Chapter XV: Part II (6)

I might, before I quit this Point, seriously reflect here upon our _Beau mond_ (_viz._) the gay Part of Mankind, especially those of the Times we live in, who walk about in a Composure and Tranquillity inexpressible, and yet as we all know, must certainly have all sold themselves to the Devil, for the Power of acting the foolishest Things with the greater Applause; it is true, to be a Fool is the most pleasant Life in the World, if the Fool has but the particular Felicity, which few Fools want, (_viz._) to think themselves wise: The learned say, it is the Dignity and Perfection of Fools, that they never fail trusting themselves; they believe themselves sufficient and able for every Thing; and hence their want or waste of Brains is no Grievance to them, but they hug themselves in the Satiety of their own Wit; but to bring other People to have the same Notion of them, which they have of themselves, and to have their apish and ridiculous Conduct make the same Impression on the Minds of others, as it does on their own; this requires a general Infatuation, and must either be a Judgment from Heaven, or a Mist of Hell; nothing but the Devil can make all the Men of Brains applaud a Fool, and can any Man believe, that the Devil will do this for nothing? no, no, he will be well paid for it, and I know no other Way they have to compound with him, but this of Bargain and Sale.

'Tis the same thing with Rakes and Bullies, as 'tis with Fools and Beaus; and this brings me to the Subject of _buying_ and _selling_ it self, and to examine what is understood by it in the World, what People mean by such and such a Man selling himself to the Devil: I know the common Acceptation of it is, that they make some Capitulation for some Indulgence in Wickedness, on Conditions of Safety and Impunity, which the Devil promises them; tho' as I said above, he is a _Bite_ in that too, for he can't perform the Conditions; however, I say, he promises boldly, and they believe him, and for this Privilege in Wickedness, they consent, that he shall come and fetch them for his own, at such or such a Time.

This is the State of the Case in the general Acceptation of it; I do not say 'tis really so, nay 'tis even an Inconsistency in it self; for one would think, they need not capitulate with the Devil to be so, and so, superlatively wicked, and give him such a Price for it, seeing, unless we have a wrong Notion of him, he is naturally enclin'd, as well as avow'dly willing to have all Men be as superlatively wicked as possibly they can, and must necessarily be always ready to issue out his Licenses gratis, as far as his Authority will go in the Case; and therefore I do not see why the Wretches that deal with him, should article with him for a Price; but suppose, for Argument sake, that it is so, then the next Thing is, some capital Crime follows the Contract, and then the Wretch is forsaken, for the Devil cannot protect him, as he promised; so he is _Trust up_, and like _Coleman_ at the Gallows, he exclaims that _there is no Truth in_ Devils.

It may be true, however, that under the powerful Guard and Protection of the Devil, Men do sometimes go a great Way in Crime, and that perhaps farther in these our Days of boasted Morals than was known among our Fathers; the only Difference that I meet with between the Sons of _Belial_ in former Days, and those of our Ages, seems to be in the Devil's Management, not in theirs; the Sum of which amounts to this, that Satan seems to act with more Cunning, and they with less; for in the former Ages of Satan's Dominion, he had much Business upon his Hands, all his Art and Engines, and Engineers also, were kept fully employ'd, to wheedle, allure, betray and circumvent People, and draw them into Crimes, and they found him, as we may say, a full Employment; I doubt not, he was call'd the Tempter on that very Account; but the Case seems quite alter'd now, the Tables are turned; then the Devil tempted Men to sin, _But now, in short_, they tempt the Devil; Men push into Crimes before he pushes them; they out shoot him in his own Bow, out run him on his own Ground, and, as we say of some hot Spurs who ride Post, they whip the Post-Boy; in a Word, the Devil seems to have no Business now but to sit still and look on.

This, I must confess, seems to intimate some secret Compact between the Devil and them; but then it looks, not as is they had contracted with the Devil for leave to sin, but that the Devil had contracted with them, that they should sin so and so, up to such a Degree, and that without giving him the Trouble of daily Solicitation, private Management, and artful screwing up their Passions, their Affections and their most retir'd Faculties, as he was before oblig'd to do.

This also appears more agreeable to the Nature of the Thing; and as it is a most exquisite part of Satan's Cunning, so 'tis an undoubted Testimony of his Success; if it was not so, he could never bring his Kingdom to such a height of absolute Power as he has done; this also solves several Difficulties in the Affair of the World's present Way of sinning, which otherwise it would be very hard to understand; as particularly how some eminent Men of Quality among us, whose upper Rooms are not extraordinary well furnished in other Cases, yet are so very witty in their Wickedness, that they gather Admirers by hundreds and thousands; who, however heavy, lumpish, slow and backward, even by Nature, and in force of Constitution in better things, yet in their Race Devil-wards they are of a sudden grown nimble, light of Foot, and outrun all their Neighbours; Fellows that are as empty of Sense as Beggars are of Honesty, and as far from Brains as a Whore is of Modesty; on a sudden you shall find them dip into _Polemicks_, study _Michael Servetus_, _Socinus_, and the most learned of their Disciples; they shall reason against all Religion, as strongly as a Philosopher; blaspheme with such a Keenness of Wit, and satyrise God and Eternity, with such a Brightness of Fancy, as if the soul of a _Rochester_ or a _Hobbs_ was transmigrated into them; in a little length of Time more they banter Heaven, burlesque the Trinity, and jest with every sacred thing, and all so sharp, so ready, and so terribly witty, as if they were born Buffoons, and were singl'd out by Nature to be Champions for the Devil.

Whence can all this come? how is the Change wrought? who but the Devil can inject Wit in Spight of natural Dullness, create Brains, fill empty Heads, and supply the Vacuities in the Understanding? and will Satan do all this for nothing? _No, no_, he is too wise for that; I can never doubt a secret Compact, if there is such a thing in Nature; when I see a Head where there was no Head, Sense in _Posse_ where there is no Sense in _Esse_, Wit without Brains, and Sight without Eyes, 'tis all _Devil-Work_: Could _G----_ write Satyrs, that could neither read _Latin_ or spell _English_, like old Sir _William Read_, who wrote a Book of Opticks, which when it was printed, he did not know which was the right Side uppermost, and which the wrong? Could this eminent uninform'd Beau turn Atheist, and make wise Speeches against that Being, which made him a Fool, if the Devil had not sold him some Wit in exchange for that Trifle of his, call'd Soul? Had he not barter'd his Inside with that Son of the Morning, to have his Tongue tip'd with Blasphemy, he that knew nothing of a God, but only to swear by him, could never have set up for a Wit, to burlesque his Providence and ridicule his Government of the World.

But the Devil, as he is God of the World, has one particular Advantage, and that is, that when he has Work to do he very seldom wants Instruments; with this Circumstance also, that the Degeneracy of human Nature supplies him; as the late King of _France_ said of himself, when they told him what a Calamity was like to befal his Kingdom by the Famine: _Well_, says the King, then I shall not want Soldiers; _and it was so_, want of Bread supplied his Army with Recruits; so want of Grace supplied the _Devil_ with Reprobates for his Work.

Another Reason why, I think, the _Devil_ has made more Bargains of that Kind we speak of, in this Age, is, because he seems to have laid by his Cloven-Foot; all his old Emissaries, the Tools of his Trade, the Engineers which he employ'd in his Mines, such as Witches, Warlocks, Magicians, Conjurers, Astrologers, and all the hellish Train or Rabble of human _Devils_, who did his Drudgery in former Days, seem to be out of Work: I shall give you a fuller Enumeration of them in the next Chapter.

These, I say, seem to be laid aside; not that his Work is abated, or that his Business with Mankind, for their Delusion and Destruction is not the same, or perhaps more than ever; but the _Devil_ seems to have chang'd Hands; the Temper and Genius of Mankind is alter'd, and they are not to be taken by Fright and Horror, as they were then: The Figures of those Creatures was always dismal and horrible, and that is it which I mean by the _Cloven-Foot_; but now Wit, Beauty and gay Things, are the Sum of his Craft, he manages by the Soft and the Smooth, the Fair and the Artful, the Kind and the Cunning, not by the Frightful and Terrible, the Ugly and the Odious.

When the _Devil_ for weighty Dispatches,
Wanted Messengers cunning and bold,
He pass'd by the beautiful Faces,
And pick'd out the _Ugly_ and _Old_.

Of these he made _Warlocks_ and _Witches_,
To run of his Errands by Night,
Till the over wrought Hag-ridden Wretches,
Were as fit as the _Devil_, to fright.

But whoever has been his Adviser,
As his Kingdom encreases in Growth;
He now takes his Measures much wiser,
And Trafficks with Beauty and Youth.

Disguis'd in the Wanton and Witty,
He haunts both the Church and the Court,
And sometimes he visits the City,
Where all the best Christians resort.

Thus dress'd up in full Masquerade,
He the bolder can range up and down,
For he better can drive on his Trade,
In any one's Name than his own.

CHAP. IX.

_Of the Tools the_ Devil _works with,_ (viz.) _Witches, Wizards or
Warlocks, Conjurers, Magicians, Divines, Astrologers, Interpreters
of Dreams, Tellers of Fortunes; and above all the rest, his
particular modern Privy-Counsellors call'd Wits and Fools._

Tho', as I have advanc'd in the foregoing Chapter, the _Devil_ has very much chang'd Hands in his modern Management of the World, and that instead of the Rabble and long Train of Implements reckoned up above, he now walks about in Beaus, Beauties, Wits and Fools; yet I must not omit to tell you that he has not dismiss'd his former Regiments, but like Officers in Time of Peace, he keeps them all in half Pay, or like Extraordinary Men at the Custom-House, they are kept at a Call, to be ready to fill up Vacancies, or to employ when he is more than ordinarily full of Business; and therefore it may not be amiss to give some brief Account of them, from Satan's own Memoirs, their Performance being no inconsiderable Part of his History.

Nor will it be an unprofitable Digression to go back a little to the primitive Institution of all these _Orders_, for they are very antient, and I assure you, it requires great Knowledge of Antiquity, to give a Particular of their Original; I shall be very brief in it.

In order then to this Enquiry, you must know that it was not for want of Servants, that Satan took this Sort of People into his Pay; he had, as I have observ'd in its Place, Millions of diligent _Devils_ at his Call, whatever Business, and however difficult, he had for them to do; but as I have said above, that our modern People are forwarder than even the _Devil_ himself can desire them to be; and that they come before they are call'd, run before they are sent, and crowd themselves into his Service; so it seems it was in those early Days, when the World was one universal Monarchy under his Dominion, as I have at large describ'd in its Place.

In those Days the Wickedness of the World keeping a just Pace with their Ignorance, this inferior Sort of low priz'd Instruments did the _Devil_'s work mighty well; they drudg'd on in his Black-Art so laboriously, and with such good Success, that he found it was better to employ them as Tools to delude and draw in Mankind, than to send his invisible Implements about, and oblige them to take such Shapes and Dresses as were necessary upon every trifling Occasion; which, perhaps, was more Cost than Worship, more Pains than Pay.

Having then a Set of these Voluntiers in his Service, the true _Devil_ had nothing to do but to keep an exact Correspondence with them, and communicate some needful Powers to them, to make them be and do something extraordinary, and give them a Reputation in their Business; and these, in a Word, did a great Part of, nay almost all the _Devil_'s Business in the World.

To this Purpose gave he them Power, if we may believe old _Glanville_, _Baxter_, _Hicks_, and other learn'd Consultors of Oracles, to walk invisible, to fly in the Air, ride upon Broom-sticks, and other Wooden Gear, to interpret Dreams, answer Questions, betray Secrets, to talk (Gibberish) the universal Language, to raise Storms, sell Winds, bring up Spirits, disturb the Dead, and torment the Living, with a thousand other needful Tricks to amuse the World, keep themselves in Veneration, and carry on the _Devil_'s Empire in the World.

The first Nations among whom these infernal Practices were found, were the _Chaldeans_; and that I may do Justice in earnest, as well as in jest, it must be allow'd that the _Chaldeans_, or those of them so call'd, were not Conjurers or Magicians, only Philosophers and Studiers of Nature, wise, sober and studious Men at first, and we have an extraordinary Account of them; and if we may believe some of our best Writers of Fame, _Abraham_ was himself famous among them for such Magick, as Sir _Walter Raleigh_ expresses it, _Qui Contemplatione Creaturarum Cognovit Creatorem_.

Now granting this, it is all to my Purpose, namely, that the Devil drew these wise Men in, to search after more Knowledge than Nature could instruct them in; and the Knowledge of the true God being at that Time sunk very low, he debauch'd them all with Dreams, Apparitions, Conjurers, _&c._ till he ruin'd the just Notions they had, and made _Devils_ of them all, like himself.

The learned _Senensis_, speaking of this _Chaldean_ Kind of Learning, gives us an Account of five Sorts of them; you will pardon me for being so grave as to go this Length back.

1. _Chascedin_ or _Chaldeans_, properly so call'd, being
Astronomers.

2. _Asaphim_ or _Magicians_, such was _Zoroastres_ and _Balaam_ the
Son of _Beor_.

3. _Chatumim_ or Interpreters of Dreams and hard Speeches,
Inchanters, _&c._

4. _Mecasphim_ or Witches, call'd at first Prophets, afterwards
_Malefici_ or _Venefici_, Poisoners.

5. _Gazarim_ or _Auruspices_, and Diviners, such as divin'd by the
Entrails of Beasts, the Liver in particular; mention'd in _Ezek._
or as others, call'd Augurs.

Now, as to all these, I suppose, I may do them no wrong, if I say, however justifiable they were in the Beginning, the _Devil_ got them all into his Service at last, and that brings me to my Text again, from which the rest was a Digression.

1. The _Chascedin_ or _Chaldean_ Astronomers turned Astrologers,
Fortune-Tellers, Calculators of Nativities, and vile Deluders of
the People, as if the Wisdom of the holy God was in them, as
_Nebuchadnezzar_ said of _Daniel_ on that very Account.

2. The _Asaphim_ or Magi, or Magicians; _Sixtus Senensis_ says,
they were such as wrought by Covenants with Devils, but turn'd to
it from their Wisdom, which was to study the practical Part of
Natural Philosophy, working admirable Effects by the mutual
Application of Natural Causes.

3. The _Chartumim_ from being Reasoners or Disputers upon difficult
Points in Philosophy, became Enchanters and Conjurers. So,

4. The _Mecasphim_ or Prophets, they turn'd to be Sorcerers,
Raisers of Spirits, such as wounded by an evil Eye, and by bitter
Curses, and were afterwards fam'd for having familiar Converse with
the _Devil_, and were called Witches.

5. The _Gazarim_, from the bare observing of the good and bad
Omens, by the Entrails of Beasts, flying of Birds, _&c._ were
turn'd to Sacrists or Priests of the Heathen Idols and Sacrificers.

Thus, I say, first or last the _Devil_ engross'd all the Wise-Men of the East, for so they are call'd; made them all his own, and by them he work'd Wonders, that is, he fill'd the World with lying Wonders, as if wrought by these Men, when indeed it was all his own, from Beginning to the End, and set on Foot meerly to propagate Delusion, impose upon blinded and ignorant Men; the God of this World blinded their Minds, and they were led away by the Subtilty of the _Devil_, to say no worse of it, till they became _Devils_ themselves, as to Mankind; for they carried on the Devil's Work upon all Occasions, and the Race of them still continue in other Nations, and some of them among our selves, as we shall see presently.

The _Arabians_ follow'd the _Chaldeans_ in this Study, while it was kept within its due Bounds, and after them the _Egyptians_; and among the Latter we find that _Jannes_ and _Jambres_ were famous for their leading _Pharaoh_ by their pretended magic Performances, to reject the real Miracles of _Moses_; and History tells us of strange Pranks the Wise-Men, the Magicians and the Southsayers plaid to delude the People in the most early Ages of the World.

But, as I say, now, the _Devil_ has improv'd himself, so he did then; for the _Grecian_ and _Roman_ Heathen Rites coming on, they outdid all the Magicians and Southsayers, by establishing the _Devil_'s lying Oracles, which, as a Master-Piece of Hell, did the _Devil_ more Honour, and brought more Homage to him, than ever he had before, or could arrive to since.

Again, as by the setting up the Oracles, all the Magicians and Southsayers grew out of Credit; so at the ceasing of those Oracles, the _Devil_ was fain to go back to the old Game again, and take up with the Agency of Witches, Divinations, Inchantments and Conjurings, as I hinted before, answerable to the four Sorts mention'd in the Story of _Nebuchadnezzar_, (viz.) _Magicians_, _Astrologers_, the _Chaldeans_ and the _Southsayers_: How these began to be out of Request, I have mention'd already; but as the _Devil_ has not quite given them over, only laid them aside a little for the present, we may venture to ask what they were, and what Use he made of them when he did employ them.

The Truth is, I think, as it was a very mean Employment for any thing that wears a human Countenance to take up, so I must acknowledge, I think, 'twas a mean low priz'd Business for _Satan_ to take up with; below the very _Devil_; below his Dignity as an Angelic, tho' condemn'd Creature; below him even as a _Devil_; to go to talk to a parcel of ugly, deform'd, spiteful, malicious old Women; to give them Power to do Mischief, who never had a Will, after they enter'd into the State of _old Woman-Hood_, to do any thing else: Why the _Devil_ always chose the ugliest old Women he could find; whether _Wizardism_ made them ugly, that were not so before, and whether the Ugliness, as it was a Beauty in Witchcraft, did not encrease according to the meritorious Performance in the Black-Trade? These are all Questions of Moment to be decided, (if human Learning can arrive to so much Perfection) in Ages to come.

Some say the evil Eye and the wicked Look were Parts of the Enchantment, and that the Witches, when they were in the height of their Business, had a powerful Influence with both; that by looking upon any Person they could bewitch them, and make the _Devil_, _as the Scots express it_, ride through them booted and spurr'd; and that hence came that very significant Saying, _to look like a Witch_.

The strange Work which the _Devil_ has made in the World, by this Sort of his Agents call'd Witches, is such, and so extravagantly wild, that except our Hope that most of those Tales happen not to be true, I know not how any one could be easy to live near a Widow after she was five and fifty.

All the other Sorts of Emissaries which Satan employs, come short of these Ghosts; and Apparitions sometimes come and shew themselves, on particular Accounts, and some of those Particulars respect doing Justice, repairing Wrongs, preventing Mischief; sometimes in Matters very considerable, and on Things so necessary to publick Benefit, that we are tempted to believe they proceed from some vigilant Spirit who wishes us well; but on the other Hand, these Witches are never concern'd in any thing but Mischief; nay, if what they do portends good to one, it issues in hurt to many; the whole Tenour of their Life, their Design in general, is to do Mischief, and they are only employ'd in Mischief, and nothing else: How far they are furnish'd with Ability suitable to the horrid Will they are vested with, remains to be describ'd.

These Witches, 'tis said, are furnish'd with Power suitable to the Occasion that is before them, and particularly that which deserves to be consider'd, as Prediction, and foretelling Events, which I insist the Author of Witchcraft is not accomplish'd with himself, nor can he communicate it to any other: How then _Witches_ come to be able to foretel Things to come, which, 'tis said, the _Devil_ himself cannot know, and which, as I have shewn, 'tis evident he does not know himself, is yet to be determin'd; that Witches do foretel, is certain, from the Witch of _Endor_, who foretold Things to _Saul_, which he knew not before, namely, that he should be slain in Battle the next Day, which accordingly came to pass.

There are, however, and notwithstanding this particular Case, many Instances wherein the _Devil_ has not been able to foretel approaching Events, and that in Things of the utmost Consequence, and he has given certain foolish or false Answers in such Cases; the DEVIL's Priests, which were summon'd in by the Prophet _Elija_, to decide the Dispute between God and _Baal_, had the _Devil_ been able to have inform'd them of it, would certainly have receiv'd Notice from him, of what was intended against them by _Elija_; that is to say, that they would be all cut in pieces; for Satan was not such a Fool as not to know that _Baal_ was a Non-Entity, a Nothing, at best a dead Man, perish'd and rotting in his Grave; for _Baal_ was _Bell_ or _Belus_, an ancient King of the _Assyrian_ Monarchy, and he could no more answer by Fire to consume the Sacrifice, than he could raise himself from the dead.

But the Priests of _Baal_ were left of their Master to their just Fate, namely, to be a Sacrifice to the Fury of a deluded People; hence I infer his Inability, for it would have been very unkind and ungrateful in him not to have answer'd them, if he had been able. There is another Argument raised here most justly against the _Devil_, with Relation to his being under Restraint, and that of greater Eminence than we imagine, and it is drawn from this very Passage, thus; 'tis not to be doubted but that _Satan_, who has much of the Element put into his Hands, as Prince of the Air, had a Power, or was able potentially speaking, to have answer'd _Baal_'s Priests by Fire; Fire being in Vertue of his airy Principality a Part of his Dominion; but he was certainly _withheld_ by the Superior Hand, which gave him that Dominion, I mean _withheld_ for the Occasion only: So in another Case, it was plain that _Balaam_, who was one of those Sorts of _Chaldeans_ mention'd above, who dealt in _Divinations_ and _Inchantments_, was withheld from cursing Israel.

Some are of Opinion that _Balaam_ was not a Witch or a Dealer with the _Devil_ because 'tis said of him, or rather he says it of himself, that he saw the Visions of God, _Numb._ xxiv. 16. _He hath said_, who _heard the Words of_ GOD, _and knew the Knowledge of the most High, which saw the Visions of the Almighty, falling into a_ TRANCE, _but having his Eyes open_: Hence they alledge he was one of those Magi, which St. _Augustin_ speaks of, _de Divinatione_, who by the Study of Nature, and by the Contemplation of created Beings came to the Knowledge of the Creature; and that _Balaam_'s Fault was, that being tempted by the Rewards and Honours that the King promised him, he intended to have curs'd _Israel_; but when his Eyes were open'd, and that he saw they were God's own People, he durst not do it; they will have it therefore, that except, _as above_, _Balaam_ was a good Man, or at least that he had the Knowledge of the true God, and the Fear of that God upon him, and that he honestly declares this, _Numb._ xxii. 18. _If_ Balak _would give me his House full of Silver and Gold, I cannot go beyond the Word of the Lord_ MY GOD: Where tho' he is call'd a false Prophet by some, he evidently owns God, and assumes a Property in him, as other Prophets did; MY GOD, and I cannot go beyond his Orders; but that which gives me a better Opinion of _Balaam_ than all this is, his plain Prophesy of Christ, Chap. xxiv. 17. where he calls him the Star of _Jacob_, and declares, _I shall see him, but not now, I shall behold him, but not nigh; there shall come a Star out of_ Jacob, _and a Scepter shall rise out of_ Israel, _and shall smite the Corners of_ Moab, _and destroy all the Children of_ Seth, all which express not a Knowledge only, but a Faith in Christ; but I have done preaching, this is all by the by, I return to my Business, which is the History.

There is another Piece of dark Practice here, which lies between Satan and his particular Agents, and which they must give us an Answer to, when they can, which I think will not be in haste; and that is about the obsequious _Devil_ submitting to be call'd up into Visibility, whenever an old Woman has her Hand cross'd with a white Six-pence, _as they Call it_: One would think that instead of these vile Things call'd Witches, being sold to the _Devil_, the _Devil_ was really sold for a Slave to them; for how far soever Satan's Residence is off of this State of Life, they have Power, it seems, to fetch him from home, and oblige him to come at their Call.

I can give little Account of this, only that indeed so it is; nor is the Thing so strange in its self, as the Methods to do it are mean, foolish, and ridiculous; as making a Circle and dancing in it, pronouncing such and such Words, saying the Lord's Prayer backward, and the like; now is this agreeable to the Dignity of the Prince of the Air or Atmosphere, that he should be commanded forth with no more Pomp or Ceremony than that of muttering a few Words, such as the old Witches and he agree about? or is there something else in it, which none of us or themselves understand?

Perhaps, indeed, he is always with those People call'd Witches and Conjurers, or at least some of his _Camp Volant_ are always present, and so upon the least call of the Wizard, it is but putting off the misty Cloak and showing themselves.

Then we have a Piece of mock Pageantry in bringing those Things call'd witches or Conjurers to Justice, that is, first to know if a Woman be a Witch, throw her into a Pond, and if she be a Witch, she will swim, and it is not in her own Power to prevent it; if she does all she can to sink her self, it will not do, she will swim like a Cork. Then that a Rope will not hang a Witch, but you must get a With, a green Osyer; that if you nail a Horse-Shoe on the Sill of the Door, she cannot come into the House, or go out, if she be in; these and a thousand more, too simple to be believ'd, are yet so vouch'd, so taken for granted, and so universally receiv'd for Truth, that there is no resisting them without being thought atheistical.

What Methods to take to know, who are _Witches_, I really know not; but on the other Side, I think there are variety of Methods to be used to know who are not; _W--- G---_, Esq; is a Man of Fame, his Parts are great, because his Estate is so; he has threescore and eight Lines of _Virgil_ by rote, and they take up many of the Intervals of his merry Discourses; he has just as many witty Stories to please Society; when they are well told, _once over_, he begins again, and so he lives in a round of Wit and Learning; he is a Man of great Simplicity and Sincerity; you must be careful not to mistake my Meaning, as to the Word Simplicity; some take it to mean Honesty, and so do I, only that it has a Negative attending it, in his particular Case; in a Word, _W---- G----_ is an honest Man, and no _Conjurer_; a good Character, I think, and without Impeachment to his Understanding, he may be a Man of Worth for all that; take the other Sex, there is the Lady _H----_ is another Discovery; bless us! what Charms in that Face! How bright those Eyes! How flowing white her Breasts! How sweet her Voice? add to all, how heavenly, divinely good her Temper! How inimitable her Behaviour! How spotless her Virtue! How perfect her Innocence! and to sum up her Character, we may add, the Lady _H----_ is no _Witch_; sure none of our Beau Critics will be so unkind now as to censure me in those honest Descriptions, as if I meant that my good Friend _W---- G----_ Esq; or my ador'd Angel, the bright, the charming Lady _H----_ were Fools; but what will not those Savages, call'd Critics, do, whose barbarous Nature enclines them to trample on the brightest Characters, and to cavil on the clearest Expressions?

It might be expected of me, however, in justice to my Friends, and to the bright Characters of abundance of Gentlemen of this Age, who, by the Depth of their Politics, and the Height of their Elevations might be suspected, and might give us Room to charge them with Subterranean Intelligence; I say, it might be expected that I should clear up their Fame, and assure the World concerning them, even by Name, that they are no _Conjurers_, that they do not deal with the _Devil_, at least, not by the Way Witchcraft and Divination, such as Sir _T---k_, _E--- B---_, Esq; my Lord _Homily_, Coll. _Swagger_, _Jeoffry Well with_, Esq; Capt. _Harry Go Deeper_, Mr. _Wellcome Woollen_, Citizen and Merchant Taylor of _London_, _Henry Cadaver_, Esq; the D---- of _Caerfilly_, the Marquess of _Sillyhoo_, Sir _Edward Thro' and Thro'_ Bart. and a World of fine Gentlemen more, whose great Heads and Weighty Understandings have given the World such Occasion to challenge them with being at least descended from the _Magi_, and perhaps engaged with old Satan in his Politics and Experiments; but I, that have such good Intelligence among _Satan_'s Ministers of State, as is necessary to the present Undertaking, am thereby well able to clear up their Characters: and I doubt not, but they will value themselves upon it, and acknowledge their Obligation to me, for letting the World know the _Devil_ does not pretend to have had any Business with them, or to have enroll'd them in the List of his Operators; _in a Word_, that none of them are _Conjurers_: Upon which Testimony of mine, I expect they be no longer charg'd with, or so much as suspected of having an unlawful Quantity of Wit, or having any Sorts of it about them, that are contraband or prohibited, but that for the future they pass unmolested, and be taken for nothing but what they are, (_viz._) very honest worthy Gentlemen.

CHAP. X.

_Of the various Methods the Devil takes to converse with Mankind._

Having spoken something of Persons, and particularly of such as the _Devil_ thinks fit to employ in his Affairs in the World, it comes next of course to say something of the Manner how he communicates his Mind to them, and by them to the rest of his Acquaintance in the World.

I take the _Devil_ to be under great Difficulties in his Affairs on his Part, especially occasion'd by the Bounds which are set him, or which Policys oblige him to set to himself, in his Access to the conversing with Mankind; 'tis evident he is not permitted to fall upon them with Force and Arms, that is to say, to muster up his infernal Troops, and attack them with Fire and Sword; if he was not loose to act in this Manner as he was able, by his own seraphic Power to have destroy'd the whole Race, and even the Earth they dwelt upon, so he would certainly, and long ago have effectually done it; his particular Interests and Inclinations are well enough known.

But in the next Place, as he is thus restrain'd from Violence, so Prudentials restrain him in all his other Actings with Mankind; and being confin'd to Stratagem, and soft still Methods, such as Persuasion, Allurement, feeding the Appetite, prompting, and then gratifying corrupt Desires, and the like; he finds it for his Purpose not to appear in Person, except very rarely, and then in Disguise; but to act all the rest in the Dark, under the Vizor of Art and Craft, making Use of Persons and Methods conceal'd, or at least not fully understood or discover'd.

As to the Persons whom he employs, I have taken some Pains you see to discover some of them; but the Methods he uses with them, either to inform and instruct, and give Orders to them, or to converse with other People by them, these are very particular, and deserve some Place in our Memoirs, particularly as they may serve to remove some of our Mistakes, and to take off some of the frightful Ideas we are apt to entertain in Prejudice of this great Manager; as if he was no more to be match'd in his Politics, than he would be to be match'd in his Power, if it was let loose; which is so much a Mistake, that on the contrary, we read of several People that have abused and cheated the _Devil_, a Thing, which I cannot say, is very honest nor just, notwithstanding the old Latin Proverb, _Fallere fallentem non est fraus_, (which Men construe, or rather render, by way of Banter Upon Satan) 'tis no Sin to cheat the _Devil_, which for all that, upon the whole I deny, and alledge, that let the _Devil_ act how he will by us, we ought to deal fairly by him.

But to come to the Business, without Circumlocutions; I am to enquire how Satan issues out his Orders, gives his Instructions and fully delivers his Mind to his Emissaries, of whom I have mention'd some in the Title to Chap. IX. In order to this, you must form an Idea of the _Devil_ sitting in great State, in open Campaign, with all his Legions about him, in the height of the Atmosphere; or if you will, at a certain Distance from the Atmosphere, and above it, that the Plan of his Encampment might not be hurried round its own Axis, with the Earth's diurnal Motion, which might be some Disturbance to him.

By this fix'd Situation, the Earth performing its Rotation, he has every Part and Parcel of it brought to a direct Opposition to him, and consequently to his View once in twenty four Hours: The last time I was there, if I remember right, he had this Quarter of the World, which we call Christendom, just under his Eye; and as the Motion is not so swift, but that his piercing Opticks can take a strict View of it _en passant_; for the Circumference of it being but twenty one thousand Miles, and its circular Motion being full twenty four Hours performing, he has something more than an Hour to view every thousand Miles, which, to his supernatural Penetration, is not worth naming.

As he takes thus a daily View of all the Circle, and an hourly View of the Parts, he is fully Master of all Transactions, at least such as are done above Board by all Mankind; and then he dispatches his Emissaries or _Aid du Camps_ to every Part with his Orders and Instructions: Now these Emissaries, you are to understand, are not the _Witches_ and _Diviners_, who I spoke of above, for I call them also Emissaries; but they are all _Devils_ or (as you know they are call'd) _Devil_'s Angels; and these may, perhaps, come and converse personally with the Sub-emissaries I mention'd, to be ready for their Support and Assistance on all Occasions of Business: These are those _Devils_ which the Witches are said to raise; for we can hardly suppose the Master _Devil_ comes himself, at the Summons of every ugly old Woman.

These run about into every Nook and Corner, wherever Satan's Business calls them, and are never wanting to him; but are the most diligent _Devils_ imaginable; like the _Turkish Chaiux_, they no sooner receive their Errand, but they execute it with the utmost Alacrity; and as to their Speed, it may be truly written as a Motto, upon the Head of every individual _Devil_,

_Non indiget calcaribus._

These are those, who they tell us our Witches, Sorcerers, Wizards, and such Sorts of Folks converse freely with, and are therefore call'd their _Familiars_; and as they tell us, come to them in human Shapes, talk to them with articulate plain Voices, as if Men, and that yet the said Witches, _&c._ know them to be _Devils_.

History has not yet enlighten'd us in this Part of useful Knowledge, or at least not sufficiently for a Description of the Persons or Habits of these Sorts of Appearances; as what Shapes they take up, what Language they speak, and what particular Works they perform, so we must refer it to farther Enquiry; but if we may credit History, we are told many famous Stories of these Appearances; for Example, the famous Mother _Lakland_, who was burnt for a Witch at _Ipswich_, _Anno_ 1646, confessed at the Time of her Execution, or a little before it, that she had frequent Conversation with the _Devil_ himself; that she being very poor, and withal of a devilish passionate, cruel and revengeful Disposition before, used to wish she had it in her Power to do such and such mischievous Things to some that she hated; and that the _Devil_ himself, who, it seems, knew her Temper, came to her one Night as she lay in her Bed, and was between sleeping and waking, and speaking in a deep hollow Voice, told her; if she would serve him in some Things he would employ her to do, she should have her Will of all her Enemies, and should want for nothing: That she was much afraid at first, but that he solliciting her very often, bad her not be afraid of him, and still urg'd her to yield, and as she says, struck his Claw into her Hand, and tho' it did not hurt her, made it bleed, and with the Blood wrote the Covenants, that is to say, the Bargain between them: being ask'd what was in them, and whether he requir'd her to curse or deny God or Christ? She said no.

N. B. I do not find she told them whether the _Devil_ wrote it with
a Pen, or whether on Paper or Parchment, nor whether she sign'd it
or no, but it seems he carry'd it away with him. I suppose, if
Satan's Register were examin'd, it might be found among the
Archives of Hell, the Rolls of his _acta Publica_; and when his
Historiographer Royal publishes them, we may look for it among
them.

Then he furnish'd her with three _Devils_, to wait upon her (I suppose) for she confess'd they were to be employ'd in her Service; they attended in the Shapes of two little Dogs and a Mole: The first she bewitch'd was her own Husband, by which he lay a while in great Misery and died; then she sent to one Captain _Beal_ and burnt a new Ship of his just built, which had never been at Sea; these and many other horrid Things she did and confess'd, and having been twenty Years a Witch, at last the _Devil_ left her, and she was burnt as she deserv'd.

That some extraordinary Occasions may bring these Agents of the _Devil_, nay, sometimes the _Devil_ himself, to assume human Shapes, and appear to other People we cannot doubt; he did thus in the Case of our Saviour _as a Tempter_, and some think he did so to _Manasses_ as a Familiar, who the Scripture charges with Sorcery, and having a Familiar or Devil; Fame tells us that St. _Dunstan_ frequently converst with him, and finally, took him by the Nose; and so of others.

But in these modern Ages of the World, he finds it much more to his Purpose to work under Ground as I have observ'd, and to keep upon the Reserve; so that we have no authentick Accounts of his personal Appearance, but what are very antient or very remote from our Faith, as well as our Enquiry.

It seems to be a Question that would bear some debating, whether all Apparitions are not _Devils_ or from the _Devil_; but there being so many of those Apparitions which we call Spirits, which really assume Shapes and make Appearances in the World, upon such Accounts as we know _Satan_ himself scorns to be employ'd in, that I must dismiss the Question in favour of the _Devil_; assuring them, that as he never willingly did any good in his Life, so he would be far from giving himself the Trouble of setting one Foot into the World, on such an Errand; and for that Reason we maybe assur'd those certain Apparitions, which we are told came to detect a Murther in _Gloucestershire_, and others who appear'd to prevent the ruining an Orphan for want of finding a Deed, that was not lost, was certainly some other Power equally concern'd, and not the _Devil_.

On the other Hand, neither will it follow that _Satan_ never appears in human Shape; for tho' every Apparition may not be the _Devil_, yet it does not follow that the _Devil_ never makes an Apparition: All I shall say to it is, as I have mention'd before, that generally speaking, the _Devil_ finds it more for his Purpose, to have his Interest in the World propagated another Way; namely, in private, and his personal Appearances are reserv'd for Things only of extraordinary Consequence, and, as I may say, of evident Necessity, where his Honour is concern'd, and where his Interest could be carried on no other Way; not forgetting to take Notice that this is very seldom.

It remains to enquire, what then those Things are which we make so much stir about, and which are call'd _Apparitions_, or Spirits assuming human Shapes, and shewing themselves to People on particular Occasions? whether they are evil Spirits or good? and tho', indeed, this is out of my Way at this Time, and does not relate at all to the _Devil_'s History, yet I thought it not amiss to mention it; (1.) Because, as I have said, I do not wholly exclude Satan from all Concern in such Things; and (2.) Because I shall dismiss the Question with so very short an Answer, namely, that we may determine which are and which are not the _Devil_'s, by the Errand they come upon; every one to his own Business; if it comes of a good Errand, you may certainly acquit the _Devil_ of it, conclude him innocent, and that he has no hand in it; if it comes of a wicked and devilish Errand, you may e'en take him up upon Suspicion, 'tis ten to one but you find him at the Bottom of it.

Next to Apparitions, we find Mankind disturb'd by abundance of little odd reserv'd Ways which the _Devil_ is shrewdly suspected of having a Hand in, such as _Dreams_, _Noises_, _Voices_, &c. smells of Brimstone, Candles burning blue, and the like.

As to Dreams, I have nothing to say in Satan's Prejudice at all there; I make no Question but he deals very much in that Kind of Intelligence, and why should he not? we know _Heaven_ it self formerly converst very often with the greatest of Men, by the same Method, and the _Devil_ is known to mimick the Methods, as well as the Actions of his Maker; whether Heaven has not quite left off that Way of working, we are not certain; but we pretty well know the _Devil_ has not left it, and I believe some Instances may be given where his Worship has been really seen and talk'd to in sleep, as much as if the Person had been awake with his Eyes open.

These are to be distinguish'd too, pretty much by the Goodness or Badness of the Subject; how often have Men committed Murther, Robbery and Adultery in a Dream, and at the same time except an extraordinary Agitation of the Soul, and express'd by extraordinary Noises in the Sleep, by violent Sweating and other such Ways, the Head has never been remov'd from the Pillow, or the Body so much as turn'd in the Bed?

Whether in such Cases, the Soul with all the Passions and Affections being agitated, and giving their full assent to the Facts, of whatever Kind soever, the Man is not as guilty as if the Sins so dream'd of his committing, had been actually committed? tho' it be no Doubt to me, but that it is so, yet as it is foreign to the present Affair, and not at all relating to the _Devil_'s History, I leave it to the Reverend Doctors of the Church, as properly belonging to them to decide.

I knew a Person who the _Devil_ so haunted with naked Women, fine beautiful Ladies in Bed with him, and Ladies of his Acquaintance too, offering their Favours to him, and all in his Sleep; so that he seldom slept without some such Entertainment; the Particulars are too gross for my Story, but he gave me several long Accounts of his Night's _Amours_, and being a Man of a virtuous Life and good Morals, it was the greatest Surprize to him imaginable; for you cannot doubt but that the cunning _Devil_ made every thing be acted to the Life with him, and in a manner the most wicked; he own'd with Grief to me, that the very first Attack the _Devil_ made upon him, was with a very beautiful Lady of his Acquaintance, who he had been really something freer than ordinary with in their common Conversation; This Lady he brought to him in a Posture for Wickedness, and wrought up his Inclination so high in his Sleep, that he, as he thought, actually went about to debauch her, she not at all resisting; but that he wak'd in the very Moment, to his particular Satisfaction.

He was greatly concern'd at this Part, namely, that he really gave the Consent of his Will to the Fact, and wanted to know if he was not as guilty of Adultery, as if he had lain with her; indeed he decided the Question against himself, so forcibly, that I, who was of the same Opinion before, had nothing to say against it; however, I confirm'd him in it, by asking him these Questions.

1. Whether he did not think the _Devil_ had the chief Hand in such
a Dream? he answer'd, it could certainly be no body else, it must
be the _Devil_.

2. I then ask'd him what Reason the _Devil_ could have for it, if
his Consent to the Fact in Sleep had not been criminal? _That's
true indeed_, says he, _I am answer'd_: But then he ask'd another
Question, which, I confess, is not so easy to answer, namely, How
he should prevent being serv'd so again.

Nor could all my Divinity or his own keep the _Devil_ from attacking him again; on the other Hand, as I have said, he worried him to that Degree, that he injur'd his Health, bringing naked Women to him, sometimes one, sometimes another, sometimes in one Posture of Lewdness, sometimes in another, sometimes into his very Arms, sometimes with such Additions as I am not merry enough, and sometimes such as I am not wicked enough to put into your Heads; the Man, indeed, could not help it, and so the _Devil_ was more Faulty than he; but as I hinted to him, he might bring his Mind to such a stated Habit of Virtue, as to prevent its assenting to any wicked Motion, even in Sleep, and that would be the Way to put an End to the Attempt; and this Advice he relish'd very well, and practised, I believe, with Success.

By this same Method, the same _Devil_ injects powerful Incentives to other Crimes, provokes Avarice, by laying a great Quantity of Gold in your View, and no body present, giving you an Opportunity to steal it, or some of it, at the same time, perhaps, knowing your Circumstances to be such as that you are at that Time in a great want of the Money.

I knew another, who being a Tradesman, and in great Distress for Money in his Business, dream'd that he was walking all alone in a great Wood, and that he met a little Child with a Bag of Gold in its Hand, and a fine Necklace of Diamonds on its Neck, upon the Sight, his Wants presently dictated to him to rob the Child; the little innocent Creature, (just so he dream'd) not being able to resist; or to tell who it was, accordingly he consented to take the Money from the Child, and then to take the Diamond Necklace from it too, and did so.

But the _Devil_, (a full Testimony, as I told him, that it was the _Devil_, not contented with that, hinted to him, that perhaps the Child might some time or other know him, and single him out, by crying or pointing, or some such Thing, especially if he was suspected and shew'd to it, and therefore it would be better for him to kill the Child, prompting him to kill it for his own Safety, and that he need do no more but twist the Neck of it a little, or crush it with his Knee; He told me he stood debating with himself, whether he should do so or not; but that in that Instant his Heart struck him with the Word Murther, and he entertain'd a Horror of it, refus'd to do it, and immediately waked.

He told me, that when he wak'd, he found himself in so violent a Sweat as he never had known the like; that his Pulse beat with that Heat and Rage, that it was like a Palpitation of the Heart to him, and that the Agitation of his Spirits was such, that he was not fully composed in some Hours; tho' the Satisfaction and Joy that attended him, when he found it was but a Dream, assisted much to return his Spirits to their due Temperament.