Chapter XVI: Part II (7)

It is neither my Business or Inclination to turn Divine here, nor is the Age I write to sufficiently Grave to relish a Sermon, if I was disposed to preach, though they must allow the Subject would very well bear it; but I shall only ask them, if they think this is not the _Devil_, what they think it is? If they believe it is the _Devil_, they will act accordingly I hope, or let it alone, as Satan and they can agree about it.

I should not oblige the _Devil_ over much, whatever I might do to those that read it; if I should enter here upon a Debate of Interests, (_viz._) to enquire whether the _Devil_ has not a vast Advantage upon Mankind this Way, and whether it is not much his Interest to preserve it; and if I prove the Affirmative, I leave it to you to enquire whose Interest it is to disappoint and supplant him.

In short, I take Dreams to be the second Best of the Advantages the _Devil_ has over Mankind; the first, I suppose, you all know (_viz._) the Treachery of the Garrison within; by Dreams he may be said to get into the Inside of us without Opposition; here he opens and locks without a Key, and like an Enemy laying siege to a fortified City, Reason and Nature, the Governor of the City, keep him out by Day, and keep the Garrison true to their Duty; but in the Dark he gets in and parlees with the Garrison (the Affections and Passions) Debauches their Loyalty, stirring up them to Disloyalty and Rebellion, so they betray their Trust, Revolt, Mutiny, and go over to the Besieger.

Thus he manages his Interest, I say, and insinuates himself into the Inside of us, without our Consent, nay, without our Knowledge; for whatever Speculation may do, 'tis evident Demonstration does not assist us to discover which Way he gets Access to the Soul, while the Organ tied up, and dozed with Sleep has lock'd it up from Action; that it is so is clear, but how he does it is a Secret which I do not find the Antients or Moderns have yet made a Discovery of.

That Devil of a Creature, Mother _Lakland_, whose Story I mention'd above, acknowledg'd that the first Time the _Devil_ attempted to draw her in to be a Witch was in a Dream, and even when she consented, she said, she was between sleeping and waking; that is, she did not know whether she was awake or asleep, and the cunning Devil it seems was satisfied with her Assent given so, when she was asleep, or neither asleep or awake, so taking the Advantage of her Incapacity to act rationally.

The Stories of her bewitching several People, and the manner in which they died, are so formidable and extravagant, that I care not to put any one's Faith to the stretch about them, tho' publish'd by Authority, and testified by Abundance of Witnesses; but this is recorded in particular, and to my Purpose, whether from her own Mouth or not, I do not say, namely, the Description of a Witch, and the Difference between Witches, and those other of Satan's Acquaintance who act in his Name.

1. They have consulted and covenanted with a Spirit or _Devil_.

2. They have a Deputy _Devil_, sometimes several to serve and
assist them.

3. These they employ as they please, call them by Name, and command
their Appearance in whatever Shape they think fit.

4. They send them abroad to or into the Persons who they design to
bewitch, who they always torment, and often murther them, as Mother
_Lakland_ did several.

As to the Difference between the several Devils that appear, it relates to the Office of the Persons who employ them; as Conjurers, who seem to command the particular _Devil_ that waits upon them with more Authority, and raise them and lay them at Pleasure, drawing Circles, casting Figures, and the like; but the Witch, in a more familiar manner, whispers with the Devil, keeps the _Devil_ in a Bag or a Sack, sometimes in her Pocket, and the like, and like Mr. _Faux_ shews Tricks with him.

But all these Kinds deal much in Dreams, talk with the Devil in their Sleep, and make other People talk with him in their Sleep too; and 'tis on this Occasion I mention it here; in short, the Devil may well take this Opportunity with Mankind, for not half the World that came into his Measures would comply, if they were awake; but of that hereafter.

And yet his thus insinuating himself by Dream, does not seem sufficient, in my Opinion, to answer the _Devil_'s End, and to carry on his Business; and therefore we must be forc'd to allow him a Kind of actual Possession, in particular Cases, and that in the Souls of some People, by different Methods from others; _Luther_ is of the Opinion that the _Devil_ gets a Familiarity with some Souls just at, or rather before their being embodied; as to the Manner and Method how he gets in, that is another Question, and may be spoken of by it self; besides, why may not he, that at Satan's Request to enter into the Herd of Swine, said _go_, give the same Commission to possess a sort of Creatures so many Degrees below the Dignity of the _Gaderenian_ Swine, and open the Door too? but as for that, when our Lord said _go_, the _Devil_ never enquir'd which Way he should get in.

When then I see Nations, or indeed Herds of Nations set on Fire of Hell, and as I may say, enflam'd by the _Devil_; when I see Towns, Parties, Factions and Rabbles of People visibly possess'd; 'tis enough to me that the great Master of the Devils has said to him, GO; there's no need to enquire which Way he finds open, or at what postern Gate he gets in; as to his appearing, 'tis plain he often gets in without appearing, and therefore the Question about his appearing still remains a Doubt, and is not very easy to be resolv'd.

In the Scripture we have some Light into it, and that is all the Help I find from Antiquity, and it goes a great Way to solve the Phaenomena of Satan's appearing; what I mean by the Scripture giving some Light to it, is this; 'tis said in several Places, and of several Persons, God came to them in a Dream, _Gen._ xx. 3. _God came to_ Abimelech _in a Dream by Night_, Gen. xxxi. 24. _And God came to_ Laban _the_ Syrian _in a Dream_, Matt. ii. 13. _The Angel of the Lord appear'd to_ Joseph _in a Dream_; short Comments are sufficient to plain Texts, applying this to my Friend when he wanted to be satisfied about the How, relating to his Dream (_viz._) how he should come to Dream such wicked Things? I told him, in short, the Case was plain, _the Devil came to him in a Dream by Night_: How and in what manner he form'd the wicked Representations, and spread debauch'd Appearances before his Fancy, by real Whispers and Voice, according to _Milton_, or by what other Methods, the Learned are not arriv'd to any Certainty about it.

This leads me necessarily to enquire whether the _Devil_ or some of his Agents are not always in our Company, whether they make any visible Appearances or no? For my Part I make no Question of it, how else could he come at the Knowledge of what we do; for as I can allow him no Prescience at all, as for many Reasons I have observ'd already, he must be able to see and know us, and what we are about when we know nothing of him, or else he could know nothing of us and our Affairs, which yet we find otherwise; and this gives him infinite Advantage to Influence our Actions, to judge of our Inclinations, and to bring our Passions to clash with our Reason, as they often do, and get the better of it too.

All this he obtains by his being able to walk about invisible, and see when he is not seen, of which I have spoken already; hence that most wise and solid Suggestion, that when the Candles burn blue the _Devil_ is in the Room, which great Secret in Nature, that you may more fully be convinc'd of its imaginary Reality, I must tell you the following Story which I saw in a Letter directed to a particular Friend, take it Word for Word as in the Letter; because I do not make my self accountable for the Facts, but take them _ad referendum_.

SIR,

We had one Day, very early in the Morning, and for the most Part of the Day a great deal of Rain with a high Wind, and the Clouds very thick and dark all Day.

In the Evening the cloudy thick Weather continued, tho' not the Rain, when being at a Friend's House in ---- Lane _London_, and several Ladies and some Gentlemen in the Room, besides two or three Servants (for we had been eating) the following Interlude happen'd for our Entertainment: When the Cloth was taken away, two large Candles were brought upon the Table and plac'd there with some Bottles and Glasses for the Gentlemen, who, it seems, were intending to drink and be very merry; two large Wax-Candles were also set on another Table, the Ladies being going to Cards, also there were two large Candles in Sconces over or near the Chimney, and one more in a Looking-Glass Sconce, on a Peer by the Window.

With all this _Apparatus_, the Company separating sat down, the Gentlemen at their Table, and the Ladies at theirs, to play _as above_; when after some time the Gentleman of the House said hastily to a Servant, _what a P---- ails the Candles_? and turning to the Servant raps out an Oath or two, and bids him snuff the Candles, for they burnt as if the Devil was in the Room.

The Fellow going to snuff one of the Candles, snuffs it out, at which his Master being in a Passion the Fellow lights it again immediately at the other Candle, and then being in a little hurry, going to snuff the other Candle snuffed that out too.

The first Candle that was relighted (as is usual in such Cases) burn'd dim and dull for a good while, and the other being out, the Room was much darker than before, and a Wench that stood by the Ladies Table, bawls out to her Mistress, _Law Madam!_ the Candles _burn blue_; an old Lady that sat by says, _ay Betty!_ so they do; upon this one of the Ladies starts up, _Mercy upon us_, says she, _what is the Matter!_ In this unlucky Moment another Servant, without Orders, went to the great Peer Sconce, and because, _as he thought_, he would be sure to snuff the Candle well, he offers to take it down, but very unhappily, I say, the Hook came out and down falls the Sconce Candle and all, and the Looking-Glass broke all to pieces, with a horrible Noise; however, the Candle falling out of the Sconce did not go out, but lay on the Floor burning dully, and as it is usual on such Cases, all on one Side, _Betty_ cries out again, _Law Madam_, that Candle burns blue too; the very Moment she said this, the Footman that had thrown down the Sconce, says to his fellow Servant, that came to his Assistance, I _think_ the Devil _is in the Candles to Night_, and away he run out of the Room, for fear of his Master.

The old Lady, who, upon the Maid _Betty_'s Notion of the Candles burning blue, had her Head just full of that old _Chimney-Corner Story_, the Candles _burn blue when the Spirits are in the Room_, heard the Footman Say the Word _Devil_, but heard nothing else of what he said; upon this she rises up in a terrible Fright, and cries out that the Footman said the _Devil was in the Room_; as she was, indeed, frighted out of her Wits, she frighted the Ladies most terribly, and they all starting up together, down goes the Card Table, and put the Wax-Candles out.

Mrs. _Betty_, that had frighted them all, runs to the Sconce next the Chimney, but that having a long Snuff, she cried out it burnt blue too, and she durst not touch it; in short, tho' there were three Candles left still burning in the Room, yet the Ladies we're all so frighted, that they and the Maids too run out of the Parlour screaming like mad Folks. The Master in a Rage kick'd his first Man out of the Room, and the second Man was run out to avoid, as I said before, the like, so that no Servant was to be had, but all was in Confusion.

The two other Gentlemen, who were sitting at the first Table, kept their Seats composed and easy enough, only concern'd to see all the House in such a fright; it was true, they said, the Candles burnt dim and very oddly, but they could not perceive they _burnt blue_, except one of those over the Chimney, and that on the Table, which was relighted after the Fellow had snufft it out.

However, the Maid, the old Lady and the Footman that pull'd down the Sconce, all insist that the Candles _burnt blue_, and all pretend that the Devil was certainly in the Room, and was the Occasion of it; and they now came to me with the Story, to desire my Opinion of it.

This put me upon Enquiry into the Notion of Candles _burning blue_ when Spirits are in a Room, which upon all the Search into Things, that I am able to make, amounts to no more than this; that upon any extraordinary Emission of sulphureous or of nitrous Particles, either in a close Room, or in any not very open Place, if the Quantity be great, a Candle or Lamp, or any such little Blaze of Fire will seem to be, or to _burn blue_; and if then they can prove that any such Effluvia attends or is emitted from a Spirit, then when SATAN is at Hand it may be so.

But then 'tis begging the Question grossly, because no Man can assure us that the Devil has any sulphureous Particles about him.

It is true, the Candles burn thus in Mines and Vaults, and damp Places; and 'tis as true that they will do so upon Occasion of very damp, stormy and moist Air, when an extraordinary Quantity of Vapours are supposed to be dispers'd abroad, as was the Case when this happen'd; and if there was any Thing of that in it on that _Monday_ Night, the Candles might, perhaps, burn blue upon that Occasion; but that the _Devil_ was abroad upon any extraordinary Business that Night, that I cannot grant, unless I have some better Testimony than the _old Lady_ that heard the Footman's out-cry but by halves, or than Mrs. _Betty_, who first fancied the Candles _burnt blue_; so I must suspend my Judgment till I hear farther.

This Story however may solve a great many of those Things which pass for Apparitions in the World, and which are laid to the Devil's Charge, tho' he really may know nothing of the Matter; and this would bring me to defend _Satan_ in many Things, wherein he may truly be said to suffer wrongfully; and if I thought it would oblige him, I might say something to his Advantage this Way; however, I'll venture a Word or two for an injur'd _Devil_, take it as you will.

First, it is certain, that as this Invisibility of the _Devil_ is very much to our Prejudice, so the Doctrine of his Visibility is a great Prejudice to him, as we make Use of it.

By his Invisibility he is certainly vested with infinite Advantages against us; while he can be present with us, and we know nothing of the Matter, he informs himself of all our Measures, and arms himself in the best and most suitable manner to injure and assault us, as he can counteract all our secret concerted Designs, disappoint all our Schemes, and except when Heaven apparently concerns it self to over-rule him, can defeat all our Enterprizes, break all our Measures, and do us Mischief in almost every Part of our Life, and all this, because we are not privy to all his Motions, as he is to ours.

But now for his Visibility and his real Appearance in the World, and particularly among his Disciples and Emissaries, such as Witches and Wizards, Demonaists, and the like: Here, I think Satan has a great deal of Loss, suffers manifest Injury, and has great Injustice done him; and, that therefore I ought to clear this Matter up a little, if it be possible, to do Justice to Satan, and set Matters right in the World about him, according to that useful old Maxim of setting the Saddle upon the right Horse, or _giving the_ Devil _his due_.

First, _as I have said_, we are not to believe every idle Head, who pretends even to converse Face to Face with the _Devil_, and who tells us, they have thus seen him, and been acquainted with him every Day: Many of these Pretenders are manifest Cheats; and, however, they would have the Honour of a private Interest in him, and boast how they have him at their Beck, can call him this Way, and send him that, as they please, raise him and lay him when and how, and as often as they find for their Purpose; I say, whatever Boasts they make of this Kind, they really have nothing of Truth in them.

Now the Injuries and Injustice done to the _Devil_, in these Cases, are manifest; namely, that they entitle the _Devil_ to all the Mischief they are pleased to do in the World; and if they commit a Murther or a Robbery, fire a House, or do any Act of Violence in the World, they presently are said to do it by the Agency of the _Devil_, and the _Devil_ helps them; so Satan bears the Reproach, and they have all the Guilt; this is, (1.) a grand Cheat upon the World, and (2.) a notorious Slander upon the _Devil_; and it would be a public Benefit to Mankind, to have such would-be-Devils as these turn'd inside out, that we might know when the _Devil_ was really at work among us, and when not; what Mischiefs were of his doing, and which were not; and that these Fellows might not slip their Necks out of the Halter, by continually laying the Blame of their Wickedness upon the _Devil_.

Not that the _Devil_ is not very willing to have his Hand in any Mischief, or in all the Mischief that is done in the World; but there are some low priz'd Rogueries that are too little for him, beneath the Dignity of his Operation, and which 'tis really a Scandal to the _Devil_ to charge upon him. I remember the _Devil_ had such a Cheat put upon him in _East-Smithfield_ once, where a Person pretended to converse with the _Devil_ Face to Face, and that in open Day too, and to cause him to tell Fortunes, foretel Good and Evil, _&c._ discover stollen Goods, tell where they were who stole them, and how to find them again, nay, and even to find out the Thieves; but _Satan_ was really sandered in the Case, the Fellow had no more to do with the _Devil_ than other People, and perhaps not so much neither: This was one of those they call'd CUNNING-MEN, or at least he endeavour'd to pass for such a one, but 'twas all a Cheat.

Besides, what had the _Devil_ to do to detect Thieves, and restore stollen Goods? Thieving and Robbing, Trick and Cheat, are part of the Craft of his Agency, and of the Employments which it is his Business to encourage; they greatly mistake him, who think he will assist any Body in suppressing and detecting such laudable Arts and such diligent Servants.

I won't say, but the _Devil_, to draw these People we call _Cunning-Men_, into a Snare, and to push on his farther Designs, may encourage them privately, and in a manner that they themselves know nothing of, to make use of his Name, and abuse the World about him, till at last they may really believe they do deal with the _Devil_, when indeed 'tis only he deals with them, and they know nothing of the Matter.

In other Cases he may encourage them in these little Frauds and Cheats, and give them leave, as above, to make use of his Name to bring them afterwards, and by Degrees to have a real Acquaintance with him; so bringing the Jest of their Trade into Earnest, till at length prompting them to commit some great Villany, he secures them to be his own, by their very Fear of his leaving them to be exposed to the World; thus he puts a _Jonathan Wild_ upon them, and makes them be the very Wretches they only pretended to be before: So old _Parsons_ of _Clithroe_, as Fame tells, was twenty five Years a _Cunning-man_, and twenty two Years a Witch; that is to say, for five and twenty Years, he was only pretending to deal with the _Devil_, when Satan and he had no manner of Acquaintance, and he only put his _Leger-de-main_ upon the People in the _Devil_'s Name, without his leave; but at length the _Devil_'s Patience being tir'd quite out, he told the old Counterfeit, that in short, he had been his stalking Horse long enough, and that now, if he thought fit to enter himself, and take a Commission, well and good; and he should have a Lease to carry on his Trade for so many Years more, to his Heart's content; but if not, he would expose his Knavery to the World, for that he should take away his Peoples Trade no longer; but that he (Satan) would set up another in his Room, that should make a meer Fool of him, and carry away all his Customers.

Upon this, the old Man consider'd of it, took the _Devil_'s Counsel, and listed in his Pay; so he, that had plaid his Pranks twenty five Years as a Conjurer, when he was no Conjurer, was then forc'd really to deal with the DEVIL, for fear the People should know he did not: Till now he had _ambo dexter_, cheated the Devil on one Hand, and the People on the other; but the _Devil_ gain'd his Point at last, and so he was a real Wizard ever after.

But this is not the only way the Devil is injur'd neither, for we have often found People pretend upon him in other Cases, and of nearer Concern to him a great deal, and in Articles more Weighty, as in particular, in the great Business of Possession; it is true this Point is not thoro'ly understood among Men, neither has the Devil thought fit to give us those Illuminations about it, as I believe he might do; particularly that great and important Article, is not, for ought I can see, rightly explain'd, namely; whether there are not two several Kinds of Possession, (_viz._) some wherein the Devil possesses us, and some in which we really possess the Devil; the Nicety of which I doubt this Age, with all its Penetration, is not qualified to explain, and a Dissertation upon it being too long for this Work, especially so near its Conclusion, I am oblig'd to omit, as I am also all the practical Discourses upon the Usefulness and Advantages of real Possession, whether consider'd one Way or other to Mankind, all which I must leave to hereafter.

But to come back to the Point in Hand, and to consider the Injustice done to the Devil, in the various Turns and Tricks which Men put upon him very often in this one Article (_viz._) pretending to Possession, and to have the Devil in them, when really it is not so; certainly the Devil must take it very ill, to have all their demented, lunatick Tricks charg'd upon him; some of which, nay, most of which are so gross, so simple, so empty, and so little to the Purpose, that the _Devil_ must be asham'd to see such Things pass in his Name, or that the World should think he was concern'd in them.

It is true, that Possession being one of the principal Pieces of the Devil's Artifice in his managing Mankind, and in which, with the most exquisite skill he plays the Devil among us, he has the more Reason to be affronted when he finds himself invaded in this Part, and angry that any Body should pretend to possess, or be possess'd without his leave, and this may be the Reason for ought we know, why so many Blunders have been made, when People have pretended to it without him, and he has thought fit not to own them in it; of which we have many Examples in History, as in _Simon Magus_, _the Devil of_ London, _the fair Maid of_ Kent, and several others, whose History it is not worth while to enlarge upon.

In short, Possessions, as I have said, are nice Things, as it is not so easy to mimick the _Devil_ in that Part, as it may be in some other; designing Men have attempted it often, but their manner has been easily distinguish'd, even without the Devil's Assistance.

Thus the People of _Salem_ in _New-England_ pretended to be bewitch'd, and that a black Man tormented them by the Instigation of such and such, whom they resolv'd to bring to the Gallows: This black Man they would have be the _Devil_, employ'd by the Person who they accus'd for a Witch: Thus making the _Devil_ a Page or a Footman to the Wizard, to go and torment whoever the said Wizard commanded, till the _Devil_ himself was so weary of the foolish Part, that he left them to go on their own Way, and at last they over-acted the murthering Part so far, that when they confess'd themselves to be Witches, and possess'd, and that they had Correspondence with the Devil, _Satan_ not appearing to vouch for them, no Jury would condemn them upon their own Evidence, and they could not get themselves hang'd, whatever Pains they took to bring it to pass.

Thus you see the _Devil_ may be wrong'd, and falsely accus'd in many Particulars, and often has been so; there are likewise some other sorts of counterfeit _Devils_ in the World, such as _Gypsies_, _Fortune-Tellers_, Foretellers of good and bad Luck, Sellers of Winds, Raisers of Storms, and many more, some practis'd among us, some in foreign Parts, too many almost to reckon up; nay I almost doubt whether the Devil himself knows all the Sorts of them; for 'tis evident he has little or nothing to do with them, I mean not in the Way of their Craft.

These I take to be Interlopers, or with the _Guinea_ Merchants leave, separate Traders, and who act under the Skreen and Protection of Satan's Power, but without his License or Authority; no doubt these carry away a great deal of his Trade, that is to say, the Trade which otherwise the _Devil_ might have carried on by Agents or his own; I cannot but say, that while these People would fain be thought _Devils_, tho' they really are not, it is but just they should be really made as much _Devils_ as they pretended to be, or that _Satan_ should do himself Justice upon them, as he threaten'd to do upon old _Parsons_ of _Clithroe_ abovemention'd, and let the World know them.

CHAP. XI.

_Of Divination, Sorcery, the Black-Art, Pawawing, and such like Pretenders
to Devilism, and how far the_ Devil _is or is not concern'd in them._

Tho' I am writing the History of the _Devil_, I have not undertaken to do the like of all the Kinds of People, Male or Female, who set up for _Devils_ in the World: This would be a Task for the _Devil_ indeed, and fit only for him to undertake, for their Number is and has been prodigious great, and may, with his other Legions be rank'd among the Innumerable.

What a World do we inhabit! where there is not only with us a great _Roaring-Lyon-Devil_ daily seeking whom of us he may devour, and innumerable Millions of lesser Devils hovering in the whole Atmosphere over us, nay, and for ought we know, other Millions always invisibly moving about us, and perhaps in us, or at least in many of us; but that have, besides all these, a vast many counterfeit _Hocus Pocus Devils_; human _Devils_, who are visible among us, of our own Species and Fraternity, conversing with us upon all Occasions; who like Mountebanks set up their Stages in every Town, chat with us at every Tea-Table, converse with us in every Coffee-House, and impudently tell us to our Faces that they are Devils, boast of it, and use a thousand Tricks and Arts to make us believe it too, and that too often with Success.

It must be confess'd there is a strong Propensity in Man's Nature, especially the more ignorant part of Mankind, to resolve every strange Thing, or whether really strange or no, if it be but strange to us, into Devilism, and to say every Thing is the Devil, that they can give no Account of.

Thus the famous Doctors of the Faculty at _Paris_, when _John Faustus_ brought the first printed Books that had then been seen in the World, or at least seen there, into the City, and sold them for Manuscripts: They were surpriz'd at the Performance, and question'd _Faustus_ about it; but he affirming they were Manuscripts, and that he kept a great many Clarks employ'd to write them, they were satisfied for a while.

But looking farther into the Work, they observ'd the exact Agreement of every Book, one with another, that every Line stood in the same Place, every Page a like Number of Lines, every Line a like Number of Words; if a Word was mis-spelt in one, it was mis-spelt also in all, nay, that if there was a Blot in one, it was alike in all; they began again to muse, how this should be? in a Word, the learned Divines not being able to comprehend the Thing (and that was always sufficient) concluded it must be the _Devil_, that it was done by Magick and Witchcraft, and that in short, poor _Faustus_ (who was indeed nothing but a meer Printer) dealt with the _Devil_.

N. B. _John Faustus_ was Servant, or Journeyman, or Compositor, or
what you please to call it, to _Koster_ of _Harlem_, the first
inventor of Printing; and having printed the Psalter, sold them at
_Paris_ as Manuscripts; because as such they yielded a better
Price.

But the learned Doctors not being able to understand how the Work was perform'd, concluded as above, it was all _the Devil_, and that the Man was a _Witch_; accordingly they took him up for a _Magician_ and a _Conjurer_, and one that work'd by the _Black Art_, that is to say, by the help of the _Devil_; and in a Word, they threaten'd to hang him for a Witch, and in order to it, commenc'd a Process against him in their criminal Courts, which made such a Noise in the World as rais'd the Fame of poor _John Faustus_ to a frightful Height, till at last he was oblig'd, for fear of the Gallows, to discover the whole Secret to them.

N. B. This is the true original of the famous Dr. _Faustus_ or
_Foster_, of whom we have believ'd such strange Things, as that it
is become a Proverb, _as great as the_ Devil _and Dr._ Foster:
Whereas poor _Faustus_ was no Doctor, and knew no more of the
_Devil_ than another Body.

Thus the Magistrates of _Bern_ and _Switzerland_, finding a Gang of _French_ Actors of Puppet-shew open'd their Stage in the Town, upon hearing the surprizing Accounts which the People gave of their wonderful Puppets, how they made them speak, answer Questions, and discourse, appear and disappear in a Moment, pop up here, as if they rise out of the Earth, and down there, as if they vanish'd, and Abundance more Feats of Art, censur'd them as Demons; and if they had not pack'd up their Trinkets, and disappeared almost as dextrously as their Puppets, they had certainly condemn'd the poor Puppets to the Flames for _Devils_, and censur'd, if not otherwise punished their Masters. See _the Count de Rochfort's Memoirs_, p. 179.

Wonderful Operations astonish the Mind, especially where the Head is not over-burthen'd with Brains; and Custom has made it so natural to give the _Devil_ either the Honour or Scandal of every Thing, that we cannot otherwise Account for, that it is not possible to put the People out of the Road of it.

The _Magicians_ were, in the _Chaldean_ Monarchy, call'd the Wisemen; and tho' they are joined with the Sorcerers and Astrologers in the same Place, _Dan._ ii. 4. yet they were generally so understood among those People; but in our Language we understand them to be People that have an Art to reveal Secrets, interpret Dreams, foretel Events, _&c._ and that use Enchantments and Sorceries, by all which we understand the same Thing; which now in a more vulgar Way we express by one general coarse Expression, _Dealing with the_ DEVIL.

The Scripture speaks of a Spirit of _Divination_, _Acts_ xvi. 16. and a Wench that was possess'd by this Spirit _brought her Master much Gain by Southsaying_, that is to say, according to the Learned, by _Oracling_ or answering Questions; whence you will see in the Margin, that this southsaying _Devil_ is there call'd _Python_, that is, _Apollo_, who is often call'd _Python_, and who at the Oracle of _Delphos_ gave out such Answers and _double Entendres_, as this Wench possibly did; and hence all those Spirits which were call'd Spirits of Divination, were in another Sense call'd _Pythons_.

Now when the Apostle St. _Paul_ came to see this Creature, this Spirit takes upon it to declare that _those Men_, meaning St. _Paul_ and _Timotheus_, _were the Servants of the most high God, which shew'd unto them the Way of Salvation_; this was a good turn of the _Devil_, to preserve his Authority in the possess'd Girl; she brought them Gain by Southsaying, that is to say, resolving difficult Questions, answering Doubts, interpreting Dreams, _&c._ Among these Doubts, he makes her give Testimony to _Paul_ and _Timotheus_, to wheedle in with the new Christians, and perhaps (tho' very ignorantly) even with _Paul_ and _Timotheus_ themselves, so to give a Kind of Credit and Respect to her for speaking.

But the _Devil_, who never speaks Truth, but with some sinister End, was discover'd here and detected; his flattering Recognition not accepted, and he himself unkennel'd as he deserv'd; there the _Devil_ was over-shot in his own Bow again.

Here now was a real Possession, and the evil Spirits who possess'd her, did stoop to sundry little Acts of Servitude, that we could give little or no Reason for, only that the Girl's Master might get Money by her; but perhaps this was a particular Case, and, prepar'd to honour the Authority and Power the Apostles had over evil Spirits.

But we find these Things carried a great Way farther in many Cases, that is to say, where the Parties are thus really possess'd; namely, the _Devil_ makes Agents of the possess'd Parties to do many Things for the propagating his Interest and Kingdom, and particularly for the carrying on his Dominion in the World: But I am for the present not so much upon the real Possession as the pretended, and particularly we have had many that have believed themselves possess'd, when the _Devil_ never believed it of them, and perhaps knew them better; some of these are really poor _Devils_ to be pitied, and are what I call _Diables Imaginaire_; these have notwithstanding done the _Devil_ good Service, and brought their Masters good Gain by Southsaying.

We find Possessions acknowledg'd in Scripture to be really and personally the _Devil_, or according to the Text, Legions of _Devils_ in the Plural. The _Devil_ or _Devils_ rather, which possessed the Man among the Tombs, is positively affirm'd to be the _Devil_ in the Scripture; all the Evangelists agree in calling him so, and his very Works shew it; namely, the Mischief he did, as well to the poor Creature among the Tombs, who was made so fierce, that he was the Terror of all the Country, as to the Herd of Swine and to the Country in the Loss of them.

I might preach you a Lecture here of the _Devil_'s Terror upon the Approach of our Saviour, the Dread of his Government, and how he acknowledg'd that there was a Time for his Torment, which was not yet come: _Art thou come to torment us before our Time?_ It is evident the Devil apprehended that Christ would chain them up before the Day of Judgment; and therefore some think the Devil here, being, as it were, caught out of his due Bounds, possessing the poor Man in such a furious manner, was afraid, and petition'd Christ not to chain him up for it, and as the Text says, _They besought him to suffer them to go away_, &c. that is to say, when they say, art thou come to torment us before the Time? the Meaning is, they begg'd he would not cast them into Torment before the Time, which was already fix'd; but that if he would cast them out of the Man, he would let them go away, _&c._

The Evangelist St. _Luke_ says, the _Devil besought him that he would not command them to go out into the Deep_: Our learned Annotators think that part is not rightly render'd; adding, that they do not believe the _Devil_ fears drowning; but with Submission, I believe the meaning is, that they would not be confin'd to the vast Ocean, where no Inhabitants being to be seen, they would be effectually imprison'd and tied down from doing Mischief, which would be a Hell to them; as to their going into the Swine, that might afford us some Allegory; but I am not disposed to jest with the Scripture, no nor with the _Devil_ neither, farther than needs must.

It is evident the _Devil_ makes Use of very mean Instruments sometimes, such as the Damsel possess'd with a Spirit of Divination, and several others.

I remember a Story, how true I know not, of a weak Creature next Door to an Ideot, who was establish'd in the Country for an Oracle, and would tell People strange Things that should be, long before they came to pass; when People were sick, would tell them whether they should live or die; if People were married, tell how many Children they should have; and a hundred such Things as fill'd the People with Admiration, and they were the easier brought to believe that the Girl was possess'd; but then they were divided about her too, and that was the finest spun Thread the Devil could work, for he carried a great Point in it; some said she had a good Spirit, and some a bad, some said she was a Prophetess, and some that she was the _Devil_.

Now had I been there to decide the Question, I should certainly have given it for the latter; if it were only upon this Account, namely, that the Devil has often found Fools very necessary Agents for the propagating his Interest and Kingdom, but we never knew the good Spirits do so; on the other Hand, it does not seem likely that Heaven should deprive a poor Creature of its Senses, and as it were take her Soul from her, and then make her an Instrument of Instruction to others, and an Oracle to declare his Decrees by; this does not seem to be rational.

But as far as this kind of Divination is in Use in our Days, yet I do not find room to charge the Devil with making any great Use of Fools, unless it be such as he has particularly qualified for his Work, for as to _Ideots_ and _Naturals_, they are perfectly useless to him; but a sort of Fools call'd the Magi, indeed, we have some Reason to think he often works with.

We are not arriv'd to a certainty yet, in the settling this great Point, namely, what Magick is? whether a diabolical Art or a Branch of the Mathematicks? Our most learned _Lexicon Technicum_ is of the latter Opinion, and gives the _Magic Square_ and the _Magic Lantern_, two Terms of Art.

The _Magic Square_ is when Numbers in _Arithmetical Proportion_ are dispos'd into such Parallels or equal Ranks, as that the Sums of each Row as well _Diagonally_ as _Laterally_ shall be all equal; for Example, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Place these Nine in a Square of three, they will _directly_ and _diagonally_ make 18. Thus,

+------------+
| 5 | 10 | 3 |
-------------|
| 4 | 6 | 8 |
-------------|
| 9 | 2 | 7 |
+------------+

This he calls the _Magic Square_, but gives no Reason for the Term, nor any Account of what infernal Operations are wrought by this Concurrence of the Numbers; neither do I see that there can be any such Use made of it.

The _Magic Lantern_ is an optic Machine, by the Means of which are represented, on a Wall in the Dark, many Phantasms and terrible Appearances, _but no_ Devil _in all this_, only that they are taken for the Effects of Magic, by those that are not acquainted with the Secret.

All this is done by the help of several little painted Pieces of Glass, only so and so situated, plac'd in certain Oppositions to one another, and painted with different Figures, the most formidable being plac'd foremost, and such as are most capable of terrifying the Spectators; and by this all the Figures may be represented upon the opposite Wall, in the largest Size.

I cannot but take Notice, that this very Piece of optic Delusion seems too much akin to the mock Possessions and infernal Accomplishments, which most of the Possessionists of this Age pretend to, so that they are most of them meer Phantasms and Appearances, and no more; Nor is the Spirit of Divination, the Magic, the Necromancing, and other Arts which were call'd Diabolical, found to be of any Use in modern Practice, at least, in these Parts of the World; but the Devil seems to do most of his Work himself, and by shorter Methods; for he has so compleat an Influence among those that he now Lists in his Service, that he brings all the common Affairs of Mankind into a narrower Compass in his Management, with a Dexterity particular to himself, and by which he carries on his Interest silently and surely, much more to the Detriment of Virtue and good Government, and consequently much more to his Satisfaction, than ever he did before.

There is a Kind of _Magic_ or _Sorcery_, or what else you may please to call it, which, tho' unknown to us, is yet, it seems, still very much encourag'd by the _Devil_; but this is a great Way off, and in Countries where the politer Instruments, which he finds here, are not to be had; namely, among the _Indians_ of _North-America_; This is call'd _Pawawing_, and they have their Divines, which they call _Pawaws_ or Witches, who use strange Gestures, Distortions, horrid Smokes, Burnings, and Scents, and several such Things which the Sorcerers and Witches in ancient Times are said to use in casting Nativities, in Philtres, and in determining, or as they pretended, directing the Fate of Persons; by burning such and such Herbs and Roots, such as _Helebore_, _Wormwood_, _Storax_, _Devilwort_, _Mandrake_, _Nightshade_, and Abundance more such, which are call'd noxious Plants, or the Product of noxious Plants; also melting such and such Minerals, Gums, and poisonous Things, and by several hellish Mutterings and Markings over them, the like do these _Pawaws_; and the _Devil_ is pleased, it seems, (or is permitted) to fall in with these Things, and as some People think, appears often to them for their Assistance upon those Occasions.

But be that as it will, he is eas'd of all that Trouble here; he can _Pawaw_ here himself, without their aid, and having laid them all aside, he negotiates much of his Business without Ambassadors; he is his own Plenipotentiary, for he finds Man so easy to come at, and so easy when he is come at, that he stands in no need of secret Emissaries, or at least not so much as he used to do.

Upon the whole, as the World, within the Compass of a few pass'd Years is advanc'd in all Kinds of Knowledge and Arts, and every useful Branch of what they knew before improv'd, and innumerable useful Parts of Knowledge, which were conceal'd before are discover'd; why should we think the _Devil_ alone should stand at a stay, has taken no Steps to his farther Accomplishment, and made no useful Discoveries in his Way? That he alone should stand at a Stay, and be just the same unimprov'd Devil that he was before? No, no, as the World is improv'd every Day, and every Age is grown wiser and wiser than their Fathers; so, no doubt, he has bestirr'd himself too, in order to an encrease of Knowledge and Discovery, and that he finds every Day a nearer Way to go to work with Mankind than he had before.

Besides, as Men in general seem to have alter'd their manner, and that they move in a higher and more exalted Sphere, especially as to Vice and Virtue; so the _Devil_ may have been obliged to change his Measures, and alter his Way of working; particularly, those Things which would take in former Times, and which a stupid Age would come easily into, won't go down with us now: As the taste of Vice and Virtue alters, the _Devil_ is forc'd to bait his Hook with new Compositions; the very Thing call'd Temptation is alter'd in its Nature, and that which serv'd to delude our Ancestors, whose gross Conceptions of Things caused them to be manageable with less Art, will not do now; the Case is quite alter'd; in some Things, perhaps, as I hinted above, we come into Crime with ease, and may be led by a Finger; but when we come to a more refin'd Way of sinning, which our Ancestors never understood, other and more refin'd Politics must be made Use of, and the _Devil_ has been put upon many useful Projects and Inventions, to make many new Discoveries and Experiments to carry on his Affairs; and to speak impartially, he is strangely improv'd either in Knowledge or Experiment, within these few Years; he has found out a great many new Inventions to shorten his own Labour, and carry on his Business in the World currently, which he never was master of before, or at least we never knew he was.

No wonder then that he has chang'd Hands too, and that he has left of pawawing in these Parts of the World; that we don't find our Houses disturb'd as they used to be, and the Stools and Chairs walking about out of one Room into another, as formerly; that Children don't vomit crooked Pins and rusty stub Nails, as of old, the Air is not full of Noises, nor the Church-Yard full of Hobgoblins; Ghosts don't walk about in Winding-Sheets, and the good old scolding Wives visit and plague their Husbands after they are dead, as they did when they were alive.

The Age is grown too wise to be agitated by these dull scare-crow Things which their Fore-Fathers were tickled with; _Satan_ has been obliged to lay by his Puppet-shews and his Tumblers, those things are grown stale; his morrice-dancing Devils, his mountebanking and quacking won't do now; those Things, as they may be supposed to be very troublesome to him, (and but that he has Servants enough would be chargeable too) are now of no great Use in the new Management of his Affairs.

_In a Word_, Men are too much Devils themselves, in the Sense that I have call'd them so, to be frighted with such little low priz'd Appearances as these; they are better acquainted with the old Arch-Angel than so, and they seem to tell him they must be treated after another manner, and that then, as they are good-natur'd and tractable, he may deal with them upon better Terms.

Hence the _Devil_ goes to work with Mankind a much shorter Way; for instead of the Art of Wheedling and Whining, together with the laborious Part of Tricking and Sharping, Hurrying and Driving, Frighting and Terrifying, all which the _Devil_ was put to the Trouble of before; in short, he acts the GRAND MANNER as the Architects call it (I don't know whether our Free-Masons may understand the Word) and therefore I may hereafter explain it, as it is to be Diabolically as well as mathematically understood.

At present my meaning is, he acts with them immediately and personally by a magnificent Transformation, making them meer _Devils_ to themselves, upon all needful Occasions, and _Devils_ to one another too, whenever he (Satan), has Need of their Service.

This Way of embarking Mankind in the _Devil_'s particular Engagement, is really very modern; and tho' the Devil himself may have been long acquainted with the Method, and as I have heard, began to practise it towards the Close of the _Roman_ Empire, when Men began to act upon very polite Principles, and were capable of the most refin'd Wickedness, and afterwards with some Popes, who likewise were a kind of Church Devils, such as Satan himself could hardly expect to find in the World; yet I do not find that he was ever able to bring it into Practice, at least, not so universally as he does now: But now the Case is alter'd, and Men being generally more expert in Wickedness than they were formerly; they suffer the smaller Alteration of the Species, in being transmigrated; in a Word, they turn into _Devils_, with no trouble at all hardly, either to the _Devil_ or to themselves.

This Particular would want much the less Explanation, could I obtain a License from Sir _Hellebore Wormwood_, Bart. or from my Lord _Thwartover_, Baron of _Scoundrel Hall_ in the Kingdom of _Ireland_, to write the true History of their own Conduct; and how early, and above all, how easily they commenc'd _Devils_, without the least Impeachment of their Characters, as wise Men, and without any Diminution of that Part of their Denomination which establish'd them for Fools.

How many mad Fellows appear among us every Day in the critical Juncture of their Transmigration, just when they have so much of the Man left as to be known by their Names, and enough of the _Devil_ taken up to settle their Characters? This Easiness of the _Devil_'s access to these People, and the great Convenience it is to him in his general Business, is a Proof to me that he has no more Occasion of Diviners, Magicians, Sorcerers, and whatever else we please to call those People who were formerly so great with him; for what Occasion has he to employ _Devils_ and Wizards to confound Mankind, when he is arriv'd to such a Perfection of Art as to bring Men, at least in these Parts of the World, to do it all themselves; upon this Account we do not find any of the old Sorcerers and Diviners, Magicians or Witches appear among us; not that the _Devil_ might not be as well able to employ such People as formerly, and qualify them for the Employment too, but that really there is no need of them hereabout, the _Devil_ having a shorter Way, and Mankind being much more easily possess'd; not the old _Herd of Swine_ were sooner agitated, tho' there was full 2000 of them together; Nature has open'd the Door, and the _Devil_ has egress and regress at Pleasure, so that Witches and Diviners are quite out of the Question.