpose. 3.\nThere must be the thing or action that is permitted to be done, or\nbrought to pass, by the person permitted to act, and that must not be\nimpossible.\n\n1. Before the Creation it is meerly improper to attribute permission\nunto God, because there was no person, nor power besides himself that\ncould act any thing, and therefore could not be permitted, and so the\ncorrelative being awanting, both the relative and the relation betwixt\nthem must necessarily fall to the ground, as having no existence; and so\nit is impossible that permission should be in God when there was no\nCreature to be permitted, and so could not be attributed unto him before\nthe Creation.\n\n[Sidenote: Heb. 1. 3.]\n\n[Sidenote: Job 34. 14, 15.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Chrysost. in Loc._]\n\n[Sidenote: Psal. 104. 19.]\n\n[Sidenote: Verse 9.]\n\n[Sidenote: Psal. 107. 25.]\n\n[Sidenote: Job 38. 11.]\n\n[Sidenote: Jerem. 5. 22.]\n\n[Sidenote: _De  Caus. Dei_, _l._ 1. _c._ 2. _p._ 165.]\n\n[Sidenote: Isai. 38. 8.]\n\n[Sidenote: Exod. 14. 21, 22, 23.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Id._ _v._ 17.]\n\n[Sidenote: Jonah 1. 4.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Id._ 2. 10.]\n\n[Sidenote: Psal. 119. 91.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Greg._ 16. _mor._ 4.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Thom. de Christ. Religion._ 133.]\n\n[Sidenote: _De Caus. Dei_, _p._ 171.]\n\n2. It is as improper to attribute permission unto God in respect of the\nPhysical agency of second causes, because he not only worketh all in\nall, and by his Divine concourse and conservative power _sustaineth all\nthings by the word of his power_, and _Job_ tells us: _If he gather unto\nhimself his spirit and breath, all flesh shall perish together, and man\nshall turn again into dust_. Upon which place of the _Hebrews_ S.\n_Chrysostome_ saith thus: _Feratq; inquit omnia, hoc est, gubernet\nomnia. Siquidem cadentia, & ad nihilum tendentia continet. Non enim\nminus est continere mundum qu\u00e0m fecisse: Sed si oportet aliquid quod\nadmireris dicere, adhuc amplius est. Nam in faciendo quidem, ex nullis\nextantibus rerum essenti\u00e6 product\u00e6 sunt: in continendo ver\u00f2, ea qu\u00e6\nfacta sunt, ne ad nihilum redeant continentur. H\u00e6c ergo dum reguntur, &\nad invicem sibi repugnantia coaptantur, magnum & vald\u00e8 mirabile,\nplurim\u00e6q; virtutis judicium declaratur_: But also because he hath set\nall natural things their bounds, and ordered, decreed and determined\ntheir ends in acting. Now what he hath appointed, ordered and decreed to\nbe the agency of every creature, and determinated its end in acting,\ncannot properly be called permission, but his will, ordination and\nprovidence. As if one should say he suffereth and permitteth the Sun and\nMoon to run their course, it is an improper expression and injurious to\nhis wisdom and power in his providential government of the creatures,\nseeing that it is a certain truth, _Deus operatur in omni operante_: And\n_he hath appointed the Moon for seasons, and the sun knoweth his going\ndown_. And it is absurd to say he suffereth the Sea to Ebb and Flow,\nwhen he hath _set it a bound that it cannot pass over. For he\ncommandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves\nthereof. And said, hitherto shalt thou come and no further: And here\nshall thy proud waves be staid._ And again, _Will ye not tremble at my\npresence saith the Lord, which have placed the sand for the bound of the\nsea, by a perpetual decree that it cannot pass it, and though the waves\nthereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet\ncan they not pass over it_. And therefore we may conclude that the whole\nCreation in respect of Physical agency is ruled according to those\norders, and not by a fortuitous chance, or a bare passive permission. 1.\nFor first all creatures have their Physical agency, and the affections\nand properties thereof ordained by God in the Creation, and according to\nthis they constantly act, except they be turned, altered, or suspended\nby the Creator himself, and he doth immediately act in them all, and\nthey cannot properly be said to be permitted. 2. They are upholden,\nsustained and conserved in their several conditions, by the word of his\nmighty power, his continual concourse and divine emanation, which if it\nshould but cease one minute, the whole Creation would fall into that\nnothing, from whence his Eternal and Omnipotent _Fiat_ did raise and\ncall them forth, so that we dare affirm with profound _Bradwardine_,\n_Quod necesse est Deum servare quamlibet Creaturam immediati\u00f9s quacunq;\ncausa creata_. 3. When he pleaseth he doth suspend the effects and\nagency of natural causes, as in making the Sun stand still in the\nvictory of _Joshua_, and of the three Children in the fiery Furnace.\nSometimes he causeth them to act contrary to their innate powers and\nqualities, as in _making the shaddow go ten degrees back in Ahaz\nsun-dial_: and in causing _the waters of the red sea_, contrary to their\nnatures, which are to tend downwards, _to be divided, and to go\nbackward, and to be as a wall on the right hand, and on the left, until\nMoses, and the children of Israel were passed through._ And by many\nother wayes and means doth he alter and change the course of natural\nagents, to serve his will and good pleasure in his mercy, or in his\njustice, and yet here is no bare or passive permission. 4. Besides these\nhe ordereth all the particular acts of natural agents, to be subservient\nunto his will: So when _Jonah_ fled to _Tarshish_, _the Lord sent forth\na great wind into the sea, and raised a mighty tempest to overtake\nJonah_; and when he was cast into the Sea, _the Lord prepared a great\nfish to swallow him up, and also the Lord spake unto the fish, and it\nvomited up Jonah upon the dry land_. Now the wind was not carried nor\nthe storm raised, by a permissive power, but by the will and order of\nthe Lord Jehovah, who sent them, and directed them either by his\nimmediate power, or by the ministry of his Angels; and though they\nwrought according to their natural agency, yet the special ordering as\nto the particular act was not by permission, but by the will and\nappointment of his providence. Neither did the great fish come by chance\nor permission, but God in his merciful providence had prepared him for\nthe preservation of _Jonah_, and caused him to be vomited on the dry\nland; so that all creatures do not only continue according to his\nordinances, but also all elementary, and irrational creatures do praise\nthe Lord by fulfilling his word, will and providence. And lest we be\neither censured to wrest the Scriptures, or to be single in this\nopinion, take the judgment of some few others. S. _Gregory_ (as he is\nquoted by learned _Bradwardine_) tells us thus much: _Quis de Deo ista\nvel desipiens suspicetur, qui nimir\u00f9m dum sit semper omnipotens, sic\nintendit omnibus, ut assit singulis; sic adest singulis, ut simul\nomnibus nunquam desit; sic itaq; exteriora circundat, ut interiora\nimpleat; sic interiora implet, ut exteriora circundet; sic summa regit,\nut ima non deserat; sic imis pr\u00e6sens est, ut \u00e0 superioribus non\nrecedat_. And _Thomas Aquinas_ their great Schoolman (as the same author\ncites him) saith: _Qu\u00f2d Deus immediat\u00e8 ordinat omnes effectus per\nseipsum, licet per causas medias exequatur, sed in ips\u00e2 executione\nquodammod\u00f2 immediat\u00e8 se habet ad omnes effectus, in quantum omnes caus\u00e6\nmedi\u00e6 agunt in virtute caus\u00e6 prim\u00e6, ut quodammodo ipse in omnibus agere\nvideatur, & omnia opera secundarum causarum ei possunt attribui, sicut\nartifici attribuitur opus instrumenti_. Therefore we will conclude this\nwith that of S. _Augustine_: _Proculdubio nullus est loc\u00f9s ab ejus\npr\u00e6sentia absens; super omnem creaturam quipp\u00e8 pr\u00e6sidet regendo, subtus\nest omnia sustinendo, non pondere laboris, sed infatigabili virtute,\nquoniam nulla creatura ab eo condita per se subsistere valet, nisi ab\nillo sustentetur, qui eam creavit. Extra omnia est, sed non exclusus,\nintra omnia, sed non conclusus._ And these places need no fiction of an\nHebraism to expound them, nor no device of a verb of an active\ntermination, and a permissive signification to evade the pressure of\nthis truth. And therefore in respect of Physical agency we are bold with\n_Bradwardine_ to assert these three Corollaries.\n\n  1. _Quod nulla res potest aliquid facere, sine Deo._\n\n  2. _Quod nulla res potest aliquid facere, nisi Deus per se & immediate\n       facit illud idem._\n\n  3. _Quod nulla res potest facere aliquid, nisi Deus faciat illud idem\n       immediati\u00f9s quolibet alio faciente._\n\n[Sidenote: Amos 3. 6.]\n\n4. So that however permission may be understood, it must properly relate\nto intellectual and rational creatures, and that only and especially in\nrespect of those actions which we call moral, that is, in regard of sin,\nevil or _malum culp\u00e6_; for whatsoever is _malum p\u0153n\u00e6_, God is the\nauthor, causer and inflicter of, according to the Text: _Shall there be\nevil in a City, and the Lord hath not done it?_ To understand aright the\nnature of permission, we are to consider the affections, properties and\nadjuncts of it, both in regard of the person permitting, the creature\npermitted to act, and the thing permitted to be done, with all the\ncircumstances about them, and these we shall take from their Ring-leader\nand great Champion _Arminius_ himself in these points.\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Twisse Vindic. grat. de permiss._ _p._ 341.]\n\n5. And first in respect of the person permitting (he saith) it is\nnecessary that he know, what, to whom, and the ability of performance,\nthat is to be granted, or used, by the person permitted, and that the\nperson permitting have power to permit and to impede, and also that he\nhave the right and authority of permitting. 2. In the person permitted,\nit is necessarily requisite, that he have sufficient power to effect and\nperform the thing permitted, if not hindered; for otherwise it would be\nnonsense to say, that a person is permitted to do an act that he hath no\npower to perform. 3. If the person permitted have sufficiency of power\nto perform the act permitted, yet there is also required a propension\nand disposition in the person permitted, to perform the thing permitted,\notherwise the permission as to that act would be without a certain end,\nand so would be _in vagum_, inconstant and not to be performed, and\ntherefore he concludeth thus: _Im\u00f2 nec rect\u00e8 dici potest quod alicui\nactus permittatur, qui actus illos pr\u00e6standi affectu nullo tenetur_.\n\n[Sidenote: _De permiss._ _p._ 342.]\n\n[Sidenote: Eccles. 7. 29.]\n\n6. We shall omit the exceptions that the learned and subtile Dr.\n_Twisse_ hath made against diverse particulars in these passages, and\nshall only fix upon one that is manifestly false (if he mean of\npermission in general which he confesseth.) For in the Angels and _Adam_\nbefore their falling and committing of sin, there was not any propension\nor disposition to sin, and therefore to this we shall give the most\nacute answer of Dr. _Twisse_ in these words: _Nam lic\u00e8t insit homini\npropensio ad peccandum (scilicet post lapsum) per modum dispositionis,\nqu\u00e6 pr\u00e6cedanea sit permissioni actus peccaminosi; At in Adamo (ante\nlapsum) nulla inerat hujusmodi dispositio, aut ad peccandum propensio,\nante peccatum ejus primum. Sed neq; in Angelis, qui \u00e0 statu suo\nceciderunt. Secundo, ut ut dispositio, sive habitus insit qui inclinet\nad agendum, non est ex natura dispositionis sive habitus cujuscunq; ut\nfaciat hominem propendere ad actum aliquem particularem, cujus vel\nsolius ratione dicitur permissio._ And though it be granted that God did\ncreate the Angels, and _Adam in statu labili_, wherein they had a\nsufficiency of power or grace not to have sinned, or faln, and though\nthat power or grace was not withdrawn from them, and that there was no\ncoaction upon their wills to inforce them to sin; for if it had been so,\ntheir falls would have been no sin: so neither did God supply them with\nmore assisting grace to have upholden them, for then their estate had\nnot been labile, nor they in a possibility to sin. But it is manifest\nthat they in their Creation were set in _\u00e6quilibrio_, and had equal\npower of freedom of will either to sin or not to sin, and so had no\npropension or disposition at all to commit that sin, to which they were\nleft by a free permission: and so propension and disposition to the act\npermitted (if permission be understood generally) had no place in the\nAngels nor _Adam_ before their first sinning, according to the Text,\n_God made man upright_, that is like a straight or right line that\nfalling perpendicularly upon another right line, doth incline to neither\nend of the line upon which it falls, so _Adam_ was made upright without\nany propension or inclination to sin at all. And if this propension and\ndisposition be understood, and applied to Angels in their condition\nafter their fall, then it is true they have not only an inclination but\na most strong will and desire to commit more evil and mischief than God\nin his goodness permits them to perform, for _the Devil goeth about like\na roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour_, and it was Satan that not\nonly had a disposition, but _desired to sift Peter as wheat_. And it is\nmanifest that wicked Men have a strong will and desire to commit\nmischief; but that God hath an hook in their Nostrils, and a Bridle in\ntheir Jawes wherewith he curbs and restrains them, that they cannot act\nout all the mischief that they intend, as is manifest in the example of\n_Sennacherib_ and many others.\n\n[Sidenote: Twisse _de Permiss. ut supra_.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Fran. Jun. de peccat. prim. Adam._ _p._ 111, 114.]\n\n[Sidenote: _August. Enchir._ 75, 76.]\n\n7. Permission must be referred and reduced to the will of God, for\nnolition is an act of his will as well as volition: and to speak\nproperly and truly, permission is but an act of the Divine Will not to\nimpede such or such particular actions of the creatures; and therefore\nthe same things will follow from his volition or his will _non\nimpediendi_, as from his volition to the acts of a free agent, seeing\nneither do put coaction upon the will of the Creature that is to act.\nAnd that permission is an act of the Divine will, and to be reduced unto\nit _Arminius_ confesseth in these words: _Permissionem ad genus actionis\npertinere ex ipsa vocis flexione est notum, sive per se sive reductive,\nut in Scholis loquuntur. Cessatio enim ab actu, ad actum quoq; est\nreducenda: causam autem proximam & immediatam habet voluntatem, non\nscientiam, non potentiam, non potestatem, licet & ista in permittente\nrequirantur._ And when he defineth permission, he saith: _Permissio Dei,\nest actus voluntatis Divin\u00e6_; than which nothing can be more clear. And\nnot much different from this is the definition of permission, that is\ngiven by learned _Junius_ thus: _Est autem permissio actus voluntatis,\nquo is penes quem est alienas actiones inhibere, eas non inhibet, sed\nagentis voluntati permittit earum modum_. And again he saith: _Apud Deum\nver\u00f2 Opt. Max. nulla est omnino permissio, nisi voluntaria: quandoquidem\nomnis divina permissio \u00e0 principio interno est, id est, \u00e0 voluntate\nipsius, & movetur ad finem quem voluntas pr\u00e6finivit ejus_. But we will\nconclude this with that of S. _Augustin_ thus Englished: \u201cNot any thing\ncometh to pass, unless the Omnipotent will have it to be done, either\nthat it may be done by his suffering, or by his Volition. Neither is it\nto be doubted that God doth well, even by suffering those things to be\ndone, that are done evilly; For he doth not permit but by a just\njudgment, and verily every thing is good that is just. Although\ntherefore those things that are evil, in as much as they are evil, they\nare not good; notwithstanding, as they are not only good, but also as\nthey are evil, it is good. For unless this were good that there should\nbe evils, they would by no means be permitted of the omnipotent good, to\nwhom without all doubt it is always as easy to do that which he would,\nas it is easy not to suffer that which he would not have to be.\u201d By all\nwhich it is plain that his permission is the act of his Divine Will, and\nif he would not have it done he would not permit it, and so the same\nconsequences will follow from Nolition, that follow from Volition, in\nrespect as they are both acts of the Divine Will.\n\n[Sidenote: _Twisse ut supra._ 346.]\n\n[Sidenote: Prov. 16. 4.]\n\n8. It is a certain truth that all moral actions are performed by a\nphysical power in respect of the sustentation of the will in its natural\nbeing while it acteth, and that the creature is conserved even in the\nact as it is natural, though there be obliquity in the will of the\ncreature acting in reference to the law given, or made known unto it.\nAnd this _Arminius_ acknowledgeth in these words: _Necesse itaq; est, ut\ncum Deus potenti\u00e6 creatur\u00e6 actum aliquem permittit, creatura illa\nconservetur, ut sit, & vivat, potentia ejusdem permaneat, idonea ad\nactum producendum, nulla major vel \u00e6qualis potentia opponatur, objectum\ndeniq; offeratur, & potentia permittatur_. From whence therefore to\ninstance in the first sin of the Angels and _Adam_, besides the equal\npower and liberty of will that they had to sin or not to sin, it is\nmanifest that God willed and determined not to withdraw his conservative\npower from them, but that they might be and live in the very act of\ntheir sinning. Neither did he withdraw that power they had, nor opposed\na greater, or equal power to impede them, much less did he create or\ninfuse any evil into their natures, nor put upon them any coaction of\nwill, to inforce them to sin, but solely left them to the power and\nliberty of their own free wills. And though by his prescience he\ncertainly knew that they would sin and fall, yet he determined in his\npurpose not to hinder them, but by his providential decree did set down\nhow to guide and order that fall and defection the most advantagiously\nfor his glory both in his Mercy and Justice. So that even in this there\nwas no bare passive permission, separate and distinct from his will and\ndecree in his providence, but only permission to the moral act of their\nwills, which by his wisdom, decree and providence, he ordered for his\nown glory, according to the Text: _The Lord hath made_ (or wrought) _all\nthings for himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil_. The\nHebrew word _hath wrought_, doth properly signifie, to work by\npolishing, trimming, or framing and fitting, so that the wicked (who\nhave made themselves so by the acts of their own wills) God by his\ndecree and providence doth polish, fit and order for the setting forth\nof his own glory in framing the wicked for the day of evil, the evil of\npunishment and judgment.\n\n9. Further it is necessary that the creature acting a moral act\n(especially in this case of the Angels and _Adam_ before their fall)\nhave the liberty and freedom of will, and that the will at the instant\nof the act, be not restrained nor under a coactive power, for otherwise\n_malum culp\u00e6_ or sin would cease to be evil, and so there could be no\nsin at all. And thus far, and in this peculiar respect only, the Angels\nand _Adam_ before their acting of sin, and in the very instant of the\nact it self, were permitted, that is, God willed and determined not to\nimpede them, but for the ordering of that sin and fall, the permission\nwas conjoined with his will and providence, and not separate from it, or\na nude permission.\n\n[Sidenote: Rom. 7. 8, 11.]\n\n10. That _malum culp\u00e6_, or sin doth arise by the occasion of a law; for\nwhere no law is, there can be no sin, and therefore the Apostle saith:\n_But sin taking occasion by the Commandment, wrought in me all manner of\nconcupiscence_. So that sin considered as it is sin, is an Aberration or\nDeviation of the Will of the creature from the revealed law of the\nCreator, and hath simply and absolutely no other causality, but only the\ndeficiency and \u1f00\u03c4\u03b1\u03be\u03af\u03b1 of the Creature to produce it, especially in these\ncases of the Angels and _Adam_ in their first acts of sin.\n\n[Sidenote: Psal. 73. 18.]\n\n[Sidenote: Psal. 37. 10.]\n\n[Sidenote: Psal. 75. 6, 7.]\n\n11. Now we will come to the application of this unto wicked Men as they\nare under original and actual sins, and that in these few examples. 1.\nIt is not by a bare permissive power, but by his will and order in his\nprovidence, for he _setteth up the wicked in slippery places_, and _yet\na little while and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently\nconsider his place, and it shall not be_. So _Cain_ was suffered to slay\nhis Brother _Abel_, but by and by he was sent from the presence of the\nLord into the land of _Nod_: So he set up _Saul_ to be _King_ over\n_Israel_, and soon after rejected him, and also destroyed him: these\nwere by providence, not only bare permission. 2. _For promotion cometh\nneither from the East nor the West, nor from the South: But God is the\njudge, he pulleth down one, and setteth up another._ So wicked _Haman_\nwas set up to be the highest in the Kingdom next _Ahasuerus_, and got a\ndecree to have all the Jewes put to death, and had set up a pair of\nGallows to hang _Mordecai_ upon, and yet see the providence of God, who\nquickly brought him to be hanged upon them himself: and this will be\nfurther made out where we speak of providence.\n\n[Sidenote: _Resp. Fludan. ad Lanov._ _p._ 18.]\n\n12. Though those that ascribe so large a power unto Devils and Witches,\ndo take it for granted that they are only under a bare passive\npermission, and that the faln Angels do act, what, when, where and how\nthey list, yet is it a meer falsity, for they are under the rule of Gods\nDivine Will, decree and providence, and do act nothing, but as and so\nfar as they are licensed, ordered and limited by his will and\nprovidence, and are under a punctual restraint, nay kept in the chains\nof everlasting darkness unto the judgment of the great day, as we shall\nprove at full in that Chapter where we handle the knowledge and power of\nfaln Angels. And therefore here we shall only say this, that if Devils\ncould do as much mischief as they would, and were under no restraint or\nchains, then none of the godly would be left alive. But it is manifest\nthat Devils do act nothing (excepting the obliquity and evil of their\nown wills) but meerly as instruments of the Divine Will and Providence,\nfor as the Christian Philosopher saith: _Illa est impietas; nimirum ea\nfalso attribuere creaturis, qu\u00e6 radicaliter Deo soli sunt propria, &\ninter c\u00e6tera, actum aliquem peculiarem in diabolo esse existimare, qui\nnon est originaliter \u00e0 Deo, & consequenter immediat\u00e8, cum essentialis\nDei actus sit per se sine divisione in omni re_.\n\n[Sidenote: _Greg. in Dialog._]\n\n[Sidenote: Isai. 42. 9.]\n\n[Sidenote: Acts 15. 18.]\n\n[Sidenote: _August. de. Trinit._ _l._ 15. _c._ 7.]\n\n[Sidenote: Ephes. 1. 11.]\n\n[Sidenote: Psal. 115. 3.]\n\n[Sidenote: Psal. 33. 13, 14, 15.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Rivet. de Provid. Disput._ 1.]\n\n[Sidenote: _August. de lib. arbitr._ _l._ 3.]\n\nConcerning Divine prescience, which is as S. _Gregory_ saith,\n_Pr\u00e6scientia est unamquamq; rem antequam veniat, videre, & id quod\nfuturum est priusquam pr\u00e6sens sit pr\u00e6videre_, we may only note this,\nThat it is certain and infallible, as saith the Lord by the Prophet:\n_Behold the former things are come to pa\u00df, and new things do I declare,\nbefore they spring forth I tell you of them_: Also, _known unto God are\nall his works from the foundation of the World_. \u201cSo that his prescience\nis that infallible vision, by which he comprehendeth all what he knows\nby one eternal, immutable and ineffable vision.\u201d But this prescience in\nGod doth not flow from the things that are to come to pass, but from his\ndecree, by which all future things are determined, who doth _all things\naccording to the counsel of his own will_, for _God is in heaven, he\nhath done whatsoever he pleased_. But this prescience is not to be\nconsidered only by it self, as a bare vision, or inspection, but as it\nis coupled and joined with his providence, _For the Lord looketh from\nheaven, he beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of his\nhabitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. Forming_\n(or framing) likewise _their hearts, and considering all their works_.\nAnd this prescience considered solely by it self, is not the cause of\nthe things that come to pass, for as the Father saith well: _Sicut tu\nmemoria tu\u00e2 non cogis facta esse qu\u00e6 pr\u00e6terierunt, sic Deus pr\u00e6scientia\nsu\u00e2 non cogit facienda qu\u00e6 sunt futura_. So that we conclude that God by\na naked prescience doth not only behold infallibly the things that are\nto come, and so is only a spectator of what Devils and wicked Men will\ndo, but also that he doth order, rule and predesign all their works and\nactions.\n\n[Sidenote: _Andr. Rivet. disputat. Thes._ 1. _p._ 4.]\n\n[Sidenote: _De provid. Trac._ _p._ 9.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Isagog. Christ._ _c._ 32. _p._ 52.]\n\n1. As touching Gods Government and Administration of the World by his\nDivine providence, we shall in the first place lay down some of the\ndefinitions of it from the most sound and learned Divines of the\nReformed Churches, and that in English, after this order. The acute and\nlearned _Rivet_ describes it thus: \u201cProvidence is an ineffable force and\nvirtue of the Divine Sapience and Potency, by which God doth conserve\nand govern to his own Glory all his Works according to his eternal, most\nwise, and most free decree, and directing every thing in time unto its\nend.\u201d _Johannes de Spina_ defines it thus: \u201cProvidence is the prescience\nand counsel of God eternal, most free, immutable, most just, most wise;\nmost good, whereby God worketh and determineth all good things in all,\nbut doth only permit evil things, and doth dispose and direct all things\nto his own Glory and the Salvation of his elect.\u201d And much to the same\npurpose doth _Lambertus Dan\u00e6us_ speak in these words: \u201cProvidence is a\nmost free and most powerful action of God, by which he not only stirreth\nup and governeth universals, but also singulars, in every one of their\nsingle actions. And (he saith) it is called a most free and most\npowerful act, because it can neither be hindered nor overcome by any\nlaw.\u201d And to these for substance do agree _Calvin_, _Musculus_, _Beza_,\n_Zanchius_, and the rest of all Orthodox Divines.\n\n[Sidenote: _Exeges. Loc._ 6. _p._ 143, 144. _&c._]\n\n2. But we shall chiefly insist on that definition that is given by\nlearned _Piscator_ in these words: \u201cThe providence of God is his\neternal, most wise, most just and immutable counsel or decree, whereby\nhe doth most freely govern all things by him created to the glory of\nhimself, and the Salvation of his elect.\u201d To which he giveth this\nexplication: \u201cThat it doth consist of a Genus and three differences. The\nGenus is the word _Decretum_ which is illustrated by four adjuncts;\nEternity, Sapience, Justice and Immutability. The first difference is\ntaken from the objects; which are all created things. The second from\nthe ends, which are two, the Glory of God, and the Salvation of the\nelect. The third from the effect, which is the government of things\ncreated, which Gubernation is illustrated by the adjunct which is\nliberty.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Acts 2. 23.]\n\n[Sidenote: Acts 4. 27, 28.]\n\n[Sidenote: Heb. 1. 3.]\n\n[Sidenote: Matth. 10. 29, 30, 31.]\n\n[Sidenote: Deut. 19. 4, 5.]\n\n[Sidenote: Gen. 45. 5.]\n\n[Sidenote: Prov. 16. 33.]\n\n[Sidenote: Prov. 16. 4.]\n\n[Sidenote: Rom. 9. 22, 23.]\n\n[Sidenote: Rom. 8. 28, 30.]\n\n[Sidenote: Psal. 115. 3.]\n\n[Sidenote: Rom. 9. 15, 18.]\n\n[Sidenote: Job 34. 13.]\n\n3. The parts of this definition are thus proved. 1. That the providence\nof God is his counsel and decree, appeareth most plainly from these\nScriptures: _Peter_ in his Sermon to the Jews upon the day of Pentecost\nsaith: _Him_ (that was Jesus) _being delivered by the determinate\ncounsel and foreknowledge of God_ (\u03c4\u1fc7 \u1f61\u03c1\u03b9\u03c3\u03bc\u03ad\u03bd\u1fc3 \u03b2\u03bf\u03c5\u03bb\u1fc7 \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03c0\u03c1\u03bf\u03b3\u03bd\u03ce\u03c3\u03b5\u03b9 \u0398\u03b5\u03bf\u1fe6)\n_ye have taken, and by wicked hand have crucified and slain_. And again\nthe Church at _Jerusalem_ in their prayers say thus: _Of a truth against\nthy holy Child Jesus whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius\nPilate, with the Gentiles, and people of Israel were gathered together,\nFor to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined_ (\u1f21 \u03c7\u03b5\u03af\u03c1 \u03c3\u03bf\u03c5\n\u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u1f21 \u03b2\u03bf\u03c5\u03bb\u03ae \u03c3\u03bf\u03c5 \u03c0\u03c1\u03bf\u03ce\u03c1\u03b9\u03c3\u03b5 \u03b3\u03b5\u03bd\u03ad\u03c3\u03b8\u03b1) _before to be done_. 2. That all\nthings created (nay also those things which do seem to happen\nfortuitously, or to be by permission, as sinful actions) are governed\nand ordered by the providence of God, as these Scriptures will\nsufficiently demonstrate. _Christ Jesus the son of God, doth uphold_ (or\nsustain) _all things by the word of his power_. And doth not our Saviour\ntell us: _Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing, and one of them\nshall not fall on the ground without your father? But the very hairs of\nyour heads are all numbred. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value\nthan many sparrows._ That place concerning the Cities of refuge, and the\nfleeing of the ignorant man-slayer thither is most remarkable, and is\nthis. _And this is the case of the slayer, which shall flee thither,\nthat he may live: whoso killeth his neighbour ignorantly, whom he hated\nnot in times past, as when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbour\nto hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroak with the ax to cut down the\ntree, and the head slipeth from the helve, and lighteth upon his\nneighbour that he die, he shall flee unto one of those Cities, and\nlive._ And was not the action of _Josephs_ brethren, sin and sinful in\nselling of him to the Ismaelites, and yet he acknowledgeth, _that God\nsent him before them to preserve life_. So that God brought good forth\nof evil, and doth order even the sins of the wicked to just and good\nends by his Divine Providence. Again: _The lot is cast into the lap, but\nthe whole disposing thereof is of the Lord_. So when the Men in the Ship\nwith _Jonah_ did cast lots, by the Lords disposing _the lot fell upon\nJonah_ who was justly guilty, and so by providence pointed out. 3. That\nGod doth govern all things to his own glory is manifest by these Texts:\n_The Lord hath made all things for himself; yea even the wicked for the\nday of evil_. And, _what if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make\nhis power known, endured with much long suffering the vessels of wrath\nfitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his\nglory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory?_\nAnd that he governeth all things for the Salvation of his elect, is\nplain: _And we know that all things work together for good, to them that\nlove God, to them who are the called according to his purpose_. So that\nif God be for the Elect, who can be against them? 4. That God doth\ngovern all things most freely is clear, because he is omnipotent and\nsupream, and there is no power that can either impede, or constrain him,\n_For he hath done whatsoever he would, both in Heaven and Earth_. And\nthe Apostle saith; _I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy.\nTherefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he\nhardeneth._ For _who hath given him a charge over the earth? or who hath\ndisposed the whole world?_\n\n[Sidenote: Gen. 37. 18, 19, 20, 26, 27.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Id._ 45. 5. & 50. 20.]\n\n[Sidenote: Prov. 21. 1.]\n\n[Sidenote: Exod. 7. 3.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Id._ 9. 16, 17.]\n\n[Sidenote: Rom. 9. 17.]\n\n[Sidenote: Psal. 105. 25.]\n\n[Sidenote: Rom. 8. 14.]\n\n[Sidenote: Matth. 4. 1.]\n\n[Sidenote: Mark 1. 12.]\n\n[Sidenote: Luke 4. 1.]\n\n[Sidenote: Gen. 9. 27.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Sam. 24. 1.]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Chron. 21. 1.]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Kings 22. 22.]\n\n[Sidenote: Judges 9. 23, 56, 57.]\n\n[Sidenote: Psal. 81. 11, 12.]\n\n[Sidenote: Acts 14. 16.]\n\n[Sidenote: Rom. 1. 24.]\n\n[Sidenote: Gen. 20. 6.]\n\n4. The several ways that God useth in governing the creatures in the\nworld whether good or bad, may be comprised in these four ways. 1. He\nruleth and ordereth them, by bending, inclining and turning of their\nwills and intentions, to serve and fullfil his decree and pleasure. So\nwhen the Brethren of _Joseph_ were fully resolved to murther him, God by\nthe means of _Reuben_ and _Judah_, so wrought upon their minds and\nwills, that they were contented to sell him to the Ismaelites, that so\nthe determinate counsel of God might be fulfilled; for though they\nintended it for evil, that he might never return to his Father, nor to\nhave his dream fulfilled that they might bow down before him, yet God\nintended it for good, and so brought it to pass. And this he did not by\nchanging or taking away their natures, nor by putting a coactive power\nupon their wills; but by inclining and bending them to his own purpose,\nso that the act was the act of their own wills, but the moving of their\nwills to spare his life was from the Lord: for as he that made the eye\nmust needs see, so he that made the will must needs have a power to\nmove, incline and turn it. And therefore the Father said well, _Certum\nest, nos velle cum velimus, sed Deus facit, ut velimus bonum_. And it is\napparent that the hearts of all men are in the hands of the Lord, and he\nturneth and inclineth them according to his will and purpose, as saith\n_Solomon_, _The Kings heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of\nwater: he turneth it whithersoever he will_. Upon which the note of\n_Tremellius_ and _Junius_ is this: _Est quidem animus omnium hominum\ngubernaculum, quo velut naves in mediis aquis reguntur corpora &\nactiones nostr\u00e6: tamen ne ipsorum quidem regum animus ex seipso\npermovetur, impellitur, inhibeturque, sed Deus in singulorum animis,\nveluti clavum tenet_. And concerning the wicked God saith: _I will\nharden the heart of Pharaoh, and multiply my signes and wonders in the\nland of \u00c6gypt_. And again: And _indeed for this cause, have I raised_\n(made thee stand, _feci ut existeres_, as _Beza_ notes) _thee up, for to\nshew in thee my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all\nthe earth. And as yet exaltest thou thy self against my people, that\nthou wilt not let them go?_ And further the Text saith: _He turned their\nhearts, to hate his people, to deal subtilly with his servants_. 2. God\nalso ruleth and ordereth his creatures by leading, drawing, inciting and\nmoving their wills to his own ends and purposes, as sometimes to good,\nas in his own people: _For as many as are led by the spirit of God, they\nare the sons of God_. And so was our Saviour _led_, or driven (\u1f10\u03ba\u03b2\u03ac\u03bb\u03bb\u03b5\u03b9,\n\u1f24\u03b3\u03b5\u03c4\u03bf, \u1f00\u03bd\u03ae\u03c7\u03b8\u03b7) _into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil_. To\nthis agreeth the blessing and prophecie of _Noah_: _God shall perswade_,\nor allure _Japhet_, _to dwell in the tents of Shem_. Sometimes God\ninciteth the creatures to evil by the ministery of Satan, as is manifest\nin these examples. For the Text saith, _And again the anger of the Lord\nwas kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them, to say, Go\nnumber Israel and Judah_. And another place saith: _And Satan stood up\nagainst Israel, and provoked David to number the people_. Whereby it is\nplain that Satan was the instrument, as sent and ordered of God to move\n_David_ to number the people, that thereby the King and people might be\npunished, and the King thereby brought to a deeper sight of his sins,\nrepentance, and a closer trusting and adhering to his God. So when the\nLord intended to have _Ahab_ to go up to _Ramoth Gilead_ that he might\nbe slain, he sent forth an evil Angel, to be a lying spirit in all\n_Ahabs_ Prophets, and said unto him, _Thou shalt perswade him, and\nprevail also: Go forth and do so_. So that what God orders, Satan doth\nbut execute. So when God intended to punish and destroy _Abimelech_, and\nthe Men of _Shechem_, he sent an evil spirit between them to divide\nthem, and so accomplisht his will upon both parties, as saith the Text:\n_Thus God rendred the wickedness of Abimelech which he did unto his\nfather, in slaying his seventy brethren. And all the evil of the men of\nShechem, did God render upon their heads: and upon them came the curse\nof Jotham the son of Jerubbaal._ 3. God ruleth his creatures by\npermission, or his will of not impeding them to act according to their\nwills and power, as in these cases. For God speaking of his people of\n_Israel_ saith: _But my people would not hearken unto my voice; and\nIsrael would none of me. So I gave them up unto their own hearts lusts,\nand they walked in their own counsels._ Agreeable to which is that in\nthe _Acts_: _Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own\nways_: which is as _Beza_ notes: _Ex arbitrio suo vivere, nulla ipsis\npr\u00e6scripta ratione religionis_. And in this sense, and to this purpose\nit is that _God gave_ (\u03c0\u03b1\u03c1\u03ad\u03b4\u03c9\u03ba\u03b5\u03bd) _them up to uncleanness, through the\nlusts of their own hearts_; because of that horrible Idolatry that\nformerly they were guilty of. 4. God ruleth his creatures by his\nprovidence, sometimes by repressing, prohibiting and impeding the\nexecution of their wicked wills, as is clear in the case of _Abimelech_\nKing of _Gerar_, who took _Sarah_ _Abrahams_ Wife intending to have had\ncarnal knowledge of her, but God plagued him and his Family, and said;\n_For I also withheld thee from sinning against me; therefore I suffered\nthee not to touch her_.\n\nNow we shall come to consider how the faln Angels are under the rule and\nrestraint of this Divine and all-governing providence, wherein we shall\nmake it appear, that they act nothing in this elementary and sublunary\nWorld, after any corporeal manner, but as they are ordered, licensed and\nlimited by the will and decree of the Almighty, and so do not wander and\nrove at their own pleasures to act in corporeal things, what, when and\nhow they list, as the Witchmongers vainly suppose, and this we shall\nclear in these particulars.\n\n1. It cannot rationally be supposed that God is less wise, in ruling and\nordering the Prince of darkness, the Prince of Devils, and the head of\nall Rebellion and Rebels, than he is in ruling his Subjects and\nServants, which are all wicked men; but all these he ruleth with a rod\nof Iron, and breaketh them in sunder like a Potters vessel: And\ntherefore much more hath he a restraint upon, and a rule over the faln\nAngels who kept not their first estates, and therefore are reserved in\nchains in darkness until the judgment of the great day.\n\n[Sidenote: Matth. 25. 41.]\n\n[Sidenote: Luke 8. 31.]\n\n2. As he is the Prince and Ring-leader of all Sin and Rebellion against\nGod, though he yet have not his final punishment, unto which he is\nreserved for the judgment of the great day, and though he be not yet\nthrust into the abysse or great depth, nor into that everlasting fire\nthat is prepared for him and his Angels; yet is he kept in chains and\ndarkness, and can act nothing but as he is licensed, ordered and limited\nby the Almighty.\n\n[Sidenote: _Thom. Aquin. Caten. aur. in Luc._ 8. _p._ 200.]\n\n3. And though he compass the earth to and fro, and walk about _like a\nroaring lion seeking whom he may devour_, yet is that but according to\nthe malice and purpose of his wicked will, for in punishing or\nafflicting of the godly he must have licence from God first, or else he\ncan do nothing in this Elementary World, as is most manifest in the\naffliction of _Job_, neither could he enter into the herd of Swine, but\nby Christs leave and order, nor deceive _Ahabs_ Prophets but by order\nfrom the Lord. And therefore an ancient Father said well: _Quod si super\nporcos potestatem non habent, mult\u00f2 magis nullam habent D\u00e6mones contra\nhomines factos ad imaginem Dei; oportet ergo Deum solum timere,\ncontemnere autem illos_.\n\nTherefore we shall conclude this briefly here, having occasion to handle\nit more fully hereafter, to wit, that the Witchmongers can have no\nshelter for their opinion from the Doctrine of Gods permission (if\nrightly understood) because God doth neither order, nor permit faln\nAngels to act any thing (especially in corporeal things) but what is for\njust, good, and wise ends, which cannot be shewed in these actions\nattributed to Witches.\n\n\n\n\n                                CHAP. X.\n\n  _Whether faln Angels be Corporeal or simply Incorporeal, and the\n    absurdity of the assuming of Bodies, and the like consequents._\n\n\nI am not insensible what great censure I may incurr for entring upon\nsuch a ticklish and nice point as the corporeity or incorporeity of\nAngels, seeing it hath exercised and crucified the wits of the most\nlearned in all ages, especially being but an obscure person, and not\nheightned with those lofty titles that usually elevate Mens fames, more\nby those attributes than by the weight and strength of their arguments.\nYet it being no necessary Article of the Christian Faith, but that a Man\nmay lawfully defend either, it cannot rationally be judged by\nunderstanding Readers either to be pride or just offence for me to\nhandle this subject. For seeing that most of the Christian and Learned\nFathers for the space of four hundred years after Christ, were of the\nopinion that they were corporeal, it can be no novelty in me to revive\nor assert that opinion, and therefore I shall labour to make it manifest\nin this ensuing order.\n\n[Sidenote: The immort. of the Soul, p. 7, 8.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Nov. Organ._ _lib._ 1. _p._ 49.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Ibid._ _p._ 21.]\n\n1. There is a late way of arguing taken up by Dr. _Moore_ and others,\nthat they will undertake to prove a thing to be so or so, or else to\nmake Man to deny his own faculties. And so the said Doctor doth\nundertake to prove the existence of immaterial and incorporeal beings,\nor else he thinketh he bringeth Men to deny their own faculties: And\nthese faculties he maketh to be, common notions, external sense, and\nevident and undeniable deductions of reason. And concludeth that, what\nis not consonant to all or some of these is meer fancy, and is of no\nmoment for the evincing of truth or falshood, by either its vigour or\nperplexiveness. But this will not accomplish the business he intends,\nfor these reasons. 1. Because there is not the common notion of a\nspiritual and immaterial being in all or any Man, neither is it (to use\nhis own words) true at first sight to all men in their wits upon a clear\nperception of the terms, without any further discourse or reasoning, but\nis only a bare supposition without any proof or evidence at all. 2. The\nbeing of an immaterial and spiritual substance can no way incurr into\nthe senses nor affect them, because it is manifest (as _Des Cartes_ hath\nsufficiently proved) that all sensation is procured by corporeal\ncontact, and not otherwise. And though we deny not that there have been,\nare and may be apparitions, that cannot be rationally supposed to be the\nordinary _Ph\u00e6nomena_ of corporeal matter, yet affecting the senses,\nthere must be something in them that performeth that effect, that is\ncorporeal, or else the senses could not be wrought upon, for\n_immateriale non agit in materiale, nisi eminenter ut Deus_. 3. No right\ndeductions can possibly be drawn from the highest power of\nratiocination, where the understanding hath no cognoscibility of the\nthings that reason would draw its conclusions from, for as the same\nDoctor frameth his Axiome which is this: Whatsoever things are in\nthemselves, they are nothing to us, but so far forth as they become\nknown to our faculties or cognitive powers. But we assert (which we\nshall make good anon) that our faculties or cognitive powers (how far\nsoever some would vainly magnifie and extol them) have not the power of\nunderstanding beings that are simply and absolutely immaterial and\nincorporeal. 4. There is nothing that is more undoubtedly true than what\nthe Lord _Verulam_ hath told us in these words: _Causa vero & radix fer\u00e8\nomnium malorum in scientiis ea una est: quod dum mentis human\u00e6 vires\nfalso miramur & extollimus, vera ejus auxilia non qu\u00e6ramus_. And again:\n_Subtilitas natur\u00e6 subtilitatem sens\u00fbs & intellect\u00fbs multis partibus\nsuperat_, the which may be proved from many undeniable instances, which\nneed not here be mentioned, only we shall add what the aforesaid learned\nLord speaks to the same purpose which is this: \u201cThe fault of sense is\ntwofold: For it either forsaketh or deceiveth us. For first there are\nmany things that escape the sense, though rightly disposed, and no way\nimpeded either by the subtilty of the whole body or by the minuteness of\nthe parts, or by the distance of place, or tardity and velocity of\nmotion, or by the familiarity of the object, or by reason of other\ncauses. Neither again, where the sense doth apprehend the thing, are\nthose apprehensions sufficiently firm. For the testimony and information\nof sense is always from the Analogie of Man, not from the Analogie of\nthe Universe.\u201d And it is altogether asserted with great error, that\nsense is the measure of things. Neither can these notions the Doctor\nwould make so clear, be had or gathered, without some intimation from\nsome of the senses.\n\n[Sidenote: _An Antidot. &c._ _p._ 12.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Immortal._ _p._ 21.]\n\n2. Further the Doctor tells us that the Idea of a Spirit is as easie a\nnotion, as of any other substance whatsoever. And he also saith:\n\u201cNevertheless I shall not at all stick to affirm, that his Idea or\nnotion (speaking of God) is as easy as any notion else whatsoever, and\nthat we may know as much of him as of any thing else in the World.\u201d This\nlater he speaketh concerning God. But that these assertions are unsound,\nthese following reasons will sufficiently evince.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 1._]\n\n1. He doth define a Spirit thus: A Spirit is a substance penetrable and\nindiscerpible. Now if it be true that he affirms before, that, \u201cthe\nsubject, or naked essence, or substance of a thing is utterly\nunconceiveable to any of our faculties, and that if we take away\naptitudes, operations, properties and modifications from a subject, that\nthen the conception vanisheth into nothing, but into the Idea of a meer\nundiversificated substance, so that one substance is not then\ndistinguishable from another, but only from accidents or modes, to which\nproperly belongs no subsistence.\u201d So then if we take away penetrability\nand indiscerpibility, which are but the modes and properties of a\nSpirit, whose genus he maketh substance to be, then it vanisheth into an\nindistinguishable notion, and so his definition comes to nothing.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 2._]\n\n2. For if substances be known by their properties and modifications, as\nwe grant they are, the modifications and properties must of necessity be\nsome ways known unto us: but there are no ways either by common notions,\nevidence of the senses, or sound deductions of reason that can certainly\ninform us of these properties or modifications of penetrability and\nindiscerpibility, and the Doctor yet never proved either; but is only a\nbare supposition, and a melancholy figment.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 3._]\n\n[Sidenote: The Immort. p. 68.]\n\n[Sidenote: _De Inject._ _p._ 598.]\n\n[Sidenote: _De Natur. Subst. Energ._ _p._ 406.]\n\n3. He tells us that all substance has dimensions, that is, length,\nbreadth and depth, but all has not impenetrability, and boldly saith: It\nis not the Characteristical of a body to have dimensions, but to be\nimpenetrable; to which we answer. It is strongly asserted by learned\n_Helmont_, that by the ultimate strength of nature, bodies do sometimes\npenetrate themselves and one another, and to that purpose he giveth\nconvincing examples, and concludeth thus from them. _Invenio equidem,\nnatur\u00e6 contiguam dimensionum penetrationem, licet non ordinariam. And\nafter saith thus: Quibus constat corpora solida, satis magna, penetrasse\nstomachum, intestina, uterum, omentum, abdomen, pleuram, vesicam,\nmembranas inquam, tanti vulneris impatientes. Id est, absq; vulnere\ncultros per istas membranas transmissos. Quod \u00e6quivalet penetrationi\ndimensionum, fact\u00e6 in natura, absq; ope Diaboli._ And to the same\npurpose that most acute person, Dr. _Glisson_, handling this very point\nsaith: _Verum enimver\u00f2, si sola quantitas actualis sit causa\nimpenetrabilitatis corporum (ut ex supra dictis liquet,) eaq; sit\nnaturaliter mutabilis; quid impedit ne substantia materialis aliam\nsubstantiam, mutat\u00e2 quantitate, nov\u00e2q; simul assumpt\u00e2 utrisq; communi,\npenetret?_ And therefore we may as confidently deny his assumption, that\nImpenetrability is the Characteristical of body, as he affirm it without\nproof, and must with all the whole company of the learned, assign\nExtension to be the true and Genuine Character of Body. And further he\ngranting that substance hath length, breadth, and depth, we must of\nnecessity conclude, that whatsoever hath those properties must needs be\nmaterial and corporeal, and so that which he would make to be Spirit is\nmeerly Body.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 4._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Nov. organ._ _p._ 18.]\n\n4. Whereas he saith that the notion of Spirit is as easy a notion, as\nany other whatsoever, it is granted, but is not at all to the purpose:\nfor our inquiry need not be of the facility of a notion, but of the\nverity of it, that is, of the congruity and adequation of the notion and\nthe thing from whence it is taken; otherwise though the notion be easy,\nyet without an adequate congruity to the thing it is meerly false. As\nfor instance, when a melancholy person doth verily imagine himself to be\nchanged into a Wolf or Dog, it is not only an easy notion, but also it\nis truly a notion, and yet a false notion, because there is no true\ncongruity betwixt it and the thing from whence it is taken, the Body of\nthe person so conceiving, being not at all changed into Wolf or Dog, but\nstill retaining its humane shape and figure. And therefore the Lord\n_Verulam_ doth to this point speak truly and clearly in these words:\n_Itaq; si notiones ips\u00e6 mentis (qu\u00e6 verborum quasi anima sunt, & totius\nhujusmodi structur\u00e6 ac fabric\u00e6 basis) mal\u00e8 ac temere \u00e0 rebus abstract\u00e6,\n& vag\u00e6, nec satis definit\u00e6 & circumscript\u00e6, deniq; multis modis vitios\u00e6\nfuerint, omnia ruunt._ And therefore the Doctor might very well have\nconsidered, whether these his new notions had been fitly and rightly\ndrawn from the things, to which he doth so confidently affix them,\nbefore he had so boldly asserted them, which though they be truly his\nnotions, that is, that he did think, conceive, and frame them, yet they\nare not truly abstracted from the things: And so he may be rather judged\nto be led by speculative and Philosophick Enthusiasm, than by the clear\nlight of a sound understanding.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 5._]\n\n[Sidenote: Job 11. 12.]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Kings 8. 27.]\n\n5. And concerning his Tenent that the Idea or Notion of God is as easy\nas the notion of any thing else whatsoever, that the notion may be easy\nwe grant; but whether it be true and adequate, there lies the question.\nFor those old Hereticks that held that God had Eyes, Ears, Head, Hands\nand Feet and the like, had an easie notion of it, conceiving him to have\nhumane members, but I hope the Doctor will not say that this notion of\ntheirs was a notion truly drawn from the nature and being of God,\nbecause there is no corporeity in him at all. And it is and hath been\nthe Tenent of all Orthodox Divines, Ancient, Middle and Modern, that God\nin his own nature and being is infinite and incomprehensible, and\ntherefore there can no true and adequate notion of him, as being so, be\nduly and rightly gathered in the understanding of creatures; and so the\nDoctors position or notion must needs be Phantastry and imaginary\nEnthusiasm. For as there are many things in nature that in themselves\nare finite and comprehensible, that as he grants of naked essence or\nsubstance are utterly unconceivable to any of our faculties; much more\nmust the being of God that is infinite and incomprehensible, which are\nattributes that are incommunicable, be utterly unconceivable to any of\nour faculties. And it is but the vain pride of Mans Head and Heart,\nthereby to magnifie his own abilities, whereas the Text doth pronounce\nthis of him, _For vain man would be wise; though he be born like a wild\nass colt_; that lifts him up to conceit that he can fathom and\ncomprehend the Infinite and Almighty, whom the Heaven of Heavens cannot\ncontain, and therefore cannot frame a true notion of him, whom perfectly\nhe doth not understand nor comprehend, and the attributes of God are\nmatters of Faith and not the weak deductions of humane reason.\n\n[Sidenote: _Origin. sacr._ _l._ 2. _c._ 8. _p._ 233, 234.]\n\n3. Those that seem to idolize humane abilities and carnal reason, have\nnot only applied those so much magnified Engines to the discovery of\ncreated things, wherein they have effected so little, that sufficiently\nproclaims the invalidity of the instruments or the inauspicious\napplication of them, or both, all the several sorts of Natural\nPhilosophy hitherto found out, or used, being examined, coming far short\nof solving the _Ph\u00e6nomena_ of nature, when even the least animal or\nvegetable affords matter enough to puzzle and _nonplus_ the greatest\nPhilosopher, so that we may justly complain with _Seneca_, that the\ngreatest part of those things we know are the least part of those things\nwe know not; These engines (I say) though proving ineffectual to find\nout the true notions and knowledge of natural things, have also (like\nthe fiction of the Gyants) notwithstanding invaded Heaven, and taken\nupon them to discover and determine of Celestials, wherein it is in a\nmanner totally blind, or sees but with an Owl-like vision. For indeed\nthe deciding of this point must be taken from the Divine authority of\nthe Scriptures, and the clear deductions that may be drawn from thence;\nfor this is that clear light, that we ought to follow, and not the\nDark-lanthorn of Mans blind, frail and weak reason, for it is _a sure\nword of Prophecie whereunto_ it is good _to take heed_, and not to _vain\nPhilosophy, old Wives Fables, or opposition of Sciences falsly so\ncalled_. And therefore we shall conclude this point here concerning the\ncorporeity or incorporeity of Angels with that Christian and learned\nposition of Dr. _Stillingfleet_ in these words: \u201cBut although\nChristianity be a Religion which comes in the highest way of credibility\nto the minds of Men, although we are not bound to believe any thing but\nwhat we have sufficient reason to make it appear that it is revealed by\nGod, yet that any thing should be questioned whether it be of Divine\nrevelation, meerly because our reason is to seek, as to the full and\nadequate conception of it, is a most absurd and unreasonable pretence.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Gen. 2. 7.]\n\n[Sidenote: Eccles. 3. 21.]\n\n4. In handling this point of the corporeity or incorporeity of Angels,\nwe do here once for all exclude and except forth of our discourse and\narguments the humane and rational Soul as not at all to be comprised in\nthese limits, and that especially for these reasons. 1. Because the\nhumane Soul had a peculiar kind of Creation differing from the Creation\nof other things, as appeareth in the words of the Text. _And the Lord\nGod formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils\nthe breath of life; and man became a living soul._ Upon which the note\nof _Tremellius_ and _Junius_ is, _anima ver\u00f2 hominis spiritale quiddam\nest, & divinum_. 2. Because I find _Solomon_ the wisest of Men making\nthis question: _who knoweth the spirit of man, that goeth upward: and\nthe spirit of the beast, that goeth downward to the earth?_ 3. Because\nit is safer to believe the nature of the Soul to be according to the\nAnalogy of Faith, and the concurrent opinion of the learned, than to\nsift such a deep question by our weak understanding and reason. So\nhaving premised these things, and left this as a general exception and\ncaution, we shall proceed to the matter intended in this order.\n\n[Sidenote: John 4. 24.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Cor. 3. 17.]\n\n1. We lay it down for a most certain and granted truth, that God simply\nand absolutely is only a most simple spirit, in whom there is no\ncorporeity or composition at all, and what other things soever that are\ncalled or accounted spirits are but so in a relative and respective\nconsideration, and not in a simple and absolute acceptation. And this is\nthe unanimous Tenent of the Fathers, Schoolmen and all other Orthodox\nDivines, agreeing with the plain and clear words of the Scripture, as,\n_God is a spirit, and they that worship him, must worship him in spirit\nand in truth_. And again: _Now the Lord is that spirit, and where the\nspirit of the Lord is there is liberty_. Therefore we shall lay down\nthis following proposition.\n\n2. That Angels being created substances, are not simply and absolutely\nincorporeal, but if they be by any called or accounted spirits, it can\nbut be in a relative and respective sense, but that really and truly\nthey are corporeal. And this we shall labour to make good not only by\nshewing the absurdities of that opinion of their being simply spiritual,\nbut in laying open the unintelligibility of that opinion, and by\nanswering the most material objections.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 1._]\n\n1. And first to begin at the lowest step, Body is a thing that affecteth\nthe senses most plainly and feelingly; for though many bodies are so\npure, as the air, \u00e6ther, steams of the Loadstone, and many other steams\nof bodies, that they escape the sight of our eyes, yet are they either\nmanifest to our feeling, or otherwise made manifest by some sensible\neffect, operation, or the like; yet for all this, the intrinsick nature\nof body as such is utterly unknown unto us, for when we speak of the\nextension of body, as its Characteristical property, we do but conceive\nof its superficial dimensions, its internal nature _quatenus Corpus_,\nbeing utterly unknown unto us; it being a certain truth, that\n_Quidditates rerum, non sunt cognoscibiles_; and as D^r _Moore_\ngranteth, the naked essence or substance of a thing is utterly\nunconceiveable to any of our faculties. From whence we argue, _\u00e0 minori\nad majus_, that if the substance of a body, whose affections and\nmodifications do fully incur into, and work upon our senses, be utterly\nunconceiveable to any of our senses, much more of necessity must the\nsubstance of a Created spirit, conceived as immaterial and incorporeal,\nbe utterly unconceiveable to any of our faculties, because it hath no\neffects, operations, or modifications that can or do operate upon our\nsenses.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 2._]\n\n2. And as we know not the intrinsick nature of body, so also we are\nignorant of the highest degree of the purity and spiritualness of\nbodies, nor do we know where they end, and therefore cannot tell where\nto fix the beginning of a meer spiritual and immaterial being. For there\nare of Created bodies in the Universe, so great a diversity, and of so\nmany sorts and degrees of purity and fineness, one exceeding another,\nthat we cannot assign which of them cometh nearest to incorporeity, or\nthe nature of spirit. And many of these being compared with other more\ngross and palpable bodies, may be and are called and accounted spirits,\nthough notwithstanding they be all Corporeal, and but under a gradual\ndifference. So the vital part in the bodies of men are by Physicians\ncalled Spirits in relation to the bones, ligaments, musculous flesh and\nthe like; nay even in respect of the blood, lymphatick humor, lacteal\njuyce, or the _succus nutritius nervosus_, and yet still are contained\nwithin the limits of body, and are as really Corporeal as any of the\nrest, and so are the air and \u00e6ther. And those visible species of other\nbodies that are carried in the air and represented unto our Eyes, by\nwhich we distinguish the shape, colour, site and similitude of one body\nfrom another, though by the Schools passed over with that sleight title\nof qualities, as though they were either simply nothing, or incorporeal\nthings, are notwithstanding really Corporeal, else they could not incur\ninto, nor affect the visive sensories: And these do in the air intersect\nand pass through one another (as may be optically demonstrated) without\nConfusion, Commixion, or discerpsion, and may comparatively be accounted\nspirital and incorporeal, though really they be not so. But what shall\nwe say to that wonderful body, Image or _Idolum_ of our selves, and\nother things that we behold in a mirrour or looking-glass? must this be\na meer nothing, or an absolute incorporeal thing? surely not. For it is\nas really a body as any in the Universe, though of the greatest purity\nand fineness of any that we know; and how near it approaches to the\nnature of spirit, is very difficult (if not impossible) to determine;\nfor if it did exist when the body or subject from whence it floweth were\nremoved, it might rationally be taken for a Spirit, and with far more\nprobable ground than many things else that have been vainly supposed to\nbe Spirits. And that these visible shapes of things, and this Image in\nthe glass, are not meerly imaginary nothings, but Corporeal Figures and\nsteams, is most manifest, because they vanish when the body or subject\nis removed, because that _nullius entis nulla est operatio, &\nIncorporeum non incurrit in sensus_, and because they would pass through\nthe glass, but only for the foil or _Bractea_ laid on the otherside, by\nwhich the Image is reflected. So that if we have bodies of so great\npurity, and near approach unto the nature of spirit, we cannot tell\nwhere spirit must begin, because we know not where the purest bodies\nend.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 3._]\n\n[Sidenote: The Immortal. of the Soul. _Axiom._ 2. _p._ 6.]\n\n[Sidenote: _De natura substant. Energetic._ _c._ 27. _p._ 379.]\n\n3. D^r _Moore_ maketh substance to be the genus, and spirit and body to\nbe the two species, so that body and spirit are of one generical\nIdentity, and so there must of necessity some certain specific\ndifference betwixt them be assigned and proved, or else the division is\nvitious, and the property of spirit not proved, and so their opinion of\nspirit falls totally to the ground. For we affirm (and shall prove) that\nthough a difference be imagined and supposed, yet it was never yet\nsufficiently proved, for _omnia supposita, non sunt vera_, otherwise all\nthe impossible figments and vain _Chim\u00e6ras_ of melancholy and doting\npersons might pass for true Oracles: but it is one thing truly to\nunderstand, and another thing to imagine and fancy what indeed is not,\nnor ever was. And though the supposition seem never so probable and\nlike, yet it will but at the best infer the possibility of such an\nimagined difference, but not prove it really to be so, and therefore\nhere we shall retort the Doctors Axiom against him, which is this:\n\u201cWhatsoever is unknown to us, or is known but as meerly possible, is not\nto move us or determine us any way, or make us undetermined; but we are\nto rest in the present light and plain determination of our own\nfaculties.\u201d Now that a spirit is penetrable and indiscerpible, may be\nimagined as possible to the fancies of some, but cannot be clearly\nintelligible to any sober mind; for to imagine, and to understand, are\nfaculties that are very different, and however if such a difference be\nconceived as possible (which cannot enter the narrow gate of my\nIntellect) yet the difference of being penetrable and indiscerpible, is\nnot to move us to determine that a spirit hath those distinct properties\nfrom bodies, because they are but known to us as meerly possible. And\ntherefore that these two differences of penetrability and\nindiscerpibility assigned by D^r _Moore_, are not sufficiently proved to\nbe so, we shall give these reasons. 1. If bodies in the ultimate act of\nnature can penetrate themselves and one another, as Helmont and D^r\n_Glisson_ do strongly labour to prove, then penetrability is not the\nproper difference of spirit from body, because then common to them both.\n2. But if it be taken for a truth (and the one of necessity must be\ntrue) that bodies do not, or can possibly penetrate themselves or one\nanother, as the common tenent holdeth, and seemeth most agreeable to\nverity, for it is simply unintelligible and impossible to conceive, that\ntwo Cubes (suppose of Marble or Metal) should penetrate one another, and\nyet but to have the dimensions of one, and to possess no greater space\nthan the one did formerly fill: And if this be impossible and\nunintelligible in respect of bodies, whose properties, aptitudes,\naffections and modifications are apparent to our senses, then must it be\nmore impossible and unintelligible in substances supposed to be meerly\nincorporeal, because they must needs be more pure and perfect, and\ntherefore less subject to such unconceiveable affections; and however,\nit can be no wayes known to our faculties or cognitive powers, that they\nhave any such specifical property or affection. 3. As it is not any way\nmanifest to any of our senses, nor can be proved by any sound deductions\nof reason, so it cannot be manifested to be any innate notion shining\nfrom the Intellect it self, and we ought not to take adventitious ones\ninstead of those that are innate, nor fictitious ones for either, but to\nmake a due distinction of each of them one from another. 4. Neither is\nindiscerpibility a proper difference of a spiritual substance from a\ncorporeal one, because the visible species of things do in the air\nintersect one another, and suffer not discerpibility: and that these are\nbodies is manifest, because they affect the senses; and therefore that\nwhich is a property of some bodies cannot be the proper difference to\ndistinguish a spirit from a body. 5. This is only an arbitrary and\nfeigned supposition, and cannot be proved either by the testimony of any\nof the senses, by sound reason, or innate notions; and what is or cannot\nbe proved by some of these (according to his own position) ought to be\nrejected. And therefore as indiscerpibility is no proper difference of a\nspirit from a body, no more is penetrability, which can no more be in a\nspiritual substance, than either in discreet quantity one can be two, or\ntwo one, or in continuate quantity one inch can be two, or two can\nbecome one. D^r _Glisson_ from his much admired _Suarius_ the great\nWeaver of fruitless Cobwebs, hath devised another difference of spirit\nfrom body which he thus layeth down, as we give it in this English. \u201cI\nassign (he saith) a twofold difference betwixt the substance of matter\nand that of spirits. The first is taken from the substantial (_\u00e0\nsubstantiali materi\u00e6 mole_) heap or weight of the matter. For I (he\nsaith) besides the actual and accidental extension, do attribute to the\nmatter this substantial heap or weight which is denied to spirits. But\nthe sign of this heap or weight is, that if the matter in the same space\nbe duplicated, triplicated, or centuplicated, that it will be made more\ndense twofold, threefold, or an hundred fold. And concludeth thus: I\nanswer (he saith) that matter and spirit in this do agree betwixt\nthemselves, that they both are finite, and from thence that they have\nthis common, that neither of them can reduce themselves into a\nlittleness that is infinite, or into an infinite magnitude. Therefore\nthe difference betwixt them doth not consist in this; but in this, that\na spirit whether it be contracted or dilated, is not made more dense or\nrare; but on the contrary, matter, whether it be contracted or expanded,\nis made more dense, or more rare.\u201d To which we return this responsion.\n1. It is usual with men, when by their wills and fancies they would\nmaintain an opinion that is weak and groundless, finding they cannot\nclearly perform it, to bring in some strange, obscure or equivocal word,\nthereby to make a flourish, though they prove nothing: So here this\nlearned person to make a shew to prove the difference of spirit doth\nassign _moles substantialis_ as peculiar to body, but not to spirit; but\nwhat is to be understood by _moles_, he might know his own meaning, but\nI am sure there are few others that do or can understand it, and\ntherefore is but a devised subterfuge to stumble and blind mens\nintellects, and not to prove the thing intended. 2. If by the word\n_moles_ he intend weight or gravity (and what else it can signifie is\nnot intelligible) then it will not be a difference betwixt body and\nspirit, because gravity and levity are differences of bodies in respect\nof one another, and therefore can be none as he assignes it. 3. To\nassert that a spirit when contracted or dilated is not made more dense\nor more rare, but that matter whether it be contracted or expanded, is\nmade more dense or more rare, is easily spoken, but not so easily\nproved: and rude assertions without sound proof, are of no validity, and\nmay with as good reason be denied and rejected, as affirmed or received.\n4. We have no density in bodies but in respect of the paucity and\nparvity of the pores, so that less of another body is contained in them,\nand that is accounted rare that hath many or greater, and so containeth\nmore of another body in them, and are qualities or modifications that\nonly belong unto bodies, and not at all unto spirits, and is but\nprecariously taken up by the Doctor without any proof or demonstration\nat all. 5. If spirits cannot expand themselves into an infinite space,\nnor contract themselves into an infinite littleness, then where are\nbounds and limits of this contraction and expansion, or how is it proved\nthat they can do either? seeing they are properties and affections of\nbodies and matter, and never were proved to be peculiar to spirits.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 4._]\n\n4. Those that are much affected to and zealous for experimental\nPhilosophie, do often run into that extream, as utterly to condemn and\nthrow away all the ancient Scholastick Learning, as though there were\nnothing in it of verity or worth: But this is too severe and dissonant\nfrom truth, as might be made manifest in many of their Maximes; but we\nshall only instance in one as pertinent to our present purpose, which is\nthis: _Imaginatio non transcendit Continuum_. And this if we perpend it\nseriously, is a most certain and transcendant truth; for when we come to\ncogitate and conceive of a thing, we cannot apprehend it otherwise than\nas continuate and corporeal; for what other notions soever we make of\nthings, they are but adventitious, arbitrary, and fictitious, for even\n_non entia ad modum entium concipiuntur_. And therefore those that\npretend that Angels are meerly incorporeal, must needs err, and put\nforce upon their own faculties, which cannot conceive a thing that is\nnot continuate and corporeal: But if they will trust their own\nCogitations and faculties rightly disposed, and not vitiated, then they\nmust believe that Angels are Corporeal, and not meerly and simply\nspirits, for absolutely nothing is so but God only.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 5._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Rob. Fludd. utri. Cosm. Hist._ _Tract._ 1. _l._ 4. _c._\n           2. _p._ 110.]\n\n5. If the Angelical nature were simply and absolutely spiritual and\nincorporeal, then they would be of the same essential Identity with God,\nwhich is simply impossible. For the Angels were not Created forth of any\npart of Gods Essence, for then he should be divisible, which he is not,\nnor can be, his Essence being simplicity, unity, and Identity it self,\nand therefore the Angels must of necessity be of an essence of Alterity,\nand different from the essence of God. Now God being a simple, pure, and\nabsolute spirit in the Identity of his essence, if the Angels were\nsimply and absolutely spiritual and incorporeal, then they must be of\nthe same essence with him, which is absurd and impossible; and therefore\nthey have Alterity in them, and so of necessity must be Corporeal, and\nnot simply and meerly spiritual. And that as much as we contend for here\nis granted by D^r _Moore_ in these words: \u201cFor (he saith) I look upon\nAngels to be as truly a compound Being consisting of soul and body, as\nthat of men and brutes.\u201d Whereby he plainly asserteth their Composition,\nand so their Alterity, and therefore that they must needs have an\n_Internum_ and _externum_, as the learned and Christian Philosopher D^r\n_Fludd_ doth affirm in these words: _Certum est igitur inesse ipsis\n(scilicet Angelis) aliud, quod agit, aliud autem, quod patitur; nec ver\u00f2\nillud secund\u00f9m quod agunt, aliud quam actus esse poterit, qui forma\ndicitur; neq; etiam illud secundum quod patiuntur, est quicquam pr\u00e6ter\npotentiam, h\u00e6c autem materia appellatur_.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 6._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Serm._ 6 _sup. Cantic._ _p._ 505.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Lib._ 5.]\n\n6. Therefore to conclude, these arguments do sufficiently and evidently\nprove that Angels are either Corporeal, or have bodies united unto them,\nwhich is all one to our purpose whether way soever it be taken. To which\nonly we shall add these authorities; and first S. _Bernard_ tells us\nthus much rendered into English. \u201cTherefore (he saith) as we render unto\nGod alone true immortality, so also incorporeity, because he alone doth\nso far transcend the universal Corporeal nature of spirits, that he doth\nnot stand need of any body whatsoever, in any operation whatsoever,\nbeing content with only a spiritual nodd (or motion) when he will, to\nperform whatsoever he pleaseth. Therefore only that majesty of his, is\nthat, which neither for himself, nor for another, hath need of the help\nof a Corporeal instrument, by which omnipotent will he is immediately\npresent at every work.\u201d And that of _Damascen_ is full to the purpose,\nwhich is this: \u201cThat Angels _quantum ad nos_, are said to be incorporeal\nand immaterial: but compared to God, are found to be Corporeal and\nmaterial.\u201d And of this opinion besides were _Tertullian_, S. _Augustin_,\n_Nazianzen_, _Beda_, and many others, as may be seen in the learned\nWritings of _Zanchy_ upon this subject: with whose words we shall shut\nup this particular: _Certum enim est, ex iis qu\u00e6 scriptur\u00e6 tradunt de\nAngelis, probabiliorem esse Patrum sententiam, qu\u00e0m Scholasticorum:\nutram tamen sequaris, non multum peccaveris, nec proptere\u00e0 inter\nH\u00e6reticos haberi poteris_.\n\nAnd on the otherside, if they be holden to be simply and absolutely\nincorporeal, then these absurdities must of necessity follow.\n\n1. If Angels be simply incorporeal, then they can cause no Physical or\nlocal motion at all, because nothing can be moved but by contact, and\nthat must either be by immediate or virtual contact, for the Maxime is\ncertain, _Quicquid agit, agit vel mediatione suppositi_, as when ones\nhand doth immediately touch a thing and so move it; _vel mediatione\nvirtutis_, as when a man with a rod or a line, doth draw a thing forth\nof the water, both of these do require a Corporeal contact, that is,\nthat the superficies of the body moving or drawing, must either\nmediately or immediately touch the superficies of the body to be moved\nor drawn. But that which is absolutely incorporeal hath no superficies\nat all, and therefore can make no contact either mediate or immediate;\nand therefore Angels if simply incorporeal, can cause no Physical or\nlocal motion at all.\n\n[Sidenote: The Immortal. _l._ 1. _c._ 10. _p._ 72.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Princip. Phil._ _Part._ 2. _p._ 40.]\n\n2. If Angels be absolutely incorporeal, then they cannot be contained or\ncircumscribed in place, and consequently can perform no operation in\nPhysical things. To which if they answer with _Thomas Aquinas_: _Quod\ncircumscribi terminis localibus est proprium Corporum, sed circumscribi\nterminis essentialibus, est commune cuilibet Creatur\u00e6, tam corporali,\nquam spirituali_; This aiery distinction might have taken place, if\n_Aquinas_ had shewed us what essential terms and limitations are, but of\nthis we have no proof at all, and what was never proved may justly be\ndenied. For what a definitive place is, was never yet defined, neither\ncan we possibly conceive an Idea or notion of any such thing, but only\nas we may make a _Chim\u00e6ra_ or figment of that which never was nor is.\nFor though we may apprehend that they are not circumscribed in place, as\ngross bodies are, yet it is not to be doubted, but that they move from\nplace to place, and do so consist in some place, that they occupy a\ncertain space of place, and this is most certain, if we believe (as we\nought) those things which the Scriptures do declare concerning the\nmission and motion of Angels. And therefore notwithstanding this\nfrivolous and feigned distinction, we may conclude with _Theodoret_,\n_Angelorum naturam esse finitam, & circumscriptam, e\u00f3q; opus habere\nloco_. Neither doth that avail to solve the business, and make this a\ngood distinction, which is brought by D^r _Moore_, to wit, that there\nare two acceptions of place, the one being imaginary space, the other\nthat place is the concave superficies of one body immediately environing\nanother body, and that therefore there being these two acceptions of\nplace (he concludeth) that the distinction of being there\n_Circumscriptive & definitive_, is an allowable distinction. But by the\nDoctors leave we must affirm, that what he saith is not allowable, and\nthat for these reasons. 1. Because imaginary space hath no existence in\nnature, but only in the fancy of the Imaginant, _& entia rationalia, non\nsunt entia naturalia ex parte rerum existentia._ 2. Because it is a\ncertain truth which _Des Cartes_ hath taught us, to wit: That the names\nof place or space, do not signifie any thing different from a body that\nis said to be in a place, but only do design the magnitude, figure and\nsite of it amongst other bodies. And that this site may be determined,\nwe ought to have respect unto some other bodies, which we may consider\nas immoveable. And as we respect divers bodies, we may say that the same\nthing at the same time doth change place and not change place. As when a\nShip is carried in the Sea, he who sitteth in the Ship doth alwayes\nremain in one place, if respect be had to the parts of the Ship, betwixt\nwhich parts he keepeth the same site: And the same person doth\ncontinually change place, if respect be had to the shores, because he\ncontinually receedeth from some shores, and cometh more near unto other.\n3. Neither is this distinction good, because as the same Author tells\nus: _Non etiam in re differunt spatium, sive locus internus, substantia\ncorporea in eo contenta, sed tantum in modo, quo \u00e0 nobis concipi\nsoleat_. 4. D^r _Moore_ granteth that spirits are substances and have\nextension, and we affirm that nothing can be so but what is Corporeal,\nand consequently must be in place circumscriptively, and therefore the\nfancy of a definitive place, is meerly a fictitious foppery, without\nground or reason.\n\n[Sidenote: _Object. 1._]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Timoth. 6. 16.]\n\n[Sidenote: Hebr. 1. 3.]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Tim. 6. 13.]\n\n[Sidenote: Job 34. 14, 15.]\n\n[Sidenote: _De Lithias._ _l._ _c._ 8. _p._ 70.]\n\nAnd now let us examine the objections that are usually brought against\nthis opinion, the strongest of which is to this purpose; that if Angels\nbe Corporeal, then of necessity they must be mortal, alterable and\ndestructible; to which I answer. 1. Because no Creaturely nature is or\ncan be immortal, _per se & ab intrinsec\u00e2 & propri\u00e2 natur\u00e2_, for God only\nis so as saith the Text, \u1f41 \u03bc\u03cc\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2 \u1f14\u03c7\u03c9\u03bd \u1f00\u03b8\u03b1\u03bd\u03b1\u03c3\u03af\u03b1\u03bd, _Who only hath\nimmortality_; Therefore the Angels whether corporeal or incorporeal, are\nnot immortal, neither by themselves or their intrinsick nature, either\n(as the Schools speak) _\u00e0 parte ante, vel \u00e0 parte post_, because God\nonly is so, exclusively considered in regard of any Creature, and so the\nobjection is of no force. 2. The Corporeity of Angels doth not at all\nhinder their immortality _\u00e0 parte post_, for as God is only immortal in\nrespect of Essence, Eternity, Infinity and Independency, so Angels nor\nany Creatures, are immortal in that point or respect, but only in regard\nof their dependency upon God, who by his conservative power doth keep\nthem by Christ, that for the time or duration to come, they shall not\ndie, perish, or be annihilated; and this he can and doth as well perform\nif they be corporeal as spiritual, even as he doth preserve and conserve\nthe bodies of the Saints in their Graves until the general Resurrection,\nand in the World to come doth keep them in immortality; though they be\nchanged and made spiritual bodies, yet they remain bodies still. For it\nis he _that sustaineth all things by the power of his word_; And it is\nhe _that doth vivifie or quicken all things: and if he gather unto\nhimself his spirit and his breath, all flesh shall perish together, and\nman shall turn again unto dust_. So that the objection is of no\nvalidity, because no Creature is kept in perpetual duration, _\u00e0 parte\npost, ab intrinsec\u00e2 natur\u00e2, sed ex causis conservantibus_, which is the\ngoodwill, benignity, and blessed influence of _Jehovah_, and not from\nany internal creaturely power. 3. Every spiritual and incorporeal\nsubstance that is created, is as annihilable by the prime power that\ncreated it, as is a Corporeal created substance. And on the contrary, a\nCorporeal or material substance is no more capable of annihilation by\nany power or efficiency of second Causes, than an incorporeal and\nspiritual substance is; and therefore whether Angels be simply\nincorporeal, or that they be Corporeal, it neither maketh for nor\nagainst their immortality, which consists only in the benign emanation\nof the Divine conservative power of the Almighty: And therefore doth\nprofound _Bradwardine_ draw that invincible, and undeniable Corollary of\nverity, _Quod necesse est Deum servare quamlibet Creaturam immediati\u00f9s\nquacunq; causa creata_. 4. Though the most of the bodies that are known\nunto us be divisible, alterable and discerpible, or dissipable in\nrespect of our conceptions of them, yet actually we may find many bodies\nin nature that are not, nor ever were dissipated or dissevered _secundum\ntotum_, though there may be alteration in their superficial parts, as\nthe Earth, the Sun, Moon, the rest of the Planets, and those great and\nglorious bodies that we call Stars; so that for the duration of bodies\n_\u00e0 parte post_ we can conclude little of certainty. And as there are\nbodies that _secundum suum totum_, are not severed or dissipated, so\nthere are some bodies that though they may suffer division and\ndissipation into smaller parts, yet do those parts though most minute,\nsuffer no real transmutation, but remain of the same Homogeneous nature\nthey were before, as is most manifest in Silver dissolved in _Aqua\nfortis_, wherein though it be so severed and dispersed, that it appear\nnot at all unto the eye, yet may it be from thence recovered and\nredintegrated into its own nature as it was before. And also the Masters\nof the more abstruse Philosophy affirm to us upon their own certain\nexperience, that though metallick _Mercury_ may be divided into\ninsensible and invisible Atomes, yet still it retains the nature of\nmetallic _Mercury_, and that thus _Helmont_ tells us: _Si non vidissem\nargentum vivum eludere quamcunq; artificum operam, ade\u00f2, quod aut totum\navolet adhuc integrum, aut totum in igne permaneat, atq; utrolibet modo,\nservet impermutabilem sui ac primitivam identitatem, identitatisq;\nhomogeneitatem anaticam: dicerem artem non esse veram, qu\u00e6 vera est,\nsine mendacio, atq; long\u00e8 verissima_. So also there are bodies which\nalthough they suffer division and separation by some other bodies\ndissevering of them, yet by motion of coition they soon close and\nredintegrate themselves, having thereby suffered no detriment at all, as\nis most apparent in the pure body of the \u00c6ther, the visible species of\nthings, the images in a Looking-glass and in shadows, which are all\nbodies. So that seeing bodies, no more than Spirits to be annihilable by\nsecond causes, and that there are some bodies that are not dissipated\n_secundum totum_, and that there are others that though they are\nseparable into more minute particles, yet do they remain in Analytical\nand Homogeneous Identity, and that there are others that though they be\nactually for a small moment divided, yet they do instantaneously\ncoalesce, and by coition unite themselves; yet we may therefore\nrationally conclude, that corporeity, _quatenus_ such, doth not at all\ntake away immortality _\u00e0 parte post_, because bodies as well as spirits\nmay be kept in immortality by the conservative concourse of Divine\nPower, and so the objection utterly falls to the ground.\n\n[Sidenote: _Object. 2._]\n\n[Sidenote: Psal. 104. 4.]\n\n[Sidenote: Heb. 1. 7.]\n\n2. There is only another argument that the persons of the other opinion\nhave urged, such as _Aquinas_, and the rest of the Scholastick rabble,\nto wit, the Text in the Psalm, which is this: _Who maketh his Angels\nspirits: his ministers a flaming fire_. From whence they would\npositively conclude that they are spirits, and absolutely incorporeal;\nbut fail of their purpose for these clear reasons. 1. The Text there\ncannot be rationally understood of their creation, or of their\ncreaturely nature, but of their offices and administrations, because the\nword used there is not from \u200f\u05d1\u05b8\u05bc\u05e8\u05b8\u05d0\u200e to create, or form forth of\nnothing, but from \u200f\u05e2\u05b8\u05e9\u05b8\u05d0\u200e _fecit_, that is by ordering them in their\noffices and ministrations. And again the word \u200f\u05e8\u05d5\u05bc\u05d7\u05b7\u200e doth not alwaies\nor of necessity signifie an incorporeal thing but that which is a body,\nas the winds, and so doth _Luther_ and diverse others render it, and it\nis commonly attributed to beasts as well as Men, as in that of\n_Solomon_, _Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the\nspirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?_ Where the word\nspirit, which is all one in the Hebrew, is attributed to beasts as well\nas to men, but no man (I suppose) will believe that the spirit of a\nbeast is simply incorporeal, and therefore by the word spirit in the\nPsalm cannot necessarily be understood a simple incorporeal substance,\nand therefore the consequence is not necessary.\n\n[Sidenote: _Metaphys._ _l._ 2. _c._ 4. _p._ 222.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. August._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Tom._ 2. _l. de spir. & an._ _c._ 8.]\n\nBut the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews must needs be taken for the\nbest Expositor of these words of the Psalmist, who doth quote them only\nfor this purpose, to prove that Christ in dignity and office is far\nabove the Angels who are all ordered to serve and obey him, and are by\ntheir offices all but ministring spirits, sent forth to minister for\nthem who shall be heirs of Salvation. By which it is manifest that this\nplace is to be understood of their ministration and offices, and not of\ntheir nature or substances. 2. They can no more be meerly and literally\nsaid to be spirits, understanding spirit to intend an absolute\nincorporeal substance, than his ministers can be literally understood to\nbe flaming fire, they must either be both literally true, which is\nabsolutely absurd, or else those words must have a metaphorical\ninterpretation, as they may and must have, and there is no inconvenience\nin that exposition. For as the winds, which is but a strong motion of\nthe air, and the shining or flaming fire, are two of the most quick,\nagile and operative agents that are known unto us in nature, so the\nAngels and Christs Ministers are strong, quick and most nimble and\npowerful in performing their offices and administrations. Therefore we\nshall conclude this as _Scheibler_ doth from S. _Augustine_: _Nihil enim\ninvisibile & incorporeum natur\u00e2 credendum est, pr\u00e6ter solum Deum, qui ex\neo incorporeus & invisibilis dicitur, quia infinitus, & incircumscriptus\nest, & simplex, & sibi omnibus modis sufficiens se ipso, & per seipsum:\nomnis ver\u00f2 rationalis creatura corporea est, Angeli & omnes Virtutes\ncorpore\u00e6 sunt, licet non subsistunt in carne_.\n\n[Sidenote: Judges 13. 20.]\n\n[Sidenote: Dan. 3. 24, 25.]\n\n[Sidenote: Luke 24. 39.]\n\nNow though we have sufficiently proved that they are corporeal, that is,\nthat they have bodies naturally united unto them, and so have an\n_internum_, or moving power, and an _externum_, or a part moved, that\nis, as Dr. _Moore_ confesseth, a spiritual and incorporeal part, and a\ncorporeal part or vehicle, yet to assign what kind of bodies they have,\nor what proper difference there is betwixt their substance and other\ncorporeal substances is no easie matter to determine. Only we shall give\ntwo differences whereby they are distinguished from other substances\nthat are corporeal, and that as the Scripture holdeth them forth unto\nus. 1. The first differential distinction is, that their bodies do not\nsuffer, or are altered or dissipated, by the most strong, and operative\nsublunary agent that is known unto us: Amongst which we have none of\ngreater force and activity than our culinary fire, yet it is manifest\nthat that Element did not work upon nor burn the Angel that appeared to\n_Manoah_ and his Wife, _who ascended in the flame of the altar_, and was\nnot touched, or altered at all, which plainly sheweth that his body was\nnot to be wrought upon by the fierce flame of sublunary fire, and he is\nthere called the Angel of _Jehovah_. This also is confirmed by that\nwhich _Nebuchadnezzar_ saw, and confessed, that though _there were three\nmen only cast into the fiery furnace_, yet he saw a fourth (which by all\nthe learned is judged to be an Angel) _and they had no hurt upon them_,\nthat is, the fire did not work upon their bodies to burn, alter, or\nconsume them. So that in this the bodies of Angels differ from the most\nof other bodies, because they do not suffer by sublunary fire, the most\nviolent agent that we know. And this must needs rationally be taken to\nbe proper unto Angels in regard of their created natures, and not as\nsuperadded by a Divine and Almighty Power, as in some other cases it may\nbe granted. 2. A second difference is, that what bodies soever spirits\nor Angels have, or appear in, they have not flesh and bones such as\nChrist had in his true and numerical body in which he did appear after\nhis resurrection, which was the same individual body which he had before\nhe was crucified. But though they have bodies, yet to feeling and\ntangibility they have not flesh and bones as humane bodies have, which\nhave a renitency and resistibility to our touch, which their bodies have\nnot, being as it were ethereal, airy and shadowy; and yielding and\ngiving way to the touch, and though to be divided and separated, yet,\nmaybe, do as soon close by counition, and so suffer nothing at all by\nthat division.\n\n[Sidenote: _Saints Everlast. rest_, _c._ 7. _part_ 2. _p._ 255.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Sup. Cantic._ _p._ 504.]\n\nConcerning the properties of their bodies it seems to have been the\nopinion of _Tertullian_ (as I find him quoted by Mr. _Baxter_) that they\nhad thin pure and aereal bodies which they could dilate and expand,\ncondense and contract at their pleasures, and so frame them into diverse\nand sundry shapes; his words are these: _D\u00e6mones sua h\u00e6c corpora\ncontrahunt, & dilatant, ut volunt: sicut etiam lumbrici, & alia qu\u00e6dam\ninsecta_. So we see that some worms and insects will extend themselves\ninto a vast length and smallness, that they can pass through a very\nsmall hole, or passage, and again contract themselves into a great bulk,\ndrawing in the length, and increasing the breadth and thickness, which\nthough it still be the same corporeal substance, and in general doth, in\nwhat figure soever it be brought into, but retain the same dimensions in\nrespect of place, yet in regard of accidental shape or figure it may\nchange the dimensions in respect of one another, as one while to be more\nin longitude, and less in breadth and depth, and sometimes more in\nbreadth and depth, and less in length. So may the bodies of Angels by\ncontraction and dilatation, sundry wayes alter their dimensions, and\nconsequently their shapes and figures, and all this according to the\nmotion and act of their own wills, so that still there must be limits to\nthese acts of distention and contraction, that they can do neither in an\ninfinite degree as either to become an insensible and indivisible prick,\nnor to be infinitely expanded or dilated, and this opinion hath\nsufficiency of rationality and intelligibility in it. Of this very point\nS. _Bernard_ speaketh thus modestly: _Videntur Patres de hujusmodi\ndiversa sensisse, nec mihi perspicuum est und\u00e8 alterutrum doceam: &\nnescire me fateor_. And though we cannot punctually enumerate, nor\nassign the certain properties of their bodies, yet we may rationally\nconclude thus much. 1. That they being creatures ordained for high and\nnoble ends must needs have their bodies and organs fitted and suitably\nproportioned to fulfil and accomplish those ends, as doth most\nmanifestly appear by the bodies and organs of all other creatures, which\nare most wisely and fitly framed by the Almighty, according to the\nseveral ends and uses they were created and ordained for. 2. It is most\nprobable that considering there are creatures that as their wills are\nmoved by their passions and affections can alter the colours and figures\nof their own bodies, as is manifest in worms, and in the colours of the\nChameleon, as it is asserted by the experience of the learned Physician\n_Dominicus Panarolus_, so from the less to the more, that Angels have\nbodies of far more excellency to perform their ministrations in, than\nthose gross and terrestrial bodies have that are here below. And it is\nno small wonder to observe our ordinary _Gallus Turcicus vel\nGallopavus_, how quiet and demissly sometimes he goes, and then again\nupon the suddain by some emotion of spirit, how will his train be\nadvanced and extended, his barbles swelled and puffed up, and the\nappendicle that comes over the bill or _rostrum_, be extended or\ncontracted at the pleasure of the animal: And much more to consider the\nquick and suddain change of the colours of both those parts, as\nsometimes to a whitishness, or an ash-colour, sometimes purple,\nsometimes blewish, and sometimes pure red, so quick a motion that\ncreature can give to the spirits and blood, that they can so quickly\nalter and change, not only the colours, but also the magnitude. And much\nmore may we rationally believe that Angels can alter and change the\nfigure and colour of their bodies according to the ministrations they\nare imployed about.\n\n[Sidenote: Mark 12. 25.]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Cor. 15. 44.]\n\n3. The Scripture informeth us that in or at _the resurrection, the\nbodies of men shall be as the Angels that are in heaven_, _sicut\nAngeli_: Now this Analogy, comparison, or assimilation, would be\naltogether false if Angels had no bodies at all, but were meerly\nincorporeal; then it would follow, that the bodies after the\nresurrection were made meer Spirits, and so ceased to be bodies, which\nis false according to the doctrine of S. _Paul_, who sheweth us plainly\nthat after the resurrection they are changed in qualities into \u03c3\u03ce\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1\n\u03c0\u03bd\u03b5\u03c5\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b9\u03ba\u1f70 _spiritual bodies, for there is a natural Soul_ or Animal\n_body_, and so likewise, _there is a spiritual body_. From whence we\nnecessarily conclude that Angels have Bodies, and that they are pure\nspiritual ones.\n\nNow we shall come to the other point intended in this Chapter, that is\nto shew that the opinion of Angels assuming bodies of the Elements here\nbelow, is a meer figment, as must of necessity follow if this be a truth\nthat we have proved, to wit, that they have bodies; for then assuming of\nother bodies must needs be in vain and to no purpose: but we shall also\nshew the weakness and folly of that Tenent by these positive reasons\nfollowing.\n\n1. Those that maintain the assumption of bodies dare not affirm that\nthey are so invested with those bodies, as are humane souls with their\nbodies: for then there must be vital union, which cannot be but by\nDivine Ordination: But it doth not any where either by Scripture, or\nsound rational consequence, appear that either God appointed, or gave\npower to Angels to assume to themselves bodies of what shape they\npleased, or that he ordained a vital union, betwixt the Angels and those\nbodies they are supposed to assume either by Creation, or Generation,\nand therefore if they did assume any such bodies it must but be as we\nput on and off our Garments, or as Players put on and off their Perukes,\nVizards and Garments according to the several things or persons they\nintend to represent and personate.\n\n2. But the great question will be, who are the Taylors that shape and\nframe them these vestments? what! must it be themselves that shape and\nfigurate these bodies, as snails are supposed to frame and make their\nshells and houses? Surely not, because if they be simply incorporeal,\nthen they can make no contact with corporeal matter, and without a\ncorporeal contact there can be no alteration nor organization of matter,\nand consequently, they cannot frame or shape themselves such vestments;\nneither can any other actor or agent be assigned that can frame them,\nand therefore the Tenent is a most ridiculous figment. And again if they\nshould have such solid bodies framed of the inferior Elements, as the\nbody of a Serpent, as the Witchmongers do suppose the Devil assumed when\nhe deceived _Evah_, and such bodies as Demons are vainly supposed to\nassume to carry the heavy bodies of Men and Women in the air, then those\nbodies must needs be of that solidity and compactness that they cannot\nsuddainly be wasted and dissipated, and then doubtlesly we should find\nthem sometimes, as we do the sloughs, _Exuvias_, or skins of Snakes, for\nthey could not be consumed in a moment. And it were horrid to suppose\nthat God should instantaneously create them, and as suddainly dissipate\nand waste them. So that in verity there is nothing of certitude, but it\nmay be looked at as a Chimera and a Poetical Fable.\n\n3. And if the Angels had not such bodily organs wherein they could move,\nwalk, speak, and perform other such actions withal, before they assumed\nor crept into such vestments, their being inclosed and invested with\nthem and in them would no more fit and inable them to walk or speak in\nthem, than would an hollow Image inable a lame Man to walk, or a dumb\nMan to speak that were inclosed in them. Therefore (suppose) as the\nWitchmongers hold, that the Devil should appear to a Witch in the\nassumed shape of a Cat, Dog, Foal or such like, and walk and talk with\nhim or her, if before that assumption of such a shape, the Devil could\nnot walk and speak, the having crept into such a vestment would no more\ninable him to speak, than a dead Cat in an empty hogshead, or wind pent\nin an empty bladder.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAP. XI.\n\n  _Of the Knowledge, and Power of faln Angels._\n\n\nThese evil Angels of which we treat, did doubtless, before they left\ntheir habitation and did not keep their first estate, participate of the\nsame knowledge and power, that those Angels still retain that did not\nfall into that defection and rebellion; so that our disquisition must\nbe, what knowledge and power they have lost, and what they still do\nretain, and this we may consider in these particulars. 1. That there are\nmany things of which they are totally ignorant and nescient. 2. The\nknowledge that they have is dark and confused.\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Cor. 2. 11.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Chron. 6. 30.]\n\n[Sidenote: Jer. 17. 9, 10.]\n\n[Sidenote: Isai. 41. 21, 22, 23.]\n\n[Sidenote: Matth. 2. 13.]\n\n1. Concerning the first, this must of necessity be a certain rule that\nwhat the holy and elect Angels do not know, the evil and faln Angels\nmust much more ignore, except the knowledge of evil and guilt, from\nwhich the good Angels are free; and these may be reduced to these few\npoints. 1. We here may consider that the knowledge of Angels, is to be\nrestrained into these three ranks; first either their innate and\ncongenerate knowledge, or secondly their infused or revealed knowledge\nby God in his Son Jesus Christ, or thirdly their experimental knowledge\nthat they gain by observation and experience, and it is of the first\nonly that we speak in this Paragraph, and the rest we shall handle anon.\n2. That our cogitations, desires and affections are not known to the\nAngels, unless they manifest themselves either by external signs, or\neffects, or be revealed from God; And these ways they may be known, but\nnot otherwise; for it is manifest that Satan had darted it, or put it\ninto the mind of _Judas_ to betray Christ, yet had he so cunningly\ncarried himself, that neither by any effect nor sign did the Disciples\nknow it until our Saviour did reveal it unto them. So that the\nScriptures do plainly inform us of the truth in this particular, as,\n_For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which\nis in him?_ For this is only proper to God to search the heart, and to\nunderstand the cogitations, as saith the Text: _For thou only knowest\nthe hearts of the children of men_, he only knoweth them, and neither\nAngels nor men: and though the heart be deceitful and desperately\nwicked, yet _God doth search the heart, and try the reins_. So that if\nthe good Angels do not know the cogitations, desires and affections of\nMens hearts, except God either reveal them unto them, or they be made\nmanifest by signs and effects, much less must the bad Angels know or\nunderstand them. 3. Those things that are meerly contingent, and those\nwhich depend upon free will, cannot be known of the Angels, unless they\nbe revealed by God, as is manifest by the Text. _Produce your cause,\nsaith the Lord, bring forth your strong Idols, or Diviners, saith the\nKing of Jacob. Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen:\nlet them shew the former things what they be, that we may consider them,\nand know the later end of them, or declare us things for to come. Shew\nthe things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are\nGods: yea, do good, or evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it\ntogether._ And as the good Angels know not contingent things, or those\nthat depend upon free will, much less do the faln Angels understand\nthem, as is manifest in these examples. The Angel that was sent of God\nto warn _Joseph to take the child Jesus, and fly into \u00c6gypt_, did not of\nhis own innate knowledge, either in it self, or in its cause (as the\nSchoolmen speak) know that _Herod_ would seek the child to destroy him,\nbecause it was truly a contingent thing, and did only depend upon the\nfree act of _Herods_ will, and therefore by Divine Goodness and\nProvidence it was revealed to the Angel, thereby to preserve the life of\nthe child, and to fulfil the Scriptures. Neither do the faln Angels know\nfuture events that are contingent, or depend upon the free will of men,\nas is manifest in Satans tempting and afflicting of _Job_, which he\nintended to have been his destruction, and therefore did falsly divine\nand foretel that _Job would curse God to his face_, but the event was\nnot according to his lying conjecture, but to the manifestation of\n_Jobs_ Faith and Patience, and produced his glorious restoration. So the\nlying spirit in the mouth of _Ahabs_ Prophets, did not know that _Ahab_\nwould go up to _Ramoth Gilead_, or that he should be slain there, but\nthat God did reveal it unto him, and sent him forth with a powerful\ncommission to prevail. So that all the predictions and Divinations of\nthe Devil or his Angels are nothing but lying guesses and uncertain\nconjectures; for what can be expected from him _who was a liar from the\nbeginning, and the father of lies_? Neither were his Idol-priests,\nWizzards, Diviners or Prophets any better but meer conjecturers and\nlyars, as was most manifest in all those Oracles that were amongst the\nGrecians, which uttered nothing but cheats, lies, equivocations and\nambiguous responsions. And those amongst the Jews were no better, who\ntook upon them to foretel and divine for others, but could not or did\nnot foresee their own destruction, as is manifest in _Ahabs_ Prophets\nslain by _Elijah_, and the Priests of _Baal_ slain by _Jehu_, and\ntherefore must all those needs be deceived that run to Divining Witches\nand Wizzards, of which sort of couzeners we have too many.\n\n[Sidenote: _Object._]\n\nAnd if against this it be objected that the Devils did know and confess\nthat Jesus was the Son of God, and therefore if they could tell this\nthat was so great a mystery, much more easily may they know other\ninferior things, and so may foretel future contingencies, to which we\ngive this responsion.\n\n1. We only affirm that Devils did not know Christ by their innate or\ninbred knowledge, but they might know him by the revelation of the\nFather, and by the things that were written of him by the Prophets, and\nby the observation of those things that were manifested at his birth,\nand shewed and done in his life time.\n\n[Sidenote: Matth. 8. 29.]\n\n[Sidenote: Luke 8. 31.]\n\n2. And it is manifest that God did not altogether intend to have him\nhidden from the knowledge of Devils, because he ordered that _the spirit\nshould lead him into the wilderness, that he might be tempted_, that his\npower and victory might be shown over the Prince of darkness. And the\nend that the wisdom of God had in this, was that the Devils to their\ngreater terror and horror might know their Conquerour, and by whose\npower they should be tormented and thrown into the Abyss or bottomless\npit, and this made them cry out saying, _Art thou come to torment us\nbefore the time_, and also _force us not into the Abyss or deep_.\n\n[Sidenote: Luk. 2. 11.]\n\n[Sidenote: Math. 3. 17.]\n\n3. The Devils might know this because the Angels had proclaimed his\nbirth to the Shepherds, and told them, that _unto them was born that\nday, in the City of David, a Saviour which was Christ the Lord_: And\nthey might know it from the appearing of the Holy Ghost in the form of a\nDove, and resting upon him, and by the voice which said from Heaven,\n_this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased_. And they might know\nit by the conquest that Christ had over the Devil, and by _their daily\nbeing cast out by the power of his word_, and command, as by the finger\nof God.\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Cor. 2. 11.]\n\n4. The mysteries of Salvation cannot be known unto the good Angels, but\nby Divine Revelation, much less unto the bad ones, as witnesseth the\nText: _For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man\nwhich is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the\nspirit of God._ The mysteries therefore of Salvation, as they have been\ndecreed by himself in his eternal counsel, are not known unto the\nAngels, but by the revelation of the spirit of God and the complement\nand fulfilling of his promises. So concerning the restauration or\nprecise day and hour of the coming of Christ, do not the Angels in\nHeaven know, though their knowledge be vast and great, and therefore\nmuch less those faln and rebellious Angels that are _chained in\neverlasting darkness, untill the judgment of the great day_.\n\n[Sidenote: Math. 18. 10.]\n\n[Sidenote: Revel. 12. 9.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Pet. 2. 4.]\n\n[Sidenote: Heb. 1. 14.]\n\n[Sidenote: Josh. 5. 13.]\n\n[Sidenote: Acts 12. 7.]\n\n5. And as that which is not understood of the blessed and elect Angels\nmust needs be unknown unto the faln Angels, so likewise there are many\nthings known to the good Angels, that are hidden or but conjectured at\nby the bad ones, as may be manifest in these instances. 1. The blessed\nAngels know and see the face of the Father in beatifical vision, as\nsaith the Text: _Take heed that ye offend not one of these little ones;\nfor I say unto you, that in heaven their Angels do alwayes behold the\nface of my father, which is in heaven_. Upon which _Beza_ hath this\nnote: _Loquitur more seculi hujus, ubi consistere in conspectu regis\nfaciemq; ejus perpetu\u00f2 videre posse, signum est domestic\u00e6 intim\u00e6q;\nfamiliaritatis_. But the faln Angels are totally deprived of this\nblessed Vision, being cast forth of Heaven, as saith the Text. _And the\ngreat Dragon was cast out, that old Serpent, called the Devil and Satan,\nwhich deceiveth the world: he was cast out into the earth, and his\nAngels were cast out with him._ And S. _Peter_ tells us, _that God\nspared not the Angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and\ndelivered them into chains of darkness_. 2. And as they have lost the\nvision and fruition of the mercies of God, so they have utterly lost the\nknowledge of his will, concerning his Covenant of Grace and mercy to the\nelect, for they are only ministring spirits sent forth to tempt to sin,\nto afflict and punish, and have still enough for the advancing of the\nKingdom of darkness, but have no knowledge of saving grace nor the\nmysteries of the Gospel, but are all enemies and adversaries to God and\nthe Kingdom of Christ, and _goeth about seeking_ continually _whom he\nmay devour_. But it is the blessed elect Angels that are _ministring\nspirits, sent forth for to minister to them, who shall be heirs of\nSalvation_. 3. The good Angels have the blessed messages revealed unto\nthem for the assisting and delivering of the godly. So an Angel did\ncomfort _Joshua_, and another warned _Joseph_ to take the child _Jesus_,\nand to fly into _\u00c6gypt_, thereby to preserve the childs life; and an\nAngel delivered the Apostles forth of prison, and many such happy\nerrands are made manifest unto them, and they imployed about them, of\nall which the faln Angels are utterly ignorant, and they are concealed\nfrom them.\n\n6. There are some things that the evil Angels know of, which the blessed\nones have no sensibility of, that is the knowledge of their own guilt,\nand the experimental sense of the loss of Gods Favour, Love, Grace and\nMercy.\n\n[Sidenote: Jude 6.]\n\n[Sidenote: _De Civitat. Dei_, _l._ 9.]\n\n2. The second thing that we proposed to handle, is, that the knowledge\nthat the faln Angels have is dark and confused, which is plain because\n_they are reserved in chains under darkness, unto the judgment of the\ngreat day_. Now those that are kept or reserved in darkness, must of\nnecessity have their knowledge dark, and consequently confused; and he\nalso that is the Prince of darkness, and the Father and Author of the\nworks of darkness, must needs like his children have his understanding\ndarkned also. And therefore we will conclude this point with the opinion\nof S. _Augustine_ who speaking both of the Angels that stood, and those\nthat fell, saith thus: _Ante peccatum autem tam isti quam illi perfect\u00e8\nomnia intelligebant. Accessit igitur istis propter peccatum aliquid\ntenebrarum. Proind\u00e8 etiam tenebr\u00e6 appellantur, & in tenebris esse\ndicuntur, c\u0153lesti illa luce destituti, & in locum caliginosum\npr\u00e6cipitati. Ut ind\u00e8 intelligamus nonnihil tenebrarum naturali etiam\nillorum menti accessisse, in p\u0153nam admissi peccati in Deum, Deiq;\nfilium._ But we shall only here speak of their knowledge in reference to\nthings acted in this elementary and sublunary world, and that in these\nparticulars.\n\n1. Though they retain the same faculty of understanding that they had\nbefore their fall, of the generation, motion and mutation of natural\nthings here below, yet is it much darkned, and far inferior to the\nknowledge of the good Angels in natural things, the one sort living and\nabiding in light, and the other being shut up in darkness.\n\n2. What knowledge soever they have by their natural faculties, or that\nthey may be supposed to gain by acquisition, is by them gotten or\nlearned for no other end, but for the hurt and destruction of mankind,\nand not as the good Angels who make use of theirs for the benefit of\nthose that shall be heirs of Salvation. For as a good Physician labours\nand studies to know the nature and virtues of Animals, Vegetables and\nMinerals, and their parts and products, for the good and benefit of\nmankind, but a Witch or poysoner laboureth to know their virtues thereby\nto destroy and kill; even so do the evil Angels, and not otherwise.\n\n[Sidenote: John 8.44.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Thes. 2. 9, 10, 11.]\n\n3. The knowledge of Devils whether natural or acquisitive is spurious,\nerroneous, fallacious, deceitful and delusive; both in respect of\nthemselves and others, for as saith the Scripture: _He was a murderer\nfrom the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no\ntruth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is\na liar, and the father of it._ Therefore saith learned _Rollock_ upon\nthis very place: _Hoc est loqui ex ingenio suo, quod naturale est sibi\nfacere; suum enim & quod ex sese deprompsit, non autem quod aliund\u00e8\naccepit, profert_. For as all the endeavours of the faln Angels tend to\nthe seduction and delusion of others, so are they, and were they the\ndeceivers and deluders of themselves: For it is most manifest that their\nminds are so obc\u00e6cated and covered over with darkness, that although\nthey be not altogether in general destitute of the knowledge of that\nwhich is just and unjust, good and evil, pious and impious, yet they do\nnot acknowledge their own sin, as they ought, for they are so\npertinacious in their sin and wickedness, that they do not attentively\nperpend and consider their own evil, and therefore are not truely\nsensible, or do understand that it is evil, and therefore are by the\njust judgment of God so absolutely obc\u00e6cated that they cannot\nacknowledge their own evil and sin. And as that knowledge they have is\nso darkned that they have deluded and deceived themselves, so all their\nknowledge in respect of others is erroneous, fallacious and lying, as\nthe Text witnesseth of Antichrist: _Even he whose coming is after the\nworking of Satan, with all power and signs, and lying wonders: And with\nall deceiveableness of unrighteousness, in them that perish. And for\nthis cause God shall send them strong delusions, that they should\nbelieve a lie._\n\n4. In regard of the words, intentions and actions of wicked Men they\nboth know and may foretel much, because they are the Authors and\ndevisers of those evils and wicked thoughts; as it was the Devil that\npushed on the Scribes and Pharisees to accuse and put Christ to death,\nfor it was _their hour and the power of darkness_, and it was Satan that\nhad darted it into the mind of _Judas Iscariot_ to betray his Master:\nAnd therefore the Devils might probably (if not certainly) know that his\ndeath would be brought to pass; so that they may easily foretel what\nthemselves have projected and prepared instruments to accomplish.\n\n5. The acquired knowledge of the faln Angels must needs be great in\nregard of their vast multitudes and their being dispersed in this\ncaliginous air or Atmosphere, for the Devil is called the Prince of the\nair (if that be literally to be understood) and he compasseth the earth\nand walketh to and fro in it, and _goeth about, seeking whom he may\ndevour_, and therefore by their agility of body and celerity of motion\nmay easily know what is done and spoken, and may so very quickly convey\nit one to another, and so may most readily communicate things that are\nacted or spoken at an incredible distance one from another; but yet all\nthis no further than Divine Providence will permit and allow of.\n\n[Sidenote: _De ver. influ. rer._ _l._ _p._ 425.]\n\n6. The Witchmongers and others do attribute a kind of omnisciency to\nDevils in respect of their acquired knowledge, which we by no means can\nallow them, and that for these reasons. 1. Though it be granted that\nthey do grow and increase in the knowlege of sin, evil, and wickedness,\ntherewith to hurt, devour and destroy, or gain more skill and craft to\nlie, cheat, delude and deceive; yet that they either gain or gather any\nknowlege that is good, or for any good end, is absolutely false, for\n_they abode not in the truth_, neither are they lovers of truth, but are\nutter Enemies to all good knowledge and verity. 2. That they may be\nMasters of all the arts or wayes of deceit, lying, cheating and\ndelusion, is no way to be denied; but that they should (as many suppose)\nby reason of their longevity and duration, learn and be perfect in any\nor all of the good Arts or Sciences, is to me utterly incredible,\nbecause they are the Corruptors of all, but the perfectors of none, else\nshould they be the greatest Philosophers in the World, which is false.\nAnd therefore most Christian and pious was that Sentence of that\nunjustly censured Person _Paracelsus_ in these words: _Et lic\u00e8t Diabolus\nquidem plurima machinetur: hoc tamen cum omnibus suis legionibus\npr\u00e6stare minim\u00e8 potest, ut vel abjectam ollam frangat, nedum eandem\nfaciat: mult\u00f2 is min\u00f9s quenquam occidere, aut jugulare potest, nisi id\nmandato, permissu jussuq; ac vi divina faciat_.\n\nThe other main point that we undertake to handle in this Chapter, is,\ntouching the power of the faln Angels, and that is to be considered in\nthese three particulars: 1. In general in respect of their power, either\nin spiritual and moral things, or in things natural. 2. Or in respect of\nspiritual and moral things in particular. 3. Or in respect of Physical\nand sublunary things.\n\n[Sidenote: John 12. 31.]\n\n[Sidenote: Ephes. 2. 2.]\n\n[Sidenote: Rom. 14. 17.]\n\n[Sidenote: Ephes. 6. 12.]\n\n[Sidenote: Heb. 2. 14.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Caten. Aur. Tho. Aquin._]\n\n[Sidenote: Psal. 119. 89.]\n\n[Sidenote: Psal. 147. 8. 16, 17, 18.]\n\n[Sidenote: Psal. 148. 8.]\n\n[Sidenote: Ephes. 6. 12.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Homil._ 22. _p._ 257.]\n\n[Sidenote: Jo. 8.]\n\n1. And for the first it must of necessity be granted, that their power\nsince their fall is much diminished, or at least restrained and chained\nand fettered up. For they becoming Rebels against the Almighty, and not\nkeeping their first Estate, but having left their own habitation, it was\nmost agreeable to the wisdom and justice of God to take away from them\nthe greatest part of that power and authority that he formerly had given\nthem, and so to imprison and chain them up, that they might never be\nable to attempt or perform the like Rebellion again; otherwise the\nAlmighty should not have used that wisdom that is ordinary with earthly\nPrinces, who haveing overcome those that rebelled against them, do not\nonly disarm them, but also confine or imprison them. And to this very\nthing do the Scriptures allude, when they say, that _they are delivered\ninto chains of darkness_, and that _they are reserved in everlasting\nchains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day_. So that\nthough the Devils still retain their cruel, wicked and devouring will\nand mind; yet they are but like the Lyon within the Bars of Iron, or\n_Bajazet_ in the Cage of Iron led about by _Tamberlan_, and so though\nthey be never so cruelly bent to do mischief, yet they are under the\nChains and cooped up in the Grates of Darkness, and kept in Everlasting\nChains that they are never able to break or unloose. And though he be\ncalled the God of this World and the Prince of it, yet that is not to be\nunderstood, that he is the Prince and Ruler of the Creatures of the\nWorld, or that he giveth riches, health, honour or the like, for those\nare the gift of God only and not of the Devil; but he is the God and\nPrince of the evil and wickedness that is in the World, for in that, and\nby that, he reigneth and ruleth; and to this purpose saith _Rollock_:\n_Damnatio est Satan\u00e6, qui peccati author est. Nam vita hujus mundi est\nsecundum principem cui potestas est aeris, &c. Dicitur autem Princeps\nhujus mundi, quia per peccatum, & mortem regnat in mundo: ut enim teste\nPaulo, Regnum Dei positum est in justiti\u00e2, & pace, & gaudio per spiritum\nsanctum, sic regnum Satan\u00e6 positum est in injustitia, & morte. Vnde ipse\npropter peccatum per quod regnat, dicitur rector tenebrarum. Propter\nmortem per quam regnat, dicitur imperium mortis habere._ And upon this\nplace St. _Augustin_ saith thus: _Nunc Princeps hujus mundi ejicietur\nforas, absit ut Diabolum principem mundi ita dictum existimemus, ut eum\nC\u0153li & terr\u00e6 dominari posse credamus: sed mundus appellatur in malis\nhominibus, qui toto orbe terrarum diffusi sunt. Sic erg\u00f2 dictum est:\nPrinceps hujus mundi, id est princeps malorum hominum qui habitant in\nmundo. Appellatur etiam mundus in bonis, qui similiter per totum orbem\nterrarum diffusi sunt: Ide\u00f2 dicit Apostolus, Deus erat in Christo mundum\nreconcilians sibi: Hi sunt ex quorum cordibus principes mundi ejicientur\nforas._ And whereas also Satan is called _the Prince of the power of the\nair, that worketh in the Children of disobedience_, it is not literally\nso to be understood, as though he had the natural power of ruling the\nair, and causing of winds, hail, snow, frost, rain, thunder and\nlightning, for these are all ordered according to the will of divine\nprovidence and the causes that he hath established in the Elements: So\n_David_ speaking of the Heavens, the Earth, and the Elements, doth\nconclude thus; _They continue this day according to thine ordinances,\nfor all thy servants_: And it is he that ordereth all these, as saith\nthe Text: _Who covereth the Heavens with Clouds, who prepareth rain for\nthe earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains. He giveth snow\nlike wool, he scattereth the hoary frost like ashes. He casteth forth\nhis ice like morsels: Who can stand before his Cold? He sendeth forth\nhis word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters\nflow._ And all these fulfil the will and command of God, and not the\nwill of the faln Angels; for the Text saith: _Fire and hail, snow and\nvapour, stormy wind fulfilling his word_; so that if they have any thing\nto do in the sublunary changes or motions of Meteors, it is but only as\ninstrumental and organical Causes, working meerly as they are ordered\nand acted by the first cause that worketh all in all, as the Christian\nPhilosopher Doctor _Fludd_ hath most learnedly proved in his Treatise of\nCosmical Meteors, which I seriously commend to those that desire full\nsatisfaction in this particular. But the Devil is chiefly called _the\nPrince of the power of the air_, because he is the proud, high, airy and\nspiritual Prince and Ruler of wickedness in high or super-c\u0153lestial\nplaces, by which proud, airy, and spiritual wickedness, _he worketh in\nthe Children of disobedience. For we wrestle not against flesh and\nblood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of\nthe darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high\nplaces_, \u1f10\u03bd \u03c4\u03bf\u1fd6\u03c2 \u1f10\u03c0\u03bf\u03c5\u03c1\u03b1\u03bd\u03af\u03bf\u03b9\u03c2. Upon which learned _Beza_ saith thus:\n_Homines quorum fragilis & caduca est natura, cui opponuntur versuti\u00e6\nspirituales, infinitis partibus potentiores_. And again, _Ista nomina\ntribuit Angelis malis, propter effectus, non quod eos su\u00e2 vi possint\npr\u00e6stare, sed quia illis Deus laxat habenas_. And therefore S.\n_Chrysostom_ upon this place saith thus: _Mundi ver\u00f2 dominos eos vocat,\nnon quod mundum gubernent, sed solet scriptura malos actus hunc mundum\nvocare, ut quando Christus dicit, vos non estis ex hoc mundo quemadmodum\nego non sum ex mundo_.\n\n[Sidenote: _De operib. Dei_ _l._ 4. _c._ 6. _p._ 175.]\n\n[Sidenote: Jo. 17.]\n\n2. To consider their power in spiritual and moral things particularly,\nwe shall find they have no power in some things, but by their fall have\nutterly lost it, as is apparent in these few points. 1. They have lost\nthat freedom of will that they had by Creation, and were partakers of\nbefore they fell, and agreeable to this is the _Thesis_ of learned\n_Zanchy_, which is this: \u201cThat all Devils have so far their wills made\nobstinate in sins, the hatred of God, Christ, and of Mankind, that from\nthis evil they cannot will to repent, and thereby be saved;\u201d and this he\nthus proveth. 1. Because in the Scriptures they are called, \u03c0\u03bf\u03bd\u03c5\u03c1\u03bf\u1f7a\u03c2\n\u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u2019 \u1f10\u03be\u03bf\u03c7\u1f74\u03bd, for they are now become such, that they cannot be changed\nfrom their malice and wickedness; because it is become natural unto\nthem. 2. From whence it is manifest, that the whole time since their\nfall, never yet any of them hath given any sign of resipiscence. 3. If\nthey could repent and believe in Christ, then for them and their sins\nChrist also should have died; for he saith, _that he prayed for those\nthat were to believe in him_; but they neither believe in him, neither\ndid he die for them. 4. But the chief cause of their impenitency is the\njust judgment of God, that hath given them up to hardness of heart,\nbecause they sinned knowingly and wilfully against the truth. And this\npoint is sufficiently proved by _Thomas Aquinas_, the rest of the\nSchoolmen and many others. 2. So that as they have lost freedom of will,\nso they cannot at all will or act to be saved, or to repent. 3. And as\nthey cannot will or act to repent or be saved, so the whole acts of\ntheir wills are evil, malicious and wicked, _being liars and murtherers\nfrom the beginning_.\n\n3. The third is to consider their power in sublunary and elementary\nthings which is the most pertinent to our present purpose, it being the\nthing that some have magnified even to a kind of omnipotency, and\ntherefore we must the more narrowly ventilate and examine it, which we\nshall do in this order.\n\n1. How great soever the power of the faln Angels may be supposed to be,\nyet neither in knowlege can they be deemed to be omniscient, or in power\nto be omnipotent, because they are created Beings, circumscribed,\nlimited and finite, and consequently can perform no act that necessarily\nmust require an omnipotent power, and so can neither create things _de\nnovo_, annihilate or transubstantiate any Creature or substance, or\npervert or put forth of order, the things that God by Creation, Decree\nand Providence hath set into their certain orders of Generation,\nalteration and corruption.\n\n[Sidenote: _Ut supra._]\n\n2. How great soever their power may be supposed to be, yet rationally it\nmust be taken for a truth, that they have not the same power that they\nhad before their fall. For as _Zanchy_ saith: _Certum est enim in\nuniversum, & in genere, hac etiam in parte illos punitos fuisse, ut non\npossint quicquid poterant, cum boni essent, nec etiam quicquid nunc\nvelint_. Because the Holy Ghost beareth witness, _that they are bound in\nChains_, and that Satan begged leave of God to invade _Job_, that they\nfought with the good Angels, but were overcome, and that they may be so\nresisted of believing men that they may be overthrown. _Ac v\u00e6 nobis,\nnisi potentia D\u00e6monum infirmata esset, & \u00e0 Domino comprimeretur, &\ncompesceretur._\n\n[Sidenote: _Zanch. de op. Dei ut supra._]\n\n3. And what power soever be granted to the faln Angels, yet it is by the\nopinion of all the learned, restrained only to these sublunary and\ninferior bodies, and that they have neither power by Creation or\nOrdination, to work upon, move, or alter things that are Angelical,\nCelestial, Ethereal and Superior, but only are chained in this\nCaliginous Atmosphere, and impure air. For it is manifest, that superior\nbodies work upon those that are inferior, but not on the contrary,\nneither have we any examples that can prove that they do operate upon\nCelestial bodies, and so their power (how great soever some may suppose\nit to be) is only restrained to these inferior sublunary things.\n\n[Sidenote: Gen. 19. 24.]\n\n[Sidenote: Isai. 37. 36.]\n\n4. The operations and actions performed by the faln Angels, may be\nconsidered, either in the simple respect of their natural and created\npower, and this how great soever it was before their fall, is not only\nlessened, but that which remains, is limited and restrained with the\nAdamantine Chains of the decree of divine providence: or in respect of\nwhat power they may have superadded by God, when they are Commissionated\nand sent by God to effect some particular actions, as for example,\n_Moses_ and _Aaron_ had but the ordinary strength and power that was\ncommon to other men, before they were sent upon the message to\n_Pharaoh_, and made Instruments to deliver the Israelites, for then were\nthey armed and indowed with the power of working great and stupendious\nMiracles. So it cannot rationally be imagined that the two Angels that\nwere sent as Instruments to destroy _Sodom_ and _Gomorrha_, did or could\nof their own proper, individual and created power, bring down Fire and\nBrimstone from Heaven to burn those two Cities, but that it was brought\nto pass by the Power of the Almighty, as granted and given to them for\nthat judgment only, and not by that ordinary power that they could\nalways exercise, for the Text saith: _Then the Lord rained upon Sodom,\nand upon Gomorrha brimstone and fire from the Lord forth of heaven_.\nNeither can it rationally be supposed that one Angel hath by his created\npower, that ability, that _he can slay in one night an hundred\nfourscore, and five thousand_, as it is written _the Angel did in the\ncamp of the Assyrians_, but that it was brought to pass by the power of\nJehovah superadded unto him, to work the great deliverance of _Hezekiah_\nand his people. Upon which place the learned Expositor _John Calvin_\nsaith thus: _Solus quidem dominus satis per se potest, ac cert\u00e8 solus\nnos servat: Angeli enim, manus quodammodo sunt ipsius: Unde etiam\nVirtutes & Potestates vocantur. Interim h\u00e6c vis soli Deo tribuenda,\ncujus organa tantummodo sunt Angeli, ne in superstitionem incidamus._\nFrom whence we may note these two things. 1. That even Devils are but\nthe organs and instruments by which God accomplisheth his will, and\nexecuteth his wrath and justice, and so are but as tormenters and\nexecutioners to act no more than what they are appointed and commanded\nto do. 2. We may observe that in times past they had large Commissions\ngiven and great power superadded to perform great wonders for the\ndestruction of the wicked, which was done for great and extraordinary\nends, such as in these days the Lord doth seldom or never use, and\ntherefore there can be no reason now shewed why Devils should have any\nextraordinary power added unto them in working strange feats for Witches\nand Sorcerers.\n\n[Sidenote: _De op. Dei_ _l._ 4. _c._ 4. _p._ 174.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Pet. 2. 4.]\n\n[Sidenote: Jude 6.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Loc. Com._ _p._ 12.]\n\n[Sidenote: Matth. 25. 41.]\n\n5. It will much conduce to the clearing of this point of the power of\nDevils to examine into what place they are faln, or since their\nrebellion into what Prison they are shut, and this we shall give in the\nThesis of learned _Zanchy_ who saith thus: \u201cAll the evil Angels were\nthrust down from Heaven, into places that are below the Celestial Orbs,\nto wit into this air, and below, as it were into a caliginous Prison,\nwhere they are reserved unto the Universal Judgment as bound with\nchains.\u201d And this is plain from the words of S. _Peter_, who saith: _For\nif God spared not the Angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell,\nand delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto\njudgment_. To which accordeth that of _Jude_: _And the Angels that kept\nnot their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved\nin everlasting chains under darkness, unto the judgment of the great\nday_. For as learned _Musculus_ tells us: _Decet Christianum hominem ea\nmodestia, & cautio, ut nihil affirmet, nec si quis alius affirmaverit,\ninconsiderat\u00e8 recipiat, quod non certo veritatis testimonio \u00e8 sacris\nliteris desumpto, confirmari queat_. To this we shall only add what the\nacute and learned Theologue _Amesius_ notes upon this place of _Peter_,\nwhich in English is this: \u201cIn general (he saith) we are taught, that\nthey did not keep their first estate, that is, they did forsake\nrighteousness and that station in which they were placed of God, and\nafterwards they have exercised from the beginning, envy, lies and\nmurther against Men. Also (he saith) we are taught, that they were a\ngreat number that were partakers of this defection, and therefore the\nApostle speaketh in the plural number. 1. They are said to be thrust\ndown _in Tartarum_ into Hell by reason of the commutation of estate and\ncondition, because that from a most high condition, which they received\nby creation, they were cast down to an estate most low. 2. By reason of\ncommutation of place, because they were thrust down from a place of\nbeatitude, where they were conversant about the Throne of God with the\nrest of the Angels, into an inferiour place subject to sin and misery.\nBut that this place is in the lowest parts of the earth, as the Papists\ndo hold, cannot be made forth from the Scriptures, but rather the\ncontrary, for they are said to be conversant, and to rule in the air,\nand to walk to and fro in the earth seeking the subversion of Men. This\nat the least is manifest from the Scriptures, and ought to satisfie\nthose that are not too curious. 1. That they suffer a great change of\nestate and condition. 2. That they are excluded and shut out from their\nfirst habitation. 3. That they are in such a place where they suffer\nboth the pain of loss and of sense. They are said to be delivered over\nto darkness, partly in respect of sin, and partly in respect of misery;\nfor darkness in Scripture doth denote both: and they are said to be\ndelivered in chains, by a metaphor taken from facinorous persons, that\nare condemned and kept bound in prison with chains, and the chains are\nthese. 1. Obfirmation or obduration in sins. 2. An utter despair of any\nfreedom or deliverance. 3. A terrible, expectation of extream misery,\nand an horrid fear of being cast into the abysse or deep. 4. The\nProvidence of God which continually watches over their custody,\nimprisonment, and punishment. They are said to be reserved to damnation,\nbecause they are so bound up in these evils and miseries, that they\nnever can escape; and yet these are but the beginnings only of their\nmiseries, for they are hereafter _to go into that everlasting fire, that\nis prepared for the Devil, and his Angels_.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Job 1. 7.]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Pet. 5. 8.]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Kings 22. 22.]\n\n6. Though the Devils be said to be reserved in everlasting chains of\ndarkness, yet are they said sometimes to be loosed, and _to go to and\nfro in the earth_, and to walk up and down in it, and _that Satan doth\nlike a roaring lion walk about seeking whom he may devour_. Which must\nbe understood (as we have shewed before) that in respect of his evil\nwill, malice and envy, he seeketh and desireth the overthrow of all\nmankind, but yet is so restrained that he doth but act, what, where,\nwhen and so far only as God doth limit and order him. For though it be\nusually said that God doth permit him, yet it cannot be understood as a\nbare and nude permission, as though God should suffer him to go so loose\nand at liberty, that he may exert and exercise his power to the\nuttermost, for then all the godly should be destroyed both in Souls and\nBodies, and God should only sit by as a bare spectator, not as an\nOrderer, Ruler and Governour, even as though an hungry fierce Lion that\nhad been chained up in a grate, should be let loose to rage and run\nwhere he would, and to kill and devour what he could, and thus the\nWitchmongers do suppose of him, which is false and contrary to the\ntestimony of Gods word. But when the Almighty maketh use of Satan or his\nAngels, they are only so let loose that he hath a hook in their\nNostrils, and their Necks in a chain, that they can act no more nor no\nfurther than he ordereth, and gives them leave to accomplish, and thus\nare they limited not only by his irresistible will and decree, but they\nare also watched over and ruled by the good Angels that are as it were\ntheir keepers and overseers. So when the Devil is used as an instrument\nto afflict Holy _Job_, he is first let loose to afflict him in his\nChildren and Goods, but not to touch his Body; and the second time he\nhath leave and power given him to lay his hand upon _Jobs_ Body, but not\nto take away his life: which do plainly shew, that he is not only and\nbarely suffered to do what he will, but hath his limits set how far he\nshall act, and no farther. And when God maketh use of him for the\npunishment of the wicked, he giveth him power, and ordereth him how far\nto act or prevail. As in the case of the lying spirit in the mouth of\n_Ahabs_ Prophets, the evil spirit is sent forth with this commission,\n_And God said thou shalt perswade him and prevail also: go forth and do\nso_. By which it is manifest that he prevaileth more by the virtue of\nGods command and commission, than by his own proper created power.\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Lambert. Dan. Isagog._ _c._ 24. _p._ 68.]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Cor. 10. 13.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Exages. Aphor._ 14. _p._ 133.]\n\n7. It is manifest that as the good Angels are the Ministers of God for\nthe Salvation of mankind, so the evil Angels are ministring spirits only\nseeking the destruction and damnation of Men; and though God doth use\nthe Ministry of these that are evil and have an evil will, yet he useth\nthem well, and to good ends, that is, as the executioners of his justice\nto chasten the godly, and to restrain, or destroy the wicked. Therefore\nGod and the Devil do not afflict, tempt or do any other thing for the\nsame ends; for God acteth to prove, preserve, and stir up to goodness,\nbut the Devil acteth to bring into sin and evil, to destroy and to bring\nto despair, as is manifest in the History of _Job_. And therefore here\nwe may consider the several ways wherein God useth the evil Angels as\nhis instruments, and that is in these particulars. 1. God useth him\ngenerally for temptation both of the good and the bad; so he tempted\n_David_, Christ and the Disciples, for Satan had _desired to sift them\nas wheat_, and therefore he is called \u1f41 \u03c0\u03b5\u03b9\u03c1\u03cc\u03b6\u03c9\u03bd, the tempter: and these\ntemptations are internal and spiritual, for _we fight not against flesh\nand blood, but against spiritual wickedness in high places_. And in\nthese as far as concerneth the faithful, he acteth but only as God\npermitteth or ordereth him, as is plain in the case of _David_, where\none Text saith, _Jehovah moved David to number the people_, and in\nanother place, _and Satan stood up, and moved David to number the\npeople_: where it is to be noted that God did it as the director and\norderer, and Satan performed it as his instrument and servant. And the\nApostle telleth us; _that God is faithful, and would not suffer the\nbelieving Corinthians to be tempted above what they were able, but would\nwith the temptation also make a way to escape, that they might be able\nto bear it_. 2. God maketh use of him for the chastisement and\naffliction of the godly, as is most manifest in that of _Job_; but this\nonly so far as he is limited, ordered and commanded from God and no\nfurther. 3. When Satan as a tormenting or punishing instrument is used\nof God, he hath his commission given him how far only he shall act and\nproceed, beyond which he cannot go one hairs breadth, as is manifest in\nthe case of _Ahab_ and the _Gadarens_ Swine, so that we may conclude\nthis with the learned Aphorism of _Piscator_ in these words: _Etsi autem\nSatan seu Diabolus cum suis Angelis Deo et filiis Dei adversatur quantum\nin ipso est, nimir\u00f9m voluntate et conatu: non tamen effectu; ita nimirum\nut vel fidelibus perniciem afferre, vel quicquam efficere possit quod\nDeus nolit. Deus enim illum potenti\u00e6 su\u00e6 fr\u00e6no vinctum constrictumq\ntenet: ut ea mod\u00f2 exequatur qu\u00e6 ei divinit\u00f9s mandata, aut concessa\nfuerint._\n\n8. Lastly, we shall now examine the particulars wherein learned _Zanchy_\ndoth acknowledge the faln Angels to have power over our and other\nsublunary bodies, and they are principally these.\n\n[Sidenote: _De oper. Dei._ _l._ 4. _c._ 10. _p._ 186.]\n\n[Sidenote: Acts 8. 39, 40.]\n\n1. Upon the supposition granted that the faln Angels have permission, he\nholdeth that by their own proper created natural power, they can as they\nplease move in place: as to lift a Body up from the earth on high, and\nthen to let it fall or throw it down to the earth; that they can\ntransfer or carry a body from one City to another in a very short space\nof time: Lastly, that they can move and agitate bodies with every kind\nof local motion that none can resist them. And that therefore all those\nstrange transportations of Witches in the air into forraign and far\ndistant places (he holdeth) need not be thought strange or impossible,\nand that they may be done with great celerity, and in a short time. And\nthis he thinketh he proveth by the example of _Philip, who when he had\ninstructed the Eunuch in the faith and baptized him, was caught away by\nthe spirit of the Lord, that the Eunuch saw him no more, and that he was\nfound at Azotus_. Upon which we must make these animadversions. 1. That\nupon the supposition or ground that faln Angels are simply and meerly\nincorporeal, this must be false, for then they cannot move in place, nor\nagitate any bodies, as we have sufficiently proved before. 2. And though\nupon the supposition that they are corporeal, they may move in place,\nand may move and agitate other bodies, yet that must be understood in a\nproportionable measure, according to their power and strength, and not\nin an infinite, or indefinite respect; for though one Devil may be\nsupposed to move or lift up that which would load an Horse, yet it will\nnot follow that he can move or lift up as much as would load a Ship of a\nthousand Tun; and though one Devil might remove a Millstone by his own\ncreated power, yet it will not follow that he can remove the greatest\nmountain that is to be found. 3. And whatsoever motion Devils may have\nhere in the air, or power to remove and agitate bodies, yet the least of\nthese cannot be performed but by licence and permission from God, which\nlicence and permission is always for ends agreeable to his Wisdom and\nJustice; but for God to license or permit Devils to appear to Witches in\nthe shape of Cats, Dogs, Squirrels or the like, to the end to suck upon\ntheir bodies or to have carnal copulation with them, or to transport\nthem in the air to places far distant, to dance, revel, feast and to do\nhomage to the Devil (as the Witchmongers alledge) is for so impure,\nfilthy, horrid and abominable ends, as can no way agree with the Wisdom\nor Justice of the Almighty, and therefore must needs be false and\nfrivolous. 4. And that which the faln Angels are in the Scriptures\nrecorded to have performed, may be considered, whether they accomplished\nthose things by their own created power, or by the power of God granted\nto them when they are sent forth to perform such or such an act: For as\nit may not be rationally granted that the two Angels that were\ninstruments for the destroying of _Sodom_ and _Gomorrha_ did bring down\nfire and brimstone from Heaven by their own created power, nor that the\ndestroying Angel in _Egypt_ did in one night kill all the first-born by\nhis own power, but by the power of the Almighty granted unto him in that\nmission, so it is not rational to suppose, that although Satan might by\ninternal motions and spiritual temptations prevail with the _Sab\u00e6ans_\nand _Chald\u00e6ans_ who were his Vassals, wherein he could work what he\nwould, to take away the Oxen, Asses and Camels of _Job_, and to slay his\nServants: though (I say) he might do this by his created power; yet that\nhe should bring fire from Heaven to destroy the sheep, or that he by his\ncreated power could raise such a wind, as could blow down the house in\nwhich the Sons and Daughters of _Job_ were, and slay them, is not\nprobable, but that it was performed by that assisting power that was\ngranted him of God, to effect that affliction upon _Job_, that God had\ndetermined for the trial and manifestation of his Faith and Patience,\nwhich cannot in any reason be said to be done by Devils in their\ntransactions with Witches, and therefore must needs be Fables and\nChimeras. 5. And whereas he addeth that the Devils can perform all kind\nof motions with natural bodies, and that none can resist them, it is too\nlarge by far; for by that rule they might shake and remove the earth,\nwhich they cannot do, for it abideth firm according to Gods appointment\nin the creation: And it is absurd to think that the superior and good\nAngels cannot resist them, who have far greater force and might than the\nfaln Angels have. 6. And whereas he would prove the power of Devils by\nthat of the spirit of the Lord conveying of _Philip_ from the Ethiopian\nEunuch, which supposing it to be a good Angel, it must likewise be\ngranted to be furnished from God to have that power to carry him away,\nand doth not necessarily conclude that the Angel did it by its proper\ncreated power: neither is the consequence good, to argue that what a\ngood Angel may do, that therefore a bad one may do the same or the like,\nfor their powers and strength are not equal, the one retaining what he\nhad by creation, the other losing much by reason of his rebellion and\nfall; as an outlawed person hath not in a civil respect the same power\nthat another person hath that is under a legal capacity, and as a\nprisoner that is loaden with chains, gives and fetters, can neither\nwalk, leap, or run so fast, as he that hath none, no more can the\nfettered Devils move with that agility and celerity that the good Angels\ncan do that have no fetters nor chains at all.\n\n[Sidenote: Apoc. 7. 2.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Sam. 24. 16.]\n\n[Sidenote: Acts 12. 23.]\n\n2. A second kind of actions that he assigneth unto Devils is, that they\ncannot only move bodies locally, but also can alter them diverse and\nsundry ways, as to make hot things of cold, and so on the contrary,\nwhite things of black, and black of white, and can make of fair things\ndeformed ones, and so on the contrary, and can make sound bodies sick,\nand sick bodies sound, affecting them with various qualities. But these\nparticulars he leaves altogether without proof, except one Text in these\nwords: _And he cried with a loud voice unto the four Angels to whom it\nwas given to hurt the earth and the seas_. From whence we shall observe\nthese things. 1. It is granted that God doth make use of evil Angels to\npunish the wicked, and to chastise and afflict the godly, and in the\neffecting of these things that they have a power given them to hurt the\nearth and the Sea and things therein, as to bring tempests, thunder,\nlightning, plague, dearth, drought and the like; but that in the\neffecting these things, they have a dative power above what they had in\nCreation, and that they are commissioned and sent by God upon purpose to\nfulfil and effect these things, and so are as the organs and instruments\nto perform the will of God in his justice, and are always for such ends\nas tend to the Glory of the Creator: But for Devils to be sent to play\nsuch ludicrous, filthy and wicked tricks with Witches, as is commonly\naffirmed, suits not at all with the Wisdom and Justice or Glory of God,\nneither have we any such examples in holy Writ, no further, but that\nDevils only are Gods Executioners or Hangmen. 2. It doth no where appear\nthat the Devils can alter, or change the shape or qualities of things at\nhis own will and pleasure, but the contrary is manifest in the Priests\nof _Baal_ in the time of _Elijah_ upon the Mount _Carmel_, where their\nIdols or Gods were to shew their power by firing the Sacrifice, a thing\nwhich if Satan could have done for them with all his power, it had been\nmost advantagious for his Kingdom; but it is evident that he neither did\nnor could procure as much fire as would burn the Sacrifice, though\nearnestly called upon by his best Servants the Idolatrous Priests. But\nthou wilt say, his power was then restrained and withholden at that time\nfrom effecting any such thing. Well, grant it were so, what was the end\nthat God used that restriction upon him at that time for? was it not\nbecause God would not contribute to magnifie the Devils Kingdom? nor to\nsuffer him any longer to deceive his people? But to discover the\nweakness of his power, who is not able of his own created power, to\nbring forth fire where there is none, not able to break a paper window,\nunless he have leave and power given him from God. And therefore much\nless can, for the magnifying of his own power, and to dishonour the\nCreator, appear as a Cat, Dog, Squirrel or the like to Witches, suck\nupon their bodies, have carnal copulation with them, or transport them\nin the air, for this were to advance his credit too much, and utterly\nderogatory to the Glory of God. 3. Concerning Satans being an instrument\nand means to bring and cause diseases, it may be considered these two\nways. 1. In an ordinary way he seduceth and draweth men to gluttony and\ndrunkenness, by which way of ingurgitation and excess they draw and\ncontract to themselves diverse Diseases, as Coughs, Catarrhs, Dropsies,\nScorbutick Distempers and the like. Others he draweth to insatiable lust\nand concupiscence, that thereby they fall into the _Lues Venerea_, and\nthe whole troop of those dire and horrid Symptomes that accompany it,\nwhereby Men and Women undergo great misery, pains, sickness, and\nsometimes death. Sometimes he pusheth Men on so far in malice, wrath,\ncholer and passion, and many other such like ways, that they wound, lame\nand sometimes kill one another; and in this sense he may be said to\ncause diseases diverse ways. 2. But there is another way more\nextraordinary wherein as an instrument he may be said to cause diseases\nand sometimes death, as in that case of _Davids_ numbring of the people,\nwhere there died of the Pestilence seventy thousand, and though this\nPestilence was sent by Jehovah, yet was a destroying Angel the\ninstrument and minister in the execution of it, for the Text saith: _And\nwhen the Angel of the Lord stretched forth his hand upon Jerusalem to\ndestroy it, the Lord repented him of the evil, and said to the Angel\nthat destroyed the people, It is enough: now stay thy hand_. And _Herod_\nfor assuming to himself that honour that was only proper to God, _was\nimmediately smitten by the Angel of the Lord, and was eaten up of worms,\nand gave up the Ghost_. And the Psalmist saith: _He cast upon them the\nfierceness of his anger, wrath, indignation and trouble by sending evil\nAngels among them_, the Hebrew giveth it, the emission or sending out of\nevil Angels. From whence it is manifest that evil Angels are the organs\nand instruments of Gods wrath, and as Ministers cause Plague, Pestilence\nand other diseases. 3. Thirdly, there is another great question whether\nor not the Devil by his vassals, to wit, Sorcerers and Witches doth not\ncause diseases and death, as is believed by those vomiting up of strange\nthings exceeding the bigness of the Gullet to get either up or down, of\nwhich we shall speak largely where we handle the opinion of _Van\nHelmont_ concerning the actions of Witches: Here only we shall say thus\nmuch, that the Devil is author and causer of that hatred, malice,\nrevenge and envy, that is often abounding in those that are accounted\nWitches, which desire of revenge doth stimulate them to seek for all\nmeans by which they may accomplish their intended wickedness, and so\nthey learn all the wicked and secret wayes of hurting, poysoning &\nkilling, but yet we affirm, that what evil soever they perform, it is by\ncauses and means that work naturally, and so the evil is only in the use\nand application, and not in the efficients or means.\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Cor. 12. 8, 9.]\n\n[Sidenote: Psal. 107. 18, 20.]\n\n[Sidenote: Isai. 54. 16.]\n\n[Sidenote: _De inject. material._ _p._ 598.]\n\nAnd whereas he holdeth that Devils as they can cause Diseases, so they\ncan cure them and take them away, we must crave to be excused if we\ncannot subscribe to his opinion, and that for these reasons. 1. Because\nof their causing of Diseases we have sufficient evidence in the\nScriptures, but of their curing of any, we have not any mention at all;\nand though some will think this but weak because it is negative, yet it\nis not probable, but as it expresseth the one fully, so it would have\ngiven some hint of the other, if there had been any such matter. 2. But\nthe Scriptures do inform us, that the gift of healing or curing\nDiseases, is not in the power of Devils by their Creation, much less\nsince as a gift bestowed upon them, but floweth solely from God by the\nMinistry of good Angels, of whom _Raphael_ (that is, the Medicine or\nhealth of God) is the chief. And that it is reckoned amongst the gifts\nof the Holy Ghost is most plain: _For to one is given by the spirit the\nword of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the same spirit. To\nanother faith by the same spirit: to another the gifts of healing by the\nsame spirit_; but these gifts of healing are not given to Devils, but to\nthe chosen ones of God. And the Psalmist where he is speaking how God\nafflicted and brought low the people of _Israel_ by reason of their\nsins, saith: _Their soul abhorred all manner of meat, and they drew near\nunto the gates of death, but he sent his word and healed them_. And God\ndeclareth, that if his people _Israel_ would keep his Statutes, he would\nbring none of those Diseases upon them that he had threatned, for (he\nsaith) _I am the Lord that healeth thee_, and this he doth by the\nministry of good Angels, or by natural means, and not by Devils. 3. That\nDevils are no causers or instruments in curing Diseases is manifest,\nbecause that were to make him act contrary to his original destination\nafter his fall, wherein in his own propriety, _he is a murderer from the\nbeginning_, and that both of souls and bodies, and never did, nor doth\nany good to mankind, either spiritual or natural, either real or\napparent; for that were to act contrary to his will, nature and\ndisposition, and contrary to the Ordinance and appointment of God who\nhath Created the destroyer to destroy. Therefore Satan after his fall\nwas not ordained of God to be an healer, preserver, or sanator of\ndiseases, but to be a destroyer, a wounder and murderer; for his nature\nis become so wicked and malignant, that his whole endeavour is the\ndestruction of mankind, both in souls and bodies, and so no healer, no\nnot of the least infirmity. 4. But he is that grand Impostor, that by\nlying, cheating and delusion, laboureth to make his Vassals and others\nbelieve that he can cure and heal Diseases, when he can do no such\nthing, and therefore hath and still doth amongst the Pagans, by the\nwicked Priests his Slaves, make the people believe, that if the sick\npersons be brought before their Idols, and there worship and pray, that\nthey shall be Cured, when there is not any jot performed in the way of\nsanation, but what is by natural means, fancy, and imagination, or what\nis pretended to be done so, by cheating, counterfeiting and imposture.\nAnd the very same thing is practised by the Papists unto this day, in\nthe pretence of their false and lying Miracles, fathered upon their\nSaints and Images, which are nothing else but lying cheats and\nImpostures, as we shall fully make manifest hereafter. 5. The Devil\ninternally deludeth the minds of men, in making them believe, that\nPictures, Charms, Amulets, and such other inefficacious and ridiculous\nmeans, have power to Cure these and these Diseases, when indeed they are\nmeerly inoperative, and effect nothing at all; but yet the Witchmongers\nwill needs have them to be _media operativa_, when they are utterly\ninefficacious, and are only means of seduction and delusion, to alter,\nchange, or fortifie the imagination, by which alone the Cures (if any\nsuch be effected) are brought to pass, and not by any power of the Devil\nat all; and he operateth nothing at all in them, except a mental and\ninternal delusion, in making the Witchmongers and others believe, that\nthose things are wrought by a Diabolical Power, which are only performed\nby the force of imagination, and a natural agency and virtue. 6. Again,\nwhere there are many occult and wonderful effects wrought by natural\ncauses and agents, as by appensions of vegetables, animals, or their\nparts, and minerals, by magnetism, as the Hoplochrism, Sympathetic\nPowder, by Transplantation and many other very abstruse and secret wayes\nand means, the Devil laboureth to take away the glory of these sanative\neffects, both from God and his Instrument which is Nature, and to have\nit ascribed unto himself; and in this the Witchmongers do him no small\nservice, in giving that power and honour unto the most wicked and\nwretched of all Gods Creatures, that is only due to the Creator, and to\nhis instrument Nature. And to conclude this, I cannot but repeat that\nexcellent and Christian Sentence of _Helmont_: _Pigriti\u00e6 saltem enim\nimmens\u00e6 inventum fuit, omnia in Diabolum retulisse qu\u00e6 non capimus_.\n\n3. A third kind of power that he ascribeth unto Devils, is their\nchanging and transmuting of bodies, which is either in regard of\nsubstantial transformations, or of those that are but in the external\nfigure or shape, or in the qualities, accidents and adjuncts only. Of\nreal transubstantiations, after a long dispute, he granteth, that they\ncannot be brought to pass but by a Divine and Omnipotent Power, which we\nhave sufficiently proved before, and therefore shall forbear to say any\nfurther of it here. And for what other portents, prodigies, or lying\nwonders he can perform, we shall here examine and discuss them to the\nfull in this order.\n\n[Sidenote: Deut. 13. 1, 2, 3, 5.]\n\n[Sidenote: Deut. 18. 20, 21, 22.]\n\n1. We shall pass by what may be thought of the strange feats the\nMagicians of _Pharaoh_, or _Simon Magus_ did perform, as fully examined\nand concluded before, and shall give those Texts of Scripture that\nmention the signs and wonders that Antichrist and false prophets, that\nare Satans Instruments, can or do work, and they are these. _If there\narise among you a Prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a\nsign, or a wonder: And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he\nspake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods (which thou hast not\nknown) and let us serve them: Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of\nthat Prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth\nyou, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart, and\nwith all your soul. And that Prophet, or dreamer of dreams, shall be put\nto death, because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your\nGod._\u2014Another place is this: _But the Prophet which shall presume to\nspeak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or\nthat shall speak in the name of other gods, even that Prophet shall die.\nAnd if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the\nLord hath not spoken? When a Prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord,\nif the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the\nLord hath not spoken, but the Prophet hath spoken it presumptuously:\nthou shalt not be afraid of him._ From whence we may take these\nObservations.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 1._]\n\n[Sidenote: Jonah 3. 4.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Orig. Sacr._ _l._ 2. _c._ 6. _p._ 193.]\n\n1. That we may know he is a false Prophet, that speaketh a thing in the\nname of the Lord, if the thing do not come to pass: But yet this must be\nunderstood with limitation, where God sendeth a Message by a true\nProphet, where the thing is spoken positively, but the condition is\nconcealed, and not expressed, as in the Message of _Jonah_ to _Nineveh_:\n_yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown_: which was intended if\nthey repented not, but implicitely was understood (as the event shewed)\nif they did repent, the Lord would spare them: of which Learned D^r\n_Stillingfleet_ hath this Proposition: \u201cComminations of judgments to\ncome do not in themselves speak the absolute futurity of the event, but\ndo only declare what the persons to whom they are made are to expect,\nand what shall certainly come to pass, unless God by his mercy interpose\nbetween the threatning and the event. So that Comminations do speak only\nthe _debitum p\u0153n\u00e6_, and the necessary obligation to punishment; but\ntherein God doth not bind up himself as he doth in absolute promises;\nthe reason is, because Comminations confer no right to any, which\nabsolute promises do, and therefore God is not bound to necessary\nperformance of what he threatens.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 2._]\n\n2. That there are those that do foretel, or shew signs and wonders, that\ndo come to pass, and yet those that foretel them are false Prophets,\nbecause sometimes God sendeth false Prophets with power to work signs\nand wonders, thereby to try his people, whether or no they will cleave\nunto him with all their hearts and souls, or turn to other strange gods,\nor Idols; and this is ordered by the Providence of God for the trial of\nthe faithful, as was in the Case of _Job_. But though these may be great\nsigns and wonders to amaze and amuse men, and likewise come to pass, yet\nare they no true miracles, but are distinguished in this, that true\nmiracles are alwayes for the establishing and confirmation of the true\nDoctrine and Worship of Christ, but the other are lying wonders, wrought\nonly to try the godly, or for the deluding and punishing of those that\nreceived not the knowledge of the truth. And though there are, and may\nbe signs and wonders that are wrought by Antichrist and false Prophets,\nby and in the power of Satan, yet these are all ordered by the Wisdom\nand Providence of the Almighty, and Satan is no more but an organ and\ninstrument in the performance of them.\n\n[Sidenote: Matth. 24. 24.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Thess. 2. 9, 10, 11, 12.]\n\nThere are two other remarkable places of Scripture concerning the Devils\npower in working signs and wonders, the first of which is this: _For\nthere shall arise false Christs and false Prophets, and shall shew great\nsigns and wonders, insomuch that (if it were possible) they shall\ndeceive the very elect_. The other is this: _Even him whose coming is\nafter the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying\nwonders: And with all deceiveableness of unrighteousness, in them that\nperish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might\nbe saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that\nthey should believe a lie. That they all might be damned, who believed\nnot the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness._ From whence we may\ntake these remarkable observations.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 1._]\n\n1. Though there arise false Christs, and false Prophets, and even the\nAntichrist himself, working after the power of Satan, with signs and\nlying wonders; yet though Satan be the organ and instrument in\nperforming these lying wonders, God is the Author and efficient cause\nthat doth inflict them, because they are _mala p\u0153n\u00e6_, and come not by a\nbare permissive power, but are inflicted by him as punishments upon the\nwicked, even those that received not the love of the truth, and\ntherefore these lying wonders cannot possibly deceive the elect, but\nprove all deceiveableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; and\nthe reason why they are thus punished with the deceits and delusions of\nSatan, is because they received not the love of the truth, and therefore\nGod doth send such strong delusion, that they might believe a lie, and\nthis he doth rightly and justly, that as _Beza_ notes, _Ita tamen ut\nsoli increduli sint illius fraude perituri_. Upon which place learned\n_Rollock_ tells us this: \u201cWe are (he saith) to observe that Antichrist\nis nothing else, but Gods Executioner by whom he punisheth those, by his\njust judgment, who have not received the love of the truth, but have\ncontemned the Gospel: which is so far forth true, that if there had not\nbeen, and now were a contempt of the truth, then altogether Antichrist\nhad not been, that is, the Executioner had not been, whom God sendeth to\nexecute his just judgment upon those that despise the truth of his\nGospel. So that it is manifest that God doth make a just, and good use\nof the very malice, and lying nature of Devils, in punishing those that\ndid not receive the love of the truth, but deceiving them by strong\ndelusions that they might believe a lie; and this he doth as sent and\ncommanded of God, and so cannot go one jot further than his Commission,\nor as far as he is limited by God.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 2._]\n\n2. We may observe that how great soever these signs and wonders be, yet\nthey are but lying ones, both in regard of the end for which they are\ndone, and in respect of their substance. And therefore how great soever\nthe signs and wonders be that evil Angels do perform, yet they are\ntotally different from true miracles, those being alwayes wrought for\nthe confirming of the true Doctrine and Worship of God, but these have\ntheir end only to establish false doctrine, lies and erroneous opinions,\nor Idolatrous Worships. So they differ in their substance, for those\nmiracles that God sheweth for the confirmation of his truth, are alwayes\ntrue and real, being against and above the whole power and course of\nnature, but those wonders wrought by Satan are but delusions, cheats,\njuglings and impostures, which though they may seem strange to those\nthat are ignorant of their causes, yet do but all arise from natural\ncauses, or from artificial cunning, confederacy and the like. And\ntherefore we may conclude that what miracles soever are wrought by a\nDivine Power, tend to the overthrow of Satans power in the world, but\nall false miracles are wrought to uphold the power of Satans Kingdom in\nthe world, and following delusions, lies and false doctrines.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 3._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Oreg. Sacr._ _l._ 2. _c._ 8. _p._ 253.]\n\n[Sidenote: Psal. 72. 18.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Id._ 77. 14.]\n\n[Sidenote: Rom. 4. 17.]\n\n3. Therefore what signs and wonders soever Satan doth work, they are no\nreal and true miracles, for as Dr. _Stillingfleet_ saith: \u201cGod alone can\nreally alter the course of nature. I speak not (he saith) of such things\nwhich are apt to raise admiration in us, because of our unacquaintedness\nwith the causes of them, or manner of their production, which are thence\ncalled Wonders; much less of meer juggles and impostures, whereby the\neyes of Men are deceived; but I speak of such things as are in\nthemselves either contrary to, or above the course of nature, _i. e._\nthat order which is established in the universe.\u201d And this cannot be\naltered by any diabolical power, but only by that which is Divine and\nOmnipotent, which never doth it but for considerable ends and important\ncauses, as may be manifest from these unshaken grounds. 1. That Devils\ncan work no true miracles is manifest from the definition of a miracle\nwhich is this: _Verum miraculum est opus, quod fit pr\u00e6ter, et contra\nnaturam et secundas causas, cujus nulla Physica ratio potest reddi_. But\nSatan cannot alter or change the order and course of nature. Therefore\nSatan cannot work or effect a true miracle. The proposition may be\nillustrated by an induction made of many great miracles, of which there\nis mention made in the Old and New Testament, all which are of that\nsort, that are repugnant to the order and course of nature, and of which\nno natural or physical reason can be rendered and given. Such were the\ntaking of _Enoch_ and _Elias_ into Heaven, the conserving of _Noah_ and\nhis Family in the Ark, the confusion of tongues at the building of\n_Babel_, the fecundity of _Sarah_ being old and barren, the passage of\nthe children of _Israel_ over the red Sea and over _Jordan_, the\nstanding still of the Sun in the battel of _Joshuah_, its going back in\nthe dial of _Ahaz_, its eclipse at our Saviours suffering, the\npreservation of _Daniel_ in the Den of the Lions, and of the three\ncompanions of _Daniel_ in the fiery furnace, the preserving _Jonas_ in\nthe belly of the Whale, the raising up of the dead, and the curing of\nthe Man born blind, and all the rest of those most true and wonderful\nmiracles wrought by our blessed Saviour and his Apostles. 2. The\nassumption of the Syllogism is thus proved. It is the part of the same\npower to change the order of nature, and to create things that were not\nexistent, and so the mutation of the order of nature is a certain kind\nof new creation. But Satan hath not power, by which he can create things\nthat as yet had no existence, as all persons of reason must needs\nconfess. From whence it must follow that Satan hath not power to change\nthe order of nature, and consequently that he cannot work true and real\nmiracles. 3. The working of true miracles is only a proper attribute of\nGod, and incommunicable to any creaturely power, for the Text saith:\n_Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doth wondrous\nthings_. And again, _thou art the God that dost wonders_. And these two\nthings the changing of the order of nature, and creation S. _Paul_\nattributeth to God as only proper to him: _God who quickeneth the dead,\nand calleth those things that be not, as though they were_. Upon which\n_Beza_ gives this note: _Eo qui vit\u00e6 restituit. Apud quem jam sint qu\u00e6\nalioqui reipsa non sunt, ut qui vel uno verbo quidvis possit ex nihilo\nefficere._\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Rolloc. in Thess._ 2.]\n\nBut if it be objected that though Satan and his Angels of themselves,\nand by their own proper power, do not work true miracles, yet may not\nGod work real miracles by them, as he did by the Prophets, Apostles and\nhis Ministers? It is answered: That the wonders which are wrought by\nSatan, do tend to that end, that they might confirm lies against God and\nhis glory. But God doth not accommodate his power, to confirm lies,\ncontrary to his glory, and against himself. Therefore Satan by the power\nof God, as his Minister, doth not work true miracles, for God doth use\nthe faln Angels as executioners of his wrath and judgments, for the\nafflicting and punishing of men, but when God worketh any thing for the\ngood of mankind, either in Soul or Body, he doth not use Devils as his\nMinisters, but the good and blessed Angels, who are ministring spirits\nsent forth for the good of those that shall be heirs of Salvation.\n\nAnd if it be queried, what things and of what sort and kind, are those\nwonders that are wrought by Satan and Antichrist? I answer, that either\nthey are indeed nothing but prestigious juglings and illusions: or if\nthey be any thing, they are not brought to pass contrary to the order of\nnature and second causes, although they may seem so to us, who do not\nknow the causes that are in nature, so well as that old serpent: neither\ndo we apprehend the manner by which he worketh and acteth his tricks.\nFrom which ignorance it proceedeth, that those wonders, that in\nthemselves are no true miracles, nor done contrary to the order of\nnature, are by us taken to be true miracles.\n\n[Sidenote: _De Oper. Dei_, _l._ 4 _c._ 12. _p._ 191.]\n\nBut we will draw towards a conclusion of this point, with that\ndefinition and corollaries that learned _Zanchy_ gives us in these\nparticulars. _Miraculum (ait) igitur est externum & visibile, verum &\nsimpliciter mirabile factum, ad optimos fines atq; imprimis ad salutem\nhominum, & ad Dei gloriam promovendam editum._ From whence these points\nare to be observed.\n\n1. That a Miracle is external and made visible. For so (he saith) are\nall those things that we read of in Scripture that are taken to be true\nmiracles: And therefore that the pretended invisible miracle of\nTransubstantiation (as they call it) in the ordinance of the Lords\nSupper, is a meer figment, because no such thing was ever made visible,\nor truely witnessed. But let us press this his argument a little\nfurther. If it be (as indeed it must be) a certain property of a true\nmiracle that it be external and visible, that there may be witnesses of\nit, otherwise that which none ever saw or knew may be the property of a\nmiracle: Then those great wonders that Witchmongers do affirm that the\nDevil worketh with and for Witches, as having carnal copulation with\nthem, sucking upon their bodies, making a corporeal and oral league with\nthem, carrying them in the air, changing them into Cats or Dogs, must of\nnecessity be a meer figment and an impossibility: Because never yet\nseen, witnessed, or proved by any that were of sound judgment, right\nunderstanding or of clear reason, but are meerly the works of darkness,\nhaving existence no where, but in the minds and brains of the\nWitchmongers, who are ruled by the Prince of darkness.\n\n2. A miracle ought to be really and truly done, that is, that indeed it\nbe such a thing as it appeareth, as the water that Christ changed into\nWine, was really such, that is, it was truely Wine to the sight and\ntaste of all those that drank of it. Therefore those things that are\nbrought to pass by the prestigious juglings of Devils and Magicians, are\nindeed no true miracles. And to apply this to our present purpose, it is\nmanifest that those things that Witchmongers do believe that the Witches\ndo or suffer, as to fly in the air, to be present at dancings and\nbanqueting, and yet to remain empty and hungry, and the like, are but\nmeer delusory dreams and cheating fancies in their brains, and if any\nthing be done _ad extra_, it is but meerly as Juglers do by drawing the\neyes from observing the manner of their conveyances, by substituting one\nthing in the stead of another, and the like. So that at the best Satan\nin respect of what he performeth in these aforesaid actions, is but as a\nchief _Hocus Pocus_ fellow, or Jugler, and one that acteth to a worse\nend, than our common Juglers do, who act but to move sport and delight,\nand thereby to get something to be a livelihood, but Satan works his\ntricks to blind and delude the Soul, and to lead it to error and\ndestruction.\n\n3. A true miracle ought to be simply miraculous and wonderful, that is\nwith and unto all. And such are those miracles, whose causes are hid\nfrom all, and therefore are those things that are done contrary to the\norder of nature, by the only virtue and power of the Almighty God.\nTherefore those things that are done by natural causes, though occult to\nmany, as are oftentimes done by Devils, are no true miracles. From\nwhence therefore we may conclude, that whatsoever is performed in\nPhysical actions, by natural causes, (and it is the general Tenent of\nall, that Devils in these cases can work nothing but by natural causes,)\nare no miracles, and that as they are agents, are not evil, but only\nbecome so in the use and application.\n\n4. Every true miracle is wrought above all for most good ends, and\nespecially for the Salvation of Men, and the true Glory of God. By this\nparticular therefore all those signs and wonders that are wrought by\nDevils, are excluded from the name of true miracles, because they are\nall wrought for evil ends, and contrary to the Glory of God, and for the\ndeceiving and perdition of Men. And therefore all prodigies wrought by\nDevils, are called lies.\n\n4. The fourth and last particular that he setteth down, that the Devils\nhave power in, and operate here below, is, that they can insinuate\nthemselves into and penetrate our bodies, and so move Men diverse ways,\ndriving them into the solitary places and Monuments, and by throwing\nthem into the fire or water, by strange tearing and tormenting of them,\nand by many other ways, of which we shall only note these few things.\n\n1. It is manifest that in the times of our Saviours being here upon\nearth, and his Disciples, that there were many Demoniacks or Men\npossessed with Devils, or Men that were devillished, or over whom the\nDevil exercised an effective and ruling power, and the reason was plain\nand manifest, for our blessed Saviour being to establish the Doctrine of\nthe Gospel, by great and true miracles, it was necessary that there\nmight be fitting subjects for the effecting of such stupendious miracles\nin and by, and therefore the Father in his providence had prepared and\nprovided Lunaticks, Demoniacks, those that were born blind, and other\nstrange Diseases that the power of Christ and his Apostles might be\nmanifest in their miraculous cures. But whether or no that Devils have\nat all times the same power over mens bodies is much to be doubted,\nthere being not the same causes or ends for permitting the same now that\nwas at that season, as we perhaps shall shew hereafter.\n\n2. The manner of the Devils possessing of the minds and bodies of Men,\nhe laboureth to prove, to be essential and personal, and not virtual and\neffective, which he thinketh he sufficiently proveth by the words _to\nenter_, and _to dwell_, of which we shall only say this.\n\n1. That upon the supposition that Devils are corporeal and have thin,\npure and etherial bodies, it may be granted that they may really and\nsubstantially enter into bodies, for he saith: _D\u00e6mones autem habent\ncorpora aerea, et aere etiam subtiliora et tenuiora. Deind\u00e8, ut\nTertullianus ait, D\u00e6mones sua h\u00e6c corpora contrahunt, et dilatant, ut\nvolunt, sicut etiam lumbrici, et alia qu\u00e6dam insecta. Ita difficile\nillis non est penetrare in nostra corpora._\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Dialog. disc. of Spir. and Devils_, _Dialog._ 2. _p._\n           34. _&c._]\n\n2. But secondly, there is none of those places that he citeth, nor any\nother that signifieth a local, or personal possession, or any such local\ninherency in the bodies of Men, but only a spiritual rule, _he_ (that is\nSatan) _worketh in the children of disobedience_, or an effective\ndominion over them, by which he doth actually afflict, vex and torment\nMen sundry and diverse ways. Neither is the word _D\u00e6monizomenos_\ntranslated or understood by learned Men of an essential, or personal\npossession of Devils to be inherently in men, but only of an effective\ndominion in afflicting and tormenting of them.\n\n[Sidenote: Ephes. 3. 17.]\n\n[Sidenote: John 13. 2. 27.]\n\n[Sidenote: Acts 5. 3.]\n\n[Sidenote: Luke 8. 33.]\n\n[Sidenote: Mark 5. 13.]\n\n[Sidenote: Matth. 8. 32.]\n\n3. And this is most manifest, that as the Text saith, _that Christ may\ndwell in your hearts by Faith_, where it were absurd to understand by\nChrists dwelling in the hearts of the faithful, a personal, essential or\nsubstantial dwelling, but only an effective one, because he worketh\neffectually in them by his spirit: Even so were it absurd to take the\nother places of entring into, and dwelling there, in so gross, and\nliteral a sense, as personally to inhabite, but only effective by his\npower and dominion. For though the Text saith; that _after the sop,\nSatan entred into Judas_, yet in the same Chapter the Evangelist\nexpoundeth what manner of entrance it was; not a personal one, but an\neffective one by putting, or darting it, \u03b2\u03b5\u03b2\u03bb\u03b7\u03ba\u03cc\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2, into _Judas_ heart\nto betray his Master. And whereas it is said that Satan had filled the\nheart of _Ananias_ to lie to the Holy Ghost, no man can rationally\nunderstand it of a personal and essential repletion, but only of an\neffective one, having by his power seduced the heart of _Ananias_, and\nfilled it with deceit by his effectual operation, and not otherwise. And\nwhereas it is said by S. _Luke_ and S. _Mark_, of the legion of Devils\nthat our Saviour did cast out, that they entred into the swine, \u03b5\u1f30\n\u03c3\u1fc6\u03bb\u03b8\u03b5\u03bd \u03b5\u1f76\u03c2 \u03c4\u03bf\u1f7a\u03c2 \u03c7\u03bf\u03af\u03b8\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2 S. _Matthew_ makes it clear, saying, _they went\ninto the herd of swine_, \u03b5\u1f76\u03c2 \u03c4\u03b9\u1f7c \u1f00\u03b3\u03ad\u03bb\u03b9\u03c9 \u03c4\u1ff6\u03bd \u03c7\u03bf\u03af\u03c1\u03c9\u03bd, _in gregem_, or as\n_Tremellius_ renders it _ad gregem porcorum_, by which it is manifest\nthat they did go amongst, or into the herd of Swine, and put them into\nsuch a fright or fury, by an effective power working upon them, that\nthey ran down a steep place into the Sea, and perished in the waters;\nbut not that they did personally and essentially enter into the bodies\nof the Swine, for that were absurd and needless, for the Swineherd can\nwith his Horn and Whip drive them without creeping into their bellies,\nand much more might the Devils drive them into the Sea (according to the\nProverb, They must needs run whom the Devil drives) without a personal\nand local being in their bellies as though a Piper cannot effectively\nplay several tunes upon his Pipes, except he creep into them.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAP. XII.\n\n  _If the Devil, or Witches have power to perform strange things,\n    whether they do not bring them to pass by meer natural means, or\n    otherwise. And of_ Helmonts _opinion concerning the effects caused\n    by Devils or Witches_.\n\n\nHaving handled the knowledge and power of the faln Angels as far forth\nas there is any thing manifested in the Scriptures, or that may be\ndeducted from thence by sound reason, and finding their knowledge and\npower to be much less in these inferior bodies and elements than is\ncommonly supposed; we are now to proceed to examine what they do simply\nof their own power, and what they perform by natural means. And first it\ncannot be denyed but that they can of themselves dart in evil thoughts,\nsuggestions and temptations into the minds of Men immediately of their\nown power, as also to allure Men to sin by the irritation of external\nobjects presented to the senses, as also by means of the phantasie, and\nespecially by the melancholy humour which is _Balneum Diaboli_. But\nsecondly the great question is, what they work in elemental and\ncorporeal things, and whether it be not only by natural means, as the\napplying of fit actives to agreeable passives, whereby the acts ascribed\nunto them are performed, or not? Which we affirm from these grounds.\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Gutter. de Fascino dub._ 5. _p._ 125.]\n\n1. Because it is the common and unanimous opinion of Philosophers,\nTheologues and Physicians, that what the Devils operate in sublunary\nbodies, or in causing diseases in humane bodies, is by the applying fit\nactives to convenient passives, by which the effects are brought to\npass. And this is an argument sufficiently pressive, and convincing, if\nthere be any force in arguments brought from humane authority,\nespecially considering that no other causes besides what are natural,\ncould ever yet be assigned, much less proved.\n\n[Sidenote: _De inject. material._ _p._ 597.]\n\n2. And this is more plain if we consider what the Author quoted last in\nthe Margent saith to the same purpose, _D\u00e6mon propria virtute nequit\ntransmutare materiam corpoream, nisi adhibeat illi activa proportionata\neffectibus quos intendit_. As for example, the Devil may cause burning,\nby reason that there is a combustible subject, as also a fiery and\nburning agent in nature, and this agent being fire, being applyed to\ncombustible matter would produce that effect which we call cremation, or\nburning: But if there were no combustible matter in nature, or that\nthere were no igneous agent, then it is plain, the Devils could produce\nno burning at all; and so where there is no agent and patient in nature,\nto produce the effect intended, (as in pretended fascination there is\nneither) there such an effect could not possibly be produced: so that\nfrom hence it must necessarily follow, that Devils can operate nothing\nin corporeal matter, but by applying fit agents to convenient patients,\nand therefore _Helmont_ said well: _Quasi Satanas supra naturam esset,\noperareturq; natur\u00e6 impossibilia. Dono quidem, modum operando exoticum:\nat sane ad intra naturam coerceri oportet._\n\n[Sidenote: _Obs. Medic. Cent._ 1. _c._ 70. _p._ 45.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 1._]\n\n[Sidenote: _De Pestil. Tract._ 2. _p._ 388.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. Medic._ 83. _p._ 99.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Histor. 1._]\n\n3. And that many strange things that are vomited up by such as are\nsupposed to be bewitched do proceed from natural causes, and that the\nDevil worketh no more in them but by instigation, to move wicked persons\n(such as are commonly those that are accounted Witches) to give and\nadminister strange things, Philters, or secret poisons, to such as they\nwould kill, torment, make mad, or draw to unlawful love, or rather lust,\nas may be made manifest from the testimonies of persons of\nunquestionable veracity and judgment, some few of which we shall here\nrelate. _Philip Salmuth_ chief Physician to the Prince of _Anhalt_\nrecordeth this which we shall give in English: \u201cThe Daughter of a\ncertain Inkeeper was desperately in love with a principal Nobleman. To\nwhom going away she offers a most beautiful apple. This he suspecteth\nand throweth into a Basket. After three days he remembers it, and looks\nat it; and then it altogether appeared blackned. He expecteth for the\nspace of other three days, and then findeth abundance of little Frogs\nthere. Therefore he returneth into that Inn, where the Maid lived, and\ndoth counterfeit sickness and huge torments. The Maid willeth him to use\nwarm milk. That he poureth upon the Frogs, who take it greedily, and by\nlittle and little do increase. But he every day feigneth greater pains,\nwhereupon the Maid pitying him doth will him to take the urine of a Mare\nnewly made and warm. This he also poureth upon the Frogs, whereupon they\ndie. After some time the servant of another Nobleman is afflicted with\nmiserable torments, and there is suspicion of a Philter given by a\nperson of quality. They exhibite Mares urine, and she vomiteth up two\nLizards, and two Frogs.\u201d By which it is manifest that such strange\nvomitings up of Frogs, Lizards, Askers and the like, though attributed\nto Witchcraft, and the operation of Satan, do but proceed from natural\ncauses. And doubtless the sperme, or _ova ranarum_, were but conveyed\ninto the Apple, that so by the heat of the Stomach, and the Chylus,\n(that is like warm milk) they might grow and increase. And this kind of\nwitching, or secret poysoning, we grant to be too frequent and common,\nbecause those persons commonly accounted Witches are extreamly malicious\nand envious, and do secretly and by tradition learn strange poysons,\nphilters and receipts whereby they do much hurt and mischief. Which most\nstrange wayes of poysoning, tormenting, and breeding of unwonted things\nin the stomach and bellies of people, have not been unknown unto many\nlearned men and Philosophers, but they respecting the good of mankind,\nand the multitude of evil minded persons, have altogether forborn openly\nto mention such dangerous receipts in their writings, or at the best so\nto publish them, that not one of a thousand could understand what they\nintended, and so these secrets of mischief are for the most part kept in\nobscurity, amongst old women, superstitious, ignorant, and melancholy\npersons, and by them delivered over from hand to hand, and commonly one\nlearns it of another according to the Proverb, Popery and Witchcraft go\nby Tradition. And to this very purpose I cannot but insert that\nremarkable passage of _Paracelsus_ in these words. _Possem equidem (ait)\npeculiarem de ipsis tractatum edere, ut artes ac machin\u00e6 illarum\nmanifestarentur. Sed propter malitiosos ista talia penn\u00e2 seu calamo\nminim\u00e8 evulganda sunt, multa enim flagitiosa simul induci possent: qu\u00e6\nsatius est reticeri._ And that strange productions may be brought to\npass, and stupendious effects brought into action, from secret and\nhidden natural causes, that are better known to those malicious persons\nthat are accounted Witches, than others, may be made manifest by another\nobservation set down by the forementioned _Salmuth_, and is this:\n\u201c_Galen_ and others have recorded, that the _saliva_, or spittle of a\nmad dog, if it touch an human body, and be not forthwith washed off, may\ncause madness. But in the _Hydrophobia_, there is so great force of the\npoyson, that the persons that are bitten do also piss or void by urine,\nlittle whelps, or pieces of flesh like them, as _Avicenna_ _lib._ 3.\n_Fen._ 6. _tr._ 4. _c._ 7. hath delivered, though doubted of by others.\nBut (he saith) I certainly know notwithstanding that of such _saliva_ or\nspittle only left in the Garment, after biting, have Worms been breed,\nplainly resembling little Whelps with their heads. For a mad Dog did\nmeet a Servant Maid of an honest Matrons going to the Market, and flies\nfuriously and violently at her feet. She that she might avoid the\ndanger, inclineth her self, and a little bendeth her knees, whereupon\nthe Dog doth with his teeth catch hold of her Garment, and especially\nthe seam or low selvidge, and did bark a little while, and forthwith ran\naway. Which being done the Maid remained terrified, and at the first\ndoubted whether the Dog was mad or not, but having recollected her self,\nshe suspecteth his rabiousness, because he had been very familiar, even\nalmost domestick with her. Therefore she returneth home, and hangeth the\ntorn Garment upon a piece of wood in the House. But afterwards upon the\nfourth day she goeth to it, with an intent to mend it. But oh a\nwonderful thing, she findeth Worms altogether like little Whelps in the\nhead, to be bred in those places of the hem in which the Dog had fastned\nhis teeth, and those as a new Miracle (as they did call it) were shewed\nunto certain of the Neighbours being called together.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Quercet. Rediv._ _Tom._ 3. _p._ 38.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Histor. 1._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Syl. Syl. Cent._ 10. 564.]\n\n[Sidenote: _De Pr\u00e6stig. D\u00e6m._ _lib._ 3. _c._ 36. _p._ 265.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Histor. 2._]\n\n[Sidenote: _De Pestil. lib. Tract._ 2. _p._ 388.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Histor. 3._]\n\n4. Another instance to prove the strange effects that may be produced by\nnatural Causes, and yet are so occult, stupendious, and unusual, that\nthey are commonly fathered upon Devils, when they have no more at all to\ndo in or about them, but only the mental perswading of the persons to\nuse them to wicked and destructive ends, as those wonderful compositions\nthat produce the Plague and such like grievous Diseases and Symptoms;\nFor this kind of _veneficium_ (call it Witchcraft if you please) is and\nhath been often practised by most horrible, malevolent, and wicked\npersons, who by an art more than Diabolical (especially in respect of\nthe end and use) have so framed, and prepared, and commixed things\nnaturally, that in the form of unguents have produced the Plague and\ndivers other most pernicious and venefical Diseases, which may be\nconfirmed by undeniable examples, of which we shall give some few.\n_Josephus Quercetanus_, that famous Chymist and Physician to _Henry_ the\nFourth of _France_, tells us thus much: \u201cThe Contagion of the Plague is\nnot only contracted by the mediation of the air and water, things in a\nmanner universal, or from other things more particular, as vestments,\nlinnen, and other moveable things inquinated by the attraction of\npestiferous Atomes: But also by the detestable Crafts, and Diabolical\nArts of certain most wicked persons, which we call poysoners, or\nwitches, by means of which they contemperate and mix certain poysons\ninto the form of an unguent, and use to rub some of it upon the handle\nof doors, so that those that do but lightly touch them, are forthwith\ninfected with the Plague, this subtile poison forthwith creeping by the\npores of the skin into the extremities of the veins, is quickly\ncommunicated to the heart, to which human industry can hardly administer\nany remedy.\u201d Unto which the Lord _Verulam_ gives this cautious\nattestation: _Pestem quoq; excitavit januarum, rimarum, aliorumq;\ninunctio, non tam ex contactu, quam quod homini in more positum, si quid\nhumidi adh\u00e6rescat digitis, naso illud admovere. Moneri se patientur,\napud quos ea inolevit consuetudo, ut pr\u00e6caveant._ _Johannes Wierus_ a\nlearned Physician, and a person of credit and veracity, reciteth this\nHistory from _Antonius Sabellicus_, _Ennead._ 4. _lib._ 4. This strange\nvenefice or witchcraft, was practis\u2019d at _Casal_ in the City of\n_Salassia_, a Region of _Italy_, in the year of our Lord God 1536.\n\u201cAbout forty persons men and women, amongst whom there was one Hangman,\nhad combined and sworn together, That seeing the Plague had ceased that\nbefore did rage, they would compound an unguent, with which the handles\nof the doors being besmeared, they should be infected that touched those\nhandles. They did also prepare a Powder which being secretly sprinkled\nin the Garments, should produce the Plague. The Villany lay hid for some\ncertain time, and many were taken away of such as were joined in blood\nor affinity: Also money was given (as was said) to the Poysoners,\ninstead of inheritance. But when they had murthered the Brother and only\nSon of one _Necus_, and that scarcely others than the Masters of\nFamilies themselves, or their Sons, did perish: And that also they had\nmarked, that into what Houses those Conspirators had insinuated\nthemselves, that those for the most part did perish into whose Houses\nthey entred: but the Conspiracy being found out, they were all put to\ndeath with most exquisite torments. They also confessed, that they had\ndetermined to kill all the Citizens upon a Festival day, by anointing\nthe Seats, and to that purpose they had prepared twenty Pots full of\nthat pernicious and hellish Ointment. And _Paracelsus_ tells us, that at\nSt. _Vitum_ and _Villacum_, certain of the Poyson-makers in the time of\na Plague, did take the Earth and Dust from the Graves of those that had\nbeen buried, and did so prepare it with their Magical Art, that they\nraised up a most cruel and raging Plague, whereby many thousands of men\nwere infected and slain.\u201d But that the manner of that preparation is by\nno means to be revealed. Those that desire more satisfaction in this\nparticular may have recourse to that learned Treatise, _de Peste_,\nwritten by the learned and industrious _Matthias Untzerus_.\n\n[Sidenote: _Stow. Annal._ _p._ 681.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Histor. 4._]\n\n5. But there is no where a more strange accident written, than what is\nrecorded in our own Annals in the year 1579. the nineteenth year of the\nReign of Queen _Elizabeth_, in these words: \u201cThe 4, 5, and 6. days of\n_July_, were the Assises holden at _Oxford_, where was arraigned and\ncondemned one _Rouland Jenkes_ for his Seditious Tongue, at which time\nthere arose such a damp, that almost all were smothered, very few\nescaped that were not taken at that instant: The Jurors died presently:\nShortly after died Sir _Robert Bell_, Lord Chief Baron, Sir _Robert de\nOlie_, Sir _William Babington_, M^r _Weneman_, M^r _De Olie_, High\nSheriff M^r _Davers_, M^r _Farcurt_, M^r _Kirle_, M^r _Pheteplace_, M^r\n_Greenwood_, M^r _Foster_, Serjeant _Baram_, M^r _Stevens_, &c. There\ndied in _Oxford_ 300. persons, and sickned there but died in other\nplaces 200. and odd, from the sixth of _July_ to the twelfth of\n_August_, after which day died not one of that sickness, for one of them\ninfected not another, nor any one Woman or Child died thereof.\u201d This is\nthe punctual relation according to our English Annals, which relate\nnothing of what should be the cause of the arising of such a damp, just\nat the Conjuncture of time when _Jenkes_ was Condemned, there being none\nbefore, and so it could not be a Prison Infection, for that would have\nmanifested it self by smell or by operating sooner. But to take away all\nscruple, and to assign the true Cause, it was thus: It fortuned that a\nManuscript fell into my hands, collected by an antient Gentleman of\n_York_, who was a great observer and gatherer of strange things and\nfacts, who lived about the time of this accident happening at _Oxford_,\nwherein it is related thus: \u201cThat _Rouland Jenkes_ being imprisoned for\ntreasonable words spoken against the Queen, and being a Popish Recusant,\nhad notwithstanding during the time of his restraint, liberty sometimes\nto walk abroad with a Keeper, and that one day he came to an Apothecary,\nand shewed him a receipt which he desired him to make up; but the\nApothecary upon the view of it told him, that it was a strong and\ndangerous receipt, and required some time to prepare it, but also asked\nhim to what use he would apply it? he answered to kill the Rats that\nsince his Imprisonment spoiled his Books; so being satisfied he promised\nto make it ready. After a certain time he cometh to know if it were\nready, but the Apothecary said the ingredients were so hard to procure\nthat he had not done it, and so gave him the receipt again, of which he\nhad taken a Copy, which mine Author had there precisely written down,\nbut did seem so horribly poysonous, that I cut it forth lest it might\nfall into the hands of wicked persons. But after it seems he had got it\nprepared, and against the day of his tryal had made a week or wick of it\n(for so is the word, that is, so fitted, that like a Candle it might be\nfired) which as soon as ever he was Condemned he lighted, having\nprovided himself a Tinder-box and Steel to strike fire. And whosoever\nshould know the ingredients of that Wick or Candle, and the manner of\nthe Composition, will easily be perswaded of the virulency and venenous\neffects of it, and this in him in regard of the use and end was meerly\nDiabolical, though the agency and effects were meer natural.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _De morb. venefic._ _l._ 3. _c._ 5.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Histor. 5._]\n\n[Sidenote: _De fascino_ _lib._ 6. _Part_ 9. _c._ 5. _p._ 680.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Syl. Syl._ _Cent._ 9.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Exper._ 888.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Ibid._ _Cent._ 10. 959.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Obs. Medic._ _Cent._ 2. _p._ 96.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 6._]\n\n6. It is very strange to consider what learned and grave Authors have\nleft recorded of the Ligation or binding of Husbands that they might not\nbe viripotent, or be able to have to do with their Wives for a longer or\na shorter time; nay some even have proceded so far as to write it, and\nseem also to believe it; that by venifice or Witchcraft, the virile\nmembers may be quite taken away; as is related by _Codronchius_, of a\ncertain young man that had his members quite taken away by a Woman\nWitch, which notwithstanding she restored again, by beating and putting\nher in the fear of death. And of this incredible story, _Sennertus_ a\nprofessed maintainer of the impossible power of Witches, doth\nnotwithstanding give this censure. \u201cThe Devil doth often delude men by\nprestigious and jugling deceits, and perswadeth them that he hath\nbrought such Diseases as indeed are none at all, as this taking away the\nvirile member, related by _Baptista Codronchius_. For although some be\nof that opinion, that the genital members may really be taken away and\nrestored by the Devil: notwithstanding (he saith) I had rather hold with\nthose that believe such things are meer juglings and delusions; seeing\nit is not in the power of the Devil to restore unto man a member lost or\ntaken away. The most learned Lord _Bacon_ doth affirm, that this kind of\nLigation or binding, to make men impotent for Coition, is frequent in\n_Santonne_ and _Gascoigne_, and is used to be done upon the Marriage\nday, and that it is often performed by the Mothers to prevent that\nincantation by others, and that they may loose it when they please. And\ndoth think it no light matter because punishable by their laws. And\nsaith after, If it exceed not nature it hath its force from the\nImagination of the binder of the virile member,\u201d and adds: _Putem ego\nillud ab incantatione alienum esse, quia non \u00e0 certis personis tantum\n(quales incantatores) sed \u00e0 quolibet fieri potest_. But that which puts\nit forth of all doubt that it is nothing but melancholy, and the abuse\nof the fancy, is manifest from the observation of perspicacious\n_Salmuth_, which is this: \u201cI have known two (he saith) who did imagine\nthemselves impotent to the act of Venery, and thought themselves\nmaleficiated or bewitched, when as before they had afforded themselves\nsufficiently strenuous in that warfar also with their Wives. But both\nbeing (he saith), handled and cured by me, as persons melancholick and\nHypochondriacal, have afterwards sufficiently laughed at themselves. But\nI did conjecture them to be melancholick by this, because they did\ncomplain, that about that act they were overwhelmed with an heap of\nCogitations. From whence it is manifest from what cause that effect did\nproceed. And therefore it is deservedly doubted of _Wierus_, whether or\nno there be any true impotency at all, but what is from natural Causes.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Curat. Emp._ _Cent._ 91. _p._ 222.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 7._]\n\n7. That the most of those vomitings of strange things is only caused\nfrom natural Causes, as poysonous Potions, Philters and the like, is\nmanifest by another example given us by that famous Chymist and learned\nPhysician of _Frisuiga_ in _Bavaria_, _Martinus Rulandus_, which is\nthis: \u201c_David Held_ Student in the Arts about the twentieth year of his\nAge did receive from a wicked Woman Cakes, which he did eat, and\ndeparting from her forthwith in the way he began to doat, and being\nbrought home he began to rage more, and fell into madness. And to help\nthis madness the Students came unto me and declare the insanity, the\nPhilter that he had taken, and his being infected or brought into that\nmadness by it, and desire some help against it. To oppose which (he\nsaith) I gave six Ounces of my _Aqua Benedicta_, which I commanded\nstraightway to be given him in the name of _Jesus_. And this being taken\nsoon after by vomiting he cast up the Philter, or invenomed Cakes that\nhe had swallowed, which being cast upon the Earth, they did with the\nadmiration of the by-standers begin to wax hot and to boil, as meat with\nthe fire doth grow hot and boil. So that this poison being cast up as a\nthing unhoped for, soon after the insanity is driven away, and within\ntwo days his understanding was perfectly restored, and by the power of\nthe Almighty did totally recover.\u201d So that it is manifest that these\nkind of people that are commonly called Witches, are indeed (as both the\nGreek and Latin names do signifie) Poysoners, and in respect of their\nHellish intentions are Diabolical, but the effects they procure flow\nfrom natural Causes. If any require more ample satisfaction in this\npoint, they may find divers Histories recorded in _Schenkins_ his\nObservations, _lib._ 7. _de venenis_, to verifie this particular.\n\n[Sidenote: _Injaculat. mod. intrand._ _p._ 603, 604.]\n\n8. There is no one Argument that doth more confirm, that what effects\nsoever Devils, or those called Witches do bring to pass in humane\nbodies, are wrought by natural means, and proceed from natural causes:\nBecause what diseases soever are cured by natural causes and agents,\nmust of necessity be brought into humane bodies by natural means. But\nmany diseases attributed to the Devil, or Witches as instruments, have\nbeen cured by natural means and applications, as we shall prove both by\nauthorities and matters of fact. And therefore those diseases must of\nnecessity grow and arise from natural causes. And for authority we find\n_Helmont_ affirming thus much: \u201cAnd also partly the curing of these\ndiseases is to be had by certain Simples, to which the omnipotent\ngoodness hath given a gift from the beginning of the Creation, of\nresisting, preventing and correcting of _Veneficia_, Witchcrafts, or\npoysonings, and of bringing forth things injected. For (he saith)\ncertain Simples do drive away evil spirits (a miserable company of Men,\nwho give worship to Gods, that are not able to resist the natural\nefficacy of Simples) and reckons some that take away the penetration of\nthe formal light tied to the excrements. Some do hinder the touch,\nentrance or application. And that there are many such like, that do\ncorrect the poysons, and kill them. And chiefly he commendeth the\n_Electrum minerale immaturum_ of _Paracelsus_, the _Phu_ of\n_Dioscorides_, being a kind of Valerian with purple flowers, and\nlikewise there commemorateth diverse others.\n\n[Sidenote: Useful of Exper. Philos. p. 214.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 8._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Ut supra_ _p._ 217.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 9._]\n\nTo confirm this assertion of _Helmonts_, we shall transcribe what the\nHonourable person Mr. _Boyle_ hath set down to this purpose. \u201cSince the\nbeginning of this Essay (he saith) I saw a lusty, and very sprightful\nBoy, child to a famous Chymical Writer, (I judge it to be _Joachimus\nPoleman_) who as his Father assured me and others, being by some enemies\nof this Physicians, when he was yet an infant, so bewitcht that he\nconstantly lay in miserable torment, and still refusing the breast, was\nreduced by pain and want of food, to a desperate condition, the\nexperienced relator of the story remembring that _Helmont_ attributes to\nthe _Electrum minerale immaturum Paracelsi_, the virtue of relieving\nthose, whose distempers come from Witchcraft, did according to\n_Helmonts_ prescription hang a piece of this noble mineral about the\ninfants neck, so that it might touch the pit of the Stomach; whereupon\npresently the child, that could not rest in I know not how many dayes\nand nights before, fell for a while asleep, and waking well cried for\nthe Teat, which he greedily suckt, from thenceforth hastily recovering,\nto the great wonder both of the Parents, and several others that were\nastonisht at so great and quick a change. And though I am not forward\n(he saith) to impute all those diseases to Witchcraft, which even\nlearned Men father upon it; yet it\u2019s considerable in our present case,\nthat whatsoever were the cause of the disease, the distemper was very\ngreat, and almost hopeless, and the cure suddenly performed by an\noutward application, and that of a Mineral, in which compacted sort of\nbodies the finer parts are thought to be lockt up.\u201d Another example he\ngiveth us in these words: \u201cThe same _Henricus ab Heer_ among his freshly\ncommended observations, hath another of a little Lady, whom he concludes\nto have been cast into the strange and terrible distemper, which he\nthere particularly records, by Witchcraft. Upon so severe an examination\nof the Symptomes made by himself in his own house, that if,\nnotwithstanding his solemn professions of veracity, he mis-relate them\nnot, I cannot wonder he should confidently impute so prodigious a\ndisease to some supernatural cause. But though the observation, with its\nvarious circumstances, be very well worth your perusing; yet that, for\nwhich I here take notice of it is, what he adds about the end of it,\nconcerning his having cured her, after he had in despair of her recovery\nsent her back to her Parents, by an outward medicine, namely, an\nOyntment which he found extolled against pains produced by Witchcraft,\nin a Dutch book of _Carrichter_\u2019s (where also I remember I met with it\nset down a little differently from what he delivers.)\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. Medic._ 34. _p._ 127.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 10._]\n\nBut to conclude this tedious particular, I shall only add one\nobservation more from learned _Salmuth_, which is this: \u201cThe servant\nMaid (he saith) of _C\u00e6sars \u00e0 Breitenbach_ was taken with a most intense\npain of her left arm, which when it did not at all remit or abate, but\nthat the dolour was augmented more and more, and that no tumour, nor any\nother preternatural thing did outwardly appear, the beholders did fear\nsome sort of venefice or Witchcraft. Therefore they apply a well tryed\nmedicine, which in such a case is said to be much approved, to wit red\nCorals well beaten with the leaves of Oak, and with Rose-water brought\ninto the form of a Cataplasm, and leave it on for the space of 24 hours.\nIn which space of time the place is brought to suppuration, and within\nas many more hours, the same remedy being applyed again, the abscess is\nbroken, and in it needles, hairs and burnt coals are found. All these\ntogether with the Amulet they put into an hole made with an Augur or\nGimlet in the root of an Oak, towards the East, in the morning before\nthe Sun rise, and they stopped up the same hole with a wedge or pin,\nmade of the wood of the same Tree. The pain thereupon plainly ceaseth,\nand the place is with other medicaments brought to Cicatrization. But\nsome deriding such things, and thinking them to be prestigious\ndelusions, do pull them forth of the hole again. Hereupon forthwith that\nmiserable servant was again afflicted with cruel pains, more raging than\nthe former. Therefore they repeat the former medicaments, and more\ncopious matter doth issue forth, which being taken together with the\nAmulet, and put in the former place in the Oak, all the pains did\nforthwith vanish, and she afterwards lived altogether sound.\u201d And so I\nconceive that by these reasons, authorities and instances of matters of\nfact, it is sufficiently proved, that what Devils or Witches work in\nhumane bodies or in corporeal matter, is by applying fit actives to\nsuitable passives, and so the effects are only produced by natural\ncauses and means, which was the thing I undertook to make good.\n\nThe next thing that in this Chapter we have to consider and examine is\nthe opinion of _Johannes Baptista van Helmont_, that great Physician,\nPhilosopher and Chymist, which we shall open in these particulars.\n\n1. He reciteth a large Catalogue of things, that are in a most strange\nmanner brought or injected into the bodies of Men and Women, as darts,\nthorn-pricks, or pins, chaff, hairs, dust of wood that hath been sawed,\nlittle stones, egg-shels and pieces of pots, hulls and husks or swads,\ninsects, things of linen, needles and the instruments of artificers,\nwhich have been injected insensibly, and entred altogether in an\ninvisible manner, but were detained and ejected with direful pains and\ntortures. And that sometimes they are greater than the holes or passages\nby which they are intromitted.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 1._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 2._]\n\n2. And to confirm this assertion he bringeth instances of matters of\nfact, as these following. \u201cFor (he saith) of late there was a part of an\nOxe hide injected by the pores of the skin, it being intire, which the\nChirurgeon did draw forth with a pair of Forceps, it being of the\nmagnitude of the ball of a Mans hand, the Apostume first being ripened.\nAnd a Witch burned at _Bruges_, did confess, that she had injected that\nhide into the good man. So (he saith) we have in times past seen at\n_Lira_ the children of _Orphans_ to have cast up by vomit an artificial\nHorse and Cart, drawn forth by the hands of the by-standers; to wit a\nfour footed board accompanied with its ropes, and wheel. And what way\nsoever it were placed, it was easily greater than the double throat.\nFurther he saith, I have seen at _Antwerp_ in the year 1622. a young\nMaid, who had vomited, perhaps two thousand pins conglomerated together,\nand with them hairs and filth. Another Maid (he saith) at _Mechlin_ in\nthe year 1631, who we being present, did vomit up shavings of wood or\nchips, cut off in plaining with the Hatchet, with much slimy stuff, to\nthe magnitude of two fists. It is (he saith) a frequent thing every\nwhere admitted by learned Men.\u201d Upon which we will only give these\nAnimadversions.\n\n[Sidenote: _Anim. 1._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Pract._ _l._ 7. _c._ 25.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 3._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. Rar. Anat._ _Cen._ 1. _Hist._ 52. _p._ 73.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 4._]\n\n1. That things as strange as these, that _Helmont_ seems to avouch of\nhis own sight and knowledge, are also attested by other persons of great\nlearning and credit, as, besides what we have immediately before shewed\nfrom _Salmuth_, of the needles, hairs and burnt coals that came forth of\nthe Maids arm, these examples may ratifie. We will pass by _Sprenger_,\n_Bodin_, _Remigius_ and _Del Rio_ as Pontificial Authors, and therefore\npartial and interested, only in the first place we shall give this from\n_Alexander Benedictus_, who telleth this: \u201cThat he saw two Women his\nneighbours upon one day, being infected by potions of evil medicaments,\nwho afterwards were wonderfully tormented with strange vomitings: That\nthe one cast up with great strainings an head bodkin very great bended\nlike an hook, with a great lump of Womens hair, wrapped with the pairing\nof nails, who died the day following. The other vomited up a Womans\nQuoif, pieces of glass, with three dried pieces of a Dogs tail that was\nhairy, so that she had voided by vomiting as much, (if set together,) as\nwould have equalized the quantity of the whole tail. But the most\nstrange story that possibly can be read is recorded by _Thomas\nBartholinus_ who was Physician to _Frederick_ the third King of\n_Denmark_, of _Anna Erici_, who vomited up at several times a piece of\nsharp wood, great store of black blood, an hem or fring of silk or linen\ncloath of a blew colour, sowed with a green thred, in which were hid\nthree pieces of lead, two pieces of glass, three Almonds, three pieces\nof a Tobacco-pipe, and white stones or flints: And afterwards many other\nhorrid, strange and incredible things that may be read in the place\nquoted in the Margent.\n\n[Sidenote: _Anim. 2._]\n\n2. It would seem a point of strange Scepticism or infidelity to distrust\nand reject these relations as lies and fictions, seeing the Authors that\nrecite them do for the most part attest them upon their own view or\nknowledge, or at least from unquestionable eye-witnesses, and that they\nwere Men of great Reputation and Credit, that lived in several Countrys,\nand in different times, and therefore could not conspire in a lie.\n\n[Sidenote: _Anim. 3._]\n\n3. But notwithstanding all this, we find persons of great learning and\nsober judgments, to use much hesitation about these things, and either\nto suspend their belief of them, as having never seen any such things\nthemselves, and therefore may well conclude as many Wise Men do, that he\nthat hath seen a thing may better believe it than he that hath not seen\nit, or else are utterly diffident and believe no such matters of fact at\nall. And indeed there is no greater folly than to be very inquisitive\nand laborious to find out the causes of such a Phenomenon, as never had\nany existence, and therefore Men ought to be cautious and be fully\nassured of the truth of the effect, before they adventure to explicate\nthe cause. And I find both my Lord _Bacon_, and that honourable and\nlearned person Mr. _Boyle_, when they have occasion to mention these\nthings, do it with extream caution, and always with an If or some other\nnote of signal dubitation, and also the Lord _Mountaigue_ in his Essays,\nand our Countreyman Mr. _Osburne_ (no contemptible persons) in his\nwritings seem utterly diffident of any such matter.\n\n[Sidenote: _Anim. 4._]\n\n4. Again if we consider how easy a thing it is, for the most vigilant,\nattentive and wisest person either to impose upon himself, being drawn\nby those overruling notions that he suckt in from his childhood, whereby\nthe will and affections being never so little byassed the judgment will\nbe presently swayed that way: or how subject the most wary and\nperspicacious person is to be imposed upon by the cunning craftiness or\nconfederacy of others, or drawn to believe a meer impossibility, by the\nperseverant asseverations of what others have seen and known, may\ncertainly induce us, though not utterly to reject all relations of this\nnature, yet to stand like _Janus_ in this field of doubtful perplexity.\n\n[Sidenote: _Anim. 5._]\n\n5. If to this we add the consideration, how rare and seldome these\nthings happen, and how long (though it argue but negatively) many\nPhysicians have practised, and yet have never met with any such strange\naccidents: and withal that many of these vomitings of strange stuff, and\nthe like have been meer counterfeit juglings and Impostures, as was\nmanifest in the Boy of _Bilson Sommers_ of _Nottingham_ and diverse\nothers: besides, I that have practised Physick above forty years could\nnever find any such thing in truth and reality, but have known many that\nhave counterfeited these strange vomitings, and the like, which we and\nothers have plainly laid open and detected. So that though we shall not\nsimply deny the verity of these relations, so we cannot but believe,\nthat some of them have been cheats and delusions, and others meer\nmistakes of ignorance and vain credulity, and in the belief of any of\nthem, that we ought to proceed with much cautiousness and careful\nforesight.\n\n3. The next thing that _Helmont_ lies down (after he thinketh that he\nhath proved the matters of fact sufficiently) is the assigning of the\ntrue cause (as he thinketh) of the bringing to pass these wondrous\neffects; And these he maketh twofold, first the Devil, by reason of the\nleague with the Witch, doth bring and convey the things to be injected\nto the place, or near the object; and makes them invisible by his\nspiritual power: Secondly that the Witch by the strength of her\nimagination and the motion of her free will, (which he holds to be the\nonly peculiar prerogative of mankind, and to remain both with Men and\nWomen after the fall, namely a power by their free wills and force of\nimagination, to create or frame seminal and efficacious Ideas to work as\nit were _ad nutum_) doth convey or inject these strange things into the\nbodies of those they would hurt or torment, and that in this case as the\nultimate attempt of nature, there is and may be a penetration of\ndimensions, and these things he attempteth to prove after this manner,\nwhich we shall first amply lay down and relate, and afterwards we shall\ngive some notes and observations upon them, as things of great weight\nand consideration.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 1._]\n\n\u201c1. He granteth that the evil spirit hath a power motive, yet therewith\ncannot hurt the innocent as he pleaseth. And further he tells us that\nthese injected things do enter invisibly. And that this one thing is\nmeerly Diabolical. For the most miserable scoffer (he saith) seeing he\nhath nothing that is real left to his liberty, yet he hath vain\nappearances: Because he is the Father of lies, he feigneth those things\nand maketh them to appear falsly, or otherwise than they are, from the\nbeginning of the World. And in these juglings the Man that is the Devils\nbondslave worketh nothing at all. But by what manner the Devil maketh\nthings visible in themselves to be invisible, or how he involves them in\nhis invisible spirit, he confesseth that he is not a sedulous searcher\nof the works of Satan, that belong unto him in propriety. And therefore\nthat the Devil doth transfer the things to be injected, being made\ninvisible, unto the object, the Idea of humane desire directing. And\nbecause it is not permitted to the Devil, to enter into Man, much less\nthat he may hurt him, and least of all with an invisible burden;\ntherefore he useth the free motive power of the Man bound unto him. The\nMan doth therefore impress his free motive Blas into the body made\ninvisible, but the Devil doth carry it unto the Man, into whom it is to\nbe injected. And as a knife by the desire and consent of the person\nwounding is fixed into the flesh of him that is wounded: So this body\nmade invisible by the Devil, is injected into the body of the person to\nbe inchanted, by the Idea of the motive power of the Witch: Satan\nconspiring to this because of the purposed direction of hurting the\nperson.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 2._]\n\n2. Truly I believe (he saith) that it doth fight with Piety, if a power\nexceeding nature be attributed to the Devil. As though Satan should be\nabove nature, and should operate things impossible to nature. I grant\nthat the manner is exotick and strange, but yet notwithstanding it ought\nto be contained within the limits of nature. And if it be said: the\nmanner is unknown by which nature should do it. The manner is also\nequally unknown by what means Satan should do it. Therefore they gain\nnothing who refer the work of nature unto the Devil. But whether they\noffend or not, let others look to it. For at least it is an invention of\nimmense sloathfulness, to refer all things to the Devil that we do not\nunderstand. Neither would I (saith he) have the Devil called upon to\nsatisfie our questions by a temerarious attribution of power.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 3._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 1._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 2._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 3._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 4._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 5._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 6._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 7._]\n\n3. \u201cTherefore (he saith) I will shew, that the aid of Satan is not at\nall needful, that some solid body may be drawn without the comminution\nof it self, by a passage far less than it self. For the evil spirit,\nthough he have a motive Blas; yet notwithstanding it is against piety,\nthat he can hurt the innocent at his pleasure. Which certainly should\ncome to pass, if every where he could inject these things, according to\nhis nefarious will, for (he saith) I have seen these things happen to\ninnocent children, to Virgins that were pious and devoted to God after a\nsingular manner. And to prove this point he giveth these instances.\n_Cornelius Gemma de Cosmocriticis_ doth recite that he had seen a piece\nof three pounds or 48. ounces weight, of a brass Cannon, which a Maid\nthe Daughter of a Cooper had voided by stool, with its characters or\nletters, together with an Eele wrapt in its secundines. But it is\nimpossible to nature to melt powdered metal in us, and to be detained so\nmany months in its pristine figure in the Intestines, or that the Eele\nshould so often be made into small powder and to arise again from death.\nAnd that pieces of wood and leather should so often be turned into small\npowder, and again restored into their former condition. For (he saith) I\nhave seen at _Bruxells_ in the year 1599. that an Oxe having taken three\nHerbs did vomit a Dragon with a tail like an Eele, a body as of leather,\na Serpentine Head, and not less than a Partridge. There is (he saith) an\nHistory of a Polonish Countryman, seen lately of the Son of the Lord\n_Ericius Puteanus_. A certain rustick did attempt himself to cut the\nSquinsie that he had in his throat with a short Knife, which at unawares\nhe swallowed, and that at the length he did void the same at the right\nside of the _Abdomen_, or lower belly, with much rotten matter after\ngreat tortures, and survived in health. Also at _Vilvordia_ in the year\n1636. a Countryman known unto me (he saith) intending to feed a Cow, did\ndaily give her a bowl, in which he had boiled Pot-Herbs with bran. At\nlast she waxeth leaner more and more every day, and begun to halt upon\nthe right thigh: The Cow being killed, the short Knife of his Wives\nbended back into the haft of Box, is found hid betwixt the ribs and the\nshoulder blade: For the Country Woman in cutting the rape root, had left\nher Knife amongst the Pot-Herbs, and the Cow by drinking had swallowed\nit. Also (he saith) _Ambrosius Par\u00e6us_ relateth a story of a certain man\nwhom Thieves had compelled to swallow a Knife, which he afterwards being\nsound did void by an Apostume of the side. _Alexander Benedictus_ (he\nsaith) doth mention another, to whom an Arrow had penetrated into his\nback, the hook of which of the breadth of three fingers he did void by\nstool without hurt. The same Author relateth of a certain Girl of\n_Venice_ who had swallowed a Needle, and that after two years she voided\nit by urine, crusted over with a stony substance. Also (he saith)\n_Antonius Benevenius_ doth relate, that an Hetruscan Woman had swallowed\na Copper Needle or Pin, which three years after she voided at the Navil,\nand was sound. _Valesius de Taranta_ (he saith) mentioneth a Girl of\n_Venice_ (perhaps the same) who voided by urine a Pin of three fingers\nlong. A certain Capucine at _Eburum_ called _Bullonius_, by Sirname\n_Hamptean_, did with much aversion of mind drink up an huge living\nSpider, which he had seen fall into the Chalice in the time of the\nSacrifice of the Mass. Within a few days he had a Phlegmon or bile that\ndid arise in his right thigh, and with much rotten matter from thence he\nvoided the whole Spider, but being dead. A young Merchant of _Antwerp_\nbeing playing at _Venice_ in his mouth with an unripe Ear of Barley, did\nswallow the same with an huge fear of suffocation: From thence after\nthree Weeks in the left side above the Girdle, an Apostume appeared, and\nat the length with the rotten matter the same Ear of a yellow colour is\nextracted whole. And he escaped sound. With _Fernelius_ a Student is\nrelated to be cured by him who had voided an Ear of Corn by the ribs.\nAlso Writers do commemorate, that the young one sometimes dead and\nwasted in the Womb, hath voided the bones through the Womb, the belly,\nby the navil, and sometimes by the fundament. More things of this nature\ndo every where occur amongst Authors worthy of credit.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 4._]\n\n4. From which matters of fact he thus concludeth: \u201cBy which (he saith)\nit is manifest, that solid bodies sufficiently great, have penetrated\nthe Stomach, the Bowels, the Womb, the Caul, the lower Belly, the skin\nupon the inside of the Ribs, the Bladder, Membranes (he saith) impatient\nof so great a wound. That is to say, that Knives have been transmitted\nthrough these Membranes without wound, which is equivalent to the\npenetration of dimensions made in nature without the help of the Devil.\nAnd that an human body may be drawn through a small hole, through which\na Cat might only pass, but not through a Wall. Verily that the Devil\ncannot break a paper Window without the consent of his Master, is (he\nsaith) manifest by the process and arrest of _Ludovicus Godfredus_ the\nWitch, pronounced at _Aix_ in _Narbona_, the last of _April 1611_. I\npray you where have the three pounds of brass, of the Cannon of War,\nmarked with its letters, laid hid? how for so many months hath the dross\nshined, in what part was the piece of brass greater than the intestine\ncontained? While I was (he saith) shewing a necessary vacuity in the\nair, I promised that I would declare, that although the penetration of\nbodies by the primary law of nature, and by the common way of Artificers\nbe forbidden: notwithstanding that while a body doth totally pass over\ninto the dominion of the spirit, and is carried over, and is by that as\nit were weakened; then bodies do naturally and mutually penetrate one\nanother, at least in that part that is porous: Because that the spirit\nthen doth inclose the body under it self, and therefore as it were\ntaketh away the dimensions.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 5._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 1._]\n\n5. And to confirm and open this point more fully, he saith: \u201cI will\npremise some things. The desire of eating Muscles did invade a Woman\nwith Child. And she eateth some of them so very hastily, that she did\ndevour the raw shells, twice or thrice broken with her teeth. Thereupon\nby and by within an hour, she bringeth forth a sound and adult Child,\nwith the same half-chewed shells, and wounded in the belly. Therefore\nthe shells without the aperture of the membranes, had forthwith\npenetrated the Stomach, Womb and Secundines: or else there were new\nshells generated upon the young Child. Neither could this later be true.\nFor they were the true fragments of the Muscles, and not figuratively\nframed to the imitation of them. Furthermore, the appetite is not\ncarried to a thing unknown: Therefore the appetite of eating the Muscles\nwas not of the Child, but of the Woman. Therefore it was not necessary\nthat new Muscles should be generated about the Child; for they were\ndesired by the Mother that they might become nutriment to her, not the\nChild. Otherwise by the same argument of Identity, what things soever\nshould by the appetite be desired, should be generated about the young\nChild; of whom when they could not be digested, they should be always\neither left remaining about the Child, or should there putrefie. Which\nis false both ways: for if it should putrefie, that which is desired\nwould cause abortion; or if it were conserved there, it would be found\nregularly. For the Child is only nourished by the Navil: Therefore those\nexternal Muscles could neither be wished by the Child, nor could be\nprofitable unto it, and by consequence, were neither for an end made\nanew, but sent to the young one by reason that it was an uterine\nappetite. The appetite is always directed from the end; but the Woman\nwith Child desired the Muscles not the shells, neither that the Muscle\nbeing a living animal might remain in its former state, in which it was\nunprofitable to the Mother, nor could satisfie her appetite; and\ntherefore much less hath had occasion of generating new and unprofitable\nshells about the young one. But however it be taken, the appetite was\nnot to the shells twice or thrice broken. For if the Fishes had been\ntaken forth of the shells, she had eaten the fish the shells being left.\nTherefore the concomitance and concision of the shells were accidental\nto the appetite. I suppose truly (he saith) that as the desire, terrour,\n_&c._ do generate seminal Idea\u2019s, which the hand of the Woman with Child\ndoth send down to the young one, and doth depinge or figurate it in a\nset time: So the joy of finding that which the appetite did desire, doth\nbring that very thing to the Child. So verily the heaviness of heart of\nhim that swallowed the Knife, the horror of having drunk the Spider, and\nof the Ear of Barley devoured, did repel or drive back those things\nbeyond the membranes not able to suffer a wound without death. And these\nthings (he saith) of things injected, entring by the ordinary power of\nnature, without the suspicion of Diabolical cooperation.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 6._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 1._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 2._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 3._]\n\n6. Now he proceedeth to prove penetration of dimensions by natural power\nin another way. \u201cSomething like to these (he saith) appeareth in things\nthat from within are to without taken away, which I will dispatch (he\nsaith) in one or two examples. The Wife of a Taylor of _Mechlinia_,\nseeth a Souldier before the doors to lose his hand in a conflict:\nForthwith being stricken with horror, she brought forth a Daughter with\none hand, the other awanting, with the stump all bloody, which hand of\nhers could not be found, and the flux of blood killed the Child. The\nWife of _Marke de Vogeler_, a Merchant of _Antwerpe_ in the year 1602.\nseeing a Souldier begging whose right Arm an Iron Bullet in the Siege of\n_Ostend_ had taken away, and which he carried about as yet bloody; by\nand by after that she brought forth a Daughter wanting an Arm, and that\nthe right one too, the shoulder of whom being yet bloody the Chirurgion\nought to consolidate. She hath Married to a Merchant of _Amsterdam_, by\nname _Hoochcamer_; and is yet living this year 1638. But the right Arm\nwas no where to be found, neither the bones or any corruption did\nappear, into which the Arm might be wasted in a little hour. But the\nSouldier not being seen, the Child had two Arms, neither could the Arm\nthat was torn off be annihilated. Therefore the Womb being shut the Arm\nwas taken away. But who tore it away naturally, and whither was it\ntaken? certainly trivial reasons do not square or agree in so great a\nportent or Paradox. I am not he that will say these things. I will say\nthis at the least: That the Arm was not taken away or torn off by Satan.\nFurthermore it was of less weight to carry away elsewhere the Arm torn\noff, than to have torn the Arm from the whole body without death. The\nWife of a Merchant (he saith) known unto us, as soon as she heard that\nthirteen were to be beheaded (it happened at _Antwerpe_ in the time of\nthe Duke of _Alva_) and Women with Child are led with inordinate\nappetites, she determined to see the decollations. Thereupon she ascends\nthe Chamber of a Widdow that was a familiar friend to her that lived in\nthe Market-place. And the spectacle being seen, forthwith the pain of\nChild-birth took her, and she brought forth a full grown infant with a\nbloody neck, whose head did no where appear.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 7._]\n\n7. From these most stupendious and almost incredible stories, he draweth\nthese conclusions. \u201cI do not find (he saith) that human nature doth\nabominate the penetration of dimensions, seeing it is most frequent to\nthe seeds of things. For in the seeds of things, that primevous Energie\nof penetrating bodies, doth yet consist, but not subject to force, art\nor human arbitrement. For there are many bodies many times more\nponderous than the matter of which they are framed. It is necessary (he\nsaith) that more than fifteen parts of water do fall in together into\none, that one part of gold may from thence be made. For weight is not\nmade of nothing: but argueth the ponderating matter in the ballance.\nTherefore water doth naturally penetrate its body so often as the gold\ndoth overweigh the water. Therefore the domestick and daily progress of\nseeds in Generations, doth require that the body doth penetrate it self\nby condensation, which is altogether impossible to an Artificer. We\ngrant (he saith) that there are pores in the water, these\nnotwithstanding cannot contain so much as fourteen times the quantity of\nits whole. Therefore it is ordinary, that some parts of the water do\npenetrate themselves into one place.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 8._]\n\n8. And to illustrate this going before he saith: \u201cBy an example, _Aqua\nfortis_ doth by its spirit make Brass, Iron or Silver remaining opacous\nin their natures so transparent that they cannot be seen, and doth pass\nthe metal thorough filtring paper, which otherwise will not transmit, no\nnot the most small powder, which metal doth essentially remain still a\nmetal _in specie_ or kind. But not that the similitude of penetration of\ndimensions doth uniformly square with the propounded example of the\nmetal. Because reasons do not agree to so great a Paradox, wherein (he\nsaith) I willingly acknowledge the manner to be indemonstrable _\u00e0\npriori_.\u201d Even as no man can know by what means the Idea impressed in\nthe seeds doth figurate, direct, and dispose the things that it hath\nframed. And therefore we are forced to hunt forth the same _\u00e0\nposteriori_.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 9._]\n\n9. From all which he draweth this Conclusion. \u201cThere is therefore\nanother far different power of incantation, besides the Devils. And\ntherefore natural and free. He hath no Dominion over the just. But if\nthe power of inchanting were free to the Devil, also it would be equally\nfree to him to kill by a Knife or a Maul. And so none should be free.\nTherefore the Witch (he saith) doth, _per ens naturale_, form\nimaginatively a free Idea, which is natural and noxious. Which Idea\nSatan cannot form. Because that the formation of Idea\u2019s do require the\nImage of God and a free power: And therefore the Witches do operate by a\nnatural force, no less against the just and innocent, than against\nwicked men. Seeing that inchantments do more easily infect Children than\nthose of ripe age, sooner Women than stout Men: A certain natural power\nis signified to be limited to the inchantment, to which it is easily\nresisted by a stout and couragious mind. The Devil therefore offereth\nfilth and poysons to his Clients, that he may knit fermentally Idea\u2019s\nformed in the Imagination of the Witches unto them. And he preserveth\nthat Ideal poyson, that it may not be blown away with the wind, or being\ncovered in the earth, it be not destroyed by putrefaction. But he\ncarrieth that poison locally near to the object, to be inchanted: But to\napply it, or carry it into the man, he by no means is able. And\ntherefore the Witch doth also send forth another _executive medium_, or\nmean emanative and commanding, which mean is the Idea of a strong\ndesire. For it is inseparable to the desire to be carried about things\nwished for. To all which the Devil as a Spectator doth assist in the\nconduction.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 10._]\n\n10. \u201cFor (he saith) in truth, I have demonstrated already, that\noperative means are solely in the power of man. For only God is the most\nchiefly glorious Creator, to be infinitely praised, who hath Created the\nUniverse forth of nothing. But man as far forth as he is the Image of\nGod doth forth of nothing create certain _Entia rationis_, or\n_non_-Entities in their beginning, and that in the proper gift of the\nPhantastical virtue. Which are notwithstanding something more than\nmeerly a privative or negative being. For first of all while these\nconceived _Idea_\u2019s do at length cloath themselves in the species or\nshape fabricated by the Imagination, they become Entities now subsisting\nin the middest of that Vestment, to which by the whole they are equally\nin them. And thus far they are made seminal and operative Entities: of\nwhich, to wit their assumed subjects are forthwith totally directed. But\nthis power is given to man alone. Otherwise a seminal power to\npropagate, is given to the Earth, to Bruits, Plants, _&c._ Also the Dog\nby his madness can transfer or change his spittle or _saliva_ into\npoyson, because it is peculiar to his kind or species. Which also is\nobvious in divers poysons of animals. But to form Idea\u2019s abstracted from\ntheir species and adjacent proprieties, that is given to none but man.\u201d\n\nHaving thus far at large traced his footsteps in these abstruse and\nmysterious matters, we shall come now to examine them and make some\nobservations upon them. And although we may be sharply censured for\ntaking upon us to question the things that he hath asserted, having been\n_suo gradu_ an Adeptist, a person of profound judgment, great\nexperience, general learning, high reputation, and now generally\nfollowed as the Chief Standard-bearer for Philosophy, Physick and\nChymistry, that many esteem it no small glory to be called and accounted\nan Helmontian. Yet notwithstanding this we shall note some observations\nin this order.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 1._]\n\n[Sidenote: _De Incant._ _p._ 677.]\n\n1. He holdeth that the Devil doth only make the things invisible, or\nhides them by his spirit, and brings them near to the object into which\nthey are to be injected, and that the Witch by the seminal Idea of her\nimagination, and the strength of her desire as the agent, or efficient\ncause, doth inject or thrust them into the body of the person, intended\nto be hurt or tormented; whereby he necessarily supposes a league or\ncontract betwixt the Devil and the Witch, and therefore he calls them\nthe Devils clients and those that are bound unto him. But what kind of\ncontract this should be, explicite or implicite, internal and mental, or\ncorporeal and visible, he tells us not; the latter of which we utterly\ndeny, that it is in the power of the Devil to practise when he pleaseth,\nas we have before with sufficient arguments demonstrated at large. And\nfor an implicite or mental league, we grant that all thieves, murderers,\nthese kind of malicious and poysoning Witches and all other wicked\npersons are bound in a spiritual contract unto him: For he is the spirit\nthat _worketh in the children of disobedience_. And what wickedness\nsoever he hath tempted and drawn them unto, to be willing to commit, he\nprompteth and pusheth them on with all his skill and power to perpetrate\nand execute the same. But still this is to be understood only of his\nspiritual and invisible assistance, and not of any visible or corporeal\naid, for else (as this Author confesseth) he might as well kill with a\nknife or a maul. And therefore we cannot here pass by the bold and\ngroundless (if not impious) assertion of _Sennertus_, who though a very\nlearned person in diverse parts of humane literature, yet drawn with the\nsway of popular opinion, did most miserably lapse in affirming that\nalthough Witches do purpose to hurt men, yet \u201cthat they neither do nor\ncan effect those things, but that the Witches being cast into a profound\nsleep, the Devil in the mean time acteth those things by himself; and\nthinks he proves this sufficiently by a fabulous and lying story feigned\nto be told of a Witch, that being in a deep sleep, when she waked, told\nthat she had been transformed into a Wolf, and had torn in pieces a Cow\nand a Sheep,\u201d which were found to be so, and therefore the Devil must\nneeds have done it. But in this he neither nameth the place, time, nor\nAuthor to avouch it, and therefore all reasonable Men may judge how\npalpable a falsity it is, for then if true it would follow that none\ncould be safe, and that the Devil might kill immediately with swords or\nknives, which he cannot do.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 2._]\n\n[Sidenote: _De Lithias._ _c._ 8. _p._ 75.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist._]\n\n2. Whereas he holdeth that the Devil doth bring or convey the things to\nbe injected near unto the place, and that he offereth filth and poysons\nto his clients, that thereby he may fermentally conjoin the Ideas of\nthese formed in the imaginative faculty with these. If the Devil be\ntaken to be meerly and simply incorporeal, then he cannot remove matter\n(as we have before proved) and so cannot convey the things near to the\nobject; and if he be taken to be corporeal (as we have asserted) his\nhelp is needless, because the Witches may do it themselves, as we find\nsufficient stories of their hideing of strange and poysonous things\nunder the thresholds of houses and Churches; and to this purpose this\nsame Author telleth us this story: \u201cA certain person (he saith) did by\ncustome use to make water in a corner of the Court, whereupon he was\nafflicted with a bloody and cruel Strangury. And all the remedy of the\nPhysicians proved in vain, except that as often as he did drink of\nBirch-Ale he did find a signal ease: But as oft as he rose and walked,\nand made water in the same place, so often his pains did return. At the\nlast a pin of old black Oak-wood is espied to be fixed in the place\nwhere he used to make water. Which being pulled forth and burned he\nremained free from the bloody Strangury, by drinking Ale of\nBirchen-twiggs. Also (he saith) that he remembred, that _Karichterus_\nhad written that he had loosed such kind of inchantments by only pissing\nthrough Beesomes of Birch.\u201d Now from hence it is plain that this making\nwater constantly upon this pin of old black Oak-wood did cause his\nbloody Strangury, and that the pulling of it up and burning of it, was\nwith the help of the Birchen Ale the cure; but it can no wayes be judged\nnecessary that the Devil should fix the Oak pin there, but that the\nWitch might do it himself. Neither can it be thought to be any power\ngiven by the Devil to the Oaken pin, that it had not by nature, for in\nprobability it will constantly by a natural power produce the same\neffect; only thus far the Devil had a hand in the action, to draw some\nwicked person to fix the pin there where the Man was accustomed to make\nwater, thereby to hurt and torture him, and so was only evil in respect\nof the end.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 3._]\n\n3. We observe and affirm that whatsoever effects are brought to pass by\nthat which is commonly called and accounted Witchcraft, if they be not\nbrought to pass by jugling, confederacy, delusion and imposture (as the\nmost of them are, if not all) then they are performed either by meer\nnatural causes, or the strength of the Witches fancy, and most vehement\ndesire of doing of mischief to those she hateth, or by both joined\ntogether, and that Satan is no further an author or actor, but as he\nleadeth and draweth the minds of the Witches to do such mischievous\nactions, and pusheth on to seek about to learn of others such secret\npoysons, charms, images and other hidden things, that being used so or\nso, may produce such destructive ends as their wicked and diabolical\npurposes are led to, and in this sense they are his clients, and bounden\nvassals, and not otherwise.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 4._]\n\n4. The stories that he relateth are either all to be taken to be true,\nor none of them; and if they be all alike equally to be credited, then\nit will undeniably follow, that they were all alike produced by natural\ncauses, and so no need at all of the Devils assistance in performing of\nthem, no more than by working upon the minds of such as used those\nnatural means to a wicked and mischievous end. For first he giveth these\ninstances of things that were very strange that were voided either by\nvomit or stool, by the ordinary power of nature, without suspicion of\ndiabolical cooperation, as the voiding of the piece of the brass Cannon\nwith its letters, with the Eele wrapped in its secundines: The Dragon\nthat the Oxe voided by taking three herbs, with a tail like an Eele, a\nbody like or of leather, with a Serpentine head, and not less than a\nPartridge: The knife that the Thieves forced a man to swallow, which he\nvoided by an Apostume in the side, and was after sound: also the arrow\nhead of three fingers broad strucken into the back, and after voided by\nstool, with diverse such which we recited before. And that these being\nsolid bodies should have penetrated and passed through parts that are\nimpatient of wounds, and in which a wound is mortal, must of necessity\nbe very wonderful, and might as soon and upon as rational grounds be\ntaken to be diabolical, as those that he enumerateth to be so: For from\nthese it is manifest that either nature put to her last pinch doth make\npenetration of dimensions, or else so inlarge the pores, that those\nsolid bodies may pass without wound, which (if seriously considered) is\na stupendious operation and effect. And as there needeth no cooperation\nof a diabolical power, for the performing of these, no more needeth\nthere any concurrence of Devils to the others, that to that purpose he\nrelateth. Only here is all the difference: these are wrought by the\nultimate endeavour of the _Arch\u00e6us_ to save life; without the\nconcurrence of external causes; the others (that are therefore called\ndiabolical) are commonly wrought for a bad end, namely to hurt or to\ntake away life, and have an external cause, to wit, the force of the\nWitches imagination and strong desire of doing of mischief, which is\nstirred up to that end by Satan, and therefore in regard of the end are\ndevilish, though they be both wrought by the agency of nature, the one\nin the body of the imaginant, the other in the body that the Witch\nintendeth to hurt by the force of her imagination and vehement desire,\nwhereby a seminal Idea is created or formed, which is sufficiently\noperative to accomplish the end intended.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 5._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Syl. Syl._ _Cent._ 10. _p._ 556.]\n\n5. The arguments that he bringeth to prove penetration of dimensions to\nbe in nature, or something equivalent thereunto, seem to be strong and\nconvincing. For in the generation of things, whosoever shall seriously\nand strictly mark, shall find (as he alledgeth) that the spirit of the\nArcheus (though not altogether incorporeal) doth in the seeds of things\npenetrate it self, and their parts one another, which he further maketh\ngood by the instance of Gold generated of water; for it must of\nnecessity be, that more than fifteen parts of water must fall in or\npenetrate one another, that from thence one part of Gold may be made,\nfor weight is not of nothing, but argueth the matter ponderous in the\nBallance. Therefore naturally the water must so oft penetrate its body\nas the Gold doth preponderate the water. And though it be granted that\nthe water hath pores, yet notwithstanding it cannot contain so much as\nfourteen times, it whole. And therefore he irrefragably concludeth: _Est\nergo ordinarium in natura, quod aliqu\u00e6 partes aqu\u00e6 se penetrent in\nunicum locum_. And this he backs with an unanswerable story of a Woman\nthat longing for Muscles, did in greediness eat some of them with the\nshells twice or thrice broken with her teeth, and that she brought forth\na child with the same half eaten shells, and a wound in the belly;\ntherefore those shells had penetrated the stomach, womb and secundines,\nor otherwise the force of the Archeus had opened the pores and letten\nthem pass in an unconceiveable manner. So that if these things be\ngranted to be true (and we confess we know not how they can be answered)\nthen there need no diabolical power be brought to solve the injecting of\nstrange things into mens bodies, seeing nature is sufficient of it self,\nand therefore we can allow no power at all unto Devils in effecting\nthese things (if they be truly done, and be not delusions) but only in\ndrawing the minds of the Witches to these wicked and mischievous\ncourses; and therefore the Lord _Bacon_ said profoundly and wisely these\nwords: _Ut in operationibus illis earumq; causis error cavendus est, ita\nquoq; danda vel imprimis opera est, ne effecta nobis imponant, temere\njudicantibus talia esse, qu\u00e6 eousq; nondum processerunt. Sic prudentes\njudices, pr\u00e6scripta velut norma, fidem haberi temere nolunt\nconfessionibus sagarum, nec etiam factorum contra illas probationi.\nSagas enim turbat imaginationis vertigo, ut putent se illud facere, quod\nnon faciunt, populumq; h\u00eec ludit credulitas, ut natur\u00e6 opera imputent\nfascino._\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 6._]\n\n6. And to confirm this point he addeth far more stupendious matters of\nfact than the former, of things that were within, being taken to without\nor invisibly conveyed away, as the woman at _Mechlin_ that saw the\nSouldier in a conflict lose his hand, and forthwith brought forth a\nDaughter wanting an hand, which was never found, and the wench died of\nthe H\u00e6morrhage. Another at _Antwerpe_ seeing a Souldier begging with his\nright arm shot off and bloody, forthwith brought forth a Daughter\nwanting the right arm whose bloody shoulder the Chirurgeon cured, and\nshe was married after; and that the arm was never found, neither did\nthere appear any bones or putrefied matter into which the arm might\nwaste. Also another Woman going to see the Decollation of thirteen men;\ndid soon after bring forth a mature Child with a bloody neck, the head\nno where appearing. I confess it would rack the judgment even of the\nmost credulous to the highest pitch to believe these unparallel\u2019d\nStories; but the Author relating them as of his own knowledge, and being\na person of unquestionable veracity, I cannot conceive how they can\nrationally be denied, especially finding M^r _Boyle_ to affirm, that in\nthose experiments (much more relations of matters of fact) that\n_Helmont_ avouched upon his own knowledge, he durst be his Compurgator.\nWho would not believe but that these things could never have been done,\nbut by a supernatural and Diabolical power, but that this Author (to\nwhich all judicious persons in reason may adhere) doth utterly deny,\nthat the arm was either pull\u2019d away or conveyed none can tell whither,\nby Satan, and therefore that in such a strange Paradox, trivial reasons\nare not to be allowed; and it were too much sloathfulness to ascribe all\neffects unto Satan, of which we are ignorant. And therefore if an hand,\nan arm, nay an whole head, could be separated from the rest of the body,\nand conveyed forth of the Womb by the _Archeus_ or natural spirit,\nthereunto excited by the impression of horror and terror in the Women:\nIn like manner by the same power of the natural spirit of man or woman,\nexcited by a vehement and fierce imagination to revenge and to do\nmischief, may strange things be injected (if there can be any sound\nproof of such a matter of fact) into the bodies of such men or women as\nthe Witches intend to do hurt unto, and yet Satan hath no more hand in\nit, but only as a spiritual agent to move the wills of those wicked and\nmalicious people to do mischief unto those that they hate, though\nwithout cause. And the great secret of that which may be called\nWitching, is the learning of others, who likewise have had it by\ntradition, the great force of imagination, and the natural spirit with\nthe ways and means how to excite it and exalt it; herein stands the\nmystery of all Magick, and it becomes only evil in the use and\napplication, and they are to be condemned that use it to such devillish\nends, even as those that use those good Creatures that nature doth\nproduce to poysonous, wicked, and destructive purposes. And lastly, here\nwe may note, that if things or bodies that are without may be injected\ninto the bodies of others, by the force of exalted, imagination and a\nvehement desire, then the same power that doth inject them through skin,\nflesh and bones, must also be able to bring them near to the place, and\nneed not at all the assistance of Satan, because it is far easier to\ncarry them near the place, than to thrust them into the body; and so\nthis Author hath here introduced the Devils aid to bring them to the\nplace to no purpose, and never yet proved either by reason or matter of\nfact, that ever Satan did any such thing, and so is a meer supposition\nwithout proof.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 7._]\n\n[Sidenote: _De occult. nat. mirac._ _l._ 2. _c._ 40. _p._ 325.]\n\n[Sidenote: _De Tumor._ _l._ 6. _c._ 19. _p._ 158.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist._]\n\n7. The other matters of fact that he relateth are prodigious, and are\nbrought to prove that Satan is an actor to convey these strange things\ninto the bodies of men, and are these. A piece of an Oxe Hide taken\nforth of a mans Arm, so also that _Equuleum_, a Wood-Horse, or a\nfour-footed board with a wheel and ropes twice as broad as the gullet.\nAnother that vomited up perhaps two thousand pins conglomerated\ntogether, with filth and hairs; another that vomited up, he being\npresent, wooden Chips that had been cut off with the Hatchet in\nsmoothing of wood, with much slime to the bigness of two fists, of which\nwe shall note these Conclusions. 1. It doth no way appear (if these\nthings be granted to be true, both for matter and manner) neither doth\nhe offer to prove it, that these are any more than the former\nDiabolical, but only in the end, because they are for the hurt and\ndestruction of mankind and not otherwise; and there being no proof of\nthe Devils Cooperation any further but in working upon the minds of\nthose that are agents and instruments to bring these things to pass, we\nmay very well reject those things that are supposed, but not proved. 2.\nThe ejecting or voiding of such strange things as here he hath related,\ndoth not necessarily suppose their injection or thrusting in, because\nthey may be bred there by natural Causes, so Worms of many sorts and\nstrange Figures, also Frogs, _Dracunculos_ and Askers have been voided,\nand doubtlesly bred there by natural causes, and were not injected or\nthrust in, and for proof of this I refer the Reader to the relations of\nlearned _Schenchius_ _lib._ 3. _p._ 363. of those strange sorts of Worms\nand other Creatures that he from divers Authors sheweth have been\nvomited up, which without all scruple, were not injected, but bred\nthere. To confirm this and to prove what strange things are sometimes\nbred in Apostumes and Tumors, we shall translate a passage or two, and\nfirst take this from _Levinus Lemnius_ that learned and famous Physician\nof _Zeland_, who writeth thus: \u201cAlso forth of sordid Ulcers and\nImpostures (he saith) we have known that the fragments of nails, hairs,\nshells, little bones and stones have been taken forth; which were\nconcreted and grown together forth of putrid humours: As also little\ncreatures, worms with tails, and little beasts of an unaccustomed form,\ncast up by vomiting, especially in those who were oppressed with\ncontagious diseases, in whose urines I have often discerned to swim\nlittle Animalcles like to Pismires, or to those creatures we observe in\nthe estival months to move in the celestial dew here in _England_ we\ncall it Woodsoar, or Cuckow-spittle.\u201d Take another from that learned and\nexpert Chirurgeon _Ambrosius Par\u00e6us_ where he is speaking of strange\ntumors, in these words: \u201cAlso in these tumors being opened thou maist\nsee bodies of all kinds, and far differing from the common matter of\nTumors, as stones, chalk, sand, coals, cockles, ears of corn, hay, horn,\nhairs, flesh as well hard as spongious, grisles, bones and whole\nAnimalcles, as well living as dead. The generation of which things (by\nthe corruption and alteration of the humors) will not much astonish us,\nif we consider, that even as nature hath framed Man as a Microcosm forth\nof all the seeds and elements of the whole great world, that he might be\nas it were the lively image of that great world: So in that Microcosm,\nnature hath willed, that all the species of all motions and actions\nmight be manifest, nature being never idle in us, as long as matter is\nnot a wanting to work upon.\u201d So that it is most plain that these strange\nthings may be bred within, and so the opinion of injecting them, is but\na meer figment. 3. Neither can the vomiting up of such strange things as\nhe relateth, conclude necessarily that they were injected either by the\npower of Satan or the Witch, because they may be performed by jugling,\nsleight of hand, confederacy and the like, as was manifest in the Boy of\n_Bilson_, and diverse that we have known, that had made some numbers of\nothers to believe that they had voided strange things, as pins, needles,\ncrooked-knitting-pricks, moss, nails, and the like; but upon a strickt\nsearch, have but proved delusions and sleight, such as our common _Hocus\nPocus_ Men use, when they make the people believe they swallow a long\npudding of white tinn, and again pull it forth of their mouths, or in\npulling ribbins, or laces of diverse colours forth of their throats. 4.\nAnd again the most of these relations are but commonly taken upon trust\nfrom the affirmations of the by-standers who might be confederate\nparties, or ignorant persons, and so easily deceived; and it appeareth\nnot that _Helmont_ was by at the very instant when the children vomited\nup the wooden horse, or four-footed board, but that it was the\nby-standers that drew it forth, who might be parties to the cheat, or be\nthemselves deluded, and so aver it pertinaciously to others. For I have\nin my practice known a young Wench about 9 or 10 years old, who that she\nmight be pittied and have an idle life, had made her Father and Mother\nbelieve that quick worms came forth at her ear, and also I taking her\ninto mine own house she had perswaded all the family that it was true,\nand did often open her head-cloaths, and holding down her ear a quick\nworm would drop forth of the hair, who notwithstanding by diligent\nwatching, was found out to get them privately from under stones or wood,\nand so did cunningly convey them into her hair, but being discovered,\nwas by due correction reclaimed, and so the wonder ceased. And it is as\ncommon to mistake things, either by absolute judging them to be such a\nthing indeed, when it hath but some slender resemblance of it, or by\njudging a thing to be really so, because of such a name but\nmetaphorically given unto it; so it is usual to call a _Carcinoma_ in\nthe highest degree _Lupus_ or a Wolf, because as a Wolf is a most\nvoracious creature, so this ulcer is the most devouring of all others;\nand therefore have we known after that such have been by incision\neradicated by our selves and others, and exposed to the view of the\nvulgar people, they would presently most earnestly affirm to others that\nthey had seen it, and that it was a living creature, and had mouth, eyes\nand ears; so far will ignorant mistake induce credulity.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 8._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Syl. Syl._ _Cent._ 10. _p._ 583.]\n\n8. That the force of imagination accompanied with the passions of\nhorror, fear, envy, malice, earnest, desire of revenge, and the like, is\ngreat upon the body imaginant, as also upon the _f\u0153tus_ in the womb, is\nacknowledged by all. But that it can at distance work upon another body,\nthough denied by _Fienus_ and the whole rabble of the Schoolmen, yet is\nstrongly proved by this learned Author, and allowed of by all others\nthat truly understood the operations of nature, which we also take to be\na certain truth, and do assert that if those people that are esteemed\nWitches, do really and truly (of which we utterly doubt) inject any of\nthese strange things into the bodies of men, that they are brought to\npass meerly by the imagination of the Witch, and the Devil acteth\nnothing in it at all, but the setting of his will upon that mischief. As\nfor the handling the dispute concerning the manner of the injecting of\nthese strange things, so strongly pursued by this Author, _Sennertus_\nand others, we shall totally supersede and suspend our judgment, until\nthe \u1f45\u03c4\u03b9 be sufficiently proved (which yet lies under water, and unseen)\nand then it will be time enough to dispute the manner, when the matter\nis certainly made evident. Therefore we will shut up this with that\nmodest and grave advice of the Lord _Bacon_ in these words: _Ideo\ncogemur in hac inquisitione ad nova experimenta confugere; ubi\ndirectiones tant\u00f9m eorum pr\u00e6scribi possunt, non ulla positiva in medium\nadferri. Si quis putet subsistendum nobis fuisse, donec tentamentis res\npenitus innotuisset, (ut fecisse nos ubiq; probant alii tituli) sciat\ndubia nos fide amplecti qu\u00e6cunq; imaginationis effecta circumferuntur,\nanimum tamen esse illa per otium exigere ad Lydium veritatis lapidem, id\nest, experimentorum lucem._\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAP. XIII.\n\n  _That the ignorance of the power of Art and Nature and such like\n    things, hath much advanced these foolish and impious opinions._\n\n\nThe opinions that we reject as foolish and impious are those we have\noften named before, to wit, that those that are vulgarly accounted\nWitches, make a visible and corporeal contract with the Devil, that he\nsucks upon their bodies, that he hath carnal copulation with them, that\nthey are transubstantiated into Cats, Dogs, Squirrels, and the like, or\nthat they raise tempests, and fly in the air. Other powers we grant unto\nthem, to operate and effect whatsoever the force of natural imagination\njoyned with envy, malice and vehement desire of revenge, can perform or\nperpetrate, or whatsoever hurt may be done by secret poysons and such\nlike wayes that work by meer natural means.\n\nAnd here we are to shew the chief causes that do and have advanced these\nopinions, and this principally we ascribe to mens ignorance of the power\nof Nature and Art, as we shall manifest in these following particulars.\n\n1. There is nothing more certain than, that how great soever the\nknowledge of Men be taken to be, yet the ultimate Sphere of natures\nactivity or ability is not perfectly known, which is made most manifest\nin this, that every day there are made new discoveries of her secrets,\nwhich prove plainly that her store is not yet totally exhausted, nor her\nutmost efficiency known. And therefore those Men must needs be\nprecipicious, and build upon a sandy foundation, that will ascribe\ncorporeal effects unto Devils, and yet know not the extent of nature,\nfor no Man can rationally assign a beginning for supernatural agents and\nactions, that does not certainly know where the power and operation of\nnature ends.\n\n2. And as it is thus in general, so in many particulars, as especially\nin being ignorant of many natural agents that do work at a great\ndistance, and very occultly, both to help, and to hurt, as in the weapon\nsalve, the Sympathetick powder, the curing of diseases by mumial\napplications, by Amulets, Appensions and Transplantions, which all have\nbeen, and commonly are ascribed unto Satan, when they are truly wrought\nby natural operations. And so (as we have sufficiently manifested\nbefore) by many strange, and secret poysons both natural and artificial,\nthat have no bewitching power in them at all, but work naturally, and\nonly may be hurtful in their use through the devilishness of some\npersons that use them to diverse evil ends.\n\n3. There is nothing that doth more clearly manifest our scanted\nknowledge in the secret operations of nature, and the effects that she\nproduceth, than the late discoveries of the workings of nature, both in\nthe vegetable, animal and mineral Kingdoms, brought dayly to light by\nthe pains and labours of industrious persons: As is most evident in\nthose many elucubrations, and continued discoveries of those learned and\nindefatigable persons that are of the Royal Society, which do plainly\nevince that hitherto we have been ignorant of almost all the true causes\nof things, and therefore through blindness have usually attributed those\nthings to the operation of Cacodemons that were truely wrought by\nnature, and thereby not smally augmented and advanced this gross and\nabsurd opinion of the power of Witches.\n\n[Sidenote: _De occult. Philos._ _l._ 1. _c._ 2.]\n\n4. Another great means in advancing these Tenents hath been Mens supine\nnegligence in not searching into and experimenting the power of natural\nagents, but resting satisfied in the sleepy notions of general rules,\nand speculative Philosophy. By which means a prejudice hath been raised\nagainst the most occult operations of nature, and natural magick (which\nis (as _Agrippa_ truly said) \u201cThe comprizer of great power, full of most\nhigh mysteries, and containeth the most profound contemplation, nature,\npower, quality, substance and virtue of most secret things, and the\nknowledge of all nature) to be condemned, as the work of the Devil and\nhellish fiends, which is the handmaid and instrument of the Almighty.\u201d\nAnd from this diabolical pit of the ignorance of the power of nature\n(especially when assisted by art) have sprung up those black and horrid\nlies in the mouths of _Erastus_, _Conringius_ and above all of\n_Kircherus_, denying the possibility of the transmutation of metals, by\nthe power of Art and Nature, and ascribing the performance thereof by\n_Paracelsus_, _Lullius_, _Sendinogius_ and others to the Devil; so\nmalevolent do men grow when they are led by nescience and ignorance.\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Theatr. Chym._ _Vol._ 5. _p._ 943.]\n\n5. The ignorance of the strange and wonderful things that Art can bring\nto pass hath been no less a cause, why the most admirable things that\nArt bringeth to pass by it are through blind ignorance ascribed unto\nDevils, for so have many brave learned Artists, and Mechanicians been\naccused for Conjurers, as happened to _Roger Bacon_, Dr. _Dee_,\n_Trithemius_, _Cornelius Agrippa_, and many others, when what they\nperformed was by lawful and laudable art. The strange things that the\nMathematicks and Mechanicks can perform are hardly to be enumerated, of\nwhich were those most wonderful catoptrical glasses mentioned by\n_Nicero_, _Aquilonius_, _Baptista Porta_ and many others, those\nwonderful engines in the shape of Birds, Men, Beasts, and Fishes that do\nmove, sing, hiss and many such like things mentioned by _Heron_ of\n_Alexandria_, and our Countryman Dr. _Fludd_; and those that would have\nmore ample satisfaction concerning the stupendious things that are\nproduced by art, may receive most large satisfaction in reading that\nmost learned and elaborate Epistle written as a preface before the Book\nof _Johannes Ernestus Burgravius_ called _Biolychnium vel de lampade\nvit\u00e6 et mortis_, by _Marcellus Vranckheim_ Doctor of both laws, as also\nin reading that profound and mysterious piece written by _Roger Bacon_,\n_de admirabili potestate artis et natur\u00e6, et de nullitate magi\u00e6_, with\nthe learned notes of Dr. _Dee_ upon it, of which he saith this: _Ut\nvideatur quod omnis potestas magica sit inferior his operibus et\nindigna_. And therefore there can be nothing more unworthy, than for any\nman, that pretendeth to any portion of reason, so far to dote, or suffer\nhimself to be led with ignorance and rashness, as to ascribe those\nstrange things that Nature and Art, or both joined together do produce,\nunto Devils: And yet there is nothing that is more common not only by\nthe blind vulgar, but even by those that otherwise would be accounted\nlearned, and wise enough; pride and folly attendeth the most of the Sons\nof Men.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist._]\n\n6. Another gross mistake there is, in supposing those strange things\nthat are performed by vaulters, tumblers, dancers upon ropes, and such\nlike, not possible to be done but by the assistance of the Devil, when\nthey are altogether brought to pass and effected by use, custome,\nexercise, nimbleness and agility of body. And yet we have known some not\nonly of the popular rank, but many that thought themselves both wise,\nlearned and religious that have been so blind as to father these things\nupon Devils and seriously to seem to believe, that the actors of these\nthings had made a league and compact with the Devil, by whose help they\nperformed them. And I do remember that a pretty active young man, within\nthese few years went about in this North Countrey with a neat Bay Mare\nfor money to shew tricks, which were very odd and strange, for if she\nhad been blindfolded, and several pieces of money taken from several\npersons, and wrapped in a cloath, the Mare would have given every one\ntheir own piece of money; and this and many other feats she plaid, were\nnot only by the common people, but by others that should have been more\nwise, judged to be performed by no other means but by the Devil, and\nsome were so stark mad as to believe and affirm that the Mare was not a\nnatural one, but that it was the Devil that plaid those strange tricks\nin the shape of a Mare: when more sober judgments knew that they were\nperformed by the masters eye, and rod directing the Mare. _Error &\ncredulitas multum in hominibus possunt._\n\n7. In like manner are often both those that are learned, as well as the\nvulgar most wofully imposed upon by the odd and strange feats performed\nby Legierdemain, sleight of hand, and by wonderful things brought to\npass by subtile and cunning Impostors that act by confederacy, and the\nlike, of which we have given some instances before in this treatise. And\nit was no evil piece of service, that Master _Scot_ did in his book of\nthe discovery of Witchcraft, when he laid open all the several tricks of\nLegierdemain and sleight of hand, thereby to undeceive the ignorant\nmultitude; and that is no less praise-worthy that is performed by the\nAuthor of that little treatise called _Hocus Pocus junior_, where all\nthe feats are set forth in their proper colours, so that the most\nignorant may see how they are done, and that they are miracles unknown,\nand but bables being discovered, which treatise I could commend to be\nread of all Witchmongers and vain credulous persons, that thereby their\nignorance may be laid open, and they convinced of their errors.\n\n8. The ignorance or mistaking of these things, joyned with the notions\nMen have imbibed from their infancy, together with irreligious\neducation, are the true and proper causes, that make so many ascribe\nthat power to Devils and Witches, that they neither have, or ever had,\nor can ever bring into act. And therefore it behoveth all that would\njudge aright of these abstruse matters, to labour to understand the\nsecret operations of nature, and the strange works of art, to divest\nthemselves of their false imbibed notions, and truely and rightly to\nunderstand the Articles of the Christian Faith, to be daily conversant\nin reading the Scriptures, they will then be more fit to judge of these\nthings, and not to call light darkness, nor darkness light.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAP. XIV.\n\n  _Of diverse Impostures framed and invented to prove false and lying\n    miracles by, and to accuse persons of Witchcraft, from late and\n    undeniable authorities._\n\n\nIn the treatise preceeding we have often made mention of delusions and\nImpostures, which we shall largely handle in this place: and though Mr.\n_Glanvil_, and others do object, that though many pretended possessions\nor Witchcrafts have been proved to be meer couzenings and impostures,\nyet therefore it will not follow that all are so. To which we shall\nrender these answers.\n\n1. If it do not necessarily conclude, that they are all impostures, yet\nit gives a most shrewd cause of dubitation that they may be so. And the\nobjection depends not upon a necessary connexion betwixt the subject and\npredicate, for some being direct and palpable Impostures, it is not of\nnecessity, but by contingency or accident that the others are not so,\nand ought first to have been proved, which never yet was performed.\n\n2. But we affirm that a general conclusion drawn from an inductive\nargument is good and sound, where no instance can be clearly made out to\nthe contrary. But as yet no true instance, really and faithfully\nattested, hath ever been brought to prove that any of these things that\nwe deny, were ever effected by diabolical power. For who were ever by\nand present, that were persons of sincerity and sound judgment, that\ncould truly testifie and averr that the Devil in a visible and corporeal\nshape made a contract with the Witch, or that he suckt upon his, or her\nbody, or that he had carnal copulation with them, or that saw when the\nWitch was really changed into a Dog or a Cat, or that they flew or were\ncarried in the air? Seeing no instance can be given to prove any of\nthese to be undoubted truths, it must needs follow that they are meer\nfigments, or at the best all but absolute Impostures. And again it is\nbut precarious, and _petitio principii_, to imagine that any persons\nhave vomited up or voided strange things that saw or knew that they were\ninjected by Devils, for they were either naturally bred there, or else\nwere meer Impostures and delusive Juglings.\n\nAnd therefore we shall propose some Histories of strange and prodigious\ncheats and Impostures from late and unquestionable authorities, whereby\nall the rest may be judged and discerned; of which take this for one.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 1._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Stat. Pulton, 25. year Henr. 8._ _c._ 12.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid Chron._ Hollingshead. Stow _An. Hen. 8._ 25. _p._ 1013.]\n\n[Sidenote: The Pope.]\n\n\u201c1. _Elizabeth Barton_ of _Kent_ (by those that laboured to cry up her\nhorrible cheats for miracles, otherwise called the holy Maid of _Kent_)\nand others were in the twenty fifth year of King _Henry_ the Eighth\nattainted of High Treason, for that under colour of hypocrisie,\nRevelations and false Miracles practised by the said _Elizabeth_, they\nconspired to impugne and slander the divorce between the King and Queen\n_Katherine_ his first Wife, and the last Marriage between him and Queen\n_Anne_ his second Wife, to destroy the King, and to deprive him of his\nCrown.\u201d Her false and feigned miracles, and the subtile and cunning\ncontrivances that were brought to pass by the help of her confederate\naccomplices, and her and the others open confession of them may be found\nat large in _Hollingshead_, _Stow_, and the writings of Mr. _Lambert_,\nwhither for brevities sake I remit my reader, and shall only give it\nhere in the words of _Speed_, which are these: \u201cThe Romanists (he saith)\nmuch fearing that _Babel_ would down, if Queen _Anne_ might be heard\nagainst wicked _Haman_, sought to underprop the foundations thereof with\ncertain devices of their own: and that the same might pass without note\nof suspicion, they laid their forgery even upon Heaven it self; whose\npretended oracle _Elizabeth Barton_ (commonly called the holy Maid of\n_Kent_) was made to be; and the pillars of this godless Fabrick were\n_Edward Bocking_ a Monk by profession, and Doctor of Divinity, _Richard\nMasters_ Parson of _Aldington_, the Town wherein she dwelt; _Richard\nDeering_ a Monk, _Hugh Rich_ a Friar, _John Adestone_ and _Thomas Abell_\nPriests, put to their helping hands; and _Henry Gould_ Batchelor of\nDivinity, with _John Fisher_ the reverend Father of _Rochester_ imployed\ntheir pains to dawb these downfalling walls with their untempered\nmorter. The Scribes that set their pens for her miracles, were _Edward\nThwaites_ Gentleman, and _Thomas Lawrence_ Register, besides _Haukherst_\na Monk, who writ a letter that was forged to be sent her from Heaven;\nAnd _Richard Risby_ and _Thomas Gould_ were the men that dispersed her\nmiracles abroad to the world. This holy Maid _Elizabeth_ made a Votaress\nin _Canterbury_, was taught by _Bocking_ her Ghostly Father, and\nsuspected Paramour, to counterfeit many feigned trances, and in the same\nto utter many virtuous words for the rebuke of sin, under which more\nfreely she was heard against _Luthers_ doctrine, and the Scriptures\ntranslation, then desired of many: neither so only, but that she gave\nforth from God and his Saints by sundry suggestive Revelations, that if\nthe King proceeded in his Divorce, and second Marriage, he should not\nraign in his Realm one month after, nor rest in Gods favour the space of\nan hour. But the truth discovered by Gods true Ministers, this oracle\ngave place as all other such did, when Christ by his death stopped their\nlying mouths: For her self and seven of her disciples were executed for\nTreason at _Tiburn_, and the other six put to their fines and\nimprisonment.\u201d To which he subjoineth this story of the like nature.\n\u201cWith the like counterfeit Revelations and feigned predictions this\ngeneration of hypocrites had brought _Edward_ Lord _Stafford_ Duke of\n_Buckingham_, unto his unhappy end, by the working of _John de la Court_\nhis own Confessor, together with _Nicholas Hopkins_ a Monk of the\nCarthusian Order in the Priory of _Henton_ in _Somersetshire_, who by\nhis visions from Heaven forsooth, heartned him for the Crown; But before\nhis own Coronet could aspire to that top, he worthily lost both head and\nall upon _Tower-hill_ for his Treason, _Anno Domini_ 1521. Unto such\nsins the world was then subject, and into such conceits their reputed\nholiness had brought them, not only among the simple and unlettered, but\neven with them that seemed to be learned indeed: For by certain\npredictions foreshewing a great deluge, Prior _Bolton_ of S.\n_Bartholomews_ in _London_, was so fearful that he built himself a house\nupon the height of _Harrowhill_, storing it with provisions necessary to\nkeep himself from drowning in _Anno Dom._ 1524.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 2._]\n\n[Sidenote: Stow\u2019s _Chron._ _p._ 678.]\n\n2. And that we may be certified how frequent and common these\ncounterfeited Impostures have been, and yet are practised, take this\nother from undoubted authority. \u201cThe 15 of _August_ being Sunday in the\n16 of the raign of Queen _Elizabeth_, _Agnes Bridges_ a Maid about the\nage of 20 years, and _Rachel Pinder_ a Wench about the age of 11 or 12\nyears, who both of them had counterfeited to be possessed by the Devil\n(whereby they had not only marvellously deluded many people both Men and\nWomen, but also diverse such persons, as otherwise seemed of good wit\nand understanding) stood before the Preacher at _Pauls-cross_; where\nthey acknowledged their hypocritical counterfeiting with penitent\nbehaviours, requiring forgiveness of God and the world, and the people\nto pray for them. Also their several examinations and Confessions were\nthere openly read by the Preacher, and afterwards published in print,\nfor posterity hereafter to beware of the like deceivers.\u201d From whence we\nmay take these two Observations.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 1._]\n\n1. We may from hence note, how subject the nature of man is both to\ndeceive and to be deceived, and that not only the common people, but\nalso the wiser and more learned heads may most easily be imposed upon.\nAnd, that therefore in things of this nature, and the like, we cannot\nuse too much circumspection, nor use too much diligence to discover\nthem.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 2._]\n\n2. We may note, that when such strange Impostures or false Miracles are\npretended, there is commonly some sinister and corrupt end aimed at,\nunder the colour of Religion, and that those that are most ready to\npublish such things as true Miracles and Divine Revelations, are\ngenerally those that did complot and devise them. And therefore the\ngreater number they be that cry them up, and the more esteem the persons\nare of that blow abroad such things, the greater suspicion we ought to\nhave of the falsity and forgery of them. Always remembring that the\ngreater the fame and number of the persons are that conspire and\nconfederate together, the greater things they may bring to pass, and be\nmore able to deceive, as was manifest by the Priests attending the\nOracles; who, though they laboured to father their predictions upon some\nDeity, yet it was manifest that it was nothing else, but their own\nConfederacy, Impostures and Juglings.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 3._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid._ A Book called, _A discovery of fraudulent practices\n           concerning pretended possessions_.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. ibid. Dialog._ 11. _p._ 352.]\n\n3. But these Diabolical Counterfeitings of possessions, and the\nmaintaining of the power of dispossession and casting forth of Devils,\nwas not only upheld and maintained by the Papists to advance their\nsuperstitious courses; but also in the said time of Queen _Elizabeth_,\nthere were divers Non-Conformists, to gain credit and repute to their\nway, that did by publick writing labour to prove the continuation of\nreal possessions by Devils, and that they had power by fasting and\nPrayer to cast them out. Of which number were one M^r _Darrell_ and his\nAccomplices, who not only writ divers Pamphlets in the positive defence\nof that opinion, but also published certain Narrations of several\npersons, that they pretended were really possessed with Devils, which\nwere cast forth by their means in using Fasting and Prayer. Which\nwritings were answered by M^r _Harsnet_ and others, and their Theory not\nonly overthrown, but their practice discovered to be counterfeiting and\nImposture. Whereupon there were divers persons suborned to feign and\ncounterfeit possessions, as _William Sommers_ of _Nottingham_, who by\nthe Exorcists was reported to have strange fits, passions and actions;\nwhich are at large described and set forth in that learned Treatise,\n_Dialogical Discourses of Spirits and Devils_, written about the same\ntime by _John Deacon_ and _John Waller_, Ministers, and of divers other\npersons who likewise pretended the same counterfeit possessions. And\nthough the said forged and feigned possessions were strongly maintained\nby their Abettors, and the matters of fact audaciously asserted to be\ntrue; yet after the said _Darrell_ and his Accomplices were examined by\nthe Queens Commissioners, all was made apparent to be notorious\ncounterfeiting, cheating and imposture, both by the confession of\n_Sommers_ himself, and by the Oaths of several Deponents. Neither was\nthat discourse containing the certain possession of seven persons in one\nFamily in _Lancashire_, at _Cheworth_ in the Parish of _Leigh_, in the\nYear 1594. (though believed by many for a truth, because of the streight\ntale told by the said _Darrell_ in that Narrative) of any better grain,\nbut full of untruths, impossibilities, absurdities and contradictions.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 4._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid._ The cunning of the Boy of _Bilson_, _p._ 55.]\n\n4. Our next instance shall be a most strange imposture acted in the time\nof King _James_, and in a manner known unto the whole Nation; that is of\nthe Boy of _Bilson_ in _Staffordshire_, in the year 1620. by name\n_William Perry_, whose condition as he had been taught, and so left by\nthe Popish Priests, take as followeth. \u201cThis Boy being about thirteen\nyears old (but for wit and subtilty far exceeding his age) was thought\nby divers to be possessed of the Devil, and bewitched, by reason of many\nstrange fits and much distemper, wherewith he seemed to have been\nextreamly affected. In those fits he appeared both deaf and blind,\nwrithing his mouth aside, continually groaning and panting, and\n(although often pinched with mens fingers, pricked with Needles, tickled\non his sides, and once whipped with a Rod, besides other the like\nextremities) yet could he not be discerned by either shrieking or\nshrinking to bewray the least passion or feeling. Out of his fits he\ntook (as might be thought) no sustenance which he could digest, but\ntogether with it, did void and cast out of his mouth, rags, thred,\nstraw, crooked pins, _&c._ Both in and out of his fits his belly (by\nwilful and continual abstinence defrauding his own Guts) was almost as\nflat as his back, besides, his throat was swoln and hard, his tongue\nstiff and rolled up towards the roof of his mouth, insomuch that he\nseemed always dumb, save that he would speak once in a Fortnight or\nthree Weeks, and that but in very few words.\n\n\u201cTwo things there were which gave most just cause of presumption that he\nwas possessed and bewitched; one was that he could still discern when\nthat Woman (which was supposed to have bewitched him) to wit _Jone\nCocke_ was brought in to any room where he was, although she were\nsecretly conveyed thither, as was one time tryed before the Grand Jury\nat _Stafford_: The second, that though he would abide other passages of\nScripture, yet he could not indure the repeating of that Text, _viz._\n_In the beginning was the word, &c._ _Jo._ 1. _ver._ 1. but instantly\nrolling his eyes and shaking his head, as one distracted, he would fall\ninto his usual fits of groaning, panting, distraction, _&c._ In which\nplight he continued many months, to the great wonder and astonishment of\nthousands, who from divers parts came to see him.\u201d Thus much of his\ncunning.\n\nYet notwithstanding, this most devillish and cunningly contrived\ncounterfeiting and dissimulation was discovered and fully detected by\nthe sagacity of that pious and learned person, D^r _Thomas Morton_ then\nBishop of _Coventry_ and _Lichfield_: To whose memory I cannot but owe\nand make manifest all due respect, because he was well known unto me,\nand by the imposition of whose hands I was ordained Presbyter when he\nwas Bishop of _Durham_, and also knew his then Secretary, M^r _Richard\nBaddeley_, who was the Notary, and writ the examination of this crafty\nBoy. The manner how such a doubtful and intricate piece of Imposture was\nfound out and discovered, you may read at large in the Treatise called\n_a Discourse concerning Popish Exorcising_. And his publick Confession\nwe shall give in the Authors own words: \u201cHe was finally brought again to\nthe Summer Assizes held at _Stafford_, the 26. of _July_, _Anno_ 1621.\nwhere before Sir _Peter Warburton_ and Sir _Humfrey Winch_ Knights, his\nMajesties Justices of Assize, and the face of the County and Country\nthere assembled, the Boy craved pardon first of Almighty God, then\ndesired the Woman there also present to forgive him; and lastly,\nrequested the whole Country whom he had so notoriously and wickedly\nscandalized, to admit of that his so hearty Confession for their\nsatisfaction.\n\n\u201cAnd thus it pleased God (he saith) to open the eyes of this Boy (that I\nmay so say) _luto_ with the Clay of the Romish Priests lewd Impostures,\nand _sputo_ with the spittle of his own infamy, to see his errors and to\nglorifie the God of truth. And though many such Impostures as this have\nin several ages been hudled up in darkness and recorded for true\nstories, by those that were Partisans to them and Confederates with\nthem, yet doubtless were but of the same stamp with this, and might all\nas well have been discovered, if the like care, skill and industry had\nbeen used.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 5._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid._ The arraignment and tryal of Witches at _Lancaster_,\n           1612.]\n\n5. No less villanous, bloody and Diabolical, was the design of _Thompson\nalias Southworth_, Priest or Jesuit, against _Jennet Bierley_, _Jane\nSouthworth_, and _Ellen Bierly_ of _Samesbury_ in the County of\n_Lancaster_, in the year 1612. the sum of which is this. \u201cThe said\n_Jennet Bierley_, _Ellen Bierley_, and _Jane Southworth_, were Indicted\nat the Assizes holden at _Lancaster_ upon _Wednesday_ the nineteenth of\n_August_, in the year abovesaid, for that they and every of them had\npractised, exercised, and used divers devillish and wicked Arts, called\nWitchcrafts, Inchantments, Charms and Sorceries, in and upon one _Grace\nSowerbutts_. And the chief witness to prove this was _Grace Sowerbutts_\nher self, who said that they did draw her by the hair of the head, and\ntake her sense and memory from her, did throw her upon the Hen-roost and\nHay-mow; did appear to her sometimes in their own likeness, sometimes\nlike a black Dog with two feet, that they carried her where they met\nblack things like men that danced with them, and did abuse their bodies;\nand that they brought her to one _Thomas Walsham_\u2019s House in the night,\nand there they killed his Child by putting a nail into the Navil, and\nafter took it forth of the Grave, and did boil it, and eat some of it,\nand made Oyl of the bones, and such like horrid lies.\u201d But there\nappearing sufficient grounds of suspicion that it was practised knavery,\nthe said _Grace Sowerbutts_ was by the wisdom, and care of Sir _Edward\nBromley_ Knight, one of his Majesties Justices of Assize at _Lancaster_,\nappointed to be examined by _William Leigh_ and _Edward Chisnal_\nEsquires, two of his Majesties Justices of peace in the same County, and\nso thereupon made this free confession. Being demanded \u201cwhether the\naccusation she laid upon her Grandmother, _Jennet Bierley_, _Ellen\nBierley_ and _Jane Southworth_, of Witchcraft, _viz._ of the killing of\nthe child of _Thomas Walshman_, with a nail in the Navil, the boyling,\neating and oyling, thereby to transform themselves into divers shapes,\nwas true? She doth utterly deny the same, or that ever she saw any such\npractises done by them. She further saith, that one Mr. _Thompson_,\nwhich she taketh to be Mr. _Christopher Southworth_, to whom she was\nsent to say her prayers, did perswade, counsel and advise her, to deal\nas formerly hath been said against her said Grandmother, Aunt and\n_Southworths_ Wife.\n\n\u201cAnd further she confesseth, and saith, that she never did know, or saw\nany Devils, nor any other visions, as formerly hath been alledged and\ninformed.\n\n\u201cAlso she confesseth, and saith, that she was not thrown, or cast upon\nthe Hen-roust, and Hay-mow in the Barn, but that she went up upon the\nMow by the wall side. Being further demanded whether she ever was at the\nChurch, she saith, she was not, but promised hereafter to go to Church,\nand that very willingly; of which the author of the relation gives this\njudgment.\n\n\u201cHow well (he saith) this project, to take away the lives of three\ninnocent poor creatures by practice and villany, to induce a young\nScholar to commit perjury, to accuse her own Grandmother, Aunt, _&c._\nagrees either with the title of a Jesuit, or the duty of a religious\nPriest who should rather profess sincerity and innocency, than practise\ntreachery! But this was lawful, for they are Hereticks accursed, to\nleave the company of Priests, to frequent Churches, hear the word of God\npreached, and profess religion sincerely.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 6._]\n\n6. But we shall shut up the relating of these prodigious and hellish\nstories, of these kind of couzening and cheating delusions and\nimpostures, with one instance more that is no less notorious than these\nthat we have rehearsed. About the year 1634 (for having lost our notes\nof the same, we cannot be so exact as we should) there was a great\npretended meeting of many supposed Witches at a new house or barn, in\n_Pendle_ Forest in _Lancashire_, then not inhabited, where (as the\naccusation pretended) some of them by pulling by a rope of Straw or Hay,\ndid bring Milk, Butter, Cheese, and the like, and were carried away upon\nDogs, Cats or Squirrels. The informer was one _Edmund Robinson_ (yet\nliving at the writing hereof, and commonly known by the name of _Ned_ of\n_Roughs_) whose Father was by trade a Waller, and but a poor Man, and\nthey finding that they were believed and had incouragement by the\nadjoyning Magistrates, and the persons being committed to prison or\nbound over to the next Assizes, the boy, his Father and some others\nbesides did make a practice to go from Church to Church that the Boy\nmight reveal and discover Witches, pretending that there was a great\nnumber at the pretended meeting, whose faces he could know; and by that\nmeans they got a good living, that in a short space the Father bought a\nCow or two, when he had none before. And it came to pass that this said\nBoy was brought into the Church of _Kildwick_ a large parish Church,\nwhere I (being then Curate there) was preaching in the afternoon, and\nwas set upon a stall (he being but about ten or eleven years old) to\nlook about him, which moved some little disturbance in the Congregation\nfor a while. And after prayers I inquiring what the matter was, the\npeople told me that it was the Boy that discovered Witches, upon which I\nwent to the house where he was to stay all night, where I found him, and\ntwo very unlikely persons that did conduct him, and manage the business;\nI desired to have some discourse with the Boy in private, but that they\nutterly refused; then in the presence of a great many people, I took the\nBoy near me, and said: Good Boy tell me truly, and in earnest, did thou\nsee and hear such strange things of the meeting of Witches; as is\nreported by many that thou dost relate, or did not some person teach\nthee to say such things of thy self? But the two men not giving the Boy\nleave to answer, did pluck him from me, and said he had been examined by\ntwo able Justices of the Peace, and they did never ask him such a\nquestion, to whom I replied, the persons accused had therefore the more\nwrong. But the Assizes following at _Lancaster_ there were seventeen\nfound guilty by the Jury, yet by the prudent discretion of the Judge,\nwho was not satisfied with the evidence, they were reprieved, and his\nMajesty and his Council being informed by the Judge of the matter, the\nBishop of _Chester_ was appointed to examine them, and to certifie what\nhe thought of them, which he did; and thereupon four of them; to wit\n_Margaret Johnson_, _Francis Dicconson_, _Mary Spenser_, and\n_Hargrieves_ Wife, were sent for up to _London_, and were viewed and\nexamined by his Majesties Physicians and Chirurgeons, and after by his\nMajesty and the Council, and no cause of guilt appearing but great\npresumptions of the boys being suborned to accuse them falsely.\nTherefore it was resolved to separate the Boy from his Father, they\nhaving both followed the women up to _London_, they were both taken and\nput into several prisons asunder. Whereupon shortly after the Boy\nconfessed that he was taught and suborned to devise, and feign those\nthings against them, and had persevered in that wickedness by the\ncounsel of his Father, and some others, whom envy, revenge and hope of\ngain had prompted on to that devillish design and villany; and he also\nconfessed, that upon that day when he said that they met at the\naforesaid house or barn, he was that very day a mile off, getting Plums\nin his Neighbours Orchard. And that this is a most certain truth, there\nare many persons yet living, of sufficient reputation and integrity,\nthat can avouch and testifie the same; and besides, what I write is the\nmost of it true, upon my own knowledge, and the whole I have had from\nhis own mouth more than once.\n\nThus having brought these unquestionable Histories to manifest the\nhorrid cheats and impostures that are practised for base, wicked and\ndevillish ends, we must conclude in opposing that objection proposed in\nthe beginning of this Chapter, which is this: That though some be\ndiscovered to be counterfeitings and impostures, yet all are not so, to\nwhich we further answer.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 1._]\n\n1. That all those things that are now adayes supposed to be done by\nDemoniacks or those that pretend possessions, as also all those strange\nfeats pretended to be brought to pass by Witches or Witchcraft, are all\neither performed by meer natural causes (for it is granted upon all\nsides that Devils in corporeal matter can perform nothing but by\napplying fit actives to agreeable passives.) And miracles being long\nsince ceased, it must needs follow, that Devils do nothing but only draw\nthe minds of Men and Women unto sin and wickedness, and thereby they\nbecome deceivers, cheats and notorious impostours: so that we may\nrationally conclude that all other strange feats and delusions, must of\nnecessity be no better, or of any other kind, than these we have\nrecited, except they can shew that they are brought to pass by natural\nmeans. Must not all persons that are of sound understanding judge and\nbelieve that all those strange tricks related by Mr. _Glanvil_ of his\nDrummer at Mr. _Mompessons_ house, whom he calls the Demon of\n_Tedworth_, were abominable cheats and impostures (as I am informed from\npersons of good quality they were discovered to be) for I am sure Mr.\n_Glanvil_ can shew no agents in nature, that the Demon applying them to\nfit patients, could produce any such effects by, and therefore we must\nconclude all such to be impostures.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 2._]\n\n2. It is no sound way of reasoning, from the principles of knowing,\neither thereby to prove the existence of things, or the modes of such\nexistence, because the principle of being is the cause of the principle\nof knowing, and not on the contrary, and therefore our not discovering\nof all Impostures that are or have been acted, doth not at all conclude\nthe rest that pass undiscovered, are diabolical or wrought by a\nsupernatural power; for it ought first to be demonstrated that there are\nnow in these days some things wrought by the power of Devils, that are\nsupernatural, in elementary and corporeal matter, which never was nor\ncan be, as from the testimonies of all the learned we have shewed\nbefore. And therefore a man might as well argue that there are no more\nthieves in a Nation, but those that are known, and brought to condign\npunishment, when there may be, and doubtless are many more; so likewise\nthere are many hundreds of impostures, that pass and are never\ndiscovered, but that will not at all rationally conclude that those must\nbe diabolical that are not made known.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAP. XV.\n\n  _Of divers Creatures that have a real existence in Nature, and yet by\n    reason of their wonderous properties, or seldom being seen, have\n    been taken for Spirits, and Devils._\n\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 1._]\n\nBefore we come to speak of Apparitions in general, we shall premise some\nfew things by way of caution, because there is not one subject (that we\nknow of) in the World that is liable to so many mistakes, by reason of\nthe prepossessed fancies of men, in adhering to those fictions of\nSpirits, Fairies, Hobgoblins, and many such like, which are continually\nheightned by ignorant education, and vain melancholy fears. We shall not\nmention those many apparitions that are frequently practised by forgery\nand confederacy, for base ends and interests, as have been commonly used\nin the time of Popery, and attempted in our dayes, though with little\nsuccess. As also by other persons for base lucre or worse intents, of\nwhich we have known some notorious ones that have been discovered.\nNeither shall we speak of those feigned ones that have been practised to\nhide thievery and roguery, as we once knew that certain persons who\nstole mens sheep in the night, did carry them away upon a thing made\nlike a Bier covered with a white sheet, by which means those that saw\nthem took it to be an apparition, and so durst not come near them, and\nso the most part of the people of 3 or 4 Villages were terrified, and\nthe report was far spred that it was a walking spirit, and yet at last\ndiscovered to be a cunning piece of knavery to hide their theft withal.\nNeither shall we say any thing of those ludicrous apparitions that are\noften practised to terrifie, abuse, and affright others. But we shall\nhere give the relation of some strange creatures, that seldom being seen\nor found, have induced more ignorant persons to take them for Demons,\nand these we shall enumerate in this order.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 2._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Centur._ 1. _Hist._ 9. _p._ 18.]\n\n1. It hath been, and still is a strong opinion amongst the vulgars and\nWitchmongers also, that Witches transforming themselves into diverse\nshapes, did in the night time enter into peoples houses, and then and\nthere suck the breasts or navils of infants in their Beds or Cradles,\nthat thereby they were weakned or consumed away; which inveterate\nopinion was the more firmly believed, because children that at night\nwere very well, in the morning were found to be very ill, and to have\nbeen sucked in the places aforesaid. To clear which point take this\nObservation from the learned pen of _Thomas Bartholinus_ that was\nPhysician to _Frederick_ King of _Denmark_, in English thus. \u201cThree\ninfants (he saith) of the _Pastor Fionens_ at _Lyckisholm_, which is a\nnoble Mannor belonging to the very illustrious Lord _Christian Thom\u00e6us\nSehsted_, the Kings Chancellor, _Eques Auratus_, and a most renowned\nSenator of _Denmark_, my _Mec\u00e6nas_, that were sleeping in their\naccustomed Chamber, were not long after troubled with an unwonted\nbewailing and inquietude, that they felt themselves to be sucked or\nmilked of something. The nipples of their breasts being diligently\nhandled by the Parents did confirm the Childrens suspicion, because they\ndid hang out like a Womans that did give suck. And to prevent this\nfascination, the nipples of the breasts were anointed with preservatives\nagainst poyson and other bitter things. Hereupon their Navils were so\nworn with vehement suction, that not only they were prominent or did\nhang out, but also did as it were shew the greatness of the mouth that\nhad sucked by the impression remaining. But the Infants being carried\nforth of the Chamber, did from thenceforth rest free from any suction,\nespecially being carried in peoples arms. And this _Caprimulgus_ or\nGoat-milker, is by _Bellonius_ said to be in _Crete_ of the bigness of a\nCuckow, being very hurtful to the Goats, insomuch that it sucketh milk\nfrom their dugs on the nights.\u201d By which we may plainly understand, how\nCreatures that are but seldom seen, or whose properties are unknown, may\neasily effect those things that ignorant heads may impute unto\nWitchcraft.\n\n[Sidenote: _De quadr._ _l._ 1. _p._ 862.]\n\n[Sidenote: Isai. 34. 14.]\n\n[Sidenote: Isai. 13. 21.]\n\n[Sidenote: Levit. 17. 7.]\n\n[Sidenote: Deut. 32. 17.]\n\n[Sidenote: Psal. 106. 37.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Chron. 11. 15.]\n\n2. It is no less believed by many, that those kind of Creatures which\nare called Satyres are but a kind of Demons; for learned Gesner\nreckoning them to be a kind of Apes, doth tell us this: \u201cEven as (he\nsaith) the Apes _Cynocephali_, or with Dogs-heads, have given the\noccasion of the Fable, that some have thought such to be men: So Satyrs\nbeing also a rare kind of Apes, and of greater admiration, some have\nbelieved them to be Devils: also of some men deluded by the Poets and\nPainters, as also Statuaries, who have feigned that they had Goats feet\nand horns, the more to augment the admiration and superstition, they\nhave been thought Devils: when in Ape-Satyres there is no such thing to\nbe seen.\u201d And this opinion hath been the more strengthened because the\nmost of the Translators have in the Old Testament rendered the word\n\u200f\u05e9\u05b8\u05c2\u05e2\u05b4\u05d9\u05e8\u200e (which properly signifieth an happy man or beast) a Goat, a\nSatyre, (as _Gen._ 27. _ver._ 11. _Esau my Brother is a hairy man_;\nwhere the very same word is used) Demon, or Devil. But it is plain that\nit did and doth signifie no more but only Satyrs, as will appear by\nthese reasons. 1. First, as our English Translators have truly rendred\nit in that of _Isaiah_, _And the Satyre shall cry unto his fellow_: for\nit is certainly related, both by ancient and modern Navigators, that in\nthose desolate Islands where there are store of them, they will upon the\nnights make great shouting and crying, and calling one unto another. And\nin another place of the same Prophet it is said by the same Translators,\n_and Satyres shall dance there_; dancing being one of the properties of\nthat hairy Creature, as a thing it is much delighted with, and so are\nbut Satyres that are natural Creatures and not Devils. 2. And though the\nsame Translators have rendred the plural of the same word, by the name\nDevils, yet it there properly signifieth also Satyres; for though in\nanother place it be said; _they sacrificed to devils, not to God_, and\nso again by the Psalmist, for _they sacrificed their sons and daughters\nunto devils_; where in both places the word is \u200f\u05e9\u05b5\u05d3\u05b4\u05d9\u05dd\u200e _vastatoribus_,\nto the destroyers or to Devils; because in those Idols the Devils were\nworshipped, and thereby destroyed the souls of men: 3. Yet it is\nmanifest that their Idols were formed in the shape of Satyres, in a most\nterrible manner; for the late and most credible travellers that have\nbeen in those parts of _Asia_, where those Idolatries are still\nupholden, do unanimously relate that they make their Images or Idols\nthat they worship, as terrible and frightful as they can devise, as may\nbe seen in the relations of the Travels of _Vincent le Blanc_,\n_Mandelslo_, and _Ferdinand Mendez Pinto_, and M^r _Herbert_ our\nCountryman gives us the Idol of the Bannyans in the ugly shape of a\nmonstrous Satyre. 4. So that though this worshipping and sacrificing, in\nrespect of its abominableness, filthiness and Idolatrousness, was\nyielded to Devils, which spiritually and invisibly ruled in these\nChildren of disobedience, and was the Author of all those delusions and\nimpostures; yet it doth no where appear, that it was Demons in the\ncorporeal shape of Satyres (as many have erroneously supposed) no more\nthan the golden Calves that _Jeroboam_ made, were real Devils: but these\nIdols were made in the figure or shape of Satyrs or hairy Creatures, as\nsaith the Text: _And he ordained him Priests for the high places_, and\nfor the hairy Idols or Satyres, _and for the Calves that he had made_.\nIt is the same Hebrew word here that our English Translators render\nDevils, that in the two former places of _Isaiah_ they translate\nSatyres; and as the Calves are not rendred Devils, why should the Images\nthat were like Satyres be translated so? Surely the Devil was as much in\nthe Calves, and as much worshipped in those dumb Idols as he was in the\ndumb and dead Idols or Images of the Satyres, and so no more reason to\ncall the one Devils than the other. But that which totally overthrows\nthe conceit that they should be real Devils in corporeal shapes and\nfigures, is this, that both the Calves and the Images of these Satyres\nwere made by _Jeroboam_: now it is manifest that he could not make a\nreal Devil, but only Images of Calves and Satyres, wherein and whereby\nthe Devils might be worshipped in those Idolatrous ways.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 3._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. Medic._ _lib._ 3. _c._ 56. _p._ 283.]\n\nSo that it is most apparent, that these Satyres being seldom seen and of\nstrange qualities, have made many to believe that they were Demons; nay\nit seems their Images and Pictures have been taken for Devils, and yet\nare but meer natural Creatures, and by learned men accounted a kind of\nApes, which we shall now prove by an undeniable instance or two; and\nfirst this from the pen of that learned Physician _Nicholaus Tulpius_,\nwho saith thus: \u201cIn our remembrance (he saith) there was an Indian\nSatyre brought from _Angola_; and presented as a gift to _Frederick\nHenry_ Prince of _Aurange_. This Satyre was four-footed and from the\nhumane shape which it seems to bear, it is called of the Indians _Orang\nantang_, _homo silvestris_, a wild man, and of the Africans _Quoias\nmorron_, expressing in longitude a Child of three years old, and in\ncrassitude, one of six years. It was of body neither fat nor lean, but\nsquare, most able and very swift. And of its joints so firm, and the\nMuscles so large, that it durst undertake and could do any thing; on the\nforeparts altogether smooth, and rough behind, and covered with black\nhairs. Its face did resemble a man, but the nose broad and crooked\ndownwards, rugged and a toothless female. But the ears were not\ndifferent from humane shape. As neither the breast, adorned on both\nsides with a swelling dug (for it was of the feminine Sex) the belly had\na very deep navil; and the joints, both those above and those below, had\nsuch an exact similitude with man, that one egg doth not seem more like\nanother. Neither was there awanting a requisite commissure to the arm,\nnor the order of fingers to the hands, nor an humane shape to the thumb,\nor a prop of the legs to the thighs, or of the heel to the foot. Which\nfit and decent form of the members, was the cause that for most part it\ndid go upright: neither did it lift up any kind of weight less heavily\nthan remove it easily.\n\nWhen it was about to drink it would hold the handle of the Kan with the\none hand, and put the other under the bottom of the Cup, then would it\nwipe off the moysture left upon its lips, not less neatly than thou\nshouldest see the most delicate Courtier. Which same dexterity it did\nobserve when it went to bed. For lying her head upon the Pillow, and\nfitly covering her body with the Cloaths, it did hide it self no\notherwise, than if the most delicate person had laid there.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 4._]\n\nMoreover the King of _Samback_ (he saith) did one time tell our Kinsman\n_Samuel Blomart_, that these kind of Satyres, especially the Males in\nthe Iland of _Borneo_, have so great boldness of mind and such a strong\ncompaction of Muscles, that they have often forceably set upon armed\nmen; and not only upon the weak sex of Women and Girls; with the\nflagrant desire of which they are so inflamed, that catching them often\nthey abuse them. For they are highly prone to lust (which is common to\nthese, with the lustful Satyres of the ancients) yea sometimes so keen\nand salacious, that therefore the Indian Women do eschew the Woods and\nGroves as worse than a Dog or a Snake; in which these impudent animals\ndo lie hid. And that this lascivious animal is found in the Eastern\nMountains of _India_; as also in _Africa_, between _Sierra_, _Liona_,\nand the Promontory of the Mountain, where (perhaps) were those places\nwhere _Plinius_ _lib._ 5. _cap._ 5. affirmeth that upon the nights there\nwas seen to shine frequent Fires of the \u00c6gipanes, and to abound with the\nlasciviousness of the Satyres, who do love craggy Dens and Caves, and\nshun the society of mankind, being a salacious, hairy, four-footed\nCreature, with human shape and a crooked nose. But that the foot of this\nCreature neither hath hoofs nor the body every where hairs, but only the\nhead, shoulders and back. The rest of the parts are smooth, and the Ears\nare not sharp.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Enq. into vulg. err. _l._ 5. _p._ 271.]\n\nSo that from hence it is undeniably true, that there are such Creatures\nexistent in nature, and have been either taken for Devils or the\nApparitions of Demons in this shape of Satyres, as Doctor _Brown_ hath\nwell observed in these words: \u201cA conceit there is (he saith) that the\nDevil commonly appeareth with a cloven foot or hoof, wherein although it\nseem excessively ridiculous, there may be somewhat of truth; and the\nground thereof at first might be his frequent appearing in the shape of\na Goat, which answers that description. This was the opinion of ancient\nChristians concerning the Apparitions of _Pans_, _Fauns_ and _Satyres_,\nand in this form we read of one that appeared unto _Antony_ in the\nWilderness. The same is also confirmed from expositions of holy\nScripture; for whereas it is said; Thou shalt not offer unto Devils, the\noriginal word is _Sehhirim_, that is rough and hairy Goats, because in\nthat shape the Devil most often appeared, as is expounded by the\nRabbins, as _Tremellius_ hath also explained.\u201d\n\nBut saving the reputation of learned Saint _Hierome_ and D^r _Brown_, it\nis but a supposition unproved that ever the Devil appeared in the shape\nof a Goat, the rise of the opinion was only because the Devil was\nworshipped in an Idol made in the shape of a Goat.\n\n[Sidenote: Enquir. into vulg. errors. _l._ 4. _c._ 11. _p._ 207.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Mund. Subter._ _l._ 8 _Sect._ 4. _c._ 4. _p._ 101.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Idea Idear. operatr._ _c._ 6.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 5._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Demonstr. Thes._ _p._ 679.]\n\n3. In a few ages past when Popish ignorance did abound, there was no\ndiscourse more common (which yet is continued amongst the vulgar people)\nthan of the apparition of certain Creatures which they called Fayries,\nthat were of very little stature, and being seen would soon vanish and\ndisappear. And these were generally believed to be some kind of Spirits\nor Demons, and _Paracelsus_ held them to be a kind of middle Creatures,\nand called them _non-Adamicks_, as not being of the race of _Adam_; but\nthere are Authors of great credit and veracity, that affirm, there have\nbeen Nations of such people called Pygmies. And though Doctor _Brown_\nhath learnedly and elegantly handled the question, \u201cWhether there have\nbeen or are any such dwarfish race of mankind, as but of three spans,\nnot considering them singly but nationally, or not, and hath brought the\nmost probable arguments that well can be, to prove that there are not\nnor have been any such race of people called Pygmies, yet doth he\nmoderately conclude in these words. There being thus (he saith) no\nsufficient confirmation of their verity, some doubt may arise concerning\ntheir possibility; wherein, since it is not defined in what dimensions\nthe soul may exercise her faculties, we shall not conclude\nimpossibility, or that there might not be a race of Pygmies, as there is\nsometimes of Giants, and so may take in the opinion of _Austine_, and\nhis Commentator _Ludovicus Vives_. And though _Kircherus_ with his\nwonted impudence do conclude in these words:\u201d _Fabulosa itaq; sunt\nomnia, qu\u00e6 de hujusmodi Pygm\u00e6is veteres Geographi \u00e0 simplici populo sola\nrelatione descripta tradiderunt_: Yet (I say) notwithstanding these\nnegative arguments, I give the relation of others (that are of as great\nor greater credit) in the affirmative. And thus much is affirmed by that\nmost sagacious and learned person _Marcus Marci_, a late Physician of no\nmean judgment, who saith thus: _Quicquid tamen sit de his, Pygm\u00e6os &\nolim fuisse, & nunc esse affirmamus_. And besides the testimony of\n_Aristotle_, _Solinus_, _Pomponius Mela_, and _\u00c6lian_, he relateth\nthese. \u201cBut those (he saith) that have in our age viewed the World, the\nsame do testifie also, that there are yet Pygmies in the Island of\n_Aruchet_, one of the _Moluccas_, and in the Isle _Cophi_, and such\n_Pigasetta_ affirmeth that he saw.\u201d And though Doctor _Brown_ seem to\nsleight it, yet (according to the Proverb) _one eye-witness is more to\nbe credited than ten that have it but by the ear_. _Odericus_ in his\nHistory of _India_ doth report also, \u201cthat there are such people of\nabout three spans high,\u201d which also is confirmed by the later\n_Odericus_. And to these affirmative proofs we shall add that of the\nlearned Philosopher and Physician _Baptista Van Helmont_, in English\nthus. \u201cA Wine Merchant (he saith) of our Country, a very honest man,\nsailing sometimes to the _Canaries_ or Fortunate Islands, being asked of\nme his serious opinion and judgment upon certain Creatures, which there\nthe Children as oft as they would did bring home, and did name them\n_Tudesquillos_, or _Germanulos_, that is little men; (the Germans call\nthem _Eard-Manlins_) for they were dead Carkases dried almost three foot\nlong, which any one of the Boys did easily carry in one hand, and were\nof an human shape: But the whole dead Carkase was transparent like\nParchment, and the bones were flexible as grisles. Also the bowels and\nintestines were to be seen, holden against the sun, which, when after I\nknew to be a certain truth, from the Spaniards born there, I considered,\nthat in these days the off-spring of the Pygmies were there destroyed.\u201d\n\nFrom whence all understanding and unpartial judgments may clearly\nperceive, that these kind of Creatures have been really existent in the\nWorld and are and may be so still in Islands and Mountains that are\nuninhabited, and that they are no real Demons, or _non_-Adamick\nCreatures, that can appear and become invisible when they please, as\n_Paracelsus_ thinketh. But that either they were truly of human race\nendowed with the use of reason and speech (which is most probable) or at\nleast that they were some little kind of Apes or Satyres, that having\ntheir secret recesses and holes in the Mountains, could by their agility\nand nimbleness soon be in or out like Conies, Weazels, Squirrels, and\nthe like.\n\n[Sidenote: _Centur._ 2.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Histor._ 11. 169.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 6._]\n\n4. It hath been no less a mistake about those Fishes that are called\n_Tritones_, _Syrenes_, Meirmaids, or Marine, and Sea-Men, and Women,\nwhich have been by many supposed and taken to be Spirits, or Demons, and\ncommonly Nymphs, when indeed and truth they are reall creatures, as\nthese examples do make manifest. The first of which we shall recite from\nthe faithful pen of that learned Anatomist _Thomas Bartholinus_, who was\nPhysician to _Frederick_ the third King of _Denmark_, in these Englished\nwords: \u201cVarious things (he saith) of Meirmaids are extant delivered in\nthe monuments of the Ancients, that are partly false, partly true. It is\nnot far from a Fable that they held, that they did imitate the voices of\nMen and Women. But that there are beasts found in the Sea, with humane\nfaces (he saith) I shall not deny. But I will not (he saith) sum up the\naccounts of the ancients. For they are full of the stories of Meirmaids.\nAmongst the later Authors, these have here and there handled this\nargument, _Scaliger_ (_in lib._ 2. _Histor. Anim._ _t._ 108.)\n_Rondoletius_, _Licetus_ (_de Spont. vin. ort._), _Marcus Marci_ (_de\nIdeis_) _P. Boistuan_ (_Histor. Gall. prod._ _T._ 1. _c._ 18.) At\n_Enchuysen_ in _Holland_ (he saith) the shape of a certain Meirmaid is\nto be seen painted, that formerly had been cast upon the shore, by the\nforce of the waters. It is (he saith) in the mouth of our common people,\nthat a Meirmaid was taken in _Denmark_, that did speak, foretel things\nto come, and spin. A Father of the Society of _Jesus_ returning forth of\n_India_ to _Rome_, had seen a Sea-Man there adorned with an Episcopal\nMitre, who did seem to have in the next corner, hardly born his\ncaptivity; but being let loose, and turned into the Sea, did seem to\nrender thanks for his liberty, by bowing of his body before he went\nunder water, which (he saith) the Jesuit was wont to tell to _Corvinus_\nthe elder, as his Son (he saith) told me at _Rome_.\u201d But this being but\na story told to _Bartholinus_ at the second hand, and but primarily from\nthe mouth of a Jesuit (who doubtless had some design in it) I leave it\nto the judgment of the Wise and Prudent. But he proceeds thus. \u201cIt is\n(he saith) most certain that fishes are to be found in the Ocean, that\nrepresent Terrestrial Animals in shape: As the Sea-Fox, the Wolf, the\nSea-Calf, the Dog, the Horse, _&c._ Therefore why should we deny humane\nshape to Sea-monsters? Certainly also in the earth there are Apes, which\nwanting reason, do express the external shape and gestures of Man. All\nSea-monsters of this sort we referr (he saith) to the kind of _Phoc\u00e6_ or\nSea-Calves. There was (he saith) in the age we live in a Sea-Man taken\nby the Merchants of the _West-India_ Company, and dissected at _Leiden_\nby _Peter Pavius_, _John de Laet_ being present my friend (he saith) and\nwhile he lived, a great and most knowing person of the things of\n_America_ and of Nature. The head and the breast even as far as the\nnavil was of an humane shape, but from the navil even unto the\nextremities, it was deformed flesh, without the sign of a tail. But that\nI may not (he saith) seem to impose upon the Reader, the hands and ribs\nare to be found in my Study or Closet, which I owe to the kindness of\nthe praised _Latius_. We have (he saith) annexed the Picture of both, as\nwell of the Meirmaid erect, as of the image of it swimming, that we\nmight satisfie the dubitation of all men. The hand doth consist of five\nfingers, as ours do, with as many articulations as ours, but that only\nis singular, that all the bones of the fingers are broader and\ncompressed, and a membrane doth joyn them together in course, as in\nvolatiles, as Geese, Ducks, _&c._ which do help to stretch forth the\nfoot in the water. The extremity of the two middle fingers are broader,\nthe extremities of the other two sharp. The _radius_ and cubit are very\nshort, for the commodiousness of swimming, scarce the length of four\nfingers breadth. Neither is the draught of the shoulder more ample. The\nribs are long and thick, almost exceeding common humane ribs a third\npart.\n\n\u201cOf the ribs (he saith) are beads turned or thrown, a present remedy for\nthe pain of the Hemorrhoides, which the praised _Latius_ hath observed\nby experience. Also (he saith) that Bracelets being made of the bones of\nthis kind of _Phocas_ carried to _Rome_, applied to the wrist do appease\nthe Hemicrany, and swimming of the head, which comes again, if they be\nlaid away, as (he saith) the most illustrious Nobleman _Cassianus \u00e0\nPuteo_, (most worthy of Roman Purple) hath told me. The same Noble\n_Puteus_ (he saith) hath shewed me the picture of a Meirmaid in his\nCloset, which not many years before, was driven to the shore of _Malta_.\nA certain Spaniard (he saith) told me, that Meirmaids were seen in\n_India_ having the Genital members of Women, like those of humane kind,\nso that the Fishers do bind themselves with an Oath to the Magistrate,\nthat they have no copulation with them. _Bernardinus Ginnarus_ (_lib._\n1. _c._ 9. _de Indico itinere, edit. Neap._ 1641.) doth relate that\nMeirmaids are seen, in the vast River _Cuama_, near the head of\n_Good-hope_, which in the middle superior part are like to the form of\nmen, that is, with round head, but immediately joyned to the breast,\nwithout a neck, with ears altogether like ours, and so their eyes, lips\nand teeth. And that their dugs being pressed do send forth most white\nmilk.\u201d\n\nTherefore he concludeth: \u201cThere is (he saith) so great difference of the\nform of Meirmaids, with the Ancients and Moderns, that it is no wonder,\nthat some do account them figments. We have (he saith) the hands to be\nseen with eyes, and we shew the Meirmaids to be such, as in truth they\nare seen to be. Neither do the hands and ribs deceive, whose Pictures we\nhave given framed according to the truth of nature.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 7._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Genial. dier._ _l._ 3. _c._ 8. _p._ 134.]\n\n5. But besides these there are other Fishes or Sea-monsters, that in all\nparts resembled Men and Women, as these examples make manifest.\n_Alexander ab Alexandro_, a person of great learning and experience,\nrelateth: \u201cThat in _Epirus_ a _Triton_ or Sea-Man was found, who forth\nof the Sea did ravish Women being alone upon the shore: But being taken\nby cunning, he did resemble a Man with all his members, but did refuse\nmeat being offered, so that he died with hunger and wasting, as being in\na strange element.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 8._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Lib. de verit. fid. Christ._ _l._ 2.]\n\n6. Also _Ludovicus Vives_ doth tell us this story: \u201cin our age (he\nsaith) with the _Hollanders_, a Sea-Man was seen of many, who also was\nkept there above two years, he was mute, and then begun to speak: But\nbeing twice smitten with the Plague, he is let loose to the Sea\nrejoicing and leaping.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 9._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Ideam Idear. operat._ _c._ 6.]\n\n7. In the year of our Lord 1403. there was taken a Sea-woman in a lake\nof _Holland_, thrown thither forth of the Sea, and was carried into the\nCity of _Haerlem_; she suffered her self to have garments put upon her,\nand admitted the use of bread, milk and such like things: Also she\nlearned to spin, and to do many other things after the manner of Women,\nalso she did devoutly bend her knees to the image of Christ crucified,\nbeing docible to all things, which she was commanded by her Master, but\nliving there many years, she alwayes remained mute.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 10._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Stows Annal._ _p._ 157.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Britan._ _p._ 412.]\n\n8. To these we shall conclusively add one story of sufficient credit\nfrom our own English Annals, which is this: \u201cIn the year 1187. being the\n33th year of the Reign of _Henry_ the second, near unto _Oreford_ in\n_Suffolk_, certain Fishers of the Sea took in their nets a fish having\nthe shape of a man in all points, which fish was kept by _Bartholomew de\nGlanvile_, Custos of the Castle of _Oreford_, in the same Castle, by the\nspace of six months and more for a wonder; he spake not a word. All\nmanner of meats he did gladly eat, but most greedily raw fish after he\nhad crushed out all the moisture. Oftentimes he was brought to the\nChurch where he shewed no tokens of adoration. At length when he was not\nwell looked to, he stole away to the Sea, and never after appeared.\u201d The\nlearned Antiquary Mr. _Camden_ tells this same story from _Radulphus\nCoggeshall_, an ancient writer, and that \u201c_Capillos habebat, barbam\nprolixam & pineatam, circa pectus nimium pilosus erat, & hispidus_: and\nconcludeth: _Quicquid nascatur in parte natur\u00e6 ulla, & in mari esse, &\nnon omnino commentitium est_.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Lib. de Spectr. prim. part._ _c._ 11. _p._ 61.]\n\nBy all which examples we may be rationally satisfied, that though these\ncreatures have a real existence in nature, yet because of their strange\nnatures, shapes and properties, or by reason of their being rarely seen,\nthey have been and often are not only by the common people but even by\nthe learned taken to be Devils, Spirits or the effects of Inchantment\nand Witchcraft. And therefore men that would judge aright must take heed\nthat they be not deceived and imposed upon by relations of this nature,\nand also of all such things as may be acted by Imposture and\nconfederacy, and those other Physical things that are brought to pass by\nnatural causes, divers sorts of which are recited by _Ludovicus\nLavaterus_ very largely, to which I recommend those that desire further\nsatisfaction in those particulars.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAP. XVI.\n\n  _Of Apparitions in general, and of some unquestionable stories that\n    seem to prove some such things. Of those apparitions pretended to be\n    made in Beryls and Crystals, and of the Astral or Sydereal Spirit._\n\n\nIn this Treatise we have before sufficiently proved that the denying of\nthe existence of such a Witch as doth make a visible contract with the\nDevil, or upon whose body he sucketh, or that hath carnal copulation\nwith a Demon, and that is transubstantiated into a Cat or a Dog, or that\nflyeth in the air; doth not inferr the denial of Spirits either good or\nbad, nor utterly overthrow the truth of apparitions, or of such things\nas seem to manifest some supernatural operations. And therefore here we\nshall fully handle the question of Apparitions, and things that seem to\nbe of that nature, and that in this order.\n\n1. We shall not meddle with Apparitions in the large extent of the word,\nfor so it may comprehend the appearing of new Stars, Comets, Meteors and\nother Portents, and Prodigies, which (though unusual and wonderous) have\nyet their production from natural causes. But only here we shall treat\nof such apparitions as are taken to be performed by supernatural\ncreatures, or in such a way and by such creatures as we commonly account\nto be different from (if not above) the power of ordinary and visible\nnature, as of Angels good or bad, the Souls of men departed, or their\nAstral Spirits, or of some other creatures that are, or may be of a\nmiddle nature.\n\n[Sidenote: Judg. 13.]\n\n[Sidenote: Luke 2. 26. to 39.]\n\n[Sidenote: Math. 1. 20.]\n\n[Sidenote: Math. 2. 12, 13, 19.]\n\n2. As for the apparitions of good Angels sent by God in times past, both\nin sleep and otherwise, the Scriptures do give us most full and ample\nassurance, as these few instances may undeniably demonstrate. 1. That\n_an Angel of the Lord_ (that is a good Angel) _did appear_ visibly _unto\nManoah and his wife_, and did vocally and audibly talk and discourse\nwith them both, and did after in both their sights openly and visibly\n_ascend in the flame that did arise from the altar_. Now a more plain\nand indubitable apparition visibly seen and audibly heard than this\ncannot be found nor read of, having the unquestionable authority of\nsacred writ to avouch it. 2. Another parallel unto it, and of equal\nauthority, verity and perspicuity, is the sending of the Angel _Gabriel_\nunto the Virgin _Mary_, her seeing of him, hearing of his salutation,\nhaving discourse with him, and seeing his departure, both which are\nundoubted testimonies of the true, and real appearance of good Angels\neven to sight and hearing. 3. That sometimes the good Angels have been\nsent to the servants of God, and have appeared and spoken unto them in\ndreams; as that _the Angel of the Lord appeared unto Joseph in a dream,\nand bade him to take unto him Mary his wife_, which was a blessed, and\nclear apparition, though in a dream in his sleep. And likewise by the\nappearing of an Angel unto him in a dream, _he was warned to take the\nchild, and his mother, and to flee into \u00c6gypt_, and also again _was\ncommanded by an Angel, after the death of Herod, that appeared in a\ndream, and bade him to take the young child and his mother, and to go\ninto the land of Israel_.\n\n[Sidenote: Luk. 8 .26. to 37.]\n\n3. Of the visible apparition of evil Angels we scarce have any evidence\nat all in the Scriptures, except we should take supposals for proofs, or\ndisputable places to be certain demonstrations, or wrest and hale the\nword of God to make it serve our preconceived opinions. For I do not\nfind any one place in all the Scriptures, where plainly and positively\nany apparition of evil spirits is recorded, or that by any rational and\nnecessary consequence such a visible appearance can be deduced or\nproved: For we have clearly proved that the tempting of _Evah_ by the\nSerpent doth not necessarily inferr, that it was by a visible\napparition, but by a mental delusion; and that that of _Saul_ and the\nWoman of _Endor_, or the Mistriss of the bottle, was neither _Samuel_ in\nSoul and Body, nor his Soul alone, neither the Devil in his shape we\nsuppose we have evinced past answer; and that the tempting of our\nblessed Saviour by Satan was internal or at least the greatest part of\nit; so that there doth remain but little of certain proof of the\napparition of Devils in that gross manner, and so common and frequent as\nmany do too peremptorily affirm: yet for all this we think it rational\nto grant, that as God hath in times past often sent messages by good\nAngels, for the teaching, counselling and comforting of his servants,\nboth audibly and visibly to be perceived; so also that sometimes God\nmight not only send evil Spirits internally and mentally to deceive and\nseduce the wicked, as in the case of the lying spirit in the mouth of\n_Ahabs_ Prophets, but also visibly to appear to terrifie, punish and\ndestroy the wicked, or to make way for the manifestation of his glory.\nAnd the Scriptures that mention Demoniacks, and such as are commonly\nsaid to be possessed, (though that were not by an essential inhesion,\nbut by an effective operation both upon the Souls and Bodies of the\npersons that were so affected and afflicted) do plainly shew that the\noperative effects of the Devils power was both heard and seen by their\nwords and actions. So the Devils using the organs of the man in whom was\nthe legion of them, _they besought Christ not to command them to go out\ninto the deep, but besought him to suffer them to go into the herd of\nswine_: Which \u201cplainly sheweth that their words were audible, and were\nheard of the multitude that were by, and the acts that they performed\nwere visible enough, for by the power of the Devil _he brake the chains_\nand fetters, wherewithal he was bound, _and was driven of the Devil into\nthe wilderness_, and that these Devils went forth of the man, _and\nentered in amongst the herd of swine_, by whose effective power _the\nswine ran violently down a steep rock into the sea, and were drowned_.\u201d\nAnd this doth plainly manifest the present operation of the Devils, that\nwas apparent both by the words and actions, that were both to be seen\nand heard; so that this in that large sense, that it is usually taken\nin, was a real apparition of Devils, or at least equivalent thereunto.\nFor we do but here inquire after such appearances of Devils, that do\nnecessarily infer their presence in operating so in and upon creatures\nor corporeal matter, that by sight, hearing, or other of the senses, it\nmay certainly be manifest to work above the ordinary power of nature,\nand may induce us rationally by the testimony of our senses, to believe\nthat those things are brought to pass by those creatures that we call\nDemons, as many of these persons, who were said to have been or to be\nafflicted with Devils, were in the days of our blessed Saviours\nremaining in the flesh.\n\n[Sidenote: Heb. 1. 14.]\n\n4. But though it be never so freely and fully granted, that in the ages\nand times mentioned in the Old and New Testament (nay it may be for a\ncentury or more after) there were persons that were possessed and\nafflicted with Devils, and also that for that time there were many\nmiracles wrought: Yet now it will be said that miracles are totally\nceased as not being any way necessary to confirm the Gospel, which is\nnow established and setled. This we confess is so strongly and\nconvincingly proved by the Divines of the reformed Churches, that we\naccount him wilfully blind that will oppose it. Yet notwithstanding all\nthis that miracles are totally ceased, I grant that there are some\nstrange things that have happened in late ages, and some in our own\ntime, that cannot be any way solved by meer ordinary natural causes, and\napparitions made by some kind of creatures that must be derived from\nsome such causes as those of good or bad Spirits, or from creatures of\nthe like nature. And that though miracles be ceased, it will not\ntherefore follow that every thing that hath a cause above or differing\nfrom the usual and ordinary course of nature, must be also ceased, for\n_quanquam nunc non sint miracula, possint tamen esse miranda_: and\nthough that miracles be ceased, yet it will not follow that apparitions\nare so also, because apparitions are not miracles; for a good Angel to\nbe sent and to appear, cannot be said to be a miracle, because it is the\nend for which he was created, they (that is the Angels) _are all\nministring spirits sent forth for the good of those that shall be heirs\nof Salvation_. And it cannot be said otherwise of evil Angels or of any\nother creatures that may make these apparitions, for as they are and\nmust be creatures, so there is and must be some certain ends, for which\nthey were created and are imployed unto.\n\n5. But to prove the truth of apparitions, or other strange Phenomena\u2019s\nequivalent unto them, as to have been truly performed as matters of fact\nis extream difficult and almost impossible, because the Histories and\nrelations of things of this nature are most strangely fabulous, and\ntherefore are by no means to be relied upon, as will most manifestly\nappear by undeniable reasons, if we examine them in divided members in\nthis order.\n\n1. The Histories and relations that are given either by the Poets, or\nmost of the ancient Philosophers, of these things, are so seemingly\nimpossible, and so extreamly fictitious, as he must of necessity have in\na manner totally forsaken his own reason, that can give any credit at\nall unto them. And especially they are so fraught with the horrible\nfables of the numerousness of their feigned gods, demigods, spirits,\nhobgoblins, _Lares_, _Lemures_, Mens shadows and the like, that they\nwould make a man believe that the world was full of nothing else, and\nthis was chiefly done to uphold their Idolatrous and superstitious\nReligion. And all these kind of authors that have written from the time\nof _Homer_ until the end of the ages in which the two _Plinies_ and\n_Plutarch_ lived, have but run the same course, all their relations\ntasting of the leaven of impossibilities, superstition and fabulousness.\n\n2. And if we look into the Pontificial Writers, especially those that\nhave recorded stories of this nature since the sixth century, we shall\nfind such a Rhapsodie, and heap of Bombast lies and invented fables both\nof apparitions and Witches, that no rational man can well give assent to\none of a thousand of them, they seem so incredible, that they would\nrather make a wise man diffident of all such matters of fact, than to\nyield credit to any. And a man might as reasonably believe the forged\nand lying miracles of _Mahomet_, as those monkish fables. For the\nextream desire that those Authors had to advance their false and feigned\nDoctrine of Purgatory, and thereby to uphold the gain and benefit that\nwas gotten by injoining such and such penances and eleemosynary deeds to\nredeem Souls from thence, did drive them on to invent thousands of false\nstories of the apparitions of Souls after death, which had not one jot\nof truth in them at all.\n\n3. Those that are called the Reformed Divines (because they returned to\nthat pure and true Doctrine and Worship, that had been settled and\npractised in those foregoing ages that were truly Catholick and\nApostolick) being altogether intent about the main and principal points\nof the Faith, and those that concerned the true worship of God, did take\nlittle heed to the matters of this nature, as being more circumstantial,\nand therefore not by them accounted so essential and necessary. From\nwhence it came to pass that _Lambertus Dan\u00e6us_, _Hemmingius_, _Erastus_\nand others, did without due examination and circumspection receive the\nopinions and stories of the Papists hand over head. From whence (I\nconceive) it came to pass that _Ludovicus Lavaterus_ a learned Divine of\nthe reformed Religion at _Zurich_ did write a book of apparitions and\nsuch matters, but brought no other proofs of the truth of these things\n_de facto_, but the often repeated stories of Heathenish Authors, and\nsome few from Ecclesiastick Authors, that are of dubious credit, but not\nany one of his own knowledge.\n\n4. But if we come to consider the Histories of late that are reported of\napparitions, and such like things that must of necessity have something\nin them, that resembles a supernatural cause, we may in part receive\nmore ample satisfaction, which will be manifest in these few following\nparticulars.\n\n1. _Meric Casaubon_ Doctor of Divinity, in his treatise of Credulity and\nIncredulity (sometimes by us quoted before) hath strongly indeavoured to\nmake good all those impossible and absurd things that are ascribed unto\nWitches: which though he hath pitifully failed to perform, yet hath he\nsaid enough that may serve to prove that there are many strange things\nthat seem to prove the being of Demons or Spirits, though he have not\nbrought any one story of his own knowledge or that was done in his time.\nAnd we have shewed before that apparitions are no certain ground for\nChristians to believe the existence of Demons by, but the word of God.\nBut in his Preface to that piece of the relation concerning Dr. _Dee_,\nhe relateth two stories told by that venerable and learned Prelate\nBishop _Andrews_ to his Father _Isaac Casaubon_. \u201cThe one (he saith)\nconcerning a noted or at least by many suspected Witch or Sorceress,\nwhich the Devil in a strange shape did wait upon (or for rather) at her\ndeath. The other concerning a Man, who after his death was restored to\nlife to make confession of a horrible murther committed upon his own\nWife, for which he had never been suspected. And both these (he saith)\nthat learned Bishop did believe to be true, but for one of them it\nseems, he did undertake upon his own knowledge, to wit that of the\napparition, and the other he had from an eye-witness.\u201d And considering\nthe condition of Bishop _Andrews_ both for learning and piety, the\nrelations are of much weight, and they may be seen at large in the\nfore-cited Preface.\n\n[Sidenote: _Antidot._ against _Atheis._ _c._ 8, 9. _p._ 209.]\n\n2. I cannot but much wonder that Dr. _Henry Moore_, a grave person, and\none that for many years hath resided in a most learned and flourishing\nAcademy, whose name is much taken notice of both at home and abroad,\nhaving published so many books, should make such bad choice of the\nAuthors from whom he takes his stories, or that he should pitch upon\nthose that seem so fabulous, impossible and incredible. And that I may\nnot seem to tax him without cause, I desire the Reader to peruse his two\nrelations, the one of the Shoomaker of _Breslaw_ in _Silesia_, _Anno_\n1591. the other of _Johannes Cuntius_ a Citizen of _Pentsh_ in\n_Silesia_, and to tell whether he can rationally believe those things\neither to have been true or possible. And as for the Author _Martinus\nWeinrichius_ a Silesian Physician, I cannot find any thing either of his\nfame or writings, and it is most strange that he should be omitted by\nthat diligent and unpartial Author _Melchior Adams_; And there had been\nfar better Authors and of more credit to have pitcht upon for such like\nstories, than either _Bodinus_ or _Remigius_; neither can there be much\ncredit given to any of the stories that he relates, except it be that of\nthe Pied-Piper, which some do interpret far otherwise.\n\n3. \u201cThere was a Treatise called, the Devil of _Mascon_, or a true\nrelation of the chief things which an unclean spirit did and said at\n_Mascon_ in _Burgundy_, in the House of M^r _Francis Perreaud_ Minister\nof the reformed Church in the same Town, written by the said _Perreaud_\nsoon after the Apparition which was in the year 1612. but was not\npublished until the year 1653. which was 41. years after the thing was\nsaid to be acted. It seems it was translated by D^r _Peter Du Moulin_,\nthe Son of the learned and reverend _Peter Du Moulin_, at the request of\nthe honourable and learned person M^r _Boyle_. The most of the things\nhad been known unto M^r _Du Moulin_ the Father, when he was President of\na National Synod in those parts, to whom also the said _Perreaud_ was\nwell known, who was a religious, well poised, venerable Divine. And M^r\n_Boyle_ saith, that he had had converse with this pious Author at\n_Geneva_, and had inquired after the Writer, and some passages of the\nBook, which overcame all his setled indisposedness to believe strange\nthings. The Character given of this Author, and the assent of such\nlearned persons to the things related, have gained an ample suffrage to\ngive credit to them also. But notwithstanding all this, there are many\npassages in the relation that a quick-sighted Critick would find to be\neither contradictory or inconsistent, and it cannot rationally be\nthought that he was a Cacodemon, his actions were so harmless, civil,\nand ludicrous; and if he were to be believed (and in some things he did\nspeak truth, and the Minister himself M^r _Perreaud_ did in some things\ngive credit to him) he was no Devil, but hoped to be saved by Jesus\nChrist. But whether a Devil or not, yet the story for substance doth\nsufficiently prove the existence of such kind of Demons, that can work\nstrange and odd feats.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _The Saints Everlasting rest._ _c._ 7. _p._ 255.]\n\n4. M^r _Baxter_ a person of great learning and piety, whose judgment\nbears great sway with me, speaking of Apparitions saith thus: \u201cI know\nmany are very incredulous herein, and will hardly believe that there\nhave been such Apparitions. For my own part (he saith) though I am as\nsuspicious as most in such reports, and do believe that most of them are\nconceits or delusions, yet having been very diligently inquisitive in\nsuch Cases, I have received undoubted testimony of the truth of such\nApparitions, some from the mouths of men of undoubted honesty and\ngodliness, and some from the report of multitudes of persons, who heard\nor saw. Were it fit here to name the persons, I could send you to them\nyet living, by whom you would be as fully satisfied as I: Houses that\nhave been so frequently haunted with such terrors, that the inhabitants\nsuccessively have been witnesses of it.\u201d\n\n7. Though some of these last recited testimonies might sufficiently\nconvince the most obstinate and incredulous, that there are Apparitions\nand some other such strange accidents that cannot be solved by the\nsupposed principles of matter and motion, but that do necessarily\nrequire some other causes, that are above or different from the visible\nand ordinary course of nature; yet because it is a point dark and\nmystical, and of great concern and weight, we shall add some\nunquestionable testimonies, either from our own Annals, or matters of\nfact that we know to be true of our own certain knowledge, that thereby\nit may undoubtedly appear, that there are effects that exceed the\nordinary power of natural causes, and may for ever convince all\nAtheistical minds, of which in this order.\n\n[Sidenote: _Stow._ _p._ 605.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 1._]\n\n1. \u201cIn the first year of _Edward_ the Sixth. _Anno Domini_ 1551. on St.\n_Valentines_ day, at _Feversham_ in _Kent_, one _Arden_ a Gentleman was\nmurthered by procurement of his own Wife; for the which fact she was the\nfourteenth of _March_ burnt at _Canterbury_: _Michael_ M^r _Arden_\u2019s Man\nwas hang\u2019d in Chains at _Feversham_, and a Maiden burnt: _Mosbie_ and\nhis Sister were hanged in _Smithfield_ at _London_: _Greene_ which had\nfled, came again certain years after, and was hanged in Chains in the\nHigh-way against _Feversham_, and black _Will_ the Ruffian, that was\nhired to do that act, after his first escape was apprehended, and burnt\non a Scaffold at _Flushing_ in _Zealand_.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _P._ 1708.]\n\nThe same horrid murther is more at large related by _Hollingshead_, who\nlived at that time, and had information of all the particulars, who\nsaith thus much more. \u201cThis one thing (he saith) seemeth very strange\nand notable touching M^r _Arden_, that in the place he was laid, being\ndead, all the proportion of his body might be seen two years after and\nmore, so plain as could be, for the grass did not grow where his body\nhad touched, but between his legs, between his arms and about the\nhollowness of his neck, and round about his body: And where his legs,\narms, head, or any part of his body had touched, no grass growed at all\nof all that time. So that many strangers came in that mean time, beside\nthe Townsmen, to see the print of his body there on the ground in that\nField, which Field he had (as some have reported) cruelly taken from a\nWoman, that had been a Widdow to one _Cooke_, and after Married to one\n_Richard Read_ a Marriner, to the great hinderance of her and her\nHusband the said _Read_, for they had long enjoyed it by a Lease which\nthey had of it for many years not then expired. Nevertheless he got it\nfrom them, for the which, the said _Reads_ Wife not only exclaimed\nagainst him in shedding many a salt tear, but also cursed him most\nbitterly even to his face, wishing many a vengeance to light upon him,\nand that all the World might wonder on him, which was thought then to\ncome to pass, when he was thus murthered and lay in that Field, from\nmidnight till the morning, and so all that day, being the Fair-day, till\nnight, all the which day there were many hundreds of people came\nwondring about him.\u201d From whence we may take this Observation.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ._]\n\nAs it is most certain that this is a true and punctual relation given us\nby _Hollingshead_, as being a publick thing done in the face of a\nNation, the print of his body remaining so long after, and viewed and\nwondered at by so many; so that it hath not left the least starting hole\nfor the most incredulous Atheist to get out at. So likewise it may dare\nthe most deep-sighted Naturalist, or unbelieving Atheist, that would\nexalt and so far deifie Nature, as to deny and take away the existence\nof the God of Nature, to shew a reason of the long remaining of the\nprint of his body, or the not growing of the grass in those places where\nhis body had touched for two years and more after? Could it be the\nsteams or Atoms that flowed from his body? then are why not such prints\nleft by other murthered bodies? which we are sure by sight and\nexperience not to be so. And therefore we can attribute it justly to no\nother cause but only to the power of God and divine vengeance, who is a\nrighter of the oppressed, fatherless and Widdows, and hears their cries\nand regardeth their tears.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 2._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Sir Rich. Bakers_ Chron. _fol._ 448.]\n\n2. \u201cIn the second year of the Reign of King _James_ of famous memory, a\nstrange accident happened, to the terror of all bloody murtherers, which\nwas this; One _Anne Waters_ enticed by a lover of hers, consented to\nhave her Husband strangled, and then buried him secretly under the\nDunghil in a Cow-house. Whereupon the man being missing by his\nNeighbours, and the Wife making shew of a wondering what was become of\nhim, it pleased God that one of the inhabitants of the Town dreamed one\nnight that his Neighbour _Waters_ was strangled, and buried under the\nDunghill in a Cow-house, and upon declaring his dream, search being made\nby the Constable, the dead body was found as he had dreamed, and\nthereupon the Wife was apprehended, and upon examination confessing the\nfact was burned.\u201d But we shall give it more at large as it was taken\nfrom the mouths of _Thomas Haworths_ Wife, her Husband being the dreamer\nand discoverer, and from his Son, who together with many more, who both\nremember and can affirm every particular thereof, the Narrative was\ntaken _April_ the _17th 1663_, and is this,\n\n\u201cIn the year abovesaid, _John Waters_ of _Lower Darwen_ in the County of\n_Lancaster_ Gardiner, by reason of his calling was much absent from his\nFamily: In which his absence, his Wife (not without cause) was suspected\nof incontinency with one _Gyles Haworth_ of the same Town; this _Gyles\nHaworth_ and _Waters_ Wife conspired and contrived the death of _Waters_\nin this manner. They contracted with one _Ribchester_ a poor man to kill\nthis _Waters_. As soon as _Waters_ came home and went to bed, _Gyles\nHaworth_ and _Waters_ Wife conducted the hired Executioner to the said\n_Waters_. Who seeing him so innocently laid betwixt his two small\nChildren in Bed, repented of his enterprize, and totally refused to kill\nhim. _Gyles Haworth_ displeased with the faint-heartedness of\n_Ribchester_, takes the Axe into his own hand, and dashed out his\nbrains: The Murderers buried him in a Cow-house, _Waters_ being long\nmissing the Neighbourhood asked his Wife for him; she denied that she\nknew where he was. Thereupon publick search was made for him in all pits\nround about, lest he should have casually fallen into any of them. One\n_Thomas Haworth_ of the said Town Yeoman, was for many nights together,\nmuch troubled with broken sleeps and dreams of the murder; he revealed\nhis dreams to his Wife, but she laboured the concealment of them a long\ntime: This _Thomas Haworth_ had occasion to pass by the House every day\nwhere the murder was done, and did call and inquire for _Waters_, as\noften as he went near the House. One day he went into the House to ask\nfor him, and there was a Neighbour who said to _Thomas Haworth_, It\u2019s\nsaid that _Waters_ lies under this stone, (pointing to the Hearth-stone)\nto which _Thomas Haworth_ replied, And I have dreamed that he is under a\nstone not far distant. The Constable of the said Town being accidentally\nin the said House (his name _Myles Aspinall_) urged _Thomas Haworth_ to\nmake known more at large what he had dreamed, which he relateth thus. I\nhave (quoth he) many a time within this eight weeks (for so long it was\nsince the murder) dreamed very restlessly, that _Waters_ was murdered\nand buried under a broad stone in the Cow-house; I have told my troubled\ndreams to my Wife alone, but she refuses to let me make it known: But I\nam not able to conceal my dreams any longer, my sleep departs from me, I\nam pressed and troubled with fearful dreams which I cannot bear any\nlonger, and they increase upon me. The Constable hearing this made\nsearch immediately upon it, and found as he had dreamed the murdered\nbody eight weeks buried under a flat stone in the Cow-house;\n_Ribchester_ and _Gyles Haworth_ fled and never came again. _Anne\nWaters_ (for so was _Waters_ Wifes name) being apprehended, confessed\nthe murder, and was burned.\u201d From whence we may observe this.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ._]\n\n1. That this is the full and punctual relation of this bloody and\nexecrable murder from _Haworths_ Wife (who then was a very old Woman)\nand the Son, and differs not a jot from what Sir _Richard Baker_ writes,\nbut only they say his brains were dashed out with an Axe, and he saith\nhe was strangled, which is only a circumstance of the manner, but in the\nmatter they both agree, that it was a certain truth that _Waters_ was\nmurdered, and Sir _Richard Bakers_ information might fail in that\nparticular of the manner of it. And if it be thought strange that the\ntwo little Children did know nothing of it, it is certain that they were\nmuch too young, and said that they were twins, not above half a year\nold. But the only matter that we have brought it for, is the\nextraordinary way of its discovery by _Thomas Haworths_ dreaming, in\nwhich point both the relations closely agree, and was the chief and only\nreason why Sir _Richard Baker_ put it in his Chronicle. And the same\nalso more at large _Stow_ hath recorded in his Chronicle. Now what\nshould the cause be that _Thomas Haworth_ should be hindred of his\nsleep, and have restless dreams, and that his dream should hit so\npunctually of the place where he was buried, more than any other person\nin the same Town? certainly it cannot be referred to fortune and chance,\nfor they have no causality at all, and are but only names that we impose\nupon certain effects and accidents: _Te facimus fortuna Deum, c\u0153loq;\nlocamus_, as said the Poet. Neither can it rationally be thought to be\nmelancholy, because that though it be a subtil humour, and render those\nthat are affected therewith very imaginative and thoughtful, yet\nsupposing _Thomas Haworth_ to be of that temperament and disposition, it\nmight make him more deeply to think and meditate upon the rumour of\n_Waters_ being awanting or upon suspicion of his murder, but could not\nin dreams inform him to know precisely the place where he was buried.\nAnd if some should imagine it to be the Soul of the murthered person\n_Waters_, as doubtless a Papist would be ready to affirm, yet is that\nopinion directly contrary to the Scriptures, and sufficiently confuted\nby the reformed Divines. And if it should be referred to the operation\nof the Astral or Sydereal spirit, that is an opinion but imbraced by\nfew, and is hard to prove to be a certain verity, of which we shall\nspeak largely anon. Neither can it by any sound reason be thought to be\nthe Devil, because it is manifest that God doth not use the ministry of\nevil Angels for any good end, as for the discovery of murther, and the\nbringing of the guilty persons to condign punishment; but on the\ncontrary he useth their service for to tempt, seduce, deceive, punish\nand torment. Therefore we conceive that it was brought to pass by the\nfinger of God, who either immediately by himself, or by the ministry of\na good Angel, did represent those dreams to _Thomas Haworth_, and\nrevealed the precise place of _Waters_ burial.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 3._]\n\n3. \u201cAbout the year of our Lord 1623 or 24 one _Fletcher_ of _Rascal_, a\nTown in the North Riding of _Yorkshire_ near unto the Forest of\n_Gantress_, a Yeoman of good Estate, did marry a young lusty Woman from\n_Thornton Brigs_, who had been formerly kind with one _Ralph Raynard_,\nwho kept an Inn within half a mile from _Rascall_ in the high road way\nbetwixt _York_ and _Thuske_, his Sister living with him. This _Raynard_\ncontinued in unlawful lust with the said _Fletchers_ Wife, who not\ncontent therewith conspired the death of _Fletcher_, one _Mark Dunn_\nbeing made privy and hired to assist in the murther. Which _Raynard_ and\n_Dunn_ accomplished upon the _May-day_ by drowning _Fletcher_, as they\ncame all three together from a Town called _Huby_, and acquainting the\nwife with the deed she gave them a Sack therein to convey his body,\nwhich they did and buried it in _Raynards_ backside or Croft where an\nold Oak-root had been stubbed up, and sowed Mustard seed upon the place\nthereby to hide it. So they continued their wicked course of lust and\ndrunkenness, and the neighbours did much wonder at _Fletchers_ absence,\nbut his wife did excuse it, and said that he was but gone aside for fear\nof some Writs being served upon him. And so it continued until about the\nseventh day of _July_, when _Raynard_ going to _Topcliffe_ Fair, and\nsetting up his Horse in the Stable, the spirit of _Fletcher_ in his\nusual shape and habit did appear unto him, and said, Oh _Raph_, repent,\nrepent, for my revenge is at hand; and ever after until he was put in\nthe Gaol, it seemed to stand before him, whereby he became sad and\nrestless: And his own Sister over-hearing his confession and relation of\nit to another person, did through fear of losing her own life,\nimmediately reveal it to Sir _William Sheffield_, who lived in\n_Rascall_, and was a Justice of Peace. Whereupon they were all three\napprehended and sent to the Gaol at _York_, where they were all three\ncondemned, and so executed accordingly near to the place where _Raynard_\nlived, and where _Fletcher_ was buried, the two men being hung up in\nirons, and the woman buried under the Gallows.\u201d I have recited this\nstory punctually as a thing that hath been very much fixed in my memory,\nbeing then but young, and as a certain truth, I being (with many more)\nan ear-witness of their confessions and an eye-witness of their\nExecutions, and likewise saw _Fletcher_ when he was taken up, where they\nhad buried him in his cloaths, which were a green fustian doublet pinkt\nupon white, gray breeches, and his walking boots and brass spurrs\nwithout rowels.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ._]\n\nSome will say there was no extrinsick apparition to _Raynard_ at all,\nbut that all this did only arise from the guilt of his own conscience,\nwhich represented the shape of _Fletcher_ in his fancy. But then why was\nit precisely done at that time, and not at any others? it being far from\nthe place of the murder, or the place where they had buried _Fletcher_,\nand nothing there that might bring it to his remembrance more than at\nanother time, and if it had only arisen from within, and appeared so in\nhis fancy, it had been more likely to have been moved, when he was in,\nor near his backside where the murthered body of _Fletcher_ lay. But\ncertain it is that he affirmed that it was the shape and voice of\n_Fletcher_, as assuredly to his eyes and ears, as ever he had seen or\nheard him in his life. And if it were granted that it was only\nintrinsick, yet that will not exclude the Divine Power, which doubtless\nat that time did labour to make him sensible of the cruel murther, and\nto mind him of the revenge approaching. And it could not be brought to\npass either by the Devil, or _Fletchers_ Soul, as we have proved before;\nand therefore in reason we conclude that either it was wrought by the\nDivine Power, to shew his detestation of murther, or that it was the\nAstral or Sydereal Spirit of _Fletcher_, seeking revenge for the\nmurther, of which more anon.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 4._]\n\n4. About the year of our Lord 1632. (as near as I can remember having\nlost my notes, and the copy of the Letter to Serjeant _Hutton_, but am\nsure that I do most perfectly remember the substance of the story) near\nunto _Chester_ in the street, there lived \u201cone _Walker_ a Yeoman-man of\ngood Estate, and a Widower, who had a young Woman to his Kinswoman that\nkept his House, who was by the Neighbours suspected to be with child,\nand was towards the dark of the evening one night sent away with one\n_Mark Sharp_ who was a Collier, or one that digged coals under ground,\nand one that had been born in _Blakeburn_ Hundred in _Lancashire_, and\nso she was not heard of a long time, and no noise, or little was made\nabout it. In the winter time after one _James Graham_ or _Grime_ (for so\nin that Country they call them) being a Miller, and living about two\nmiles from the place where _Walker_ lived, was one night alone very late\nin the Mill grinding Corn, and as about twelve or one a clock at night\nhe came down the stairs from having been putting Corn in the Hopper, the\nMill doors being shut, there stood a Woman upon the midst of the floor\nwith her hair about her head, hanging down, and all bloody, with five\nlarge wounds in her head: He being much affrighted and amazed, begun to\nbless him, and at last asked her who she was, and what she wanted; to\nwhich she said, I am the Spirit of such a Woman, who lived with\n_Walker_, and being got with child by him, he promised me to send me to\na private place, where I should be well lookt to until I was brought in\nbed, and well again, and then I should come again, and keep his house.\nAnd accordingly (said the apparition) I was one night late sent away\nwith one _Mark Sharp_, who upon a Moor (naming a place that the Miller\nknew) slew me with a pick (such as men dig coals withal) and gave me\nthese five wounds, and after threw my body into a coal-pit hard by; and\nhid the pick under a bank; and his shoos and stockings being bloody he\nendeavoured to wash, but seeing the blood would not wash forth he hid\nthem there. And the apparition further told the Miller that he must be\nthe Man to reveal it, or else that she must still appear, and haunt him.\nThe Miller returned home very sad and heavy, but spoke not one word of\nwhat he had seen, but eschewed as much as he could to stay in the Mill\nwithin night without company, thinking thereby to escape the seeing\nagain of that frightful apparition. But notwithstanding one night when\nit begun to be dark, the apparition met him again, and seemed very\nfierce and cruel, and threatned him that if he did not reveal the murder\nshe would continually pursue and haunt him. Yet for all this he still\nconcealed it, until S. _Thomas_ Eve before _Christmas_, when being soon\nafter Sunset walking in his Garden she appeared again, and then so\nthreatened and affrighted him that he faithfully promised to reveal it\nnext morning. In the morning he went to a Magistrate and made the whole\nmatter known with all the circumstances, and diligent search being made,\nthe body was found in a coal-pit, with five wounds in the head, and the\npick and shooes and stockings yet bloody, in every circumstance as the\napparition had related unto the Miller. Whereupon _Walker_ and _Mark\nSharp_ were both apprehended, but would confess nothing. At the Assizes\nfollowing (I think it was at _Durham_) they were arraigned, found\nguilty, condemned and executed, but I could never hear that they\nconfessed the fact. There were some that reported that the apparition\ndid appear to the Judge or the Foreman of the Jury, (who was alive in\n_Chester_ in the street about ten years ago, as I have been credibly\ninformed) but of that I know no certainty.\u201d There are many persons yet\nalive that can remember this strange murder, and the discovery of it,\nfor it was, and sometimes yet is as much discoursed of in the North\nCountrey as any thing that almost hath ever been heard of, and the\nrelation printed, though now not to be gotten. I relate this with the\ngreater confidence (though I may fail in some of the circumstances)\nbecause I saw and read the Letter that was sent to Serjeant _Hutton_,\nwho then lived at _Goldsbrugh_ in _Yorkshire_, from the Judge before\nwhom _Walker_ and _Mark Sharp_ were tried, and by whom they were\ncondemned, and had a Copy of it until about the year 1658. when _I_ had\nit and many other books and papers taken from me.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ._]\n\n[Sidenote: Rom. 11. 33.]\n\nAnd this I confess to be one of the most convincing stories (being of\nundoubted verity) that ever I read, heard or knew of, and carrieth with\nit the most evident force to make the most incredulous spirit, to be\nsatisfied that there are really sometimes such things as apparitions.\nAnd though it be not easy to assign the true and proper cause of such a\nstrange effect, yet must we not measure all things to be, or not to be,\nto be true or false, according to the extent of our understandings, for\nif there be many of the _magnalia natur\u00e6_ that yet lie hidden from the\nwisest of men, then much more may the _magnalia Dei_ be unknown unto us,\n_whose judgments are unsearchable, and his wayes past finding out_. And\nas in the rest we cannot ascribe this strange apparition, to any\ndiabolical operation, nor to the Soul of the Woman murthered, so we must\nconclude that either it was meerly wrought by the Divine Power, or by\nthe Astral spirit of the murthered Woman, which last doth seem most\nrational, as we shall shew hereafter.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 5._]\n\n5. To these (though it be not altogether of the same nature) we shall\nadd one both for the oddness and strangeness of it, as also because it\nhappened in my time, and I was both an eye and ear-witness of the trial\nof the person accused. And first take a hint of it from the pen of\n_Durant Hotham_, in his learned Epistle to the _Mysterium magnum_ of\n_Jacob Behemen_ upon _Genesis_ in these words: \u201cThere was (he saith) as\nI have heard the story credibly reported in this Country a Man\napprehended for suspicion of Witchcraft, he was of that sort we call\nwhite Witches, which are such as do cures beyond the ordinary reasons\nand deductions of our usual practitioners, and are supposed (and most\npart of them truly) to do the same by the ministration of spirits (from\nwhence under their noble favours, most Sciences at first grew) and\ntherefore are by good reason provided against by our Civil Laws, as\nbeing ways full of danger and deceit, and scarce ever otherwise obtained\nthan by a devillish compact of the exchange of ones Soul to that\nassistant spirit, for the honour of its Mountebankery. What this man did\nwas with a white powder which, he said, he received from the Fairies,\nand that going to a Hill he knocked three times, and the Hill opened,\nand he had access to, and converse with a visible people; and offered,\nthat if any Gentleman present would either go himself in person, or send\nhis servant, he would conduct them thither, and shew them the place and\npersons from whom he had his skill.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. 1 Jacob._ _c._ 12.]\n\nTo this I shall only add thus much, that the man was accused for\ninvoking and calling upon evil spirits, and was a very simple and\nilliterate person to any mans judgment, and had been formerly very poor,\nbut had gotten some pretty little meanes to maintain himself, his Wife\nand diverse small children, by his cures done with this white powder, of\nwhich there were sufficient proofs, and the Judge asking him how he came\nby the powder, he told a story to this effect. \u201cThat one night before\nday was gone, as he was going home from his labour, being very sad and\nfull of heavy thoughts, not knowing how to get meat and drink for his\nWife and Children, he met a fair Woman in fine cloaths, who asked him\nwhy he was so sad, and he told her that it was by reason of his poverty,\nto which she said, that if he would follow her counsel she would help\nhim to that which would serve to get him a good living; to which he said\nhe would consent with all his heart, so it were not by unlawful ways:\nshe told him that it should not be by any such ways, but by doing of\ngood and curing of sick people; and so warning him strictly to meet her\nthere the next night at the same time, she departed from him, and he\nwent home. And the next night at the time appointed he duly waited, and\nshe (according to promise) came and told him that it was well that he\ncame so duly, otherwise he had missed of that benefit, that she intended\nto do unto him, and so bade him follow her and not be afraid. Thereupon\nshe led him to a little Hill and she knocked three times, and the Hill\nopened, and they went in, and came to a fair hall, wherein was a Queen\nsitting in great state, and many people about her, and the Gentlewoman\nthat brought him, presented him to the Queen, and she said he was\nwelcom, and bid the Gentlewoman give him some of the white powder, and\nteach him how to use it, which she did, and gave him a little wood box\nfull of the white powder, and bad him give 2 or 3 grains of it to any\nthat were sick, and it would heal them, and so she brought him forth of\nthe Hill, and so they parted. And being asked by the Judge whether the\nplace within the Hill, which he called a Hall, were light or dark, he\nsaid indifferent, as it is with us in the twilight; and being asked how\nhe got more powder, he said when he wanted he went to that Hill, and\nknocked three times, and said every time I am coming, I am coming,\nwhereupon it opened, and he going in was conducted by the aforesaid\nWoman to the Queen, and so had more powder given him. This was the plain\nand simple story (however it may be judged of) that he told before the\nJudge, the whole Court, and the Jury, and there being no proof, but what\ncures he had done to very many, the Jury did acquit him: and I remember\nthe Judge said, when all the evidence was heard, that if he were to\nassign his punishment, he should be whipped from thence to Fairyhall,\nand did seem to judge it to be a delusion or an Imposture.\u201d From whence\nwe may take these observations.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 1._]\n\n1. Though Mr. _Hotham_ seem to judge that this person accused had the\nwhite powder from some Spirit, and that one also of the evil sort, and\nupon a contract, by the ingaging of his Soul, we have before\nsufficiently proved the nullity of a visible and corporeal contract with\nthe Devil; neither was it yet ever proved that the Devil did any good\neither real or apparent, but is the sworn enemy of all mankind, both in\ntheir Souls and in their Bodies, but this powder wrought that which was\nreally good, namely the curing of diseases, and therefore rationally\ncannot be thought to be given from an evil spirit.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 2._]\n\n2. Some there were that thought that the simple man told a plain and\ntrue story, and that he had the powder from those people we call\nFairies, and there are many that do believe and affirm that there are\nsuch people, of whom _Paracelsus_ hath a Treatise of purpose, holding\nthat they are not of the seed of _Adam_, and therefore he calls them\n_non_-Adamicks, and that they have flesh and bones, and so differ from\nspirits, and yet that they can glide through walls and rocks (which he\ncalleth their Chaos) as easily as we through the air, and that they get\nchildren, and are mortal like those that _Hieronynus Cardanus_ relateth\nthat appeared to his Father _Facius Cardanus_, and these he calleth\n_Pygm\u00e6i_, _Silvestres_, _Gnomi_ and _Umbratiles_; but his proof of their\nexistence to me doth not seem satisfactory, what others may think of it\nI leave to their demonstrations, if they have any.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 3._]\n\n3. Some there were (and those not of the meer ignorant sort) that did\njudge, that though the Man was simple, yet that the story that he told\nwas but framed and taught him, the better to conceal the person from\nwhom he received the white powder. For they thought that some notable\nChymist, or rather an Adeptist, had in charity bestowed that powder upon\nhim, for the relief of himself and family, as we know it hath often\nhappened to other persons, at other times and places. And this last\nopinion seems most consonant to reason, and I the rather believe it\nbecause not many years after, it was certainly known, that there was an\nAdeptist in that Countrey, and we ought not to fetch in supernatural\ncauses to solve effects, when natural causes may serve the turn.\n\n6. The last thing of this strange nature, that we shall instance in, is\nconcerning the bleeding or cruentation of the bodies of those that have\nbeen murthered, I mean of such as have been murthered by prepense\nmalice, and upon premeditated purpose; for the bodies of others that are\nkilled by chance-medley, and by man-slaughter, we do not read nor find\nany examples, that ever their bodies did bleed. And though we have not\nbeen ocular witness of any such bleeding yet are there records of such\naccidents given us by many learned and credible authors that a man might\nalmost be accounted an Infidel not to give credit to them, and that both\nof those that have bled when the murtherer hath not been present, and\nalso of those that have bled the murtherer being present. And first of\nthose bodies that have issued blood, when the murtherer was not by.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 6._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Append. de Cruent. Cadaver._ _p._ 143.]\n\n_Gregorius Horstius_ a Physician of great experience and learning, and\nof no less integrity, recordeth this story, thus Englished. \u201cIn the year\nof our Lord 1604. twenty sixth day of _December_, a young Nobleman of\ntwenty five years old, was shot at with a Gun in the night time about\nnine a clock from an high window of an house, in the Town of\n_Blindmarck_ in lower _Austria_, and the bullet entring his left breast\nwent forth at his right side, and so forthwith died in the place. The\ndead body being viewed again, and the wound considered, the same\nquantity or bigness both of the entrance and out-going are found with\ngreat plenty of blood issuing. The following day being the twenty\nseventh of _December_ in the morning, the body of the murthered young\nman hath other cloaths put upon it and so is kept quiet for the space of\ntwo days. Furthermore upon the thirtieth of _December_ he is laid upon\nthe Bier, and kept in the Church and that without any further motion,\nwhere nevertheless from the upper wound the fresh blood did daily flow,\nuntil the eighth of _January_ 1605. from which time the Hemorrhage\nceased. But again the thirteenth of _February_, about noon, the flux of\nblood by the lower wound for an hour or two was observed to issue, as\nthough the slaughter had been newly done. In the mean time the habit of\nthe whole body was such, as did most easily agree to what it was living,\nthe colour of his face remained even unto his burial ruddy and florid,\nthe vein appearing in his forehead filled with good blood: no sign of an\nincipient putrefaction appearing for so many weeks, no stink, or\nungrateful odour, which otherwise doth accompany dead bodies within a\nfew days, was here found at all: The fingers of the hands remained soft,\nmoveable, or flexible, without any wast, the natural colour being not\nvery much changed, except that in process of time, about the last week\nbefore burial, they begun in a certain manner to wax livid in the\nextremities.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 7._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Ibid._ _p._ 154.]\n\n7. This following he giveth to prove, that as cold constringeth and\nshuteth up the veins, so heat doth open them, and cause the blood to\nflow, and saith: \u201cThis is proved a few years since by experience in an\ninfant slain by a most wicked Mother forthwith after it was born, and\nthrown from the Tower of a Noble Baron of upper _Austria_ into a ditch\nthat was full with water; which after five weeks by good fortune was\nfound and taken out. And forthwith (he saith) the Mother not present, it\nbeing then not known who was the Mother, when it felt the force of the\nexternal air, it begun to distil forth very fresh blood, because the\npores, which by reason of the cold, were shut that the blood could not\nflow, were then unlockt and opened by the heat of the ambient air.\u201d And\nthus much of those that have bled, the murtherers not being present.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 8._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ._ _l._ 2. _fol._ 202.]\n\n8. Next we shall give some examples of those that have bled when the\nmurtherers have been brought into the presence of the body murthered or\ncaused to touch it, and this _Franciscus Valeriola_ doth attest with an\nample faith that he himself saw: \u201cWhen (he saith) _James_ of _Aqueria_,\na Senator of _Arles_, was found dead of a wound, & that he that gave\nthat wound was apprehended by the Magistrate, and brought into the view\nof the dead body, that he might acknowledge the person murthered and\nconfess the fact, by and by the bubbling blood, all the by-standers\nlooking on, begun to come forth, with much fervour and bubbles, from the\nwound and the nostrils.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 9._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Delic. Phys._ _Sect._ 1. _Artic._ 1. _p._ 5.]\n\n9. Take this other as it is cited by _Gothofredus Voigtius_, in this\nmanner: \u201cIn the year 1607 the 25 of _April_, a certain Shepherd in\n_Spain_ being feeding his flock was slain by two Noblemen, and his body\nthrown into a company of bushes. The Judges of the same place, having\nmuch and daily sought the Shepherd, after four days at length find his\nbody in the bushes. But because that murder was committed, no witnesses\nbeing by, the suspicion fell upon the two Noblemen, inhabiting in the\nnearest place, who being taken were haled to the body of the person\nmurthered. But what comes to pass? The first scarce with his eyes had\nlooked upon the dead body, but behold, the blood in plenty begun to flow\nfrom thence. But the other coming near, the very right hand of the\nperson murthered did first of all shew to those that were by the wound,\nand afterward the murderer himself. Which being done, forthwith the two\nGentlemen (or Nobles) did of their own accord confess that they were the\nAuthors of the murther, and did receive the punishment that was worthy\nof their deeds.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 10._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Ut supra_ _p._ 9.]\n\n10. Another very remarkable one we have from the same Author cited from\n_Cantipratanus_ _lib._ 2. _mirac. c._ 29. in this manner. \u201cIt happened\n(the Author saith) in the year of Christ 1271. in the Town =Pforzheim=,\nthat a certain most wicked old Woman familiar with the Jews, did sell\nthem a girl of seven years old, and without parents, to be slain. Her\ntherefore in secret her mouth being stopt, setting her upon linnen\ncloaths, they wound almost in all the junctures of the members with\nincisions, and with great endeavour press forth the blood, and receive\nit most diligently in the linnen cloaths. But she being dead after great\npains, the Jews throw her body into a running water near the Town, and\nlaid an heap of Stones upon it. But after the third or fourth day her\nbody is found by Fishers, by means of her hand stretched forth towards\nHeaven, and carried into the Town, the people with abomination crying\nforth that so great a wickedness was perpetrated by the Jews. And the\nMarquiss of _Baden_ being near, went unto the Corps, and straightway the\nbody standing upright did stretch forth its hands unto the Prince, as\nthough it would implore the revengment of blood, or perhaps mercy. But\nafter half an hour it disposed it self upon its back, after the manner\nof those that are dead. Therefore the wicked Jews being brought to the\nspectacle, forthwith all the wounds of the body burst forth, and in\ntestimony of the horrid murder, poured forth great plenty of blood,\nwhereupon the Jews were put to death.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 11._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Ut supra_ _p._ 54.]\n\n11. Another the same Author relateth from _Jacobus Martinius in Disp. de\nCognitione sui_, _propl._ 8. who saith: \u201cIn the year of our Saviour\n1503. a certain Inn-keeper, by name _Buggerlinus_, with whom a certain\npoor Merchant or Pedlar had laid up his money or stock, occasion being\ntaken by the Inn-keeper he kills him in a Wood, and buries him\nprivately; but afterwards when he was found, the suspicion of the\nmurther fell upon the Inn-keeper. For that Pedlar had a bended knife or\ndagger at his girdle, which they took, and shewed to the Inn-keeper,\nasking him, if he knew it? But behold assoon as he took it in his hand,\nit sweat drops of blood, whereby the murtherer being affrighted,\nconfessed the murther, and so was Executed.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 12._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Histor. Thuan._ _l._ 32.]\n\n12. We have also a punctual History to this purpose, related by\n_Hollingshead_, _Stow_, and _Sir Richard Baker_, from _Roger of\nWinchester_, of King _Henry_ the second, which is this: \u201cThis King, when\nhe was carried forth to be buried was first apparelled in his Princely\nRobes, having his Crown on his Head, Gloves on his Hands, and Shoes on\nhis Feet wrought with Gold, Spurs on his Heels, a Ring of Gold on his\nFinger, a Scepter in his Hand, a Sword by his Side, and so was laid\nuncovered having a pleasant countenance: which when it was told to his\nSon _Richard_, he came with all speed to see him, and as soon as he came\nnear him, the blood gushed out of the nose of the dead Corps in great\nplenty, even as if the spirit of the dead King had disdained and\nabhorred the presence of him, who was thought to be the chief cause of\nhis death. Which thing caused the said _Richard_ to weep bitterly, and\nhe caused his Fathers body to be honourably buried at _Fonteverard_.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 13._]\n\n13. The last story that we shall relate of this nature, is from a\nMinister that is learned, sincere and of great veracity, who had it from\nthose that were eye-witnesses, and is this: \u201cIn the year of our Lord\nGod, 1661. _January_ 30th on _Saturday_ at night about nine of the\nClock, did _John How_ of _Bruzlington-Bank_, at the foot of an Hill\n(which is about two miles distant from _Bishop-Awkland_) murther _Ralph\nGawkley_, who was a Glover in _Bishop-Awkland_: This _How_ was the next\nday apprehended and brought to touch _Gawkleys_ Corps, the lips and\nnostrils of the dead body wrought and opened as he touched (which made\nhim afraid to touch the second time) then presently the Corps bled\nabundantly at the nostrils in the sight of Mr. _Robert Harrison_ the\nCoroner (now Tenant at _Bishop-Awkland_ to Mr. _Franckland_, from whom I\nhad the relation) of _Anthony Cummin_ and his Brother, &c. of the Jury,\nand of a great many towns people, who were then present. So _How_ was\nExecuted the next Assizes after at _Durham_: Witnesses against him were\n_Anne Wall_, whom he also wounded, yet she escaped with her life, and\n_How_\u2019s own Wife, at the motion of her own Father (a very honest Man)\nwho bid her tell the truth, and she should never want help.\u201d\n\nSome may think that I have been too large and tedious in heaping so many\nstories concerning the bleeding of the bodies of those that have been\nmurthered; but I did it for this reason, because there are many that\nthink it but to be a Fable of the credulous vulgar, and others think\nthat it is but an ordinary matter that happens to any bodies that are\ndead, and no extraordinary or supernatural thing in it at all. But\nwhosoever shall but use so much patience, as seriously to read and\nconsider these select Histories that we have recited, may easily be\nsatisfied, both that such bleeding is absolutely true _de facto_, and\nalso that there is something more than ordinary in it, and therefore we\nshall inlarge in these observations.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 1._]\n\n1. It will not be found to hold touch upon diligent observation and\nstrict inquiry, that all dead bodies do bleed fresh and rosie blood,\nespecially after the third or fourth day, or after some weeks, as divers\nof the instances above given do manifestly prove; and therefore is an\naccident incident to some dead bodies and not to all. And it will as far\nfail, that wounded bodies, that have been slain in the wars, after the\nnatural heat be gone, will upon motion bleed any fresh or crimson blood\nat all; for we our selves in the late times of Rebellion have seen some\nthousands of dead bodies, that have had divers wounds, and lying naked\nand being turned over and over, and by ten or twelve thrown into one\npit, and yet not one of them have issued any fresh and pure blood: Only\nfrom some of their wounds, some sanious matter would have flowed,\nputrefaction beginning by reason of the moisture and acidity in the air,\nbut no pure blood, and therefore is not a common accident to all humane\nbodies that die naturally or violently, but only is peculiar to some,\nand especially to those that are murthered by prepensed malice, as\nappeareth in the Histories recited above.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 2._]\n\n2. We shall acknowledge with _Gregorius Horstius_, _Sperlingius_ and\n_Gothofredus Voigtius_, that sometimes the bodies of those that have\nbeen murthered do bleed, when the murtherer is not present, as is\nmanifest from the sixth History recited from _Horstius_ of the young Man\nof twenty five years old, that bled so long and so often, though the\nmurtherer was not present; from whence they conclude that the presence\nof the murtherer, is not a necessary cause of the bleeding of the\nmurthered body; and therefore that the bleeding of the body is not\nalways a certain and infallible sign of discovering the murtherer? To\nwhich we reply, that the issuing of fresh and crimson blood from the\nwound or the nostrils of the persons body that hath been murthered, is\nalways a certain sign that the Corps that doth so bleed was murthered,\nbecause those that die naturally or violently by chance, man-slaughter\nor in the war, do not bleed, as hath been proved before. Again, if the\nmurtherer be certainly known, or have confessed the crime, in regard of\nthe final cause which is discovery, there is no reason why the Corps\nshould bleed: And though the presence of the murtherer may not be the\nefficient cause why the Corps doth bleed, yet is it the occasional, as\nis manifest undeniably by sundry of the Histories that we have related,\nwhere the murtherers had not been certainly known but by the bleeding of\nthe body murthered.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 3._]\n\n3. Whereas the three Authors above named, thinking they have\nsufficiently confuted those that ascribed this effect of the bleeding of\nthe dead body to Sympathy or Antipathy, or to the moving of the bodies,\nor heat in the air; have assigned the cause to be the beginning of\nputrefaction in the bodies murthered, by which a new motion is caused in\nthe humors, and so in the blood, by which means it floweth afresh:\nagainst this these two reasons oppose themselves. 1. Must putrefaction\nneeds begin at that very moment, when the murtherer toucheth the body?\nFor in divers of them there was no bleeding until the murtherers were\npresent or did touch the bodies, and their touching could not cause the\nbeginning of putrefaction, and soon after their removing the bleeding\nhath ceased, so that putrescence _in fieri_ cannot be the cause of the\nfresh bleeding. 2. Putrefaction beginning could not be the cause why the\nmurthered Shepherds body in the ninth History should with its hands\npoint to the wound, and to the murtherers, nor that the hands of the\nWench murthered by the Jews, in the tenth History, should be stretched\nforth to the Prince of _Baden_, or that the Lips and Nostrils of the\nBody of _Gawkley_ should work and open at the touch of the murtherer\n_How_; this must of necessity proceed from some higher cause than\nputrefaction, or any other they have laid down.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 4._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Append. de Cru. Cadav._ _p._ 154.]\n\n4. But though it should be acknowledged, that in some of these bleedings\nthere were something that were extraordinary or supernatural, yet as\nlearned _Horstius_ tells us: \u201cIt is (he saith) an inconvenient Tenent of\nthose that hold, that the Souls of those that are murthered, wandering\nabout the Bodies, by reason of the hatred they bear towards those that\nwere their murtherers, do cause these bleedings: but this in Philosophy\ncannot stand, because the separate form can by no means operate upon the\nsubject any longer. And (he saith) the same thing in Theologie seems to\nbe very impious; because the Souls of the dead are without mundane\nconversation, as is sufficiently manifest from the History of the Rich\nMan and _Lazarus_, _Luke_ 16.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 5._]\n\n\u201c5. And if some should refer these effects immediately unto God, as many\nlearned Authors have done; as though God by this means would sometimes\nmake known those that are guilty: or to refer this unto the Devil, as\nthough he would sometimes elude the Judges, and to do this that so the\ninnocent might be punished with the wicked; We answer (he saith) to this\nbriefly, by adding this only, that a supernatural cause is not rashly to\nbe feigned where a natural one is ready at hand. And if there be such\nexamples, which cannot be reduced to these aforesaid natural causes, of\nwhich sort many are related by _Libanius_ _part_ 2. _fol._ 172. then we\ncan by no reason be repugnant, but that they are preternaturally brought\nto pass.\u201d And of this opinion are most of the Pontificial Writers, that\nthereby they might the better maintain their Tenent, that miracles are\nnot ceased; though we do not understand that if we should grant, that in\nthese things there should be some concurrence of Divine Power more than\nordinary, that therefore it must be a miracle, for it is yet not\ninfallibly concluded what a miracle is, and every wonderful thing is not\ntherefore concluded to be a miracle, and a miracle being not absolutely\ndefined, what is not one cannot be certainly resolved.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 6._]\n\n6. Some there are that ascribe these strange bleedings of murthered\nbodies, and of their strange motions, with the sweating of blood, as\nupon the Pedlars bended dagger or knife, mentioned in the eleventh\nHistory, unto the Astral or Sydereal spirit (and that not improbably;)\nthat being a middle substance, betwixt the Soul and the Body doth, when\nseparated from the Body, wander or hover near about it, bearing with it\nthe irascible and concupiscible faculties, wherewith being stirred up to\nhatred and revenge, it causeth that ebullition and motion in the blood,\nthat exudation of blood upon the weapon, and those other wonderful\nmotions of the Body, Hands, Nostrils and Lips, thereby to discover the\nmurtherer, and bring him to condign punishment. Neither is any Tenent\nyet brought by any, that is more rationally probable to solve these and\nmany other wonderful Phenomena\u2019s than this of the Astral Spirit, if it\ncan be but fully proved that there is such a part of Man that doth\nseparately exist, which we shall endeavour to prove ere we end this\nChapter.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 7._]\n\n7. But it is granted upon all sides, that if the murtherer be brought to\nthe presence, or touch of the person murthered, and not quite dead, that\nthen the wounds though closed and staid from bleeding, or the nostrils,\nwill freshly break forth and bleed plentifully. The reason is obvious,\nbecause the Soul being yet in the Body, retaining its power of\nsensation, fancy and understanding, will easily have a presension of the\nmurderer, and then no marvail that through the vehement desire of\nrevenge, the irascible and concupiscible faculties do strongly move the\nblood, that before was beginning to be stagnant, to motion and\nebullition, and may exert so much force upon the organs as for some\nsmall time to move the whole body, the hands, or the lips and nostrils.\nSo that all that is to be done, is but to prove, that the person\nmurthered is not absolutely dead, and that the Soul is not totally\nseparated or departed forth of the Body, and this we shall do by\nundeniable proofs, as are these that follow in this order.\n\n1. Though we generally take death to be a perfect separation of the Soul\nfrom the Body, which is most certainly a great truth, yet when this is\ncertainly brought to pass, is a most difficult point to ascertain,\nbecause that when the Soul ceases to operate in the Body so as to be\nperceived by our Senses, it will not follow, that therefore the Soul is\nabsolutely departed and separated.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. Medic._ _p._ 617, 618.]\n\n2. It is manifest that many persons through this mistake have in the\ntimes of the Plague been buried quick, and so have some Women been dealt\nwithal that lay but in fits of the suffocation of the Womb, and yet were\ntaken to be dead. So that from the judgment of our Senses, no certain\nconclusion can be made that the Soul is totally departed, because it\ngoeth away invisibly; for many that not only to the judgment of the\nvulgar, but even in the opinion of learned Physicians, have been\naccounted dead, yet have revived, as learned _Schenckius_ hath furnished\nus with this story from _Georgius Pictorius_, \u201cthat a certain Woman lay\nin a fit of the Strangulation of the Womb, for six continual days\nwithout sense or motion, the arteries being grown hard, ready to be\nburied, and yet revived again, and from _Par\u00e6us_ of some that have lain\nthree days in Hysterical suffocations, and yet have recovered, and of\ndivers others that may be seen in the place quoted in the Margent.\n\n3. So that though the organs of the Body may by divers means, either\nnatural or violent, be rendered so unfit, that the Soul cannot perform\nits accustomed functions in them, or by them, so as they may be\nperceptible to our senses, or judgments; yet will not that at all\nconclude, that the Soul is separated, and departed quite from the Body,\nmuch less can we be able to define or set down the precise time of the\nSouls aboad in the Body, nor the ultimate period when it must depart,\nfor the union may be (and doubtless is) more strong in some than in\nothers, and the Lamp of life far sooner and more easily to be quenched\nin some than in others. And the Soul may have a far greater amorosity to\nstay in some Body that is lively, sweet, and young, than in others that\nare already decaying and beginning to putrifie, and it may in all\nprobability both have power and desire to stay longer in that lovesome\nhabitation, from whence it is driven away by force, especially that it\nmay satisfie it self in discovering of the murderer, the most cruel and\ninhumane disjoyner of that loving pair that God had divinely coupled\ntogether, and to see it self, before its final departure, in a hopeful\nway to be revenged.\n\n4. If we physically consider the union of the Soul with the Body by the\nmediation of the Spirit, then we cannot rationally conceive that the\nSoul doth utterly forsake that union, untill by putrefaction, tending to\nan absolute mutation, it be forced to bid farewel to its beloved\nTabernacle; for its not operating _ad extra_ to our senses, doth not\nnecessarily inferr its total absence. And it may be that there is more\nin that of _Abels blood crying unto the Lord_ from the ground, in a\nPhysical sense, than is commonly conceived, and God may in his just\njudgment suffer the Soul to stay longer in the murthered Body, that the\ncry of blood may make known the murtherer, or may not so soon, for the\nsame reason, call it totally away.\n\n[Sidenote: _Explic. Astro._ _p._ 654.]\n\nThere is another kind of supposed Apparitions, that are believed to be\ndone in Beryls, and clear Crystals, and therefore called by _Paracelsus_\n_Ars Beryllistica_, and which he also calls Nigromancy, because it is\npractised in the dark by the inspection of a Boy or a Maid that are\nVirgins, and this he strongly affirmeth to be natural and lawful, and\nonly brought to pass by the Sydereal influence, and not at all\nDiabolical, nor stands in need of any Conjuration, Invocations or\nCeremonies, but is performed by a strong faith or imagination. And of\nthis he saith thus: _Sed ante omnia (ait) notate proprietatem\nBeryllorum. Hisunt, in quibus spectantur pr\u00e6terita, pr\u00e6sentia, & futura.\nQuod nemini admirationi esse debet, ide\u00f2, quia sydus influenti\u00e6\nimaginem, & similitudinem in Crystallum imprimit, similem ei, de quo\nqu\u00e6ritur._ And a little after he saith: _Pr\u00e6terea sideribus nota sunt\nomnia, qu\u00e6 in natura existunt. Cumq; Astra homini subjecta sint: potest\nis utiq; illa in subjectum ita cogere, ut voluntati ejus ipsa\nobsecundent._ What truth there may be in this his assertion, I have yet\nmet with no reasons or experiments that can give me satisfaction, and\ntherefore I leave it to every Man to censure as he pleaseth.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist._]\n\nThe only story that seems to carry any credit with it, touching the\ntruth of Apparitions in Crystals, is that which is related of that great\nand learned Physician _Joachimus Camerarius_ in his Preface before\n_Plutarchs_ Book _De Defectu Oraculorum_, from the mouth of _Lassarus\nSpenglerus_, a person excellent both for Piety and Prudence, and is, in\neffect this: \u201c_Spengler_ said, that there was one person of a chief\nfamily in _Norimberge_, an honest and grave Man, whom he thought not fit\nto name. That one time he came unto him, and brought, wrapt in a piece\nof Silk, a Crystalline Gemm of a round figure, and said that it was\ngiven unto him of a certain stranger, whom many years before, having\ndesired of him entertainment, meeting him in the Market, he took home,\nand kept him three days with him. And that this gift when he departed,\nwas left him as a sign of a grateful mind, having taught such an use of\nthe Crystal as this. If he desired to be made more certain of any thing,\nthat he should draw forth the glass, and will a male chast Boy to look\nin it, and should ask of him what he did see? For it should come to\npass, that all things that he required, should be shewed to the Boy, and\nseen in the Apparition. And this Man did affirm, that he was never\ndeceived in any one thing, and that he had understood wonderful things\nby the boys indication, when none of all the rest did by looking into\nit, see it to be any thing else but a neat and pure Gemm. He tells a\ngreat deal more of it, and that doubtful questions being asked, an\nanswer would appear to be read in the Crystal: but the Man being weary\nof the use of it, did give it to _Spengler_, who being a great hater of\nsuperstition, did cause it to be broken into small pieces, and so with\nthe Silk in which it was wrapped, threw it into the sink of the House.\u201d\n\nI confess I have heard strange stories of things that have been revealed\nby these supposed apparitions, from persons both of great worth and\nlearning; but seeking more narrowly into the matter I found them all to\nbe superstitious delusions, fancies, mistakes, cheats and impostures.\nFor the most part the child tells any thing that comes into his fancy,\nor doth frame and invent things upon purpose, that he never seeth at\nall, and the inquirers do presently assimilate them to their own\nthoughts and suspicions. Some that pretended to shew and foretel strange\nthings thereby to get money, have been discovered to have had\nconfederates, that conveied away mens goods into secret places, and gave\nthe cunning Man notice where they were hid, and then was the child\ntaught a straight framed tale, to describe what a like Man took them\naway, and where they were, which being found brought credit enough to\nthe couzeners, and this I knew was practised by one _Brooke_ and\n_Bolton_. Some have had artificial glasses, whereinto they would convey\nlittle pictures, as Dr. _Lambe_ had.\n\nIt being manifest by what we have laid down that there are apparitions\nand some such other strange effects, whereby murthers are often made\nknown and discovered, and also having mentioned that it may be most\nrationally probable that they are caused by the Astral or Sydereal\nSpirit, it will be necessary to open and explain that point, and to shew\nwhat grounds it hath, upon which it may be settled, which we shall do in\nthis order.\n\n[Sidenote: Immort. of the Soul. _c._ 16. _sect._ 8. _p._ 296.]\n\n[Sidenote: _De verb. Apost._ _lib. Serm._ 18.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Idem contr. Pelag._]\n\n_c._ 28. _Tom._ 7.\n\n1. There are many (especially Popish Authors thereby to uphold their\nDoctrine of Purgatory) that maintain that they are the Souls of the\npersons murthered and deceased, and this opinion, though unanswerably\nconfuted by the whole company of reformed Divines, is notwithstanding\nrevived by Dr. _Henry Moore_, but by no arguments either brought from\nScripture, or grounded upon any solid reasons, but only some weak\nconjectures, seeming absurdities, and Platonick whimsies, which (indeed)\nmerit no responsion. And we have by positive and unwrested Scriptures,\nin this Treatise afore proved, that the Souls of the righteous are in\n_Abrahams_ bosom with Christ at peace and rest, and that the Souls of\nthe wicked are in Hell in torments, so that neither of them do wander\nhere, or make any apparitions; for as S. _Augustine_ taught us: _Duo\nsunt habitacula, unum in igne \u00e6terno, alterum in regno \u00e6terno_. And in\nanother place: _Nec est ulli ullus medius locus, ut possit esse nisi cum\nDiabolo, qui non est cum Christo_. And _Tertullian_ and _Justin Martyr_,\ntwo most ancient writers do tell us: \u201cThat Souls being separated from\ntheir Bodies, do not stay or linger upon the earth: And after they be\ndescended into the infernal pit, they do neither wander here upon their\nown accord, nor by the power and command of others; But that wicked\nspirits may counterfeit by craft that they are the Souls of the dead,\n_Vid. Lavaterum de Spectris secunda parte_ _c._ 5.\u201d\n\n2. We have also shewed that these apparitions that discover murther and\nmurtherers and brings them to condign punishment, cannot be the evil\nAngels, because they are only Ministers of torture, sin, horror and\npunishment, but are not Authors of any good either Corporeal or\nSpiritual, apparent or real. So that it must of necessity be left either\nto be acted by a Divine Power, and that either by the immediate power of\nthe Almighty, for which we have no proof, but only may acknowledge the\npossibility of it; or mediate by the ministery of good Angels, which is\nhard to prove, there being no one instance, or the least intimation of\nany such matter in all the Scriptures, and therefore in most rational\nprobability, either relations of matters of fact of this nature are\nutterly false, or they are effected by the Astral spirit.\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. lib. Sagac. Philos. passim._]\n\n3. Concerning the description of this Astral Spirit or Sydereal Body,\n(for though it be as a spirit, or the image in the looking-glass, yet it\nis truly corporeal) we shall give the sum of it, as _Paracelsus_ in his\nmagisterial way, without proof doth lay down. \u201cHe positively holdeth\nthat there are three essential parts in Man, which he calleth the three\ngreat substances, and that at death every one of these being separated,\ndoth return into, or unto the Womb from whence it came; as The Soul that\nwas breathed in by God, doth at death return unto God that gave it: And\nthat the Body, that is to say, that gross part that seems to be composed\nof the two inferior Elements of Earth and Water, doth return unto the\nEarth, and there in time consume away, some bodies in a longer time,\nsome in a shorter: But the third part which he calleth the Astral\nSpirit, or Sydereal Body, as being firmamental, and consisting of the\ntwo superior Elements of Air and Fire, it (he saith) returneth into its\nSepulcher of the Air, where in time it is also consumed, but requireth a\nlonger time than the body, in regard it consisteth of more pure Elements\nthan the other, and that one of these Astral Spirits or Bodies doth\nconsume sooner than another, as they are more impure, or pure. And that\nit is this spirit that carrieth along with it the thoughts, cogitations,\ndesires and imaginations that were impressed upon the mind at the time\nof death, with the sensitive faculties of concupiscibility and\nirascibility. And that it is this spirit or body (and not the Soul that\nresteth in the hands of the Lord) that appeareth, and is most usually\nconversant in those places, and those negotiations that the mind of the\nperson living (whose spirit it was) did most earnestly follow, and\nespecially those things that at the very point of death, were most\nstrongly impressed upon this spirit, as in the case of the person\nmurthered, whose mind in the very minute of the murther, receiveth a\nmost deep impression of detestation and revenge against the murtherer,\nwhich this spirit bearing with it, doth by all means possible seek the\naccomplishment of that revenge, and therefore doth cause dreams of\ndiscovery, bleedings and strange motions of the body murthered, and\nsometimes plain apparitions of the persons murthered, in their usual\nshape and habit, and doth vocally and audibly reveal the murther with\nall the circumstances,\u201d as is apparent in the two forementioned\nHistories of the apparition of _Fletcher_ to _Raynard_, and of the Woman\nmurthered by _Mark Sharp_, to the Miller _Grimes_.\n\n[Sidenote: _De Anim. Brut._ _c._ 1, 2.]\n\n4. And this Astral Spirit is no more than that part in Man that is\ncommonly called the sensitive Soul, and by the Schools is commonly\ndefined thus: \u201c_Anima sentiens est vis, qu\u00e6 apprehendit & percipit ea\nqu\u00e6 extra ipsam sunt_. And this is corporeal, and (as Dr. _Willis_\nholdeth) mortal and coextended with the Body, and that it hath the power\nof imagination, appetite, desire, and aversion and the like, and in a\nmanner, a sensitive way of ratiocination, and yet is distinct from the\nrational Soul or _Mens_ that is incorporeal, immortal, and far more\nexcellent.\u201d And perspicacious _Helmont_ holding this sensitive Soul to\nbe distinct from the _mens_ or immortal and rational Soul, saith thus:\n_Est ergo anima sensitiva, caduca, mortalis, mera lux vitalis data \u00e0\npatre luminum, nec alio modo verboq; explicabilis_. But of the rational\nSoul he saith: _Ipsa autem mens immortalis, est substantia lucida,\nincorporea, immediate Dei sui imaginem referens, quia eandem in creando,\nsive in ipso Empsychosis instanti, sibi insculptam suscepit_. So that\nboth these late and learned Authors hold, that in every Man there are\ntwo distinct Souls, the sensitive that is mortal, corporeal, and\ncoextended with the Body, and the rational, that is immortal and\nabsolutely incorporeal: so that though in words and terms they seem to\ndiffer, yet in substance they agree. For the Hermetick School, the\nPlatonists, _Paracelsus_, _Jacob Behemen_, and others do hold three\nparts in Man which they call, Soul, Spirit and Body, and these two last\nAuthors do hold the body to be one part in Man, and two Souls besides,\nthe sensitive and rational that are two distinct parts, the one\ncorporeal and mortal, and the other incorporeal and immortal, and so\nthey do but nominally differ. And now our task must be to prove, that\nfirst there are such three parts in Man, and that after death they do\nseparately exist, which we shall attempt in this order.\n\n[Sidenote: Gen. 1. 30.]\n\n[Sidenote: Eccles. 3. 21.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Ibid._ 12. 7.]\n\n[Sidenote: Matth. 10. 28.]\n\n[Sidenote: Acts 20. 10.]\n\n[Sidenote: Luke 23. 46.]\n\n1. Though arguments taken _\u00e0 notatione nominis_, do not necessarily\nprove, yet they illustrate, and render the case plain and intelligible;\nand we shall find that the _Hebrews_ have three distinct appellations\nfor these three parts. As for the Soul, either rational or sensitive, or\nvital spirit, they use _Nephesh_ which is common to brutes and reptiles\nas well as to Man, as saith the Text: _And to every beast of the earth,\nand to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the\nearth in which there is a living soul, Nephesh-Haiah_. And therefore to\ndistinguish the rational and immortal Soul, from this which is\nsensitive, mortal and common with brutes, the Text saith: _And the Lord\nGod formed man of the dust of the earth, and breathed into his nostrils\nthe breath of life, and man became a living soul_. Upon which\n_Tremellius_ gives us this note: _Ut clarius appareret discrimen quod\nest inter animam hominis, & reliquorum animantium: Horum enim anim\u00e6 ex\neadem materia provenerunt, unde corpora habebant, illius ver\u00f2 anima\nspiritale quiddam est & Divinum_. And upon the words; _Sic fuit homo. Id\nest (ait) hac ratione factum est, ut terrea illa statua animata\nviveret_. Another word they use, which is _Ruah_, and this is also\ngenerally attributed to Men and Beasts, as the words of _Solomon_ do\nwitness. _Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upwards, and the\nspirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?_ And in both\nthese, touching both Man and Beast, the word _Ruah_ is used as common to\nthem both; and sometimes it is taken specially for the rational immortal\nSoul, as, _And the spirit shall return unto God who gave it_. Also they\nhave the word _Niblah_, and _Basar_, that is, _corpus_, _caro_, or\n_cadaver_, and by these three they set forth, or distinguish these three\nparts. And the Grecians have likewise their three several names for\nthese parts, as \u03c8\u03c5\u03c7\u1f74, _anima_, _vita_, which is taken promiscuously\nsometimes for the rational and immortal Soul, as in this place; _And\nfear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul:\nbut rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in\nhell_. And it is taken for the life in that of the _Acts_: _And Paul\nsaid, Trouble not your selves, his life is in him_. Also they have the\nword \u03a0\u03bd\u03b5\u1fe6\u03bc\u03b1, _Spiritus, ventus_, _spiritus vit\u00e6_, being variously taken,\nyet sometimes for the rational and immortal Soul, as _Father into thy\nhands I commend my spirit_. So they have the word \u03a3\u1ff6\u03bc\u03b1, _Corpus_, the\nbody or gross and fleshly part. And to these accord the three Latine\nterms for these three distinct parts; _Anima_, _Spiritus_ and _Corpus_.\n\n[Sidenote: _Mens ad Herm._ _p._ 21.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Pimand._ _c._ 12. _p. mihi_ 451.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Comment. in Conviv. Platon._ _p._ 400.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. De Anim. Brutor._ _c._ 7. _p._ 73.]\n\n2. This opinion of these three parts in Man, to wit Body, Soul and\nSpirit, is neither new, nor wants Authors of sufficient credit and\nlearning to be its Patrons. For _Hermes Trismegistus_ an Author almost\nof the greatest Antiquity saith thus: \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u1f41 \u03bc\u1f72\u03bd \u0398\u03b5\u1f78\u03c2 \u1f10\u03bd \u03c4\u1ff7 \u03bd\u1ff7, \u1f41 \u03b4\u1f72 \u03bd\u03bf\u1fe6\u03c2\n\u1f10\u03bd \u03c4\u1fc7 \u03c8\u03c5\u03c7\u1fc7, \u1f21 \u03b4\u1f72 \u03c8\u03c5\u03c7\u1f74 \u1f10\u03bd \u03c4\u1fc7 \u1f55\u03bb\u03b7. That is, _God is in the mind, the mind\nin the soul, and the soul in matter_. But _Marsilius Ficinus_ gives it\nthus: _Beatus Deus, D\u00e6mon bonus, animam esse in corpore, mentem in\nanima, in mente verbum pronunciavit_. And further addeth: _Deus ver\u00f2\ncirca omnia, simul atq; per omnia, mens circa animam, anima circa a\u00ebrem,\na\u00ebr circa materiam_. And some give it more fully thus. _God is in the\nmind, the mind in the Soul, the Soul in the Spirit, the Spirit in the\nblood, and the blood in the Body._ But besides this ancient testimony,\nit is apparent that the whole School of the Platonists, both the elder\nand later were of this opinion, and also the most of the Cabalists: For\n_Ficinus_ from the Doctrine of _Plato_ tells us this: _Human\u00e6\ncogitationis domicilium anima ipsa est. Anim\u00e6 domicilium spiritus.\nDomicilium spiritus hujus est corpus._ But omitting multitudes of others\nthat are strong Champions for this Tenent, we think for authorities to\nacquiesce in that of our most learned Physician and Anatomist Dr.\n_Willis_, and in those that he hath quoted, which we shall give in the\nEnglish: First he saith: \u201cLest I be tedious in rehearsing many, it\npleaseth me here only to cite two Authors (but either of which is a\nTroop) for the confutation of the contrary opinion. The one (he saith)\nis the most famous Philosopher _Petrus Gassendus_, who _Physic. Sect._\n3. _lib._ 9. _c._ 11. doth divide, _toto C\u0153lo_, (as is said) the mind of\nman, from the other sensitive power, as much as is possible to be done,\nby many and most signal notes of discrimination, yea disjoining of them\n(as it is said in the Schools) by specific differences: Because when he\nhad shewed this to be corporeal, extended, nascible and corruptible, he\nsaith the other is an incorporeal substance, and therefore immortal,\nwhich is immediately created, and infused into the body by God; to which\nopinion he sheweth _Pythagoras_, _Plato_, _Aristotle_, and for the most\npart all the ancient Philosophers, except _Epicurus_, did much agree;\nexcepting notwithstanding that they did hold, as not knowing the origin\nof the Soul, which they judged to be immortal, that it being cropt off\nfrom the soul of the world, did slide into the body, and that it was\npoured again into the Soul of the world either immediately, or at the\nlast mediately, after its transmigration into other bodies.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Ibid._ _p._ 74.]\n\nThe other suffrage (he saith) upon this matter, is of the most learned\nDivine Dr. _Hamond_, our Countryman, who opening the Text _Epist.\nThessalo._ 1. _c._ 5. _v._ 23. to wit, _your whole spirit and soul and\nbody &c._ \u201cHe saith that Man is divided into three parts. 1. To wit,\ninto the body, by which is denoted the flesh and the members. 2. Into\nthe vital soul, which in like manner being animal and sensitive is\ncommon to man with the bruits. 3. Into the spirit, by which the rational\nsoul, that was first created of God, is signified, which also being\nimmortal doth return unto God. _Annot. in Nov. Testam._ _lib. p._ 711.\u201d\nThis his exposition he confirmeth by Testimonies brought from Ethnick\nAuthors, and also from the ancient Fathers. From all which the learned\nDr. doth make this conclusion: \u201cAnd from the things above (he saith) it\nis most evidently manifest, that man being as it were an Amphibious\nanimal, or of a middle nature and order betwixt the Angels and bruits,\nwith these he doth communicate by a corporeal soul, framed of the vital\nblood and the stock of animal spirit, joyned likewise in one; and with\nthe other he communicates by an intelligent soul immaterial and\nimmortal.\u201d And thus much for arguments brought from humane authority,\nwhich are prevalent, if they be brought affirmatively (as these are)\nfrom learned men or Artificers, and so we shall proceed to further kind\nof proofs.\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Thes. 5. 23.]\n\n[Sidenote: Ephes. 4. 17.]\n\n3. But an argument arising from Divine Authority is of the most force of\nall, and therefore let us a little survey the Text it self, which in our\nEnglish Translation is thus: _And the very God of peace sanctifie you\nwholly: And I pray God your whole Spirit, and Soul, and Body be\npreserved blameless, unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ_. The\nApostle having given the believing _Thessalonians_ all the spiritual\ncounsel that could be necessary, to bring them to the perfection of\nsanctification, doth pray for them, that the God of peace would\nsanctifie them wholly, or as the word \u1f41\u03bb\u03bf\u03c4\u03b5\u03bb\u03bf\u1fd6\u03c2 signifieth (as _Arias\nMontanus_ hath rendered it) _omnin\u00f2perfectos_, altogether perfect, And\nthat the whole, \u1f41\u03bb\u03cc\u03ba\u03bb\u03b7\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd, that is the whole part, portion or lot (for\nso the word properly signifieth) which he nameth by _Spirit, Soul and\nBody, to be preserved blameless, unto the coming of our Lord Jesus\nChrist_. And therefore to this doth learned _Beza_ add this note: \u201c_Tum\ndem\u00f9m igitur (ait) homo integer sanctificatus fuerit, quum nihil\ncogitabit spiritus, nihil appetet anima, nihil exequetur corpus, quod\ncum Dei voluntate non consentiat_.\u201d And before he had said: \u201cTherefore\n_Paul_ by the appellation of spirit doth signifie the mind, in which the\nprincipal stain lieth: and by the Soul the rest of the inferior\nfaculties, and by the body the domicile of the Soul.\u201d And in another\nplace he saith: \u201cThe mind is become vain, the cogitation obscured, the\nappetite hardened.\u201d And to the same purpose doth learned _Rollock_ upon\nthe place say thus much: \u201cSanctification, or transformation is not of\nany one part, but of all the parts, and of the whole man. For there is\nno part or particle in man, which was not deformed in that first fall,\nand made as it were monstrous. Therefore \u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03bc\u03cc\u03c1\u03c6\u03c9\u03c3\u03b9\u03c2, or transformation\nought to be of the whole man and of every singular part of him. And\nfurther he saith: For the whole man the Apostle hath here the\nenumeration of his principal parts. And they are three in number,\nSpirit, Soul and Body. By the spirit (he saith) I understand the mind,\nwhich the Apostle _Eph._ 4. 24. calleth _the spirit of the mind_, and\nthis is no other thing than the faculty of the rational mind, which is\ndiscerned in invention, and in judging of things found out. By the name\nof soul (he saith) I understand all those inferior faculties of the\nmind, as are the animal which are also called natural. The body doth\nfollow these parts, to wit that gross part which is the instrument by\nwhich the spirit and soul do exert their functions and operations.\u201d By\nall which it is most clear, that though they call them faculties, yet\nthey are distinct essential parts of the whole man, which is most\nmanifest, in that the body, though one of these three, cannot be a\nfaculty, but a meer instrument, and yet is one of the essential parts,\nthat doth integrate the whole man. But whosoever shall seriously\nconsider, how little satisfaction the definition of a faculty given by\neither Philosophers or Physicians, will bring to a clear understanding,\nmay easily perceive, that distinct parts are commonly taken to be\nfaculties.\n\n[Sidenote: _Ut supra_ _c._ 7. _p._ 74.]\n\n4. The first argument that this learned Physician urgeth, to prove that\nthere are two Souls in man, the one sensitive and corporeal, the other\nrational, immortal and incorporeal, is in this order. \u201cBut (he saith)\nwhereas it is said that the rational soul doth by it self exercise every\nof the animal faculties, it is most of all improbable, because the\nactions and passions of all the animal senses and motions are corporeal,\ndivided and extended to various parts, to perform which immediately the\nincorporeal and indivisible soul (if so be it be finite) seemeth unfit\nor unable. Further (he saith) what belongeth unto that vulgar opinion,\nthat the sensitive soul is subordinate to the rational, and as it were\nswallowed up of it, that that which is the soul in brutes, in man\nbecomes a meer power; these are the trifles of the Schools. For how\nshould the sensitive soul of man, which before hath been in act a\nsubsistent, material and extended substance, losing its essence, at the\nadvent of the rational soul, degenerate into a meer qualitie? But if it\nbe asserted that the rational soul, by its advent also doth introduce\nlife and sensation, then man doth not generate an animated man, but only\na formless body, or a rude heap of flesh.\u201d\n\n5. Another argument he useth to prove these two souls in man is this:\n\u201cTherefore (he saith) it being supposed that the rational soul doth come\nto the body before animated of the other corporeal soul, we may inquire,\nby what band or tye, seeing it is a pure spirit, can it be united to\nthis, seeing it hath not parts, by which it might be tied, or adhere to\nthe whole or any of the parts? And therefore he thinketh that concerning\nthis point it is to be said with most learned _Gassendus_: That the\ncorporeal soul is the immediate subject of the rational soul, of which\nseeing it is the act, perfection, complement and form, also by it the\nrational soul is made or becometh the form and act of the humane body.\nBut seeing that it doth scarce seem like or necessary, that the whole\ncorporeal soul should be possessed of the whole rational soul; Therefore\nit is lawful to determine that this rational soul, being purely\nspiritual, should reside as in its Throne, in the principal part or\nfaculty of it, to wit in the imagination, framed of a small portion of\nthe animal spirits, being most subtile, and seated in the very middle or\ncenter of the brain.\u201d\n\n6. Another chief argument that he useth to prove these two souls in man,\nis the strife and disagreements that are within man: \u201cBecause (he saith)\nthe intellect and imagination are not wont to agree in so many things,\nbut that also the sensitive appetite doth dissent in more things: From\nwhose litigations moreover it shall be lawful to argue, that the moodes\nof the aforesaid souls, both in respect of subsisting and operating, are\ndistinct. For as there is in man a double cognitive power, to wit the\nintellect and imagination, so there is a double appetite, the Will\nproceeding from the Intellect, which is the Page or servant of the\nrational soul, and the sensitive Appetite, which cohering to the\nimagination, is said to be the hands, or procuratrix of the corporeal\nsoul.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Ephes. 4. 18.]\n\n7. To these we shall add, that when the understanding is truly\nenlightened with the spirit of God, and led by the true light of the\nGospel, in the ways of Christ, then is man said to be spiritual, because\nthe carnal mind and the sensitive appetite are subdued and brought under\nto the obedience of Christ by his grace. So also when the understanding\nis darkned, as saith the Apostle; _Having the understanding darkened,\nbeing alienated from the life of God thorow the ignorance that is in\nthem, because of the blindness of their hearts_. Then man becomes wholly\nled with the carnal and sensual appetite, and is therefore called\n\u03c8\u03c5\u03c7\u03b9\u03ba\u1f78\u03c2 \u1f04\u03bd\u03b8\u03c1\u03c9\u03c0\u03bf\u03c2, the natural, animal or soully man: And in both these\nconditions the organical body is led and acted according to the ruling\npower, either of the Spirit of God, and so it is yielded up a living\nsacrifice to God, or of the spirit of darkness, corruption, and the\nsensitive appetite, and so is an instrument of all unrighteousness. By\nall which it is most manifest that there are in man these three parts,\nof Body, Soul, and Spirit, which was the thing undertaken to be proved.\n\n8. Lastly as to this point, it is a certain truth that two extreams\ncannot be joined or coupled together, but by some middle thing that\nparticipated or cometh near to the nature of both. So the Soul which (by\nthe unanimous consent of all men) is a spiritual and pure, immaterial\nand incorporeal substance cannot be united to the body, which is a most\ngross, thick and corporeal substance, without the intervention of some\nmiddle nature, fit to conjoin and unite those extreams together, which\nis this sensitive and corporeal Soul or Astral Spirit, which in respect\nof the one extream incorporeal, yet of the most pure sort of bodies that\nare in nature, and that which approacheth most near to a spiritual and\nimmaterial substance, and therefore most fit to be the immediate\nreceptacle of the incorporeal Soul: And also it being truly body doth\neasily join with the gross body, as indeed being congenerate with it,\nand so becomes _vinculum & nexus_ of the immaterial Soul and the more\ngross body, that without it could not be united.\n\nNow having (as we conceive) sufficiently proved that there are in man\nthese three distinct parts of Body, Soul, and Spirit, in the next place\nwe are to shew that these three may, and do separately exist, and that\nwe shall endeavour by these reasons.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 1._]\n\n[Sidenote: Eccl. 12. 7.]\n\n[Sidenote: 2 Cor. 5. 1.]\n\n1. It is manifest by Divine Authority that _the spirit_, that is the\nrational, immortal and incorporeal _soul_, _doth return to God that gave\nit_. That is not to be annihilated or to vanish into nothing, but to\nabide and remain forever or eviternally. For the Apostle saith: _For we\nknow, that if our earthly tabernacle or house were dissolved, we have a\nbuilding of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens_.\nBy which it is manifest that the immaterial Soul doth exist eternally\n_ex parte post_, as the Schools say, and also the gross body being\nseparated from the immortal Soul, doth by it self exist until it be\nconsumed in the grave, or by corruption be changed into earth, or some\nother things, or that the Atomes be dispersed, and joined unto, or\nfigurated into some other bodies. So it is most highly rational that\nthis sensitive Soul, or Astral Spirit, which is corporeal, should also\nexist by it self for some time, until it be dissipated and wasted, in\nwhich time it may (and doubtlesly doth) make these apparitions, motions\nand bleedings of the murthered bodies.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 2._]\n\n2. Upon the supposition that the rational Soul be not _ex traduce_, but\nbe infused after the bodily organs be fitted and prepared, which is the\nfirm Tenent of all Divines Ancient, middle and Modern, and must upon the\ngranting of it to be simply, and absolutely immaterial and incorporeal\n(which is indisputable) of necessity be infused, because no immaterial\nsubstance can be produced or generated by the motion of any agent, that\nis meerly material, or forth of any material substance whatsoever. And\ntherefore I say that the Soul being infused, it must of necessity follow\nthe organized body, that could not exist (except as a lump of flesh)\nwithout the corporeal sensitive soul; which must of necessity\ndemonstrate, that as they did separately exist before the union of the\nSoul and Body, so they also do exist distinctly after their separation\nby death, and so the Astral Spirit may effect the things we have\nasserted.\n\n[Sidenote: _Reas. 3._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Histor. rarior. Obs._ 62. _p._ 325, 326.]\n\n3. And if the experiment be certainly true that is averred by\n_Borellus_, _Kircher_, _Gaffarel_, and others (who might be ashamed to\naffirm it as their own trial, or as ocular witnesses, if not true) that\nthe figures and colours of a plant may be perfectly represented, and\nseen in glasses, being by a little heat raised forth of the ashes. Then\n(if this be true) it is not only possible, but rational, that animals as\nwell as plants, have their Ideas or Figures existing after the gross\nbody or parts be destroyed, and so these apparitions are but only those\nAstral shapes and figures. But also there are shapes and apparitions of\nMen, that must of necessity prove that these corporeal Souls or Astral\nSpirits do exist apart, and attend upon or are near the blood, or\nbodies; of which _Borellus_ Physician to the King of _France_, gives us\nthese two relations.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 1._]\n\n1. _N. de Richier_ a Soap-maker (he saith) and _Bernardus Germanus_ from\nthe relation of the Lord of _Gerzan_, and others, distilling mans blood\nat _Paris_, which they thought to be the true matter of the\nPhilosophers-stone; they saw in the cucurbit or glass body, the\nPhantasm, or shape of a Man, from whom bloody rayes did seem to proceed,\nand the glass being broken they found the figure as though of a skull,\nin the remaining f\u00e6ces.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 2._]\n\n2. There were three curious persons also at _Paris_, that taking the\nChurch earth-mould from S. _Innocents_ Church, supposing it to be the\nmatter of the stone, did distill it and work upon it, and in the glasses\nthey did perceive certain Phantasms or Shapes of Men, of which they were\nno little afraid.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 3._]\n\n[Sidenote: _De Myst. Sang. Anatom._ _c._ 6. _p._ 233.]\n\n3. Our Countryman Dr. _Flud_ a person of much learning and great\nsincerity, doth tell us this well attested story: \u201cThat a certain\nChymical Operator, by name _La Pierre_, near that place in _Paris_\ncalled _Le Temple_, received blood from the hands of a certain Bishop to\noperate upon. Which he setting to work upon the _Saturday_, did continue\nit for a week with divers degrees of fire, and that about midnight the\n_Friday_ following, this Artificer lying in a Chamber next to his\nLaboratory, betwixt sleeping and waking, heard an horrible noise, like\nunto the lowing of Kine, or the roaring of a Lion; and continuing quiet,\nafter the ceasing of the sound in the Laboratory, the Moon being at the\nfull by shining enlightening the Chamber, suddenly betwixt himself and\nthe Window he saw a thick little cloud, condensed into an oval form,\nwhich after by little and little did seem compleatly to put on the shape\nof a Man, and making another and a sharp clamour, did suddenly vanish.\nAnd that not only some Noble Persons in the next Chambers, but also the\nHost with his Wife, lying in a lower room of the house, and also the\nneighbors dwelling in the opposite side of the street, did distinctly\nhear as well the bellowing as the voice, and some of them were awaked\nwith the vehemency thereof. But the Artificer said that in this he found\nsolace, because the Bishop of whom he had it, did admonish him, that if\nany of them from whom the blood was extracted, should die in the time of\nits putrefaction, his Spirit was wont often to appear to the sight of\nthe Artificer, with perturbation. Also forthwith upon _Saturday_\nfollowing he took the retort from the Furnace and broke it with the\nlight stroak of a little key, and there in the remaining blood found the\nperfect representation of an humane head, agreeable in face, eyes,\nnostrils, mouth and hairs, that were somewhat thin and of a golden\ncolour. And of this last there were many ocular witnesses, as the Noble\nperson Lord of _Bourdalone_, the Chief Secretary to the Duke of _Guise_,\nand that he had this relation from the Lord of _Menanton_ living in that\nhouse at the same time, from a certain Doctor of Physick, from the owner\nof the house, and many others.\u201d\n\nSo that it is most evident that there are not only three essential, and\ndistinct parts in Man, as the gross body, consisting of Earth and Water,\nwhich at death returns to the earth again, the sensitive and corporeal\nSoul, or Astral Spirit, consisting of Fire and Air, that at death\nwandereth in the air, or near the body, and the immortal and incorporeal\nSoul that immediately returns to God that gave it: But also that after\ndeath they all three exist separately; the Soul in immortality, and the\nbody in the earth, though soon consuming; and the Astral spirit that\nwanders in the air, and without doubt doth make these strange\napparitions, motions, and bleedings; and so we conclude this tedious\ndiscourse with the Chapter.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAP. XVII.\n\n  _Of the force and efficacy of Words or Charms, whether they effect any\n    thing at all or not, and if they do, whether it be by Natural or\n    Diabolical virtue and force._\n\n\nThere is nothing almost so common not only in the Poets (who have been\nthe chief disseminators of many such things) but in most of other\nAuthors, as the mention of the force of Charms and Incantations: And yet\nif we narrowly search into the bottom of the matter, there is nothing\nmore difficult than to find out any truth of the effects of them, in\nmatters of fact; and therefore that we may more clearly manifest what we\nhave proposed in this Chapter, we shall first premise these few things.\n\n1. Those that take the effects of them to be great, as many Divines,\nPhilosophers, and Physicians do, suppose no efficacy in them solely,\nholding that _quantitates rerum nullius sunt efficaci\u00e6_, but that they\nare only signs from the Devil to delude the minds of those that use\nthem, and in the mean time that the Devil doth produce the effects. But\nit had been well, if those that are of this opinion, had shewed us the\nways and means how the Devil doth operate such things, seeing he can do\nnothing in corporeal matter but by natural means: So that either we must\nconfess that there is no force at all in Charms, or that the effects\nproduced are by natural means.\n\n[Sidenote: _Syl. Syl._ _Cent._ 10. _p._ 583.]\n\n2. Neither can we assent fully to those that hold, that the force of\nimagination can work strange things upon other bodies, distinct and\nseparate from the body imaginant, upon which it is not denied to have\npower to operate very wonderful things; and that for the reason given by\nthe most learned Lord _Verulam_, which is this: _Experimenta qu\u00e6 vim\nimaginationis in corpora aliena solid\u00e8 probent, pauca aut nulla prorsus\nsunt; cum fascini exempla huc non faciant, quod D\u00e6monum interventu\nfortasse non careant_.\n\n[Sidenote: _Ibid._ _p._ 554.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Medicina Magnetica_, _p._ 14, 17, 19.]\n\n3. I said _not assent fully_, because there are some reasons that\nincline me to believe the possibility of it, though there be hardly\nfound any experiments that solidly prove it. For as the said Lord\nVerulam saith again: _Movendi sunt homines, ne fidem detrahant\noperationibus ex transmissione spirituum, & vi imaginationis, quia\neventus quandoq; fallit_. And there are so many learned Authors (though\nDr. _Casaubon_ according to his scurrilous manner stiles them\nEnthusiastical _Arabs_) of all sorts, that do stifly maintain the power\nof the imagination upon extraneous bodies, with such strength of\nargument, that I much stagger concerning the point, and therefore dare\nnot say my assent is fully to either. For learned Dr. _Willis_ having\n(as we conceive) unanswerably proved that there is a twofold Soul in\nMan, and that the one which is the sensitive, is corporeal, though much\napproaching to the nature of spirit, how far the force of imagination,\nwhich is its instrument, may reach, or what it may work at distance, is\nnot easy to determine. And if the Soul, as _Helmont_ laboureth to prove,\nby the Prerogative of its creation can when suscitated by strong desire\nand exalted phantasie operate _per nutum_, then it must needs follow,\nthat it may work upon other bodies than its own, and so using Words,\nCharms, Characters and Images may bring to pass strange things. But if\nthese three conclusions be certain and true, written by the pen of a\nmost learned, though less vulgarly known Author, to wit: \u201c1. The Soul is\nnot only in its proper visible body, but also without it; neither is it\ncircumscribed in an organical body. 2. The Soul worketh without, or\nbeyond its proper body commonly so called. 3. From every body flow\ncorporeal beams, by which the Soul worketh by its presence, and giveth\nthem energie and power of working: And these beams are not only\ncorporeal, but of divers parts also:\u201d If these (I say) be certain, then\ndoth the imagination work at distance by means of those beams, and\nconsequently Words and Charms, and such like may be the means and\ninstruments, by which the imagination (being the principal power of the\nsensitive Soul) may operate strange things at distance, and so that not\nbe vain which learned _Agrippa_ tells us.\n\n            _Nos habitat, non Tartara, sed nec sydera C\u0153li:\n              Spiritus in nobis qui viget, illa facit._\n\nAnd we have before sufficiently proved, that the species of bodies are\ncorporeal, and it is plain, that these operate upon our eyes at a vast\ndistance, and do intersect one another in the air without confusion. And\nwe must in all reason acknowledge that the sensitive Soul, must needs be\nof as much purity, and energie as those that we call the sensible, or\nvisible species of things, and then it must necessarily follow, that it\nby the means of the imagination may operate at a great distance, and so\nwords and charms may from thence have power and operation. For learned\n_Agrippa_ that great Philosopher, and master of lawful and natural\nMagick and not of that which is accounted diabolical (as the wretched\npen of _Paulus Jovius_ hath painted him) holds this: _Quod unicuiq;\nhomini impressus est Character Divinus, cujus vigore potest pertingere\nad operandum mirabilia_. Which if so, then many words, charms and the\nlike, have a natural efficacy to work wonderful things, and that at a\ngreat distance also.\n\n[Sidenote: _Vt supra_ _p._ 555, 556.]\n\n4. I cannot likewise but take notice of another caution, very pertinent\nto our present purpose, given us also by the said Lord _Verulam_, and in\nEnglish is this: \u201cAgain men are to be holden back from the peril of\ncredulity, lest here they too much rashly incline with an easy faith,\nbecause they often see the event to answer to the operations. For the\ncause of the success is to be referred often to the forces of the\naffections and imaginations in the body that is the agent, which by a\ncertain secondary reason may act in a diverse body. As for example: If\nany one carry about the figure of a Planet or a Ring or a part of some\nbeast, being certainly perswaded, that it will prove helpful unto him in\npromoting his love, or that he may be preserved from danger or wound in\nbattel, or in strife that he may overcome &c. it may render his wit more\nstirring, or may add spurs to his industry, or may cherish confidence\nand hold up constancie, from which perchancie he might have slided. Now\nwho is ignorant what industry and a mind tenacious of its purpose, may\ndesign and bring to pass in civil affairs? Therefore (he concludeth) he\nshould err and deceive and be deceived, who should ascribe these things\nto the force of imagination upon the body of another, which his own\nimagination worketh in his own body.\u201d And therefore this may caution all\nthat would judge aright of the force and effects of words and charms\nthat they may perhaps neither flow from the nature or efficacy of the\nwords, nor from the force of the imagination of him or her that\npronounceth, writeth, giveth or applieth the charm, but from the\nimagination and belief of the person to whom they are applied, and for\nwhom they are intended. For it is manifest by common experience (and we\nour selves have known it to be certain) that these charms either\npronounced, or written and hung about the patients neck, have produced\nthe greatest effects, upon such as are of the weakest judgment and\nreason, as Women, Children, and ignorant and superstitious persons, who\nhave great confidence in such vain and inefficacious trifles; and that\nthey seldom or never produce any effects at all, upon such as are\nobstinate Infidels in the belief of their operations, and I fear we\nshall not (or very hardly) find any instance to make this good, that\nthey effectively work upon such as are utterly diffident of their force\nor power.\n\n[Sidenote: _Cent. Problem._ _Decad._ 2. _p._ 38.]\n\n[Sidenote: _De Fascino_ _lib._ 1. _c._ 5. _p._ 22.]\n\n5. It hath sometimes been a question, Whether a rational Physician in\nthe curing of melancholy persons, or others in some odd diseases, ought\nto grant the use of Characters or Charms, and such ridiculous\nadministrations? Which is decided in the affirmative, that it is lawful\nand necessary to use them, by that able and learned Physician _Gregorius\nHorstius_, by eight strong and convincing arguments. And we our selves\nhaving practised the art of medicine in all its parts in the North of\n_England_, where Ignorance, Popery, and superstition doth much abound,\nand where for the most part the common people, if they chance to have\nany sort of the Epilepsie, Palsie, Convulsions or the like, do presently\nperswade themselves that they are bewitched, fore-spoken, blasted,\nfairy-taken, or haunted with some evil spirit, and the like; and if you\nshould by plain reasons shew them, that they are deceived, and that\nthere is no such matter, but that it is a natural disease, say what you\ncan they shall not believe you, but account you a Physician of small or\nno value, and whatsoever you do to them, it shall hardly do them any\ngood at all, because of the fixedness of their depraved and prepossessed\nimagination. But if you indulge their fancy, and seem to concur in\nopinion with them, and hang any insignificant thing about their necks,\nassuring them that it is a most efficacious and powerful charm, you may\nthen easily settle their imaginations, and then give them that which is\nproper to eradicate the cause of their disease, and so you may cure\nthem, as we have done great numbers. Here it is most manifest that the\ncharm or appension hath no efficacy at all, and yet accidentally, it\nconduces to settle their fancies and confidences, which conduceth much\nto their cures. And from hence it comes to pass that by reason of the\nfixed belief of the party to whom the charm is applied, there are many\nhelped, when the causality and efficiency is solely in the person\nimaginant and confident of receiving help by the means of the charm, and\nno efficacy at all in the charm it self, nor no diabolical concurrence,\nbesides what obliquity may be in the minds of the actors, nor no agency\nin the imagination of the charmer, to produce the effect: yet because\noften people are cured thereby, the common people (and sometimes the\nlearned also) do attribute the whole effect unto the charm, when indeed\nit effecteth nothing at all. And to this purpose _Varius_ doth quote a\npassage from Galen, which is this: _Sunt quidam natura l\u00e6ti, qui quando\n\u00e6grotant, si eos sanos futuros medicus confirmet, convalescunt; quorum\nspes sanitatis est causa: & medicus si animi desiderium incantatione,\naut alicujus rei ad collum appensione adjuverit, citius ad valetudinem\nperducet_.\n\nBut we now come to examine if we can find any convincing examples, from\nAuthors of credit, that in words, characters and charms there is any\nforce or efficacy; and this we shall endeavour from the best and most\npunctual Authors, that have come within the compass of our knowledge, or\nreading, and that in this order, to which we shall add some\nobservations.\n\n[Sidenote: _De abdit. rer. caus._ _l._ 1. _c._ 11. _p._ 65.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 1._]\n\n1. I think there are few that have been, or are Students or\nPractitioners in the Art of Medicine, that have not either heard, or\nread the writing of that most able and learned person _Johannes\nFernelius_ who was Physician to the most Christian King of _France_\n_Henry_ the second, who in that most profound piece that he writ, _De\nabditis rerum causis_, gives us as an ocular witness this relation. \u201cI\nhave (he saith) seen a certain Man, who by the virtue or force of words\ndid brings various Specters, or Apparitions into a looking-glass, which\ndid there so clearly express forthwith either in writing or in true\nimages, whatsoever he commanded, that all things were readily and easily\nknown to those that were by.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 1._]\n\n1. From hence we may observe, that _Fernelius_ seeing this (as he saith)\nwith his eyes, cannot (being so great a Scholar, and a circumspect\nperson) be imagined to have been deceived, or imposed upon; though as\nmuch as he relates might have been brought to pass by the artificial\nplacing of the glass, and having several images and things written moved\nby a confederate placed in some secret corner, where the images might\nfitly be reflected from the glass to the sight of the by-standers, or by\nsome other means performed by the optical science and confederacy. And\nit is no sure ground to introduce a Demon to act the business, when\nartificial means may rationally solve the matter, neither was it\nimpossible but he might mistake in the conjecture of the cause of those\nPhenomena.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 2._]\n\n2. And though he seems by his preceeding discourse, to believe it to\nhave been caused but by a league and compact betwixt the person that\nshewed it, and some Cacod\u00e6mon: yet he bringeth no better proof for it,\nthan the rotten authority of _Porphyrius_ and _Proclus_, and no\nconvincing argument that Demons can perform any such strange matters.\nAnd however if they were the meer apparitions of evil spirits, it is\nmuch to be wondered that _Fernelius_ would be present at any such sinful\nand dangerous sights, or have such familiar conversation with any of\nthat damned crew, seeing he there saith: _Qu\u00e6 omnes prorsus van\u00e6 &\ncaptios\u00e6 sunt artes_.\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 3._]\n\n3. If these Apparitions were caused by Cacod\u00e6mons, then there was no\nefficacy in the words at all, they were nothing but the sign of the\nleague betwixt the evil spirit, and the person that represented them;\nand then he need not have said, that they were derived into the glass\n_vi verborum_, and so this will not prove that it was effected by force\nof the words. But if all this that he relates, did proceed but from\nlawful and natural causes, as _Paracelsus_ strongly holds (the glass\nbeing but made as that which he saw in _Spain_, of the _Electrum_ that\nhe mentions) then the words might be efficacious, and so it is a\npunctual instance to prove that words are operative, which is the thing\n_de facto_, that we here seek after.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 2._]\n\n[Sidenote: _De Medic. Histor. mirab._ _lib._ 2 _c._ 1. _p._ 26.]\n\n[Sidenote: Of Credul. and Incred. _p._ 85.]\n\n2. The next History to this purpose we shall take from _Antonius\nBenevenius_, as we find him quoted by that learned person _Marcellus\nDonatus_, and likewise Dr. _Casaubon_ (for I have not the book by me)\nwho renders it thus. \u201cA Souldier had an arrow shot through the left part\nof his breast, so that the iron of it stuck to the very bone of the\nright shoulder. Great endeavours were used to get it out, but to no\npurpose. _Benevenius_ doth shew, that it was not feasible without\npresent death. The Man seeing himself forsaken by Physicians and\nChirurgeons, sends for a noted _Ariolus_ or Conjurer: who setting his\ntwo fingers upon the wound, with some Charms he used, commanded the iron\nto come out, which presently without any pain of the patient, came\nforth, and the Man was presently healed: And this the Doctor, who I\npresume had the book, saith, that _Benevenius_ saith _vidimus_ we have\nseen it, which _Marcellus Donatus_ saith, the Author ascribed to the\nvirtue of the words, and others to the force of imagination.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 1._]\n\n1. Here we may observe, that this may either be brought to pass by the\nefficacy of the words or charms that he muttered, and then we must needs\nconfess that charms are of great and stupendious force: or that it might\nbe effected by the imagination of the Charmer, and then we must suppose\n(which the most do deny) that the imagination of the person imaginant,\nhath power to operate upon extraneous bodies, if it had power to cause\nthe iron to come without harm forth of the wounded Souldiers body, or it\nmay be caused (and that in most probability) by the imagination of the\nparty wounded being excited and roused up by the uttering of the charm,\nin which the patient (in all likelihood) had no small confidence. And so\nhowever the charm was an accidental cause, or (as they use to say)\n_causa sine qua non_, of the bringing forth of the iron.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 3._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Lection. in Fen. 2. Avicen._]\n\n3. Another History we must borrow from the aforesaid two Authors\n_Donatus_ and Dr. _Casaubon_, which they have transcribed forth of\n_Johannes Baptista Montanus_, because I have not the Author by me, and\nis this: \u201cMy self with mine eyes, you may (he saith) believe me, have\nseen it: A certain man who when he had made a circle and drawn some\ncharacters about it, and uttered some words, he did call together above\na hundred Serpents. And further saith, that though he did murmur certain\nwords, yet he holdeth, that the bringing of the Serpents together was\nnot performed by the force of the words, but by the power of a strong\nimagination, and that some by the strength of imagination, not of words,\nare said to draw forth darts, and to cure wounds.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Observ. 1._]\n\n1. And here we may take notice that this is a punctual and positive\nHistory, plainly declaring the matter of fact, in calling together above\nan hundred Serpents, and this must be done either by the force of the\nwords, or by the strength of the persons imagination, or both, unless we\nmust admit the Devil to perform it, which may vainly be supposed, but\ncannot be proved, by what natural means he should bring it to pass. But\nhowever the relation is very credible, _Montanus_ being a famous\nPhysician and Professor at _Padua_, and affirms it as seen with his own\neyes.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 4._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Wier. de mag. Infant._ _p._ 92.]\n\n4. To these we may add one of sufficient credit from the learned\n_Masius_, as it is cited by _Wierus_, and Dr. _Casaubon_ (which may be\nwe have related before, but not to this purpose) and is this: \u201cI also\n(he saith) have seen them who with words (or charms) could stop wild\nbeasts, and force them to await the stroak of the dart: who also could\nforce that Domestick beastly creature, which we call a Rat, as soon as\nseen, amazed and astonished to stand still, as it were immoveable, until\nnot by any deceit or ambushes, but only stretching their hands, they had\ntaken them and strangled them.\u201d This is from his own sight, and he a Man\nof undoubted veracity.\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 5._]\n\n5. Another take from the credit of Dr. _Casaubon_ who fathers it upon\n_Remigius_, but confesseth that at the time of his writing the story he\ncould not find it in _Remigius_ his Book, and is this. \u201cI have seen a\nMan (saith he) who from all the neighbourhood (or confines) would draw\nSerpents into the fire, which was inclosed within a magical circle; and\nwhen one of them, bigger than the rest, would not be brought in, upon\nrepetition of the charms before used, he was forced, and so into the\nfire he did yield himself with the rest, and with it was compassed.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 6._]\n\n[Sidenote: Antidot. against Atheism. _c._ 2. _p._ 166.]\n\n6. To these we shall adjoin another story written from Wierus by Dr.\n_Moore_ thus: \u201cAnd (he saith) _Wierus_ tells us this story of a Charmer\nat _Saltzburg_, that when in the sight of the people he had charmed all\nthe Serpents into a ditch and killed them, at last there came one huge\none far bigger than the rest, that leapt upon him and winded about his\nwaste like a girdle, and pulled him into the ditch, and so killed the\nCharmer himself in the conclusion.\u201d And this great Serpent the Doctor\ntaketh (in his Appendix) to be a Devil, or a Serpent actuated and guided\nby him, but upon what grounds of reason I can no way understand.\n\n[Sidenote: _Archidox. Magic._ _l._ 1. _p._ 695.]\n\nThese are the most material passages that in our reading we can find in\ncredible and learned Authors, to prove thereby the effects of charms _de\nfacto_, and we confess they are all short, and not sufficiently\nevidential, as such a case may justly require; and therefore we shall\nhere add some testimonies of good Authors that do strongly affirm and\naver the same. As not to stand upon the authorities of the Cabalists,\nPlatonists or Arabians, we find the truth of the charming of Serpents\navouched by _Paracelsus_ (whose credit in this point, may be equivalent\nto any others) who saith thus: \u201cBut (he saith) answer me from whence is\nthis, that a Serpent in _Helvetia_, _Algovia_, or _Suevia_, doth\nunderstand the _Greek Idiom_, _Osy, Osya, Osy, &c._ When notwithstanding\nthe Greek tongue is not so common in this age, with the Helvetians,\nAlgovians, or Suevians, that the venenous worms should be able to learn\nit? Tell me (he saith) how, where and from what causes, Serpents do\nunderstand these words, or in what Academies have they learned them,\nthat they should forthwith at the first hearing of those words, stop\ntheir ears, with their tail turned back, lest they should be compelled\nto hear the words again reiterated? For assoon as they hear them, they\ncontrary to their nature and cunning do forthwith lie immoveable, and do\npursue or hurt no man with their venemous biting, when notwithstanding\notherwise they on the sudden fly from the noise of a mans going as soon\nas they hear it, and turn into their holes.\u201d From whence it is manifest\nthat _Paracelsus_ knew of his own experience that the charm (which it\nseems he knew) would make Serpents lie immoveable, and so that there was\npower and efficacy in words naturally without superstition to work and\noperate.\n\n[Sidenote: P. 88.]\n\nAlso the learned person _Tobias Tandlerus_ Doctor of Physick and publick\nProfessor at _Witteberge_, in his smart and pithy Oration _de fascino &\nincantatione_, tells us this: \u201cThat _Tuccia_ a Woman belonging to the\nTemple of _Vesta_ being accused of Incest, did by the help of prayer\ncarry water in a sieve, as _Pliny_ witnesseth: _lib._ 28. _c._ 2.\n_natur. Histor._ Who there with many examples, doth extol the efficacy\nof words. And further saith: They are found that stay wild beasts with\nwords, that they escape not the throwing of the dart. And those that\nrender Rats being seen in any place, stupid with secret murmuring, that\nthey may be taken with the hand and strangled.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Lib._ 2. _c._ 11. _p._ 220, 221.]\n\n_Augerius Ferrerius_, whom _Thuanus_ calls _Medicus Doctissimus_, in his\ntreating of Homerical medication, after he hath quoted Galen\u2019s\nrecantation from _Trallianus_, and divers arguments and examples to\nprove the efficacy of words, charms and characters from him, from\n_Aetius_ and others, he concludeth thus: _Quorum experientiam cum ob\noculos positam, & tot illustrium virorum authoritate confirmata videris,\nquid facies? Nam iis qu\u00e6 sensibus exposita sunt contravenire, sani\nhominis non est: Doctorum vero experimenta infirmare, temerarium._\n\nLastly, for authorities sake we shall add the opinion of sagacious\n_Helmont_, who writ a Book by him styled, _In verbis, herbis, &\nlapidibus est magna virtus_; and of the efficacy of words saith only\nthus much: _De magna virtute verborum qu\u00e6dam ingenu\u00e8 dixi, qu\u00e6 magis\nadmiror quam applico_. By which it is manifest that though _Helmont_ did\nnot make use of words or charms, yet knowing the efficacy of them he\ncould not but admire them.\n\nThese authorities joyned with the examples may suffice to convince any\nrational man that at some times and places, and by some persons, the\nusing of charms have produced strange effects: and therefore taking the\nmatter of fact to be a truth, we should come to examine the cause of\nthese effects; but first it will be necessary to premise some cautions\nand necessary considerations, which we shall pursue in this order.\n\n[Sidenote: _Histor. Natur._ _lib._ 28. _c._ 2. _p._ 397.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Consid. 1._]\n\n1. We are to consider the intricacy and difficulty of this point, which\nhath exercised the wits of the learned in all ages, and forced _Pliny_\nto say: _Maxim\u00e6 qu\u00e6stionis, & semper incert\u00e6 est, valeantne aliquid\nverba & incantamenta c\u00e0rminum_. And again more particularly: _Varia\ncirca h\u00e6c opinio, ex ingenio cujusq; vel casu, mulceri alloquio foras:\nquippe ubi etiam Serpentes extrahi cantu cogiq; in p\u0153nas, verum falsumne\nsit, vita non decreverit_. It seems by _Pliny_ that learned men of old\nhave been very much divided in their opinions about this matter,\ninsomuch that he dares not take upon him to decide it, but leaves it\nfree to every man to believe as they shall see cause. And therefore we\nought not to be condemned, if we do not absolutely decide it neither, it\nis enough if we bring so much light to the matter that it may be better\nunderstood, though not absolutely determined, _In magnis voluisse sat\nest_.\n\n[Sidenote: _Consid. 2._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid._ Credul. and Incredul. _p._ 101.]\n\n2. Again we are to note that some Authors of great credit and learning\ndo hold these things to be but meer _Aniles fabul\u00e6_, of which opinion\n(it seems) _Aristotle_, and _Galen_ were, though _Trallianus_ doth\naffirm (though some say falsly) that he made a retractation of that\nopinion, and this was the judgment of the learned Spaniard _Valesius_,\nwho in his book, _De sacra Philosophia_, hath taken great pains to\nperswade men, though he deny not supernatural operations by Devils and\nSpirits, that inchanting by magical words are impossible, and whatsoever\nis alledged by any ancient or late writer to that purpose, he doth\nreject as meerly fabulous. But upon as good grounds may any one reject\nthis his single opinion as fabulous, because there are a whole cloud of\nwitnesses against him, of as great credit and authority as himself, and\nexperience every day will make it manifest, that great effects do follow\nfrom the appension of charms and characters, not determining here\nwhether they cause those effects causally as efficients, or but meerly\naccidentally and occasionally, and therefore in this point Dr.\n_Casaubon_ saith well: \u201cAs for _Valesius_ opinion (he saith) though a\nlearned Man, and for ought I know Pious and Wise, yet it is no wonder to\nme, that any one man, though pious and learned, should fall into an\nopinion very Paradoxical and contrary to most other mens belief,\nespecially in a thing of this nature, which most depends of experience.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Consid. 3._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Centur._ 3. _Curat._ 14.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 1._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist. 2._]\n\n3. Notwithstanding all this, for the most part all charms, spells and\ncharacters are inefficacious, fallacious, superstitious and groundless,\nand hardly fit for an honest and wise man to use, except only to settle\nthe imaginations of patients, that they may more readily and hopefully\ntake those things that may effectually cure them. I say for the most\npart, not alwayes, because I grant that they do sometimes either\nefficiently or accidentally produce real effects. But that they are\nsometimes fallacious is manifest in the Charmer of _Saltzburg_, who\nthough with his charms he could prevail against the little serpents, yet\nthat great one that came prevailed against him, and threw him into the\nditch and killed him. And how vain it is to put any confidence in these\nidle trifles, and how fallacious and ineffectual and destructive they\nare, may appear by two deplorable examples. _Amatus Lusitanus_, a\nlearned and experienced Physician; and a man of great repute and\nveracity doth relate this: \u201cThat in the end of the Spring, the Summer\ncoming on, two young men did go from _Ancona_ to the City _Auximum_, and\nby the way, the one of them turning aside to make water, found a Viper\nin an hole at the bottom of a Tree, with a great deal of rejoicing, but\nwith an unhappy success. He did contend with his companion, that he\ncould take the Viper with his hand, without any hurt, and did brag that\nwith the murmuring of certain words, he could make all Serpents obey\nhim, lying still as stupid. The other did laugh him to scorn. At last\nthey come to a wager. But the Viper more audacious than was right,\nremained always truculent and unaltered. At last when he stretched forth\nhis hand to take her, it being stirred up with a mad and venemous fury,\nlifting up the neck did bite him in the finger, which beginning to pain\nhim, he quickly put his finger to his mouth perhaps to suck forth the\nblood, but within a small while the unhappy young man died by his own\nfault, neither did medical helps yield him any succour, but he might\nhave escaped, if he had not put the poyson of the Serpent to his mouth.\u201d\nAnd this wofull example may be a sufficient warning to all that they be\nnot too hasty to put confidence in these fallacious trifles. Another\nstory we shall give of our own knowledge, and is this. \u201cI had dismembred\na pretty Young-mans leg by reason of a Gangrene, his name _Robert\nTaylor_, a good Scholar, and had been a Clerk to a Justice of Peace, and\nabout three weeks after when the stump was near healed, I being gone\nfrom home, his Mother lying in the same room with him, but having gotten\ntoo much drink, he calling upon her to help him to the Close-stool, but\nshe not hearing, he scrambled up himself as well as he could, but hit\nthe end of the stump that was not quite closed, whereby the arteries\nwere opened, and a great Hemorrhage followed. And there being an honest\nsimple man that owed the house where he lay, having a vain confidence\nthat with a charm he said he had, he could undoubtedly stay the\nbleeding, and therefore would not suffer them to call up my man to stay\nthe Flux until day; which continuing so long, the vain and fruitless\ncharm prevailing nothing, though my man when he came did stop it, yet\nhad he lost so much blood that he died the next day;\u201d and this may serve\nfor a sufficient caution against vain confidence in charms.\n\n[Sidenote: _Consid. 4._]\n\n[Sidenote: _De Morbo Sacro_ _lib. Sect._ 3. _p._ 301.]\n\n4. Further we are to consider, that there are many notorious impostures,\nfrauds and cheats committed upon the poor ignorant, credulous and silly\ncommon people, while some make the people believe that their diseases\nare inflicted by such and such Saints, and therefore they must use such\nand such strange lustrations, suffumigations and other vain\nsuperstitious Rites and Ceremonies. Others pretend to drive away evil\nSpirits by exorcisms and conjurations, and others to cure all diseases\n(in a manner) with words, charms, characters, amulets, and the like,\nwhen the most of these pretenders are meer ignorant Knaves and\nImpostors, that do nothing but cheat the too credulous people of their\nmoney, and defame and dishonour the most noble Art of Medicine, of which\nwe have known divers sorts, some of which we have mentioned before in\nthis Treatise. To such as these that ancient Author (supposed by some to\nbe _Hippocrates_) _De morbo sacro_, doth give sufficient reproof, and of\nwhom he saith thus: _Ac mihi cert\u00e8 qui primi hunc morbum ad Deos\nretulerunt. tales esse videntur, quales sunt magi, expiatores,\ncirculatores, ac arrogantes ostentatores, qui se valde pios esse\nplurimumq; scire simulant_. A most large Catalogue of these kind of\npestiferous impostors, and many others, you have at full and to the life\npainted forth by _Paracelsus_ in his Preface to his less Chirurgery,\nwhere he hath sufficiently stigmatized them with all those wicked marks\nand brands that justly belong unto them. The same also is fully\nperformed by learned _Langius_ in his Epistles, to whom I referr the\nreaders.\n\n[Sidenote: _Consid. 5._]\n\n5. We are to consider that though we should grant that words or charms\nhad in them no energie, nor efficiency at all, by any natural power, and\nthat the Devils power doth not concur to make them operative; yet (as we\nhave partly shewed before) they are of singular use and benefit to a\nlearned Physician, whereby he may settle the fancies of his patients, to\ncause them more chearfully and confidently to commit them to his hands,\nand to take what he shall order and prescribe them, and this manner of\ntheir use is no way to be dispraised or condemned, and we leave it as\nexcepted forth of the dispute we have in hand.\n\nThere are chiefly three opinions, amongst those that grant the truth of\nthe matter of fact concerning the proper cause of these effects produced\nby words. 1. Of which the first sort are those that hold there is no\nefficiency at all in the words themselves, which are nothing but the\nsign of the league and compact betwixt the Charmer and the Devil, and\nthat whatsoever is brought to pass is only effected by the Devils power,\nand of this opinion are the greatest part of the learned. 2. Are those\nthat hold that the words or charms are but means to heighten the\nimagination, and that it is the strength of the exalted imagination only\nthat produceth those things that seem to be effected by those words or\ncharms, and of this opinion was _Avicen_ and many of the Arabians,\n_Ferrerius_, _Montanus_ and many others. 3. There are those that hold\nthat there is a natural efficiency in words and characters rightly\nfitted and conjoined together in proper and agreeable constellations,\nand of this opinion were _Johannes Ludovicus de la Cerda_, _Johannes\nBranus_, _Camisius Lusitanus_, _Paracelsus_, _Galeottus Martius_,\n_Henricus Cornelius Agrippa_, and many others; and of these we shall\nspeak in order.\n\n[Sidenote: Reason 1. against this opinion.]\n\n1. The first opinion doth take up a false supposition for its ground, to\nwit that the Devil doth make a visible and corporeal league with the\nCharmer, by virtue of which compact the effects are produced; and if\nthis compact be not explicite, yet it may be implicite, and so the Devil\noperateth the effects, thereby to draw the Charmer into his league and\nservice: But we have before sufficiently proved the nullity of any such\nCovenant, and shewed plainly that it is a false, impious and diabolical\nTenent, and that there is not, nor can be any other league betwixt the\nDevil and wicked men, but what is spiritual, internal and mental, and\ntherefore that the Devil doth not bring those effects to pass, by\npretence of a league, that hath no being or existence.\n\n[Sidenote: Reason 2. against this opinion.]\n\n2. We have proved by the unanimous consent of all the whole army of the\nlearned, that the Devil can work no alteration or change in natural\nbodies, but by the applying of fit agents to agreeable patients; but\nwhat agent could the Devil have applied to make the iron that stuck in\nthe Souldiers shoulder-bone related by _Benevenius_, to come forth\nwithout pain? surely none at all. For where an agent in nature is\nawanting to produce an effect, there the Devil must needs also be lame,\nand can effect nothing; and if either the words had a sufficient natural\npower to cause the iron to come forth, or the Souldiers imagination\nexalted by confidence in the Charm and Charmer, then the Devils help is\nin vain implored, or he brought in to be an actor of that he hath no\npower at all to perform, and there was no other natural agent applied,\nand therefore it must of necessity be one of the two that produced the\neffect, and not a Demon.\n\n[Sidenote: Reason 3. against this opinion.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Spong. Fosterian\u00e6 expressio._ _c._ 2. _p._ 7, _&c._]\n\n3. It cannot in any reason be imagined that the Devil, that for the\nspace of above five thousand years hath been the bitter and inveterate\nenemy to the health of Man both in Soul and Body, should now be become a\nPhysician & an healer. We read that God sent forth evil Angels amongst\nthe people, but he sent forth his word and they were healed. But it is\nmanifest that the evil Angels since their fall, are ordained of God to\nbe the instruments and organs for the executing of his wrath, and the\ngood Angels are his ministring Spirits for the good of his people both\nin Souls and Bodies: and therefore that the Devil should be the author,\nor instrument of curing any disease at all, were to make him to act\ncontrary to that end for which God hath ordained him, for he is the\ndestroyer, that is ordained to destroy, but not to heal.\n\n[Sidenote: Reason 4. against this opinion.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Miscell. Medic. Suet._ _lib._ 6. _Epist._ 17. _p._\n           284.]\n\n4. But we shall take another argument or two from the learned pen of\n_Henricus Bruc\u00e6us_ in his Epistle to _Thomas Erastus_, where about this\npoint he saith this: \u201cWhat is that (he saith) that the most of the\nGrecian Physicians were ignorant of Demons; or that it should be\nagreeable to truth, that they have not judged that Demons had any power\neither in inflicting or taking away any diseases? For that sentence of\n_Hippocrates_, that there is somewhat that is divine in diseases.\n_Galen_ doth shew in his Comment how it is to be understood, and\n_Hippocrates_ himself in that Treatise of the Falling-sickness doth\nsufficiently open it. Notwithstanding these chief men being Physicians\nand Philosophers, by whom the power of natural things and words was\nprincipally looked into; they were more willing to assent to things that\nwere evidently apparent, than take away the force of incantation by it\nself. By it self (he saith) Because they have had no remembrance of\nDemons, from whom the causes of such effects, which follow incantations,\ndo seem only they can possibly be derived.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Reason 5. against this opinion.]\n\n5. Before he argueth thus: \u201cBut the curation of diseases, which are\nperformed by conjurations and imprecations, he ascribeth unto the Devil.\nNotwithstanding (he saith) some things do move a scruple to me, because\nthat some things of them do seem to be of that kind, which cannot at all\nbe referred to Demons, in which no league or compact doth seem to\ninterceed. For leagues or compacts seem to be contracted, for that also\nthose things comprehended are to be performed to those that Covenant,\nthat by that means those that Covenant with him, may be withdrawn from\nthe worship of the true God, or that some may be confirmed in their\nimpiety. Which causes in Men to whom the true God is utterly unknown,\nhave no place; for neither are they to be withdrawn from the true God,\nwhom they altogether ignore, or to be confirmed in impiety, when they\nhave been brought up in the worship of Idols from their tender years.\nFor (he saith) _Aloisius C\u00e1dam\u00fastus_ in the 18 Chap. of the Indian\nNavigations relateth, that Serpents seeking to destroy Sheep in the\nKingdom of _Senega_, which is given to Idolatrous Worship, they will on\nthe night aim by heaps at the Sheep-folds, from whence they are driven\naway with certain conceived words, and this reason is not unknown to\nmany others. And that _Trallianus_ where he treateth of the stone,\nacknowledgeth the force of incantations in healing of diseases, and he\nwitnesseth that _Galen_ himself, taught by experience, did come over to\nthis opinion.\u201d For though _Galen_ before (as we have shewed) did account\ncharms but as _Aniles fabul\u00e6_, yet this Author _Trallianus_ doth quote a\npiece of _Galens_, wherein he maketh a retractation of that opinion, and\nit standeth with good reason that it might be so, _Trallianus_ living\nnear his time, and so might (notwithstanding what _Guitterrius_ bawleth\nto the contrary) have that part of his writing that since might be lost;\nfor I remember _Paracelsus_ somewhere saith that in his travels he found\nthe works of _Galen_, far more genuine and incorrupt than those that\nwere published and extant.\n\n[Sidenote: Reason 6. against this opinion.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Ut supra._]\n\n6. A further reason this Author gives us thus: \u201cFurthermore (he saith)\nthat it is not impious to frame to cure a disease with conceived words,\nand cannot be perswaded to believe it, especially seeing that those\ndiseases that are caused by Magick, are only to be cured by Magick. But\n(he saith) I confess that compacts with Demons are not to be entred\ninto, but that compacts being entred into with others, should pass to\nanother, and should bind with the same impiety, that is not agreeable to\ntruth, seeing that the consent of those that make the league, doth\neffect and confirm the compacts. Which if it be (he saith) far absent\nfrom us (that is a compact) and in the use of conceived words, by which\nthe malady is taken away, there be contained nothing that is impious,\nand that we implore the divine assistance; I do not see (he saith) any\nthing hurtful to Religion, nor unbeseeming a good and Pious Man. For as\nif things that are salutiferous to mankind, should come from Men that\nwere Atheists, we should imbrace them, not respecting the Authors: So if\n(he saith) things that are profitable should be shewed of a Demon, I\nshould not think they were to be rejected.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Reason 7. against this opinion.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Hist._]\n\n7. Lastly he saith: \u201cWhy may we not also refer effects in the sanation\nof diseases, which do accompany the enunciation or description of\nconceived words, to those we call good or guardian Angels? Why should we\nnot judge that these would be as ready to ease and help, as others to\nhurt, especially in diseases, where we are destitute of natural helps?\nAnd this opinion (he saith) _Constantinus magnus_ did approve, _Codicis_\n_lib._ 9. _tit._ 10. _leg._ 4. The Science of them (he saith) is to be\npunished, who being skilled in Magical Arts are discovered either to\nendeavour the impairing the health of men, or the drawing of chast minds\nto lust. But for seeking remedies to humane bodies, they ought not to be\npunished. But perhaps thou wilt say, that words are in vain muttered\nforth, unless a compact do interceed. But that which happened (he saith)\nat _Lipsick_ some twelve or fifteen years since, doth refell this\nopinion, where a little Wench, that by reason of her age did not know\nwhat she did, while she imitated the whole action of her nurse, which\nshe had often seen her use, and therewith stirred up tempests; herewith\nthe little Wench raised up such Thunders and Lightenings, by which a\nVillage, not far from the City was burned: As (he saith) D. _Nenius_\ntold him, and was a thing known to innumerable Citizens. For the Wench\nbeing brought to the Court, it was debated whether by law she could be\npunished, but it was decided by the opinions of the Lawyers, that she\ncould not be punished, seeing that by reason of her young age, she was\naltogether ignorant of what she did.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _De superst. & Ceremon._ _l. p._ 451.]\n\n8. We cannot also but remember here some notable passages of\n_Paracelsus_ where he is speaking of the power of faith and strong\nconfidence, meerly considered as a nude and natural power: And affirming\nits great force and operation to effect strange things, he saith: \u201cBut\ntruly we cannot deny, but that spirits do commix themselves with such a\nfaith, in celebrated feasts, and the like, as though they had performed\nthose things. But not at all they, but faith only doth these things: As\nif a Man had honey, and did not know from whence it came, nor what kind\nof creature did make it, and the Beetle should brag that she had made\nit.\u201d So the Devils though they perform nothing at all, but the effects\nare meerly produced by the power of a natural or miraculous faith, yet\nthey glory as though they had done them (in all things being liars and\ndeceivers) and therefore do they what they can to confirm and raise up\nceremonies and superstitions; From which commotions faith is brought\nforth, and faith worketh those strange effects, and therefore by reason\nof the superstition used, the Devils would make men believe that they\nare authors of those strange effects, which are onely wrought by the\nPower of an humane Faith, that they might rob God of his Glory and have\nit ascribed unto themselves. And therefore no persons do the Devils more\nservice than those that ascribe those works unto them that are wrought\nby natural power and the strength of humane faith. From whence he\nconcludeth thus: _Eodem modo fides est in homine, ut laqueus quo\nstrangulatur fur, ad multa utilis sit. Ea fides facit, ut fiat. Si fides\netiam in filum lineum est, similiter fit. Interim tamen hoc nec Diabolus\nfacit, nec fur, nec laqueus, nec carnifex: sed adulterina tua fides,\nquam non impendis ut debebas._\n\nHaving sufficiently (we suppose) proved that in the producing the\neffects by words or charms, the Devil doth operate nothing at all in\nthem, but only as a lying deceiver and Impostor, laboureth to have the\nhonour of those effects ascribed unto him; we shall now come to the\nsecond, and that is those that hold that the effects are solely produced\nby the force of the imagination and faith of the Charmer, and so that\nimagination doth work further than the proper body of the imaginant,\nupon other extraneous bodies, and that the words or characters avail\nnothing, but the fortifying and exalting of the faith of the Operator,\nto prove which are brought these arguments.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 1._]\n\n[Sidenote: Matth. 17. 20.]\n\n[Sidenote: Matth. 10. 1.]\n\n1. When the Disciples asked our Saviour, Why they could not cast forth\nthe Devil out of the child that was lunatick, and sore vexed, and oft\nfell into the fire, and into the water, he told them; _Because of their\nunbelief_, and said: _For verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a\ngrain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to\nyonder place, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible unto\nyou_. Upon which place learned _Beza_ gives us this note: _Non fidem\nillam generalem & historicam intelligit: Nec etiam fidem justificantem.\nSed illam demum specialem, & quibusdam Christianis particularem, qu\u00e2\nanimus quodam spiritus sancti impulsu ad res mirandas perficiendas\nimpellitur, & ista vocatur fides miraculorum._ And against diffidence\nour Saviour orders the remedy of fasting and prayer: But this was a\npower given by Christ unto them, which they (it seems) had lost, and are\nhere taught to resuscitate it by prayer and fasting. Others take it to\nbe a natural power of faith or strength of imagination in all men, which\nthey may stir up by fasting and prayer, therewith to operate that which\nis good, but being suscitated by the means of images, pictures,\nsuperstitious ceremonies, and the like, and so may effect either good or\nbad; but this later opinion we reject as unsound, and contrary to the\nScriptures, and so the argument doth prove very little.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 2._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. de inject. mater. 601, 602._]\n\n2. _Helmont_ holdeth, \u201cthat every man, in respect that they have been\npartakers of the image of God, hath power to create certain entities, by\nthe power of imagination, and that these conceived Ideas do cloath\nthemselves with a body in the shape of the image fabricated in the\nimagination, and it is by these that those strange things are effected,\nthat are falsly attributed to Demons.\u201d And that man solely hath this\npower. Which (if his argument be well grounded) doth prove plainly, that\nthese strange effects are brought to pass by the sole power of the\nphantasie of the person imaginant, or using the charms, and neither by\nthe power of the Devil nor of the charms.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 3._]\n\n[Sidenote: _De occulta Philos._ _lib._ 3. _c._ 40 _p._ 419, & _p._ 137.]\n\n[Sidenote: Of Credul. and Incredul. _p._ 110.]\n\n3. The argument to prove these things by, that they are brought to pass\nby the strength of imagination, used by _Cornelius Agrippa_, is this:\n_Non mediocri experientia (ait) comprobatum est, insitam a natura\nhomini, quandam dominandi, & ligandi vim_. And that there is an active\nterror in man, (if it be rightly resuscitated in him, and that he know\nhow to direct and make use of it) impressed in him by the Creator, which\nis as it were a terrifical character and signacle of God instamped upon\nman, by which all creatures do fear, and reverence man, as the image of\nhis Creator, and as by the law of creation, to be Lord, and to bear rule\nover them all. And here I cannot but mention that lepid (though tedious\n& ludicrous) tale that Dr. _Casaubon_ gives us of an horse-rider called\n_John Young_, \u201cthat could tame the most fierce Bulls and unruly Horses,\nas also by pipeing to make the most couragious and fierce Mastiff to lie\nclose down and to be quiet, by the force of his imagination and charms.\nAnd this _John Young_\u2019s Philosophy was agreeable to this of _Agrippa_\u2019s,\nto wit, That all creatures were made by God, for the use of Man and to\nbe subject unto him; and that if men did use their power rightly, any\nman might do what he did.\u201d _Fides sit apud authorem._\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 4._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Thom. Fien. de virib. imagin._ _Qu\u00e6st._ 12. _p._ 202.\n           _&c._]\n\n4. _Avicenna_, _Algazel_, _Alkindus_, _Marsilius Ficinus_, _Jacobus de\nForluio_, _Pomponatius Paracelsus_ and others, do sometimes hold, \u201cthat\nthe Soul (the sensitive and corporeal it must be understood) not by a\nnude apprehension, or meer impery, but by the emission of spirits (or\ncorporeal beams, as we have shewed before) do work upon external bodies,\nand so move and alter them. Sometimes they hold, that the whole Soul\n(sensitive must be meant) doth go quite forth of the Body, and wander\ninto far distant places, and there not only see what things are done,\nbut also to act something it self.\u201d And to this opinion (only meaning of\nthe immortal, and immaterial Soul) Dr. _Moore_ and Mr. _Glanvil_ do seem\nto agree, namely that the Soul may for a time depart forth of its Body,\nand return again. And to prove this the argument of _Avicen_ is this:\nSuperior things (he saith) have dominion over the inferior, and the\nIntelligences do rule and change corporeal things. And that the Soul is\na spiritual and separable substance. And therefore after the same\nmanner, may act in corporeal things, and change them as may be seen at\nlarge, with responsions in the book of _Fienus_.\n\nNow we come to the third and last opinion of those that positively hold,\nthat there is a force in words and characters (if rightly framed) to\neffect strange things withal, and this is as strongly denied by many.\nTherefore we shall only offer the most convincing arguments, that we\nmeet withal, and leave it to the censure of others, and that in this\norder.\n\nBut before we enter upon the positive arguments, we think it fit, lest\nwe be mistaken (though in part we may have touched some of them before)\nto lay down some few cautions and considerations, which we shall do in\nthis manner.\n\n[Sidenote: _Consid. 1._]\n\n[Sidenote: _De mirab. pot. Art. & Nat._ _c._ 2.]\n\n[Sidenote: _De Occult. Philos._ _p._ 484.]\n\n1. It is to be taken for a certain truth, that the greatest part of\nthose pretended charms and characters that are in this our age used by\nignorant, superstitious, and cheating impostors; are utterly false, and\nof no power or efficacy at all. And this was understood by our learned\nCountreyman _Roger Bacon_, who tells us thus much. \u201cFor without all\ndoubt (he saith) all of this sort now a days are false, or doubtful or\nirrational, and therefore not at all to be trusted unto.\u201d And to this\ndoth _Paracelsus_ fully agree, saying: \u201cAll characters are not to be\ntrusted to, or any confidence to be placed in them, nor in like manner\nin words. For the Nigromancers and Poets, being very laboriously\nimployed about them, have filled all Books with comments proceeding\nforth of their brains, wanting all truth and foundation, of which some\nthousands are not worth one deaf nut.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Consid. 2._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. ut supra._]\n\n2. Yet for all this we are to consider, that all of them are not totally\nto be rejected, for _Bacon_ tells us: \u201cThat there are certain\ndeprecations of ancient times instituted of men, or rather ordained of\nGod and good Angels, that are both true and efficacious; and such like\nas these may retain their first virtue. As in some Countreys (he saith)\nyet some certain prayers are made upon red hot iron, and upon the water\nof the flood, and likewise upon other things, by which the innocent are\ntried, and the guilty condemned.\u201d And this was the trial that by the\nSaxons (when used in _England_) was called =Ordeall=. Therefore\n_Paracelsus_ saith thus: _Repeto ergo, characteribus & verbis non\nomnibus fidendum esse, sed eligenda & retinenda, qu\u00e6 recta, genuina, ex\nfundamento veritatis deprompta, ac multoties probata sint_, which is\ncounsel good, sound and profitable. And somewhere he tells us that even\nthose true and genuine characters and Gamahuis that were rightly\nfabricated under due constellations, and were in old time efficacious,\nmay have now lost their virtue because the configurations of the Heavens\nare altered.\n\n[Sidenote: _Confid. 3._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Ubi supra._]\n\n3. Many of these strange characters or words were not by wise men\ninserted into their works, that thereby any strange things might be\nwrought by them, but were invented to conceal those grand secrets that\nthey would not have to be made known unto the unworthy. And therefore\n_Bacon_ gives us this profound and honest counsel: \u201cSo therefore (he\nsaith) there are very many things concealed in the books of the\nPhilosophers, by sundry ways: In which a Wise Man ought to have this\nprudence, that he pass by the charms and characters, and make trial of\nthe work of nature and art: And so he shall see, as well animate things,\nas inanimate, to concur together, by reason of the conformity of nature,\nnot because of the virtue of the charm or character. And so many secrets\nboth of Nature and Art are of the unlearned, esteemed to be magical. And\nMagicians do foolishly confide in charms and characters, judging virtue\nto be in them, and because of their vain confidence in them, they\nforsake the work of Nature and Art, by reason of the error of charms and\ncharacters. And so both these sort of Men are deprived of the benefit of\nwisdom, their own foolishness so compelling them.\n\n[Sidenote: _Confid. 4._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vt supra_ 1. 2.]\n\n3. The same most learned Countryman of ours _Roger Bacon_, doth further\ngive us this advice saying: \u201cBut those things that are contained in the\nbooks of Magicians ought by right to be banished, although they have in\nthem something of truth: Because they are mixed with falsities, that it\ncannot be discerned betwixt that which is true, and that which is false.\nAnd also Impostors and ignorant persons have feigned and forged divers\nwritings under the names of ancient wise men, thereby to allure the\ncurious, and to deceive the unwary, which with great care and\nconsideration we ought to eschew. To the same purpose _Paracelsus_ doth\ncaution us in this point. _Cuilibet ergo promptum sit, characteres &\nverba qu\u00e6vis discernere posse._\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Consid. 4._]\n\n4. But for all this (as we have often intimated before) charms and\ncharacters though in themselves of none effect, may conduce to heighten\nthe fancy and confidence of a Patient, and render him more willing to\ntake those things that may cure. And to this purpose, the forementioned\nAuthor _Roger Bacon_, from _Constantine_ the Physician tells us thus\nmuch: \u201cBut it is to be considered, that a skilful Physician, or any\nother, that would excite and stir up the mind, may profitably make use\nof charms and characters though feigned, not because the characters or\ncharms themselves do operate any thing, but that the medicine may be\nreceived with more desire and devotion, and that the mind of the Patient\nmay be stirred up, and may confide more freely, and may hope and\nrejoice; Because the Soul being excitated, can renew many things in its\nproper body, so that from infirmity it may be restored to health by joy\nand confidence. If therefore (he saith) a Physician to magnifie his\nwork, that the Patient may be raised up to hope and confidence, shall do\nany thing of this nature, not for fraud, but because of this, that he\nmay confide, that he may be healed, it is not to be condemned.\u201d We\nbrought this authority to confirm what we had asserted before; and that\nthese things are wonderfully prevalent, we have before shewed examples.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 1._]\n\n[Sidenote: Numb. 6. 27.]\n\n[Sidenote: Ezek. 9. 4, 6.]\n\n1. There are some, that to prove that words and characters have a\nnatural efficacy, do alledge some passages of Scripture, which we shall\npropose as very probable, but not as necessarily convincing, and the\nfirst is this: _And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel,\nand I will bless them_. Which some understand that the name _Jehovah_\nwhich they call _Tetragrammaton_, was worn upon them, and that thereby\nthey were blessed, and from thence they suppose that Hebrew names,\nespecially that, are very efficacious and powerful. Another is: _The man\ncloathed in linnen, that had the Ink-horn by his side_, is commanded to\nset a mark, or (as some read it) a _Tau upon those that mourned_. This\nis the name of a letter the \u201clast in the Alphabet, and hath in the old\nbooks of the Hebrews (as _Schindlerus_ tells us) the figure of a cross,\nand such like the _Samaritans_ use to this day. From whence by _Tau_,\nsome in _Ezekiel_ do understand the figure of the Cross of Christ.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Explic. 2._]\n\n[Sidenote: Psal. 58. 6.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Ut. supra._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Chirug. major._ _c._ 8. _p._ 22.]\n\n2. But to explicate what is meant by charms and characters, we are to\nnote that it is not to be understood of those words that are by humane\ninstitution significant according to the imposition of men, nor of any\nsort of charms or characters, but of such, as by wise men are duly\nfitted and joined together, in and under a right and favourable\nconstellation, for it is from the Influence of the Stars (as we have\nproved before) that words, charms, images and characters do receive\ntheir energie and virtue. And to this purpose is the true rendition of\nthe words in the Psalm. _Which hearkeneth not to the voice of those that\nmutter, the conjunction of the learned joyner_. That is, that the\nSerpent doth not hearken unto, or obey the charms that are framed or\njoined together by the learned joiner or framer of charms. So that there\nis a great learning required to frame and compose charms rightly that\nthey may be efficacious. For _Paracelsus_ witnesseth that Serpents once\nhearing an efficacious charm do forthwith stop their ears, lest they\nshould hear the words repeated again. Of both these sorts the learned\n_Roger Bacon_ doth tell us this: \u201cOf characters therefore according to\nthe first manner, it is so to be judged as we have shewed in common\nspeech: But of sigills and characters of the second manner, unless they\nbe made in elected seasons, they are known to have no efficacy at all.\nAnd therefore he that doth practise them, as they are described in\nbooks, not respecting but only the figure that the exemplar doth\nrepresent, is judged of every wise man to do nothing. But those which\nknow to perform their work in fit constellations according to the face\nof the Heavens; those may not only dispose characters but all their\nworks, both of Art and Nature, according to the virtue of the Stars. But\nbecause it is a difficult thing to understand the certainty of\nCelestials in these things, therefore in these things there is much\nerror with many, and there are few that understand to order any thing\nprofitably and truly.\u201d And to this purpose _Paracelsus_ tells us:\n\u201cCertain Chirurgical Arts invented of the first improvers of Astronomy,\nby which admirable things were (by an Ethereal virtue) performed. But\nthese after the decease of the ancient Magicians, were so lost, were as\nscarce any footsteps do now remain. But it was the Art of Celestial\nimpressions, that they might draw down, the influent action, into some\ncorporeal substance. The thing is plain by example. The seed of a Rose\ndoth obtain the virtue and nature of a Rose, yet for all that it is not\na Rose, but when being put into the earth, it doth sprout, then at the\nlast it produceth a Rose. By the same reason, there are certain\ncelestial virtues and actions in being, which being sown into Gemms,\nwhich were called of the ancient Magicians, _Peantides_ and _Gamahii_\n(otherwise _gemm\u00e6 huy\u00e6_) from whence they have afterwards sprung up, no\notherwise than seed, which doth fall from the Tree, and doth\nregerminate. This was that Astronomie of the ancient _\u00c6gyptians_ and\n_Persians_, by which they did adorn Gemms with celestial virtues.\nNeither are these things forthwith to be reputed impossible: For if we\nbelieve, that the Heaven doth send the Plague and other diseases upon\nus, why may we not hope, that the benignity of its virtues may be\ncommunicated to us also? In like manner if the Heaven doth act upon the\nbodies of men, why may we not think that they may wrest their darts into\nstones? Many are touched with such like celestial darts which a Magician\nwho hath skill of the Firmament, may easily (if they be noxious) shun:\nor if they be benign shall, by putting some body, communicate it to that\nbody, that now that body may fully obtain into it self the virtue of\nthat dart or influence. From whence stones are found amongst the\n_\u00c6gyptians_, which being born do cause diseases: But again there are\nothers, that do throughly make sound those diseases. So (he saith) we\nhave seen _Gemmas Huyas_, that is _Peantides_, wherein the sign of the\n_Sagittary_ was insculped against weapons, which were prevalent against\nwounds made with Swords. Also we have known (he saith) that Magicians\nhave rendered stones efficacious to cure Feavers: nor only to have made\nthem strong to cure diseases, but also wounds, and their symptoms, to\nwit, the H\u00e6morrhage, the Sinonia (or sinew-water) Convulsions, and the\nEpilepsie. But as in that age the use of these was frequent, and the\nauthority great; so by little and little the sophistications of false\nPhilosophers being increased, they have come into desuetude and\ncontempt, and other childish things have been substituted in their\nplaces. But these Stones (because now the site and influx of the Heavens\nare plainly otherwise than they were in times past) are no more so\nefficacious as they were then, therefore it is convenient that they be\nprepared anew.\n\n\u201cThe Art Magick, because it was more secret, nor known to vulgar\nPhilosophers, both because it did ingenerate wonderful virtues, not only\nto Stones, but also to such like words, begun to be called the\nprestigious Art by an odious term. For men being unskilful of these\nthings, who notwithstanding did usurp the title of the Art unto\nthemselves, addicted themselves unto artificious operations, crosses and\nexorcisms: From thence the vulgar, being unskilful of the Magical Art,\nhave begun to attribute this virtue to exorcisms, characters, short\nprayers, signacles, crosses, and to other frivolous things. But the\nmatter (he saith) is quite otherwise: for the constellation under which\nthe stones and words are prepared, doth induce the virtues, not\nexorcisms.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Chirur. Minor._ _p._ 78.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Explic. Astronom._ _p._ 654.]\n\nAnd being entred upon this particular, we shall add some things to this\nmore fully, as first this from the great _Georgius Ph\u00e6dro_, who saith,\nafter he had shewed the great virtue of some Roots and Herbs in curing\nwounds and ulcers: \u201cBut a Characteristical cure is that, which\nexerciseth its natural power by words pronounced, written or ingraven,\nby the qualities celestial and various influences of the Stars, being\nfriendly to our bodies. And to this doth fully agree, what is written by\n_Trallianus_ at large and _Augerius Ferrerius_ in his Chapter _de\nHomerica medicatione_, whither I referr the Reader, and conclude this\nexplication with that sentence of _Paracelsus_: _Pr\u00e6terea syderibus nota\nsunt omnia, qu\u00e6 in natura existunt. Vnde (inquit) sapiens dominabitur\nastris, is sapiens, qui virtutes illas ad sui obedientiam cogere\npotest._\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 3._]\n\n3. What is here fully explicated as also what we have formerly in this\nTreatise proved both by reasons, authorities and examples doth\nsufficiently manifest the great power of Celestial Bodies upon inferior\nmatter, and that according to the aptitude and agreeableness of the\nmatter prepared, and the configuration of the Heavens at the time\nelected, the powerful influence of the Stars and Planets is received\ninto the subject, according to the purpose it was intended for. So that\nfrom hence it will clearly follow, that if fit and agreeable words or\ncharacters be framed and joined together, when the Heavens are in a\nconvenient site and configuration for the purpose intended, those words\nand characters will receive a most powerful virtue, for the purpose\nintended, and will effectually operate to those ends by a just, lawful\nand natural agency, without any concurrence of Diabolical power,\nsuperstition or ceremonies, and this is that which was laboured to be\nproved.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 4._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Histor. Cent_ 2.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Histor._ 78.]\n\n_p._ 280.\n\n4. _Thomas Bartholinus_ that most learned Physician, and experienced\nAnatomist (though his credit be laboured to be eclipsed by Dr.\n_Casaubon_, who is always more ready to ascribe power unto Devils, the\nworst of Gods creatures, than either to God or Nature) doth (touching\nthis point) asserts this: \u201cNotwithstanding (he saith) that words framed\nor shut up in a certain Rhythme, may without any superstition work some\nsuch like thing as the curing of the Epilepsie. For first, the air is\naltered by the various prolation of words, as well that air, which doth\nenter into the little pores of the vessels ending in the skin by\ntranspiration, as that which is carried into the Ears, Nostrils, and\nLungs. 2. The state being different of the words uttered, doth impress a\ndifferent force, which the unlike constitution of the rough Artery, and\nof the rest of the instruments of speech, whether that state be hot or\ncold, it impresseth a virtue, which doth either acuate or make grave. 3.\nThe breath is heated by the various prolation of words, which either\nalone, or bound up in the Rhythme doth califie cold things, and\ndiscusseth flatulencies.\u201d And these may have a great diversity in\noperation, according as the air and breath, and the several kinds of\nAtomes in them, may be ordered in their site, motion, and contexture, so\nthat thereby the various effects may be produced, without Cacodemons, or\nvain superstition.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 5._]\n\n[Sidenote: 1 Sam. 16. 14, 23.]\n\n[Sidenote: _De eo quod Divin. est in morbis._ _c._ 52. _p._ 183.]\n\n5. And if we consider it seriously there is something more than ordinary\nin this place of Scripture. _And it came to pass, that when the evil\nspirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with\nhis hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit\ndeparted from him._ Upon which learned _Tremellius_ gives us this note:\n\u201cThat evil spirit, that is, those phantastical pangs, or that furious\nrage, which did proceed from that evil spirit, did cease. So that it is\nmanifest that it was the natural efficacy of the melodious sound made by\n_Davids_ playing upon the Harp, whereby the Atomes of the air were put\ninto such a motion, site and contexture that thereby they became\nrepugnant and antipathetical to those contrary Atomes, that were by the\nmeans of the evil spirit stirred up in the sensitive Soul of _Saul_, by\nwhich he was terrified or tormented, and by overcoming them, and\ndissipating of them, he came to be refreshed, and for a time those\neffects wrought by that evil spirit ceased. So that the argument lies\nplain thus: If the melody of tunes or sounds modulated upon an Harp,\nhave power to refresh the mind, and to cause the rage of an evil spirit\nto cease; then may words rightly framed in agreeable Rhythmes, which are\nbut modulated tunes or sounds, ease sick persons, and remove diseases:\nBut the former is true by the testimony of this Scripture, and so also\nis the later. Neither is the objection of _Hieronymus Jordanus_ against\nthis of any force at all, where he saith that the reason of sweet\nHarmony, and magical words, are very far different. But it had been\nsuitable for him to have shewed us, wherein that difference doth lye,\nand not to have put it off with such a pittiful shuffle, as that it is\nobvious to Tyronists. This is (indeed) a shift used by many, that when\nthey are not able to solve the argument, they put it off with some\nimpertinent diversion, or passe by it with some ironical Sarcasm. But I\nmust tell him, that tunes and sounds, that are framed by art in the best\nways that can be devised, thereby by modulating of the air, to cause it\nto have several effects upon the auditory organs, differ not at all from\nright framed charms and characters, that by disposing the atomes of the\nair several ways, do produce various effects; I say there is no\ndifference, except that constellated words may be more efficacious than\nMusick, because they are by a most curious and secret art, not only\ncomposed and joined together, but also are prepared at such chosen and\nfit times, that the Heavens may more powerfully infuse their virtues and\ninfluences into them, which is not observed in the composition of tunes.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 6._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Athan. Kercher. l. magnet. mus._ _p._ 761. _&c._]\n\n[Sidenote: _Et Monfelt. insect. Theatr._ _p._ 220.]\n\n6. There is no one thing (if true, and that _Kercherus_ and others have\nnot told us abominable lies) that hath more induced me to believe that\nthere is some natural virtue in words and charms composed in a right way\nor Rhythme, than because those that are stung, or bitten with the\n_Tarantula_, or _Phalangium_, are cured with Musick, and that not with\nany sort of Musick, but with certain proper and peculiar tunes, which\nare diversified according to the colour of the _Tarantula_ that gave the\nvenemous prick or bite, and so by dancing they sweat forth the poison.\nAnd _Kercherus_ further tells us not only that those that are stung with\nthe _Tarantula_ are cured with Musick, but that the _Tarantula_\u2019s\nthemselves with dance, when those tunes are modulated, that are\nproportionable and agreeable to their humors. Now if tunes modulated in\nproportionable and sympathizing ways agreeable to the humours, do cure\nthose that are stung, then much more may words and charms rightly\ncomposed and joined together, and that in a due selected time under a\npowerful constellation, produce such effects as to cure diseases, and\nmove animals to divers and various motions; for betwixt the prolation of\nwords putting the Atomes of the air into a fit motion, site, figure, and\ncontexture suitable to perform the end intended, and the vibrating and\nvarious figuring the air in its motion by musical tunes, there is no\ndifference at all in respect of the material or efficient cause, and so\neither of them may produce like effects.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 7._]\n\n7. There is also an experiment that hath been sufficiently tryed and\nattested, which doth much induce me to believe that there is efficacy in\nwords and charms above their significancy by imposition and institution,\nand that is this. They take two Lutes rightly stringed and laid upon a\nlong table, and then they lay a light straw, chaff, or feather upon the\nUnison string of the one, and then they strike, or move the Unison\nstring of the other Lute, that lieth at the other end of the Table, by\nwhich motion of the Unison-string at the one end of the Table, the\nstraw, chaff or feather upon the Unison-string of the Lute at the other\nend of the Table (though it be of the longest sort) will by the\nvibration of the air be moved, or struck off, and yet it will not do it,\nif the straw be laid upon any other string, and then the Unison of the\nother Lute moved: By which it is manifest that the striking or moving\nthe Unison-string of the one Lute doth so figurate and dispose the\nAtomes of the Air, that they are fit and apt to move the Unison-string\nof the other Lute, and so to make the straw fall off, as being of an\nagreeable. mood and temper for the susception of the motion, which the\nrest of the other strings (being of different degrees and nature) are\nnot: for the maxime is true, _Quicquid recipitur, recipitur ad modum\nrecipientis_. And this being so, it must needs be also granted that\nwords and rhythms fitly joined and composed, being pronounced do put the\natomes of the air into such a site, motion, figure, and contexture, that\nmay at a distance operate upon the subject for which they are so fitted,\nand produce such effects, as they were composed and intended for:\nespecially being framed under powerful and suitable constellations, from\nwhence they receive their greatest force.\n\n[Sidenote: _Argum. 8._]\n\n8. The chiefest objection that is usually brought against the natural\nagency of fitly composed words or rhythms is a maxim of the Schools, ill\nunderstood and worse applied, which is this: _Quantitates rerum, nullius\nsunt efficaci\u00e6_: unto which we shall render these responsions.\n\n1. If quantity be taken mathematically, and abstractly, then it is true,\nthat it is of no efficacy or operation, because it is then only _ens\nrationis_, and doth only exist in the intellect, and so can operate\nnothing _ad extra_. But if it be taken concretely, physically, and as\nmateriate, than it is of force, and very operative, as two pound\nquantity of lead will weigh down one pound of the same lead, and two\nounces quantity of the same Gunpowder, will carry a bullet of the same\nquantity further, and more forceably, than one ounce of the same will\ndo: And one scruple of white _Hellebor_ may be taken, when a Drachm will\nkill, and a fire of a yard Diameter will warm a man at a greater\ndistance than a fire but of one foot diameter.\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. System. Harm. Log. Hen. Alstedii._ _p._ 251.]\n\n2. Figures, characters, words or speech are (indeed) properly no\nquantities: For figures and characters are only delineations and\ncircumscriptions of some kind of matter, and are all, whether natural or\nartificial, properly contained under quality, and denoting what figure\nor Form the thing is of. Figure therefore properly is attributed to\nartificial things, as to a circle, a square, a triangle, and the like;\nand form to animate things, as to a Man, an Horse, an Oxe, and the like:\nAnd so characters whether ingraven in metals, gemms, stones, clay,\nplaister or wood, or written upon parchment, paper, or the like, of what\nfigure or form soever they be, are but qualities, and do qualifie the\nmatter according to the form and figure impressed in the subject matter,\nwhich being artificially done, the matter is the patient, the figure or\ncharacter is the exemplar cause, and the force that maketh the\nimpression is the efficient cause, and that these as qualities have some\nefficacy, no rational man can deny.\n\n[Sidenote: _Geom._ _l._ 19. _p._ 144.]\n\n3. But to make it more clearly manifest, let us suppose three various\nfigures that are Isoperimetral, as a circle, a plain square, and an\nequilateral triangle: Though they be all of equal circumference, yet\nshall the circle contain more than either the square, or the triangle;\nand therefore learned _Ramus_ doth lay down this rule. _Circulus \u00e8\nplanis Isoperimetris in\u00e6qualibus est maximus._ But when the question is\nasked, what is the cause, why a circle of figures of equal\ncircumference, contains the most? The answer is commonly made, _Quia\nomnium figurarum perfectissimus, & capacissimus est circulus_; but if it\nbe again urged, what is the cause, that a circle of an equal\ncircumference to a plain square, should be more capacious than the\nsquare? Here (the thing being found true by ocular experience) the\ncapaciousness of the circle, more than the square (they being both of\nequal circumference) can be ascribed to nothing else at all, but only to\nthe figure, and therefore of necessity, figures have in them some\nefficiency.\n\n[Sidenote: _Vid. Logic. System. Harmon. Alstedii._ _p._ 249.]\n\n4. That which we call speech, or oration, is considered three ways. 1.\nThat which is mental and only conceived in the mind, and not expressed.\n2. That which is expressed or uttered by the vocal organs. 3. And that\nwhich is written. And these are called mental, vocal and written. The\ntwo, that is, mental, and that which is written, are referred to the\npredicament of quality. And whereas oration vocal is by some referred to\nthe predicament of quantity, as it is the measure of sounds and\nsyllables, as it is pronounced, whereof some are made long, and some\nshort; and so while distinct sounds and syllables are uttered in a\ncertain mood, they are said to be measured, and to belong to quantity:\nBut if we will understand aright, one thing in different respects may\nbelong both to the predicament of quantity and quality. So the prolation\nof sounds or syllables in respect of their modification, and comparing\none to another, some may be long, and some may be short, and have a\ndifferent part of time in their pronunciation, and so may Analogically,\nand by way of similitude, be said to be measured, and consequently\nreferred to the predicament of quantity. Yet if we consider speech or\noration, which consists of sounds and syllables, in relation to the\nefficient cause, the material and instrumental, which is the breath of\nMan by his several organs, moving, modulating and figuring the air\n(which is the subject matter) into diversity of sites, motions,\ncontextures and moods, then we must conclude that words, charms or\nrhythms, having efficient, material and instrumental causes, do belong\nto the predicament of Quality, and are of great force and virtue\nnaturally, notwithstanding all that is or can be objected to the\ncontrary.\n\n[Sidenote: _Alphabet. Natur._ _p._ 20.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Ibid._ _p._ 52.]\n\n5. Lastly, we are to consider that the breath of Man being variously\nmodulated by its passage from the lungs, by the throat, palate, tongue,\nand other vocal organs, doth make such several impressions and\nconfigurations of the moved atomes in the air, that thereby so great a\ndiversity of impulses or sounds are made upon the drum of the ear, that\nthereby naturally we are able to distinguish one from another. Now\nhumane institution found forth the ways of making these several sounds,\nor tones, to be appropriated to such and such things, or to signifie the\ndiversity of creatures and things, according to the several compacts and\nagreements of Men amongst themselves, so that what one sound doth\nsignifie in one language, may signifie another thing in another. So that\nnot considering the institution or invention of this or that\nsignificancy of several sounds in several languages, every sound, or\narticulate prolation, doth naturally make a distinct and several impulse\nupon the ear, and thereby the senses, and consequently the mind are\nvariously affected by them. And therefore the younger _Helmont_ doth\ngive us an apposite passage, or two to this purpose, Englished thus:\n\u201cFor as in those of ripe years, certain musical modulations being heard,\ndo often so efficaciously imprint in the mind the Idea of the voice and\ntones, that diverse do sensibly feel them for so long a time in\nthemselves, as it were yet sounding, that they cannot, when they would,\nbe freed from them: From whence also (he saith) the word _inchanting_\nseemeth with the Latines and Gauls to have drawn its original. So the\nIdea of our Mothers tongue impressed in infants, doth so long adhere\nthere, that to them about to speak afterwards, it doth as it were place,\nand order the tongue, and so is the only one mistress of their speech.\u201d\nAnd again he saith: \u201cIf in times past there were found those, who by the\nbenefit of musical instruments could move and mollifie the mind of Man\nvarious ways: How much more humane voice, if it being moderated by\nprudence, do break forth from a living spirit, shall not only have power\nto effect those things, but also those that are far greater?\u201d\n\nHaving thus far largely handled this point, we shall only recapitulate a\nfew things, and so conclude this Treatise.\n\n1. It being granted, that great effects have been produced by words,\ncharms, rhythmes, and tunes, we have removed all diabolical concurrence\nto those effects, except what may be mental and internal, as in all\nwicked persons, when they use natural means to a wicked and evil end,\nand that (as we conceive) by sufficient and convincing arguments: And\nespecially because, where there is no natural agent, there the Devil can\noperate nothing at all, and if there be a natural agent, his concurrence\nis not necessary.\n\n2. As for the force of imagination upon extraneous bodies, we cannot in\nreason affirm it to be none at all, neither dare, or will we assert that\nits power (in that respect) is so vastly great, as many do pretend.\n\n3. And for what strange effects soever, that are true and real, that do\nfollow upon the use of words, charms, characters, rhythms, and the like,\nwe do confidently affirm, that they are effected by lawful and natural\nmeans, but withal that of this sort in this age, few or none are found\nout that are efficacious. But that error, credulity, ignorance and\nsuperstition do put great force, and stress upon these things, when\nreally they produce no effects at all.\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\n_The Alarm that the_ Pendle-forest _Witches gave to all this Kingdom,\nthat they were sent for to_ London, _great sums gotten at the_ Fleet _to\nshew them, and publick Plays acted thereupon; and the Original\nExamination coming lately to the Authors hand, it is desired the Reader\nwill after these words Page 277. line 4._ [and had incouragement by the\nadjoining Magistrates] _peruse these following Depositions_, viz.\n\n\n\n\n_The Examination of_ Edmund Robinson _Son of_ Edmund Robinson _of_\nPendle-forest _eleven years of age, taken at_ Padham _before_ Richard\nShutleworth _and_ John Starkey _Esquires, two of his Majesties Justices\nof the Peace within the County of_ Lancaster, _the_ 10^{th} _day of_\nFebruary, 1633.\n\n\n\u201cWho upon Oath informeth, being examined concerning the great meeting of\nthe Witches of _Pendle_, saith that upon _All-Saints-day_ last past, he\nthis Informer being with one _Henry Parker_ a near door-neighbour to him\nin _Wheatleylane_, desired the said _Parker_ to give him leave to gather\nsome Bulloes which he did; In gathering whereof he saw two Grayhounds,\n_viz._ a black and a brown; one came running over the next field towards\nhim, he verily thinking the one of them to be Mr. _Nutters_, and the\nother to be Mr. _Robinsons_, the said Gentlemen then having such like.\nAnd saith, the said Grayhounds came to him, and fawned on him, they\nhaving about their necks either of them a Collar, unto each of which was\ntied a string: which Collars (as this Informer affirmeth) did shine like\nGold. And he thinking that some either of Mr. _Nutters_ or Mr.\n_Robinsons_, Family should have followed them; yet seeing no body to\nfollow them, he took the same Grayhounds thinking to course with them.\nAnd presently a Hare did rise very near before him. At the sight whereof\nhe cried, Loo, Loo, Loo: but the Doggs would not run. Whereupon he being\nvery angry took them, and with the strings that were about their\nCollars, tied them to a little bush at the next hedge, and with a switch\nthat he had in his hand he beat them. And in stead of the black\nGrayhound one _Dickensons_ Wife stood up, a Neighbour whom this Informer\nknoweth. And instead of the brown one a little Boy, whom this Informer\nknoweth not. At which sight this Informer being afraid, endeavoured to\nrun away: but being stayed by the Woman (_viz._) by _Dickensons_ Wife,\nshe put her hand into her pocket, and pulled forth a piece of Silver\nmuch like to a fair shilling, and offered to give him it to hold his\ntongue and not to tell: which he refused, saying, Nay thou art a Witch.\nWhereupon she put her hand into her pocket again, and pulled out a thing\nlike unto a Bridle that gingled, which she put on the little Boyes head:\nwhich said Boy stood up in the likeness of a white Horse, and in the\nbrown Grayhounds stead. Then immediately _Dickensons_ Wife took this\nInformer before her upon the said Horse and carried him to a new house\ncalled _Hoarstones_ being about a quarter of a mile off. Whither when\nthey were come, there were divers persons about the door, and he saw\ndivers others riding on Horses of several colours towards the said\nHouse, who tied their Horses to a hedge near to the said House. Which\npersons went into the said House, to the number of threescore or\nthereabouts, as this Informer thinketh, where they had a fire, and meat\nroasting in the said House, whereof a young Woman (whom this Informer\nknoweth not) gave him Flesh and Bread upon a Trencher and Drink in a\nGlass, which after the first tast he refused and would have no more, but\nsaid, it was naught.\n\n\u201cAnd presently after, seeing divers of the said company going into a\nBarn near adjoining, he followed after them, and there he saw six of\nthem kneeling, and pulling all six of them six several ropes, which were\nfastened or tied to the top of the Barn. Presently after which pulling,\nthere came into this Informers sight flesh smoaking, butter in lumps,\nand milk as it were flying from the said ropes. All which fell into\nbasons which were placed under the said ropes. And after that these six\nhad done, there came other six which did so likewise. And during all the\ntime of their several pulling they made such ugly faces as scared this\nInformer, so that he was glad to run out and steal homewards: who\nimmediately finding they wanted one that was in their company, some of\nthem ran after him near to a place in a High-way called _Boggard-hole_,\nwhere he this Informer met two Horsemen. At the sight whereof the said\npersons left following of him. But the foremost of those persons that\nfollowed him, he knew to be one _Loind_\u2019s Wife: which said Wife together\nwith one _Dickensons_ Wife, and one _Jennet Davies_ he hath seen since\nat several times in a Croft or Close adjoining to his Fathers house,\nwhich put him in great fear. And further this Informer saith, upon\n_Thursday_ after _Newyears-day_ last past, he saw the said _Loind_\u2019s\nWife sitting upon a cross piece of wood being within the Chimney of his\nFathers dwelling house: and he calling to her, said Come down thou\n_Loynd_\u2019s Wife. And immediately the said _Loynd_\u2019s Wife went up out of\nhis sight. And further this Informer saith, that after he was come from\nthe company aforesaid to his Fathers house, being towards evening, his\nFather bad him go and fetch home two Kine to seal. And in the way in a\nfield called the _Ellers_, he chanced to hap upon a Boy, who began to\nquarrel with him, and they fought together, till the Informer had his\nears and face made up very bloody by fighting, and looking down he saw\nthe Boy had a cloven foot. At which sight he being greatly affrighted,\ncame away from him to seek the Kine. And in the way he saw a light like\nto a Lanthorn towards which he made haste, supposing it to be carried by\nsome of Mr. _Robinsons_ people; but when he came to the place, he only\nfound a Woman standing on a Bridge, whom when he saw he knew her to be\n_Loind_\u2019s Wife, and knowing her he turned back again: and immediately he\nmet with the aforesaid Boy, from whom he offered to run, which Boy gave\nhim a blow on the back that made him to cry. And further this Informer\nsaith, that when he was in the Barn, he saw three Women take six\nPictures from off the beam, in which Pictures were many Thorns or such\nlike things sticked in them, and that _Loynd_\u2019s Wife took one of the\nPictures down, but the other two Women that took down the rest he\nknoweth not. And being further asked what persons were at the aforesaid\nmeeting, he nominated these persons following, _viz._ _Dickensons_ Wife,\n_Henry Priestleys_ Wife, and his Lad, _Alice Hargreene_ Widow, _Jane\nDavies_, _William Davies_, and the Wife of _Henry Fackes_, and her Sons\n_John_ and _Miles_, the Wife of     _Denneries_, _James Hargreene_ of\n_Marsdead_, _Loynd_\u2019s Wife, one _James_ his Wife, _Saunders_ his Wife,\nand _Saunders_ himself _sicut credit_, one _Laurence_ his Wife, one\n_Saunder Pyn_\u2019s Wife of _Barraford_, one _Holgate_ and his Wife of\n_Leonards_ of the West close.\u201d\n\n\n  Edmund Robinson _of_ Pendle _Father of the aforesaid_ Edmund Robinson\n    _Mason informeth_,\n\n\u201cThat upon _All-Saints-day_ last he sent his Son the aforesaid Informer\nto fetch home two Kine to seal, and saith that his Son staying longer\nthan he thought he should have done, he went to seek him, and in seeking\nof him heard him cry pitifully, and found him so affrighted and\ndistracted, that he neither knew his Father, nor did know where he was,\nand so continued very near a quarter of an hour before he came to\nhimself. And he told this Informer his Father all the particular\npassages that are before declared in the said _Robinson_ his Sons\ninformation.\u201d\n\n                                                  _Richard Shutleworth._\n\n                                                  _John Starkey._\n\n\n                                _FINIS._\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Fleuron]\n\nThe Printer desires the Reader to excuse some literal faults, as\n_Nandeus_ for _Naudeus_, _Libanius_ for _Libavius_, and the like, the\nAuthor writing a very small hand, and living at great distance that his\nperusal could not be gotten.\n\n[Illustration: Fleuron]\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                          TRANSCRIBER\u2019S NOTES\n\n\n Page Changed from                     Changed to\n\n   23 \u039a\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03bc\u03bf\u03bb\u03cc\u03b3\u03bf\u03c2                      \u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03bc\u03bf\u03bb\u03cc\u03b3\u03bf\u03c2\n\n   24 Herwerk                          Hexenwerk\n\n  \u201e   \u01f7\u0269cce-c\u01bfee\ua77c\ua787                     \u01f7\u0269cce-c\ua783ee\ua77c\ua787\n\n   92 \u200f\u05d6\u05b8\u05d1\u05b8\u05ea\u200e                              \u200f\u05e8\u05b8\u05d1\u05b8\u05d4\u200e\n\n   93 \u200f\u05e8\u05b8\u05d3\u05b7\u05e2\u200e                              \u200f\u05d9\u05b8\u05d3\u05b7\u05e2\u200e\n\n  108 \u200f\u05e7\u05e1\u05b5\ufb26 \u05e7\u05b0\u05e1\u05b8\u05dd\u05d5\ufb26\u200e                        \u200f\u05e7\u05b9\u05e1\u05b5\u05dd \u05e7\u05b0\u05e1\u05b8\u05de\u05b4\u05d9\u05dd\u200e\n\n  110 \u200f\u05e2\u05b9\u05d1\u05b5\u05df\u200e                              \u200f\u05e2\u05b9\u05e0\u05b5\u05df\u200e\n\n  \u201e   \u03ba\u03bb\u03b7\u03b4\u03bf\u03bd\u03b7\u03b6\u03cc\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2                   \u03ba\u03bb\u03b7\u03b4\u03bf\u03bd\u03b9\u03b6\u03cc\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2\n\n  111 \u200f\u05d5\u05bc\u05de\u05b0\u05e0\u05d7\u05b5\u05e9\u05c1\u200e                            \u200f\u05d5\u05bc\u05de\u05b0\u05e0\u05b7\u05d7\u05b5\u05e9\u05c1\u200e\n\n  113 \u200f\u05d5\u05bc\u05de\u05b0\u05db\u05b7\u05e9\u05b5\u05bc\u05c1\u05ea\u200e Umechascheth               \u200f\u05d5\u05bc\u05de\u05b0\u05db\u05b7\u05e9\u05b5\u05bc\u05c1\u05e3\u200e Umechascheph\n\n  \u201e   \u200f\u05db\u05bc\u05e9\u05b5\u05bc\u05c1\u05ea\u200e _Coscheth_                   \u200f\u05db\u05b9\u05bc\u05e9\u05b5\u05bc\u05c1\u05e3\u200e Coscheph\n\n 114, Burtorsius                       Buxtorsius\n  117\n\n  \u201e   \u200f\u05db\u05b7\u05e9\u05b0\u05e4\u05b4\u05d5\ufb26\u200e                            \u200f\u05db\u05b7\u05e9\u05b0\u05bc\u05c1\u05e4\u05b4\u05d9\u05dd\u200e\n\n  115 \u200f\u05d5\u05bc\u05e0\u05b0\u05e9\u05b8\u05e4\u05b6\u05d5\u05d7\u05b8\u200e                           \u200f\u05d5\u05bc\u05db\u05b0\u05e9\u05b8\u05c1\u05e4\u05b6\u05d9\u05d4\u05b8\u200e\n\n  118 Gauberers, dess Beschwerers der  Zauberers, dess Beschwerers der\n      wol besch weren fan              wol besch weren kan\n\n  120 \u200f\u05d5\u05b0\u05e9\u05b9\u05bc\u05c1\u05d0\u05b5\u05dc \u05d0\u05d5\u05b9\u05d1\u200e                         \u200f\u05d5\u05b0\u05e9\u05b9\u05c1\u05d0\u05b5\u05dc \u05d0\u05d5\u05b9\u05d1\u200e\n\n  128 \u200f\u05d7\u05b8\u05d0\u05d1\u05d5\u05b9\u05ea\u200e                            \u200f\u05d4\u05b8\u05d0\u05d1\u05d5\u05b9\u05ea\u200e\n\n  \u201e   \u200f\u05d1\u05b7\u05e2\u05b2\u05dc\u05b7\u05d4 \u05d0\u05d5\u05b9\u05d1\u200e                         \u200f\u05d1\u05b7\u05bc\u05e2\u05b2\u05dc\u05b7\u05ea \u05d0\u05d5\u05b9\u05d1\u200e\n\n  \u201e   \u200f\u05d1\u05b7\u05e2\u05b2\u05dc\u05b7\u05d4 \u05db\u05b0\u05e9\u05b8\u05c1\u05e4\u05d9\u05b4\ufb26\u200e                       \u200f\u05d1\u05b7\u05bc\u05e2\u05b2\u05dc\u05b7\u05ea \u05db\u05b0\u05bc\u05e9\u05b8\u05c1\u05e4\u05b4\u05d9\u05dd\u200e\n\n  129 \u200f\u05d5\u05b0\u05e2\u05b3\u05e9\u05b8\u05c2\u05d4 \u05d0\u05d5\u05b9\u05d1\u200e                         \u200f\u05d5\u05b0\u05e2\u05b8\u05e9\u05b8\u05c2\u05d4 \u05d0\u05d5\u05b9\u05d1\u200e\n\n  \u201e   \u200f\u05e2\u05b8\u05e9\u05b8\u05c2\u05ea\u200e                              \u200f\u05e2\u05b8\u05e9\u05b8\u05c2\u05d4\u200e\n\n  130 \u200f\u05e2\u05b4\u05e4\u05b0\u05e2\u05b5\u05ea\u200e                             \u200f\u05e6\u05b7\u05e4\u05b0\u05e6\u05b5\u05e3\u200e\n\n  131 \u200f\u05d5\u05b4\u05d3\u05b0\u05e2\u05b9\u05d1\u05b4\u05d9\u200e                            \u200f\u05d9\u05b4\u05d3\u05b0\u05bc\u05e2\u05b9\u05e0\u05b4\u05d9\u200e\n\n  \u201e   \u200f\u05d5\u05b8\u05d3\u05b7\u05e2\u200e                              \u200f\u05d9\u05b8\u05d3\u05b7\u05e2\u200e\n\n  132 \u200f\u05d4\u05b7\u05e8\u05d8\u05bb\u05de\u05bc\u05d9\ufb26\u200e                           \u200f\u05d7\u05b7\u05e8\u05b0\u05d8\u05bb\u05de\u05b4\u05bc\u05d9\u05dd\u200e\n\n  \u201e   \u200f\u05d4\u05b6\u05e8\u05b6\u05d8\u200e                              \u200f\u05d7\u05b6\u05e8\u05b6\u05d8\u200e\n\n  \u201e   \u200f\u05d0\u05b8\u05d8\u05b7\ufb26\u200e                              \u200f\u05d0\u05b8\u05d8\u05b7\u05dd\u200e\n\n  133 \u200f\u05dc\u05b8\u05d4\u05b7\u05e9\u200e                              \u200f\u05dc\u05b8\u05d7\u05b7\u05e9\u05c1\u200e\n\n  135 \u200f\u05d4\u05b8\u05d0\u05b4\u05d8\u05b4\u05bc\u05d9\ufb26\u200e                            \u200f\u05d4\u05b8\u05d0\u05b4\u05d8\u05b4\u05bc\u05d9\u05dd\u200e\n\n  \u201e   \u200f\u05d0\u05b7\u05e9\u05b8\u05bc\u05e3\u200e                              \u200f\u05d0\u05b7\u05e9\u05b8\u05bc\u05c1\u05e3\u200e\n\n  136 \u200f\u05d4\u05b3\u05db\u05b0\u05dd\u05b8\u05d4\u200e                             \u200f\u05d7\u05b8\u05db\u05b0\u05de\u05b8\u05d4\u200e\n\n  \u201e   \u200f\u05d7\u05b8\u05db\u05b7\ufb26\u200e                              \u200f\u05d7\u05b8\u05db\u05b7\u05dd\u200e\n\n  146 \u200f\u05d3\u05b6\u05de\u05b6\u05e9\u05c2\u200e                              \u200f\u05e8\u05b6\u05de\u05b6\u05e9\u05c2\u200e\n\n  \u201e   \u200f\u05d3\u05b8\u05de\u05b7\u05e9\u05c2\u200e                              \u200f\u05e8\u05b8\u05de\u05b7\u05e9\u05c2\u200e\n\n  172 resurrexerumt                    resurrexerunt\n\n  178 \u200f\u05db\u05e9\u05d0\u200e                              \u200f\u05e0\u05e9\u05d0\u200e\n\n  193 \u1f41\u03c1\u03b9\u03c3\u03bc\u03ad\u03bd\u03b7                         \u1f61\u03c1\u03b9\u03c3\u03bc\u03ad\u03bd\u1fc3\n\n  211 \u200f\u05d1\u05b8\u05bc\u05d3\u05b8\u05d0\u200e                              \u200f\u05d1\u05b8\u05bc\u05e8\u05b8\u05d0\u200e\n\n  223 \u03c0\u03bf\u03bd\u03b7\u03c1\u03bf\u1f7a\u03c2                         \u03c0\u03bf\u03bd\u03c5\u03c1\u03bf\u1f7a\u03c2\n\n 1. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in\n      spelling.\n 2. Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed.\n 3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.\n 4. Enclosed blackletter font in =equals=.\n 5. Denoted superscripts by a caret before a single superscript\n      character or a series of superscripted characters enclosed in\n      curly braces, e.g. M^r. or M^{ister}.","title":"The displaying of supposed witchcraft : $b Wherein is affirmed that there are many sorts of deceivers and impostors, and divers persons under a passive delusion of melancholy and fancy. But that there is a corporeal league made betwixt the devil and the witch, or that he sucks on the witches body, has carnal copulation, or that witches are turned into cats, dogs, raise tempests, or the like, is utterly denied and disproved. Wherein also is handled, the existence of angels and spirits, the truth of apparitions, the nature of astral and sydereal spirits, the force of charms, and philters; with other abstruse matters","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":196337}