Chapter V: Part II: Chap. I (3)

2. Looking farther into her Frame, and with a nearer view to her imperfections, he saw room to conclude that she was of a constitution easy to be seduc'd, and especially by flattering her; raising a commotion in her Soul, and a disturbance among her passions; and accordingly he set himself to work, to disturb her repose, and put dreams of great things into her head; together with something of a nameless Kind, which (however, some have been ill-natur'd enough to suggest) I shall not injure the Devil so much as to mention, without better evidence.

3. But, besides this, he found, upon the very first survey of her outside, something so very charming in her mein and behaviour, so engaging as well as agreeable in the whole texture of her person, and withal such a sprightly wit, such a vivacity of parts, such a fluency of tongue, and above all, such a winning prevailing whine in her smiles, or at least in her tears, that he made no doubt if he could but once delude her, she would easily be brought to delude _Adam_, whom he found set not only a great value upon her person, but was perfectly captivated by her charms; in a word, he saw plainly, that if he could but ruin her, he should easily make a Devil of her, to ruin her husband, and draw him into any gulph of mischief, were it ever so black and dreadful, that she should first fall into herself; how far some may be wicked enough, from hence, to suggest of the _fair sex_, that they have been Devils to their husbands ever since, I cannot say; I hope they will not be so unmerciful to discover truths of such fatal consequence, tho' they should come to their knowledge.

Thus subtle and penetrating has Satan been from the beginning; and who can wonder that upon these discoveries made into the woman's inside, he went immediately to work with her, rather than with _Adam_? not but that one would think, if _Adam_ was fool enough to be deluded by his wife, the Devil might have seen so much of it in his countenance, as to have encourag'd him to make his attack directly upon him, and not go round about, beating the bush, and ploughing with the Heifer; setting upon the woman first, and then setting her upon her husband, who might as easily have been imposed upon as she.

Other Commentators upon this critical Text suggest to us, that _Eve_ was not so pleased with the hopes of being made a Goddess; That the pride of a Seraphic Knowledge did not so much work upon her imagination to bring her to consent, as a certain secret Notion infus'd into her head by the same wicked instrument, that she should be wiser than _Adam_, and should by the superiority of her understanding, necessarily have the government over him; which, at present, she was sensible she had not, he being master of a particular air of gravity and majesty, as well as of strength, infinitely superior to her.

This is an ill-natur'd suggestion; but it must be confess'd the impatient desire of government, which (since that) appears in the general Behaviour of the sex, and particularly of governing husbands, leaves too much room to legitimate the supposition.

The Expositors, who are of this opinion, add to it, that this being her original crime, or the particular temptation to that crime; Heaven thought fit to shew his justice, in making her more entire subjection to her husband be a part of the Curse, that she might read her sin in the punishment, (_viz._) _he shall rule over thee_.

I only give the general hint of these things as they appear recorded in the annals of _Satan_'s first Tyranny, and at the beginning of his government in the World; those that would be more particularly inform'd, may enquire of him _and know farther_.

I cannot however, but observe here _with some regret_, how it appears by the consequence, that the Devil was not mistaken when he made an early judgment of Mrs. _Eve_; and how _Satan_ really went the right way to work, to judge of her; 'tis certain the Devil had nothing to do but to look in her face, and upon a near steady view he might easily see there, an instrument for his Turn; nor has he fail'd to make her a Tool ever since, by the very methods which he at first proposed; to which, perhaps, he has made some additions in the corrupting her composition, as well as her understanding; qualifying her to be a compleat snare to the poor _weaker vessel_ MAN; to wheedle him with her _Syren_'s voice, abuse him with her smiles, delude him with her crocodile tears, and sometimes cock her crown at him, and terrify him with the thunder of her TREBLE; making the effeminated _Male Apple-eater_ tremble at the noise of that very Tongue, which at first commanded him to Sin. For it is yet a debate which the Learned have not decided, whether she persuaded and entreated him, or like a true she-tyrant, exercised her authority and oblig'd him to eat the forbidden fruit.

And therefore a certain author, whose name, _for fear of the Sex's resentment_ I conceal, brings her in, calling to _Adam_ at a great distance, in an imperious haughty manner, beckoning to him with her hand, thus; _Here_, says she, _you cowardly faint-hearted wretch, take this branch of heavenly fruit, eat and be a stupid fool no longer; eat and be wise; eat and be a God; and know, to your eternal shame, that your wife has been made an enlightn'd Goddess before you_.

He tells you _Adam_ hung back a little at first, and trembl'd, _afraid to trespass_: _What ails the_ SOT, says the new Termagant? _what are you afraid of? did God forbid you! yes, and why? that we might not be knowing and wise like himself! What reason can there be that we, who have capacious souls, able to receive knowledge, should have it withheld? take it, you Fool, and eat; don't you see how I am exalted in soul by it, and am quite another Creature? Take it_, I say, _or, if you don't, I'll go and cut down the Tree, and you shall never eat any of it at all, and you shall be still a fool, and be governed by your wife for ever_.

Thus, if this interpretation of the thing be just, she Scolded him into it; Rated him, and brought him to it by the terror of her voice; a thing that has retained a dreadful influence over him ever since; nor have the greatest of _Adam_'s Successors, how light soever some husbands make of it in this age, been ever able, since that, to conceal their terror, at the very Sound; nay, if we may believe history, it prevailed even among the Gods; not all the noise of _Vulcan_'s hammers could silence the clamours of that outrageous whore his Goddess; nay, even _Jupiter_ himself led such a life with a termagant wife, that once, they say, _Juno_ out-scolded the noise of all his Thunders, and was within an ace of brawling him out of Heaven. But to return to the Devil.

With these views he resolv'd, it seems, to attack the woman; and if you consider him as a Devil, and what he aim'd at, and consider the fair prospect he had of success, I must confess, I do not see who can blame him, or at least, how any thing less could be expected from him; But we shall meet with it again by and by.

CHAP. V.

_Of the station Satan had in Heaven before he fell; the nature and
original of his crime, and some of Mr._ Milton_'s mistakes about
it._

Thus far I have gone upon general observation, in this great affair of _Satan_ and his Empire in the World; I now come to _my Title_, and shall enter upon the historical part, as the main work before me.

Besides what has been said Poetically, relating to the fall and wandering condition of the _Devil_ and his Host, which poetical part I offer only as an excursion, and desire it should be taken so; I shall give you what I think is deduc'd from good originals on the part of _Satan_'s story in a few words.

He was one of the created Angels, form'd by the same omnipotent hand and glorious power, who created the Heavens and the Earth, and all that is therein: This innumerable heavenly host, as we have reason to believe, contain'd Angels of higher and lower stations, of greater and of lesser degree, express'd in the Scripture by _Thrones_, _Dominions_, and _Principalities_: This, I think, we have as much reason to believe, as we have, that there are Stars in the Firmament (or starry Heavens) of greater and of lesser magnitude.

What particular station among the immortal Choir of Angels, this Arch-seraph, this Prince of _Devils_, call'd _Satan_, was plac'd in before his expulsion, that indeed, we cannot come at the knowledge of, at least, not with such an Authority as may be depended upon; but as from Scripture authority, he is plac'd at the head of all the Apostate armies, after he was fallen, we cannot think it in the least assuming to say, that he might be supposed to be one of the principal Agents in the _Rebellion_ which happen'd in Heaven, and consequently that he might be one of the highest in dignity there, before that Rebellion.

The higher his station, the lower, and with the greater precipitation, was his overthrow; and therefore, those words, tho' taken in another sense, may very well be apply'd to him: _How art thou fallen_, O Lucifer! _Son of the Morning!_

Having granted the dignity of his Person, and the high station in which he was placed among the heavenly Host; it would come then necessarily to inquire into the nature of his fall, and _above all_, a little into the reason of it; certain it is, _he did fall_, was guilty of Rebellion and Disobedience, the just effect of Pride; sins, which, in that holy place, might well be call'd wonderful.

But what to me is more wonderful, and which, I think, will be very ill accounted for, is, how came seeds of crime to rise in the Angelic Nature? created in a state of perfect, unspotted holiness? how was it first found in a place where no unclean thing can enter? how came ambition, pride, or envy to generate there? could there be offence where there was no crime? could untainted purity breed corruption? could that nature contaminate and infect, which was always Drinking in principles of perfection?

Happy 'tis to me, _that_ writing the History, _not_ solving the Difficulties of _Satan_'s Affairs, is my province in this Work; that I am to relate the Fact, not give reasons for it, or sign causes; if it was otherwise, I should break off at this difficulty, for I acknowledge I do not see thro' it; neither do I think that the great _Milton_, after all his fine Images and lofty Excursions upon the Subject, has left it one jot clearer than he found it: Some are of opinion, and among them the great Dr. _B----s_, that crime broke in upon them at some interval, when they omitted but one moment fixing their eyes and thoughts on the glories of the divine face, to admire and adore, which is the full employment of Angels; but even this, tho' it goes as high as imagination can carry us, does not reach it, nor, to me, make it one jot more comprehensible than it was before; all I can say to it here, is, that _so it was_, the fact was upon Record, and the rejected Troop are in being, whose circumstances confess the Guilt, and still groan under the Punishment.

If you will bear with a poetic excursion upon the subject, not to solve but to illustrate the difficulty; take it in a few lines, thus,

Thou sin of Witchcraft! firstborn child of Crime!
Produc'd before the bloom of Time;
Ambition's maiden Sin, in Heaven conceiv'd,
And who could have believ'd
Defilement could in purity begin,
And bright eternal Day be soil'd with Sin?
Tell us, sly penetrating Crime,
How cam'st thou there, thou fault sublime?
How didst thou pass the Adamantine Gate;
And into Spirit thy self insinuate?
From what dark state? from what deep place?
From what strange uncreated race?
Where was thy ancient habitation found
Before void Chaos heard the forming sound?
Wast thou a Substance, or an airy Ghost,
A Vapour flying in the fluid waste
Of unconcocted air?
And how at first didst thou come there?
Sure there was once a time when thou wert not,
By whom wast thou created? and for what?
Art thou a steam from some contagious damp exhal'd?
How should contagion be intail'd,
On bright seraphic Spirits, and in a place
Where all's supreme, and Glory fills the Space?
No noxious vapour there could rise,
For there no noxious matter lies;
Nothing that's evil could appear,
Sin never could Seraphic Glory bear;
The brightness of the eternal Face,
Which fills as well as constitutes the place,
Would be a fire too hot for crime to bear,
'Twould calcine Sin, or melt it into air.
How then did first defilement enter in?
Ambition, thou first vital seed of Sin!
Thou Life of Death, how cam'st thou there?
In what bright form didst thou appear?
In what Seraphic Orb didst thou arise?
Surely that place admits of no disguise,
Eternal Sight must know thee there,
And being known, thou soon must disappear.
But since the fatal Truth we know,
Without the matter whence or manner how:
Thou high superlative of Sin,
Tell us thy nature, where thou didst begin?
The first degree of thy increase,
Debauch'd the Regions of eternal Peace,
And fill'd the breasts of loyal Angels there
With the first Treason and infernal War.

Thou art the high extreme of pride,
And dost o'er lesser crimes preside;
Not for the mean attempt of Vice design'd,
But to embroil the World, and damn Mankind.
Transforming mischief, now hast thou procur'd
That loss that ne'er to be restor'd,
And made the bright Seraphic Morning-star
In horrid monstrous shapes appear?
_Satan_, that while he dwelt in glorious light,
Was always then as pure as he was bright,
That in effulgent rays of glory shone,
Excell'd by eternal Light, by him alone,
Distorted now, and stript of Innocence,
And banish'd with thee from the high Pre-eminence,
How has the splendid Seraph chang'd his face,
Transform'd by thee, and like thy monstrous race?
Ugly as is the crime, for which he fell, }
Fitted by thee to make a local Hell, }
For such must be the place where either of you dwell. }

Thus, as I told you, I only moralize upon the subject, but as to the difficulty, I must leave it as I find it, unless, _as I hinted at first_, I could prevail with Satan to set pen to paper, and write this part of his own History: No question, but he could let us into the secret; but to be plain, I doubt I shall tell so many plain truths of the _Devil_, in this History, and discover so many of his secrets, which it is not for his interest to have discover'd, that before I have done, the _Devil_ and I may not be so good friends as you may suppose we are; at least, not friends enough to obtain such a favour of him, tho' it be for public good; so we must be content till we come ont' other side the _Blue-Blanket_, and then we shall know the whole Story.

But now, tho' as I said, I will not attempt to solve the difficulty, I may, I hope, venture to tell you, that there is not so much difficulty in it, as at first sight appears: and especially not so much as some people would make us believe; let us see how others are mistaken in it, perhaps, that may help us a little in the enquiry; for to know _what it is not_, is one help towards knowing _what it is_.

Mr. _Milton_ has indeed told us a great many merry things of the Devil, in a most formal, solemn manner; till in short he has made a good PLAY of _Heaven_ and _Hell_; and no doubt if he had liv'd in our times, he might have had it acted with our _Pluto_ and _Proserpine_. He has made fine Speeches both for _God_ and the _Devil_, and a little addition might have turn'd it _a la modern_ into a _Harlequin Dieu & Diable_.

I confess I don't well know how far the dominion of Poetry extends itself; it seems the Buts and Bounds of _Parnassus_ are not yet ascertain'd; so that for ought I know, by vertue of their antient privileges call'd _Licentia Poetarum_, there can be no _Blasphemy_ in _Verse_; as some of our Divines say there can be no _Treason_ in the _Pulpit_. But they that will venture to write that way, ought to be better satisfy'd about that Point than I am.

Upon this foot Mr. _Milton_, to grace his Poem, and give room for his Towring Fancy, has gone a length beyond all that ever went before him, since _Ovid_ in his _Metamorphosis_. He has indeed complimented GOD _Almighty_ with a flux of lofty words, and great sounds; and has made a very fine Story of the _Devil_, but he has made a meer _je ne scay Quoi_ of _Jesus Christ_. In one line he has him riding on a _Cherub_, and in another sitting on a Throne, both in the very same moment of action. In another place he has brought him in making a Speech to his _Saints_, when 'tis evident he had none there; for we all know _Man was not created till a long while after_; and no body can be so dull as to say the _Angels_ may be called _Saints_, without the greatest absurdity in nature. Besides, he makes CHRIST himself distinguish them, as in two several Bands, and of differing Persons and Species, as to be sure they are.

Stand still in bright array, _ye Saints_------
---- ------ -------- -------- Here stand,
_Ye Angels_. ------

_Par. Lost. lib._ vi. _fo._ 174.

So that CHRIST here is brought in drawing up his Army before the last Battle, and making a Speech to them, to tell them they shall only stand by in warlike order, but that they shall have no occasion to fight, for he alone will engage the Rebels. Then in embattling his Legions, he places the Saints here, and the Angels there, as if one were the main Battle of Infantry, and the other the Wings of Cavalry. But who are those Saints? they are indeed all of _Milton_'s own making; 'tis certain there were no Saints at all in _Heaven_ or _Earth_ at that time; GOD and his _Angels_ fill'd up the place; and till some of the _Angels_ fell, and Men were created, had liv'd, and were dead, there could have been no _Saints_ there. Saint _Abel_ was certainly the _Proto-Saint_ of all that ever were seen in _Heaven_, as well as the Proto-martyr of all that have been upon _Earth_.

Just such another Mistake, not to call it a Blunder, he makes about _Hell_; which he not only makes LOCAL, but gives it a being before the Fall of the _Angels_; and brings it in opening its mouth to receive them. This is so contrary to the nature of the thing, and so great an absurdity, that no Poetic License can account for it; for tho' Poesie may form Stories, as Idea and Fancy may furnish Materials, yet Poesy must not break in upon Chronology, and make things which in time were to exist, act before they existed.

Thus a Painter may make a fine piece of Work, the fancy may be good, the strokes masterly, and the beauty of the Workmanship inimitably curious and fine, and yet have some unpardonable improprieties which marr the whole Work. So the famous Painter of _Toledo_ painted the story of the three Wisemen of the _East_ coming to worship, and bring their presents to our Lord upon his birth at _Bethlehem_, where he represents them as three _Arabian_ or _Indian_ Kings; two of them are white, and one black; But unhappily when he drew the latter part of them kneeling, which to be sure was done after their faces; their legs being necessarily a little intermix'd, he made three black feet for the _Negroe_ King, and but three white feet for the two white Kings, and yet never discover'd the mistake till the piece was presented to the King, and hung up in the great Church. As this is an unpardonable error in Sculpture or Limning, it must be much more so in Poetry, where the Images must have no improprieties, much less inconsistencies.

In a word, Mr. _Milton_ has indeed made a fine Poem, but it is _the Devil of a History_. I can easily allow Mr. _Milton_ to make Hills and Dales, flowry Meadows and Plains (and the like) in Heaven; and places of Retreat and Contemplation in _Hell_; tho' I must add, that it can be allowed to no Poet on Earth but Mr. _Milton_. Nay, I will allow Mr. _Milton_, if you please, to set the _Angels_ a dancing in _Heaven_, _lib._ v. _fo._ 138. and the _Devils_ a singing in Hell, _lib._ i. _fo._ 44. tho' they are in short, especially the last, most horrid Absurdities. But I cannot allow him to make their Musick in _Hell_ to be harmonious and charming as he does; such Images being incongruous, and indeed shocking to Nature. Neither can I think we should allow things to be plac'd out of time in Poetry, any more than in History; 'tis a confusion of Images which is allow'd to be disallow'd by all the Criticks of what tribe or species soever in the world, and is indeed unpardonable. But we shall find so many more of these things in Mr. _Milton_, that really taking notice of them all, would carry me quite out of my way, I being at this time not writing the History of Mr. _Milton_, but of the _Devil_: besides, Mr. _Milton_ is such a celebrated Man, that who but he that can write the History of the _Devil_ dare meddle with him?

But to come back to the business. As I had caution'd you against running to Scripture for shelter in cases of difficulty, Scripture weighing very little among the people I am directing my Speech to; so indeed Scripture gives but very little light into any thing of the _Devil_'s Story before his Fall, and but _to very little_ of it for some time after.

Nor has Mr. _Milton_ said one word to solve the main difficulty (_viz._) How the _Devil_ came to fall, and how Sin came into Heaven; how the spotless Seraphic Nature could receive infection, whence the contagion proceeded, what noxious matter could emit corruption there, how and whence any vapour to poison the Angelick Frame could rise up, or how it increas'd and grew up to crime. But all this he passes over, and hurrying up that part in two or three words, only tells us,

------ his Pride,
Had cast him out of Heaven with all his Host
Of rebel Angels, by whose aid aspiring
He trusted to have equal'd the most High.

_lib._ i. _fo._ 3.

_His pride!_ but how came _Satan_ while an Arch-angel to be proud? How did it consist, that Pride and perfect Holiness should meet in the same Person? Here we must bid Mr. _Milton_ good night; for, in plain terms, he is in the dark about it, and so we are all; and the most that can be said, is, that we know the fact is so, but nothing of the nature or reason of it.

But to come to the History: The Angels fell, they sinn'd (wonderful!) in Heaven, and God cast them out; what their sin was is not explicit, but in general 'tis call'd a Rebellion against GOD; all sin must be so.

Mr. _Milton_ here takes upon him to give the History of it, as particularly as if he had been born there, and came down hither on purpose to give us an account of it; (I hope he is better inform'd by this time;) but this he does in such a manner, as jostles with Religion, and shocks our Faith in so many points necessary to be believ'd, that we must forbear to give up to Mr. _Milton_, or must set aside part of the sacred Text, in such a manner, as will assist some people to set it all aside.

I mean by this, his invented Scheme of the Son's being declared in Heaven to be begotten then, and then to be declar'd Generalissimo of all the Armies of Heaven; and of the Father's Summoning all the Angels of the heavenly Host to submit to him, and pay him homage. The words are quoted already, page 32.

I must own the Invention, indeed, is very fine; the Images exceeding magnificent, the Thought rich and bright, and, in some respect, truly sublime: But the Authorities fail most wretchedly, and the miss-timing of it, is unsufferably gross, as is noted in the Introduction to this Work; for Christ is not declar'd the Son of God but on Earth; 'tis true, 'tis spoken from Heaven, but then 'tis spoken as perfected on Earth; if it was at all to be assign'd to Heaven, it was from Eternity, and there, indeed, his eternal Generation is allow'd; but to take upon us to say, that _On a day, a certain day_, for so our Poet assumes, lib. v. fol. 137.

------ 'When on a day,
------ 'On such a day
'As Heaven's great Year brings forth, the empyreal Host
'Of Angels by imperial Summons call'd,
'Forthwith from all the ends of Heaven appear'd.

This is, indeed, too gross; at this meeting he makes God declare the Son to be _that day begotten_, as before; had he made him not begotten that day, but declared General that day, it would be reconcileable with Scripture and with sense; for either the begetting is meant of ordaining to an office, or else the eternal Generation falls to the ground; and if it was to the office (Mediator) then Mr. _Milton_ is out in ascribing another fix'd day to the Work; see lib. x. fo. 194. But then the declaring him _that day_, is wrong chronology too, for Christ is declar'd _the Son of God with power_, only _by the Resurrection of the dead_, and this is both a Declaration in Heaven and in Earth. _Rom._ i. 4. And _Milton_ can have no authority to tell us, there was any Declaration of it in Heaven before this, except it be that dull authority call'd _poetic License_, which will not pass in so solemn an affair as that.

But the thing was necessary to _Milton_, who wanted to assign some cause or original of the _Devil_'s Rebellion; and so, _as I said above_, the design is well laid, it only wants two Trifles call'd _Truth_ and _History_; so I leave it to struggle for itself.

This Ground-plot being laid, he has a fair field for the _Devil_ to play the Rebel in, for he immediately brings him in, not satisfy'd with the Exaltation of the Son of God. The case must be thus; _Satan_ being an eminent _Arch-angel_, and perhaps, the highest of all the Angelic Train, hearing this Sovereign Declaration, that the _Son of God_ was declar'd to be Head or Generalissimo of all the heavenly Host, took it ill to see another put into the high station _over his head_, as the Soldiers call it; he, perhaps, thinking himself the senior Officer, and disdaining to submit to any but to his former immediate Sovereign; in short, he threw up his Commission, and, in order not to be compel'd to obey, revolted and broke out in open Rebellion.

All this part is a Decoration noble and great, nor is there any objection to be made against the invention, because a deduction of probable Events; but the Plot is wrong laid, as is observ'd above, because contradicted by the Scripture account, according to which Christ was declared in Heaven, not then, but from Eternity, and not declared with power, but on Earth, (_viz._) in his victory over Sin and Death, by the Resurrection from the dead: so that Mr. _Milton_ is not orthodox in this part, but lays an avow'd foundation for the corrupt Doctrine of _Arius_, which says, there was a time when Christ _was not_ the Son of GOD.

But to leave Mr. _Milton_ to his flights, I agree with him in this part, _viz._ that the wicked or sinning Angels, with the great Arch-angel at the head of them, revolted from their obedience, even in Heaven it self; that _Satan_ began the wicked defection, and being a Chief among the heavenly Host, consequently carry'd over a great party with him, who all together rebel'd against God; that upon this Rebellion they were sentenc'd, by the righteous judgment of GOD, to be expel'd the holy Habitation; this, besides the authority of Scripture, we have visible testimonies of, from the Devils themselves; their influences and operations among us every day, of which Mankind are witnesses; in all the merry things they do in his name, and under his protection, in almost every scene of life they pass thro', whether we talk of things done openly or in Masquerade, things done in--or out of it, things done in earnest or in jest.

But then, what comes of the long and bloody War that Mr. _Milton_ gives such a full and particular account of, and the terrible Battles in Heaven between _Michael_ with the royal Army of Angels on one hand, and _Satan_ with his rebel Host on the other; in which he supposes the numbers and strength to be pretty near equal? but at length brings in the _Devil_'s Army, upon doubling their rage and bringing new engines of war into the field, putting _Michael_ and all the faithful Army to the worst; and, in a word, defeats them? For tho' they were not put to a plain flight, in which case he must, at least, have given an account of two or three thousand millions of Angels cut in pieces and wounded, yet he allows them to give over the fight, and make a kind of retreat; so making way for the compleat victory of the Son of GOD: Now this is all invention, or at least, a borrow'd thought from the old Poets, and the Fight of the _Giants_ against _Jupiter_, so nobly design'd by _Ovid_, almost two thousand years ago; and there 'twas well enough; but whether Poetic Fancy should be allow'd to fable upon _Heaven_, or no, and upon the King of Heaven too, that I leave to the Sages.

By this expulsion of the _Devils_, it is allow'd by most Authors, they are, _ipso facto_, stript of the Rectitude and Holiness of their Nature, which was their Beauty and Perfection; and being ingulph'd in the abyss of irrecoverable ruin, _'tis no matter where_, from that very time they lost their Angelic beautiful Form, commenc'd ugly frightful Monsters and _Devils_, and became evil doers, as well as evil Spirits; fill'd with a horrid malignity and enmity against their Maker, and arm'd with a hellish resolution to shew and exert it on all occasions; retaining however their exalted spirituous Nature, and having a vast extensive power of Action, all which they can exert in nothing else but doing evil, for they are entirely divested of either Power or will to do good; and even in doing evil, they are under restraints and limitations of a superior Power, which it is their Torment, and, perhaps, a great part of their Hell that they cannot break thro'.

CHAP. VI.

_What became of the_ Devil _and his Host of fallen Spirits after their
being expell'd from Heaven, and his wandring condition till the
Creation; with some more of Mr._ Milton's _absurdities on that
subject._

Having thus brought the _Devil_ and his innumerable Legions to the edge of the Bottomless-pit, it remains, before I bring them to action, that some enquiry should be made into the posture of their affairs immediately after their precipitate Fall, and into the place of their immediate Residence; for this will appear to be very necessary to _Satan_'s History, and indeed, so as that without it, all the farther account we have to give of him, will be inconsistent and imperfect.

And first, I take upon me to lay down some Fundamentals, which I believe I shall be able to make out Historically, tho', perhaps, not so Geographically as some have pretended to do.

1. That _Satan_ was not immediately, nor is yet lock'd down into
the Abyss of a _local Hell_, such as is supposed by some, and such
as he shall be at last; or that,

2. If he was, he has certain liberties allowed him for excursions
into the Regions of this Air, and certain spheres of action, in
which he can, and does move, to do, _like a very Devil as he is_,
all the mischief he can, and of which we see so many examples both
about us and in us; in the inquiry after which, I shall take
occasion to examine whether the Devil is not in most of us,
sometimes, if not in all of us one time or other.

3. That _Satan_ has no particular residence in this Globe or Earth
where we live; that he rambles about among us, and marches over and
over our whole country, he and his Devils in _Camps volant_; but
that he pitches his grand Army or chief Encampment in our
Adjacencies or Frontiers, which the Philosophers call _Atmosphere_;
and whence he is call'd the Prince of the Power of that Element or
part of the World we call _Air_; from whence he sends out his
Spies, his Agents and Emissaries, to get intelligence, and to carry
his Commissions to his trusty and well beloved Cousins and
Counsellors on Earth, by which his business is done, and his
affairs carried on in the World.

Here, again, I meet Mr. _Milton_ full in my face, who will have it, that _the Devil_, immediately at his expulsion, roll'd down directly into a Hell proper and local; nay, he measures the very distance, at least gives the length of the journey by the time they were passing or falling, which, he says, was _nine days_; a good Poetical flight, but neither founded on Scripture or Philosophy; he might every jot as well have brought _Hell_ up to the Walls of _Heaven_, advanc'd to receive them, or he ought to have consider'd the space which is to be allow'd to any locality, let him take what part of infinite distance between _Heaven_ and a created Hell he pleases.

But let that be as Mr. _Milton_'s extraordinary genius pleases to place it; the passage, it seems, is just _nine days_ betwixt Heaven and Hell; well might _Dives_ then see father _Abraham_, and talk to him too; but then the great Gulph which _Abraham_ tells him was fix'd between them, does not seem to be so large, as according to Sir _Isaac Newton_, Dr. _Halley_, Mr. _Whiston_, and the rest of our Men of Science, we take it to be.

But suppose the passage to be nine Days, according to Mr. _Milton_, what follow'd? why Hell gap'd wide, open'd its frightful mouth, and received them all at once; millions and thousands of millions as they were, it received them all at a gulp, _as we call it_, they had no difficulty to go in, no, none at all.

_Facilis desensus averni, sed revocare gradum
Hoc opus hic labor est._---- Virg.

All this, as Poetical, we may receive, but not at all as Historical; for then come difficulties insuperable in our way, some of which may be as follow: (1.) Hell is here supposed to be a place; nay a place created for the punishment of Angels and Men, and likewise created long before those had fallen, or these had Being; this makes me say, Mr. _Milton_ was a good Poet, but a bad Historian: _Tophet_ was prepar'd of old, indeed, but it was for the King, that is to say, it was prepar'd for those whose lot it should be to come there; but this does not at all suppose it was prepar'd before it was resolv'd whether there should be subjects for it, or no; else we must suppose both Men and Angels were made by the glorious and upright Maker of all things, on purpose for destruction, which would be incongruous and absurd.

But there is worse yet to come; in the next place he adds, that _Hell_ having receiv'd them, clos'd upon them; that is to say, took them in, clos'd or shut its Mouth; and in a word, they were lock'd in, as it was said in another place, they were lock'd in, and the Key is carry'd up to Heaven and kept there; for _we know_ the Angel came down from Heaven, having the Key of the Bottomless-pit; but first, see Mr. _Milton_.

'Nine days they fell, confounded chaos roar'd
'And felt ten-fold confusion in their fall:
'----Hell at last
'Yawning receiv'd them all, and on them clos'd;
'Down from the verge of Heaven, eternal wrath
'Burnt after them----
'Unquenchable.

This Scheme is certainly deficient, if not absurd, and I think is more so than any other he has laid; 'tis evident, neither _Satan_ or his Host of _Devils_ are, _no not any of them_, yet, even now, confin'd in the eternal Prison, where the Scripture says, he shall be _reserved in chains of darkness_. They must have mean thoughts of _Hell_, as a Prison, a _local_ Confinement, that can suppose the _Devil_ able to break Goal, knock off his Fetters, and come abroad, if he had been once lock'd in there, as Mr. _Milton_ says he was: Now we know that he is abroad again, he presented himself before _God_, among his neighbours, when _Job_'s case came to be discours'd of; and more than that, it's plain he was a prisoner at large, by his answer to God's question, which was, _whence comest thou?_ to which he answer'd, _from going to and fro thro' the Earth_, &c. this, I say, is plain, and if it be as certain that Hell closed upon them, I demand then, how got he out? and why was there not a Proclamation for apprehending him, as there usually is, after such Rogues as break prison?

In short, the true Account of the _Devil_'s Circumstances, since his Fall from _Heaven_, is much more likely to be thus: That he is more of a Vagrant than a Prisoner, that he is a Wanderer in the wild unbounded Wast, where he and his Legions, like the Hoords of _Tartary_, who, in the wild Countries of _Karakathay_, the Desarts of _Barkan_, _Kassan_, and _Astracan_, live up and down where they find proper; so Satan and his innumerable Legions rove about _hic & ubique_, pitching their Camps (being Beasts of prey) where they find the most Spoil; watching over this World, (and all the other Worlds for ought we know, and if there are any such,) I say watching, and seeking who they may devour, _that is_, who they may deceive and delude, and so destroy, for devour they cannot.

_Satan_ being thus confin'd to a vagabond, wandring, unsettl'd Condition, is without any certain Abode; For tho' he has, in consequence of his Angelic Nature, a kind of Empire in the liquid Wast or _Air_; yet, this is certainly part of his punishment, that he is continually hovering over this inhabited Globe of Earth; swelling with the Rage of Envy, at the Felicity of his Rival, Man; and studying all the means possible to injure and ruin him; but extremely limited in Power, to his unspeakable Mortification: This is his present State, without any fix'd Abode, Place, or Space, allow'd him to rest the Sole of his Foot upon.

From his Expulsion, I take his first View of Horror to be that, of looking back towards the Heaven which he had lost; there to see the Chasm or Opening made up, out at which, as at a Breach in the Wall of the holy Place, he was thrust Head-long by the Power which expel'd him; I say, to see the Breach repair'd, the Mounds built up, the Walls garison'd with millions of Angels, and arm'd with Thunders; and, above all, made terrible by that Glory from whose Presence they were expel'd, as is Poetically hinted at before.

Upon this sight, 'tis no wonder (if there was such a Place) that they fled till the Darkness might cover them, and that they might be out of the View of so hated a Sight.

Wherever they found it, you may be sure they pitch'd their first Camp, and began, after many a sour Reflection upon what was pass'd, to consider and think a little, upon what was to come.

If I had as much personal Acquaintance with the _Devil_, as would admit it, and could depend upon the Truth of what Answer he would give me, the first Question I would ask him, should be, what Measures they resolv'd on at their first Assembly? and the next should be, how they were employ'd in all that space of Time, between their so flying the Face of their almighty Conqueror, and the Creation of Man? as for the Length of the Time, which, according to the Learn'd, was twenty thousand Years, and according to the more Learned, not half a Quarter so much, I would not concern my Curiosity much about it; 'tis most certain, there was a considerable time between, but of that immediately; first let me enquire what they were doing all that time.

The Devil and his Host, being thus, I say, cast out of Heaven, and not yet confin'd strictly to _Hell_, 'tis plain they must be _some where_. Satan and all his Legions did not lose their Existence, no, nor the Existence of _Devils_ neither; GOD was so far from annihilating him, that he still preserv'd his Being; and this not Mr. _Milton_ only, but GOD himself has made known to us, having left his History so far upon record; several expressions in Scripture also make it evident, as particularly the story of _Job_, mentioned before; the like in our Saviour's time, and several others.

If Hell did not immediately ingulph them, as _Milton_ suggests, 'tis certain, I say, that they fled Somewhere, from the anger of Heaven, from the face of the Avenger; and his absence, and their own guilt, _wonder not at it_, would make Hell enough for them wherever they went.

Nor need we fly to the Dreams of our _Astronomers_, who take a great deal of pains to fill up the vast Spaces of the starry Heavens with innumerable habitable Worlds; allowing as many _solar Systems_ as there are fix'd Stars, and that not only in the known Constellations, but even in _Gallaxie_ it self; who, to every such System allow a certain number of Planets, and to every one of those Planets so many _Satellites_ or _Moons_, and all these Planets and Moons to be Worlds; solid, dark, opaque Bodies, habitable, and (as they would have us believe) inhabited by the like Animals and rational Creatures as on this Earth; so that they may, at this rate, find room enough for the _Devil_ and all his Angels, without making a Hell on purpose; nay they may, for ought I know, find a World for every _Devil_ in all the _Devil'_s _Host_, and so every one may be a Monarch or _Master-Devil_, separately in his own Sphere or World, and play the _Devil_ there by himself.

And even if this were so, it cannot be denied but that one _Devil_ in a place would be enough for a whole systemary World, and be able, if not restrained, to do mischief enough there too, and even to ruin and overthrow the whole body of People contain'd in it.

But, I say, we need not fly to these shifts, or consult the Astronomers in the decision of this point; for wherever _Satan_ and his defeated Host went, at their expulsion from _Heaven_, we think we are certain, none of all these Beautiful Worlds, or be they Worlds or no, I mean the fix'd Stars, Planets, _&c._ had then any existence; for the Beginning, as the Scripture calls it, was not yet Begun.

But to speak a little by the rules of Philosophy, that is to say, so as to be understood by others, even when we speak of things we cannot fully understand ourselves: Tho' in the Beginning of Time all this glorious Creation was form'd, the Earth, the starry Heavens, and all the Furniture thereof, and there was a Time when they were not; yet we cannot say so of the Void, or that nameless _no-where_, as I call'd it before, which now appears to be a _some-where_, in which these glorious Bodies are plac'd. That immense Space which those take up, and which they move in at this Time, must be supposed, before they had Being, to be plac'd there: As God himself was, and existed before all Being, Time, or Place, so the Heaven of Heavens, or the Place, where the Thrones and Dominions of his Kingdom then existed, inconceivable and ineffable, had an existence before the glorious Seraphs, the innumerable company of Angels which attended about the Throne of God existed; these all had a Being long before, as the Eternal Creator of them all had before them.

Into this void or abyss of Nothing, however unmeasurable, infinite, and even to those Spirits, themselves Inconceivable, they certainly launch'd from the bright Precipice which they fell from, and here they shifted as well as they could.

Here expanding those Wings which Fear, and Horror at their Defeat furnish'd them, as I hinted before, they hurried away to the utmost Distance possible, from the Face of GOD their Conqueror, and then most dreaded Enemy; formerly their Joy and Glory.

Be this utmost remov'd Distance _where it will_, Here, certainly, _Satan_ and all his _Gang of Devils_, his numberless, tho' routed Armies retired. Here _Milton_ might, with some good Ground, have form'd his _Pandemonium_, and have brought them in, consulting what was next to be done, and whether there was any room left to renew the War, or to carry on the Rebellion; but had they been cast immediately into _Hell_, closed up there, the Bottomless pit lock'd upon them, and the Key carried up to _Heaven_ to be kept there, as Mr. _Milton_ himself in part confesses, and the Scripture affirms; I say, had this been so, the _Devil_ himself could not have been so ignorant as to think of any future Steps to be taken, to retrieve his Affairs, and therefore a _Pandemonium_ or Divan in Hell, to consult of it, was ridiculous.

All Mr. _Milton_'s Scheme of _Satan_'s future Conduct, and all the Scripture Expressions about _the Devil_ and his numerous Attendants, and of his actings since that time, make it not reasonable to suggest that the _Devils_ were confin'd to their eternal Prison, at their Expulsion out of _Heaven_; But that they were in a State of Liberty to act, tho' limited in acting, of which I shall also speak in its place.

CHAP. VII.

_Of the Number of Satan's Host; how they came first to know of the new
created Worlds, now in being, and their Measures with Mankind upon
the Discovery._

Several things have been suggested to set us a calculating the number of this frightful throng of _Devils_, who with Satan, the _Master-Devil_, was thus cast out of _Heaven_; I cannot say, I am so much Master of Political Arithmetick as to cast up the Number of the Beast, no, nor the Number of the Beasts _or Devils_, who make up this Throng. St. _Francis_, they tell us, or some other Saint, they do not say who, ask'd the _Devil_ once, how strong he was? for St. _Francis_, you must know, was very familiar with him; _The Devil_, it seems, did not tell him, but presently raised a great Cloud of Dust, by the help, I suppose, of a Gust of Wind, and bid that Saint count it; He was, I suppose, a Calculator, that would be call'd grave, who dividing _Satan_'s Troops into three Lines, cast up the Number of the _Devils_ of all sorts in each Battalia, at ten hundred times a hundred thousand millions of the first Line, fifty millions of times as many in the second Line, and three hundred thousand times as many as both in the third Line.

The Impertinence of this account would hardly have given it a place here, only to hint that it has always been the Opinion, that _Satan_'s Name may well be call'd a Noun of Multitude, and that _the Devil_ and his _Angels_ are certainly no inconsiderable Number: It was a smart Repartee that a _Venetian_ Nobleman made to a Priest who rallied him upon his refusing to give something to the Church, which the Priest demanded for the delivering him from Purgatory; when the Priest asking him, _if he knew what an innumerable Number of_ Devils _there were to take him_? he answer'd, _yes, he knew how many_ Devils _there were in all_: _How many?_ says the Priest, his curiosity, I suppose, being rais'd by the novelty of the answer. _Why ten millions five hundred and eleven thousand, six hundred and seventy five Devils and a half_, says the Nobleman: _A half!_ says the Priest, _pray what kind of a Devil is that? your self_, says the Nobleman, _for you are half a Devil already (and will be a whole one when you come there) for you are for deluding all you deal with, and bringing us Soul and Body into your Hands, that you may be paid for letting us go again_. So much for their Number.

Here also it would come in very aptly, to consider the state of that long interval between the Time of their Expulsion from _Heaven_, and the Creation of the World; and what the Posture of the Devil's Affairs might be, during that Time. The horror of their Condition can only be conceiv'd of at a Distance, and especially by us, who being embodied Creatures, cannot fully judge of what is, or is not a Punishment to _Seraphs_ and _Spirits_; But 'tis just to suppose they suffer'd all that Spirits of a Seraphic Nature were capable to sustain, consistent with their Existence; notwithstanding which they retain'd still the _Hellishness_ of their rebellious Principles; namely, their Hatred and Rage against God, and their Envy at the Felicity of his Creatures.

As to how long their time might be, I shall leave that Search; no lights being given me that are either probable or rational, and we have so little room to make a Judgment of it, that we may as well believe Father _M----_, who supposes it to be a hundred thousand Years, as those who judge it one thousand Years; 'tis enough that we are sure, it was before the Creation, how long before is not material to _the Devil's History_, unless we had some Records of what happen'd to him, or was done by him in the Interval.

During the wandring Condition the Devil was in at that Time, we may suppose, he and his whole Clan to be employ'd in exerting their Hatred and Rage at the Almighty, and at the Happiness of the remaining faithful Angels, by all the ways they had power to shew it.

From this determin'd stated Enmity of _Satan_ and his Host against _God_, and at every thing that brought Glory to his Name, Mr. _Milton_ brings in _Satan_, (when first he saw _Adam_ in _Paradise_, and the Felicity of his Station there) swelling with Rage and Envy, and taking up a dreadful Resolution to ruin _Adam_ and all his Posterity, meerly to disappoint his Maker of the Glory of his Creation; I shall come to speak of that in its Place.

How _Satan_, in his remote Situation, got Intelligence of the Place where to find _Adam_ out, or that any such thing as a Man was created, is Matter of just Speculation, and there might be many rational Schemes laid for it: Mr. _Milton_ does not undertake to tell us the Particulars, nor indeed could he find room for it; perhaps, the _Devil_ having, _as I have said_, a Liberty to range over the whole Void or Abyss, which we want as well a Name for, as indeed Powers to conceive of; might have discovered that the Almighty Creator had form'd a new and glorious Work, with infinite Beauty and Variety, filling up the immense Wast of Space, in which he, (the _Devil_) and his _Angels_, had rov'd for so long a time, without finding any thing to work on, or to exert their Apostate Rage in against their Maker.