she was; that I suppos'd she knew well enough God Almighty never thought
fit to make any human Creature so perfect and compleatly beautiful as
she was, but that such were also reserved for Figures to be assum'd by
Angels of one Kind or other.
She rallied me upon that, and told me that would not bring me off, for I
had not determined her for any thing Angelic, but a meer _Devil_; and
how could I flatter her with being handsome and a _Devil_ both at the
same time?
I told her, as Satan, whom we abusively call'd _Devil_, was an immortal
Seraph, and of an original angelic Nature, so abstracted from any thing
wicked, he was a most glorious Being; that when he thought fit to encase
himself with Flesh, and walk about in Disguise, it was in his Power
equally with the other Angels to make the Form he took upon himself be
as he thought fit, beautiful or deform'd.
Here she disputed the Possibility of that, and after charging me faintly
with flattering her Face, told me the Devil could not be represented by
any thing handsome, alledging our constant picturing the _Devil_ in all
the frightful Appearances imaginable.
I told her we wrong'd him very much in that, and quoted St. _Francis_,
to whom the _Devil_ frequently appeared in the Form of the most
incomparably beautiful naked Woman, to allure him, and what Means he
used to turn the Appearance into a _Devil_ again, and how he effected
it.
She put by the Discourse, and returned to that of Angels, and insisted
that Angels did not always assume beautiful Appearances; that sometimes
they appear'd in terrible Shapes, but that when they did not, it was at
best only amiable Faces, not exquisite; and that therefore it would not
hold, that to be handsome, should always render them suspected.
I told her the _Devil_ had more Occasion to form Beauties than other
Angels had, his Business being principally to deceive and ensnare
Mankind. And then I gave her some Examples upon the whole.
I found by her Discourse she was willing enough to pass for an _Angel_,
but 'twas the hardest thing in the World to convince her that she was a
DEVIL, and she would not come into that by any means; she argued that I
knew her Father, and that her Mother was a very good Woman, and was
delivered of her in the ordinary Way, and that there was such and such
Ladies who were present in the Room when she was born, and that had
often told her so.
I told her that was nothing in such a Case as hers; that when the Old
Gentleman had occasion to transform himself into a fine Lady, he could
easily dispose of a Child, and place himself in the Cradle instead of
it, when the Nurse or Mother were asleep; nay, or when they were broad
awake either, it was the same thing to him; and I quoted _Luther_ to her
upon that Occasion, who affirms that it had been so. However I said, to
convince her that I knew it, (for I would have it that she knew it
already) if she pleas'd I would go to my Chamber and fetch her my Magick
Looking-glass, where she should see her own Picture, not only as it was
an angelick Picture for the World to admire, but a _Devil_ also
frightful enough to any Body but herself and me that understood it.
No, no, _said she_, I'll look in none of your conjuring Glasses; I know
my self well enough, and I desire to look no otherwise than I am.
No, Madam, _says I_, I know that very well; nor do you need any better
Shape than that you appear in, 'tis most exquisitely fine; all the World
knows you are a compleat Beauty, and that is a clear Evidence what you
would be if your present appearing Form was reduced to its proper
Personality.
_Appearing Form!_ says she, why, what would you make an _Apparition_ of
me?
An _Apparition!_ Madam, said I, yes, to be sure; why you know, you are
nothing else but an _Apparition_; and what else would you be, when it is
so infinitely to your Advantage?
With that, she turn'd pale and angry, and then rose up hastily, and
look'd into the Glass, (_a large Peer-glass being in the Room_) where
she stood, surveying her self from Head to Foot, with Vanity not a
little.
I took that Time to slip away, and running up into my Apartment, I
fetch'd my _Magic Glass_ as I call'd it, in which I had a hollow
Case so framed behind a Looking-glass, that in the first; she would
see her own Face only; in the second, she would see the _Devil_'s
Face, ugly and frightful enough, but dress'd up with a Lady's
Head-Clothes in a Circle, the _Devil_'s Face in the Center, and as
it were at a little Distance behind.
I came down again so soon that she did not think the Time long,
especially having spent it in surveying her fair self; when I return'd,
I said, Come, Madam, do not trouble your self to look there, that is not
a Glass capable of shewing you any thing; come, take this Glass.
It will shew me as much of my self, _says she, a little scornfully_, as
I desire to see; so she continued looking in the Peer-glass; after some
time more (for seeing her a little out of Humour, I waited to see what
Observations she would make) I ask'd her if she had view'd her self to
her Satisfaction? She said she had, and she had seen nothing of _Devil_
about her. Come, Madam, said I, look here; and with that I open'd the
Looking-glass, and she look'd in it, but saw nothing but her own Face;
Well, _says she_, the Glasses agree well enough, I see no Difference;
what can you make of it? With that I took it a little away; Don't you?
_says I_, then I shou'd be mistaken very much; so I look'd in it my
self, and giving it a Turn imperceptible to her, I shew'd it her again,
where she saw the _Devil_ indeed, dress'd up like a fine Lady, but
ugly, and _Devil_ like as could be desired for a _Devil_ to be.
She started, and cry'd out most horribly, and told me, she thought I was
more of a _Devil_ than she, for that she knew nothing of all those
Tricks, and I did it to fright her, she believ'd I had rais'd the
_Devil_.
I told her it was nothing but her own natural Picture, and that she knew
well enough, and that I did not shew it her to inform her of it, but to
let her know that I knew it too; that so she might make no Pretences of
being offended when I talk'd familiarly to her of a Thing of this
Nature.
Very well; so, _says she_, I am a real frightful _Devil_, am I?
O, Madam, says I, don't say, _Am I?_ why you know what you are, don't
you? A _Devil_! ay, certainly; as sure as the rest of the World believes
you a Lady.
I had a great deal of farther Discourse with her upon that Subject, tho'
she would fain have beat me off of it, and two or three times she put
the Talk off, and brought something else on; but I always found Means to
revive it, and to attack her upon the Reality of her being a Devil, till
at last I made her downright angry, and then she shew'd it.
First she cried, told me I came to affront her, that I would not talk so
if Sir _Ed----_ was by; and that she ought not to be used so. I
endeavour'd to pacify her, and told her I had not treated her with any
Indecency, nor I would not; because while she thought fit to walk Abroad
_incog._ it was none of my Business to discover her; that if she thought
fit to tell Sir _Ed----_ any thing of the Discourse, she was very
welcome, or to conceal it, (_which I thought the wisest Course_) she
should do just as she pleas'd; but I made no question I should convince
Sir _E----_ her Husband, that what I said was just, and that I was
really so; whether it was for her Service or no for him to know it, was
for her to consider.
This calm'd her a little, and she look'd hard at me a Minute without
speaking a Word, when on a sudden she broke out thus: And you will
undertake, _says she_, to convince Sir _Ed----_ that he has married a
_Devil_, will ye? A fine Story indeed! and what follows? why then it
must follow that the Child I go with (for she was big with Child) will
be a _Devil_ too, will it? A fine Story for Sir _Ed----_ indeed! isn't
it?
I don't know that, Madam, said I, that's as you order it; by the
Father's Side, _said I_, I know it will not, but what it may by the
Mother's Side, that's a Doubt I can't resolve till the _Devil_ and I
talk farther about it.
You and the Devil talk together! _says she_, and looks rufully at me;
why do you talk with the _Devil_ then?
Ay, Madam, _says I_, as sure as ever you did your self; besides, said I,
can you question that? Pray who am I talking to now?
I think you are mad, _says she_; why you will make _Devils_ of all the
Family, it may be, and particularly I must be with Child of a _Devil_,
that's certain.
No, Madam, _said I_, 'tis not certain, as I said before, I question it.
Why you say I am the DEVIL, the Child, you know, has always most of the
Mother in it, then that must be a Devil too I think, what else can it
be, _says she_?
I can't tell that, Madam, _said I_; that's as you agree among your
selves, this Kind does not go by Generation; that's a Dispute foreign to
the present Purpose.
Then I entred into a Discourse with her of the Ends and Purposes for
which the Devil takes up such beautiful Forms as hers, and why it always
gave me a Suspicion when I saw a Lady handsomer than ordinary, and set
me upon the Search to be satisfied whether she was really a Woman or an
_Apparition_? a Lady or a Devil? allowing all along that her being a
Devil was quite out of the Question.
Upon that very Foot, she took me up again roundly, and so, _says she_,
you are very civil to me through all your Discourse, for I see it ends
all in that, and you take it as a thing confest, that I am a Devil! A
very pretty piece of good Usage indeed! _says she_; _I thank you for
it_.
Nay, Madam, _says I_, do not take it ill of me, for I only discover to
you that I knew it; I do not tell it you as a Secret, for you are
satisfied of that another way.
Satisfied of what? says she, that I am a Devil? I think the Devil's in
you: _And so began to be hot_.
A Devil! yes, Madam, says I, without doubt a meer DEVIL; take it as you
please, I can't help that: And so I began to take it ill that she should
be disgusted at opening such a well-known Truth to her.
With that she discover'd it all at once, for she turn'd _Fury_, in the
very Letter of it; flew out in a Passion, rail'd at me, curst me most
heartily, and immediately disappeared; which you know is the particular
Mark of a Spirit or Apparition.
We had a great deal of Discourse besides this, relating to several other
young Ladies of her Acquaintance, some of which, I said, were mere
_Apparitions_ like her self; and told her which were so, and which not;
and the Reason why they were so, and for what Uses and Purposes, some
to delude the World one way, and some another; and she was pretty well
pleased to hear that, but she could not bear to hear her own true
Character, which however, as cunning as she was, made her act the Devil
at last, as you have heard; and then vanished out of my sight.
I have seen her in Miniature several Times since; but she proves her
self still to be the Devil of a Lady, for she bears Malice, and will
never forgive me, that I would not let her be an Angel; but like a very
Devil as she is, she endeavours to kill me at a Distance; and indeed the
Poison of her Eyes, (Basilisk-like) is very strong, and she has a
strange Influence upon me; but I that know her to be a Devil, strive
very hard with my self to drive the Memory of her out of my Thoughts.
I have had two or three Engagements since this, with other _Apparitions_
of the same Sex, and I find they are all alike, they are willing enough
to be thought Angels, but the Word Devil does not go down at all with
them: But 'tis all one, whenever we see an _Apparition_, it is so
natural to say we have seen the Devil, that there's no prevailing with
Mankind to talk any other Language. A Gentleman of my Acquaintance, the
other Day, that had courted a Lady a long time, had the Misfortune to
come a little suddenly upon her, when she did not expect him, and found
her in such a Rage at some of her Servants, that it quite disorder'd
her, especially a Footman; the Fellow had done something that was indeed
provoking, but not sufficient to put her into such a Passion, and so out
of her self; nor was she able to restrain her self when she saw her
Lover come in, but damn'd the Fellow, and rag'd like a Fury at him.
My Friend did his best to compose her, and begg'd the Fellow's Pardon of
her, but it would not do; nay, the poor Fellow made all the Submissions
that could be expected, but 'twas the same thing: And so the Gentleman,
not caring to engage himself farther than became him, withdrew, and came
no more at her for three Days, in all which time she was hardly cool.
The next Day my Friend came to me, and talking of it in Confidence to
me, I am afraid, _says he_, I am going to marry a She _Devil_, and so
told me the Story; I took no Notice to him, but finding out his
Mistress, and taking proper Measures, with some of my particular Skill,
I soon found out that it was really so, that she was a mere
_Apparition_; and had it not been for that accidental Disorder of her
Passions, which discover'd her Inside, she might indeed have cheated any
Man, for she was a lovely Devil as ever was seen; she talk'd like an
Angel, sung like a Syren, did every thing, and said every thing that was
taking and charming: But what then? it was all Apparition, for she was a
mere _Devil_. It is true, my Friend marry'd her, and tho' she was a
_Devil_ without doubt, yet either she behav'd so well, or he was so
good, I never could hear him find Fault with her.
These are particular Instances; but alas! I could run you a Length
beyond all those Examples, and give you such a List of Devils among the
gay Things of the Town, that would fright you to think of; and you would
presently conclude, with me, that all the perfect Beauties are Devils,
mere Apparitions; but Time and Paper fails, so we must only leave the
Men the Caution, let them venture at their Peril. I return to the
Subject.
We have a great many charming _Apparitions_ of like kind go daily about
the World in compleat Masquerade, and, tho' we must not say so, they are
in themselves mere _Devils_, wicked dangerous murthering Devils, that
kill various Ways, some, Basilisk-like, with their Eyes; some
Syren-like, with their Tongues; all _Murtherers_, even from the
_Beginning_: It is true, 'tis pity these pretty _Apparitions_ should be
Devils, and be so mischievous as they are; but since it is so, I can do
no less than to advertise you of it, that you may shun the Devil in
whatever Shape you meet with him.
Again, there are some half Devils, they say, like the _Sagittarii_, half
Man, half Horse, or rather like the _Satyr_, who, _they say_, is half
Devil, half Man; or, like my Lord Bishop, who, _they say_, was
half-headed; whether they mean half-witted or no, I do not find Authors
agreed about it: But if they had voted him such, it had been as kind a
thing as any they cou'd say of him, because it would have clear'd him
from the Scandal of being a Devil, or half a Devil, for we don't find
the Devil makes any Alliance with F----ls.
Then as to merry Devils, there's my Master _G------_, he may indeed have
the Devil in him, but it must be said, to the Credit of Possession in
general, that Satan would have scorn'd to have entred into a Soul so
narrow that there was not room to hold him, or to take up with so
discording a Creature, so abject, so scoundrel, as never made a Figure
among Mankind greater than that of a Thief, a _Moroder_, moulded up into
Quality, and a Raparee dress'd up _a-la-Masque_, with a _Robe_ and a
_Coronet_.
Some little Dog-kennel Devil may indeed take up his Quarters in or near
him, and so run into and out of him as his Drum beats a Call; but to
him that was born a _Devil_, Satan, that never acts to no purpose, cou'd
not think him worth being possess'd by any thing better than a Devil of
a dirty Quality; that is to say, a Spirit too mean to wear the Name of
_Devil_, without some Badge or Addition of Infamy and Meanness to
distinguish it by.
Thus what _Devil_ of Quality would be confin'd to a _P--------n_, who
inheriting all the Pride and Insolence of his Ancestors, without one of
their good Qualities; the Bully, the _Billingsgate_, and all the
hereditary ill Language of his Family, without an Ounce of their
Courage; that has been rescued five or six times from the Scandal of a
Coward, by the Bravery, and at the Hazard of Friends, and never fail'd
to be ungrateful; that if ever he committed a Murther, did it in cold
Blood, because no body could prove he ever had any hot; who possess'd
with a Poltroon _Devil_, was always wickeder in the Dark, than he durst
be by Day-light; and who, after innumerable passive Sufferings, has been
turned out of human Society, because he could not be kick'd or cuff'd
either into good Manners or good Humour.
To say this was a _Devil_, an Apparition, or even a half _Devil_, would
be unkind to _Satan_ himself, since tho' he (the _Devil_) has so many
Millions of inferior _Devils_ under his Command, not one cou'd be found
base enough to match him, nor one _Devil_ found but what would think
himself dishonour'd to be employ'd about him.
Some merry good-for-nothing _Devils_ we have indeed, which we might, if
we had room, speak of at large, and divert you too with the Relation,
such as my Lady _Hatt's Devil_ in _Essex_, who upon laying a Joiner's
Mallet in the Window of a certain Chamber, would come very orderly and
knock with it all Night upon the Window, or against the Wainscot, and
disturb the Neighbourhood, and then go away in the Morning, as well
satisfied as may be; whereas if the Mallet was not left, he would think
himself affronted, and be as unsufferable and terrifying as possible,
breaking the Windows, splitting the Wainscot, committing all the
Disorders, and doing all the Damage that he was able to the House, and
to the Goods in it. And again, such as the Druming _Devil_ in the Well
at _Oundle_ in _Northamptonshire_, and such like.
A great many antick _Devils_ have been seen also, who seem'd to have
little or nothing to do, but only to assure us that they can appear if
they please, and that there is a Reality in the thing call'd Apparition.
As to Shadows of _Devils_, and imaginary Appearances, such as appear,
and yet are invisible at the same time, I had thought to have bestow'd a
Chapter upon them by themselves, but it may be as much to the Purpose to
let them alone, as to meddle with them; 'tis said our old Friend
_Luther_ used to be exceedingly troubled with such invisible
Apparitions, and he tells us much of them, in what they call his
Table-talk; but with Master _Luther_'s leave, tho' the _Devil_ passes
for a very great Lyar, I could swallow many things of his own proper
making, as soon as some of those I find in a Book that goes by his Name,
particularly the Story of the Devil in a Basket, the Child flying out of
the Cradle, and the like.
In a word, the walking _Devils_ that we have generally among us, are of
the female Sex; whether it be that the _Devil_ finds less Difficulty to
manage them, or that he lives quieter with them, or that they are fitter
for his Business than the Men, I shall not now enter into a Dispute
about that; perhaps he goes better disguis'd in the fair Sex than
otherwise; Antiquity gives us many Histories of She-Devils, such as we
can very seldom match for Wickedness among the Men; such now as in the
Text, _Lot_'s Daughters, _Joseph_'s Mistress, _Sampson_'s _Dalilah_,
_Herod_'s _Herodias_, these were certainly _Devils_, or play'd the
_Devil_ sufficiently in their Turn; one Male Apparition indeed the
Scripture furnishes you with, and that is _Judas_; for his Master says
expresly of him, _One of you is a Devil_; not has the _Devil_, or is
possess'd of the DEVIL; but really is a DEVIL, or is a real DEVIL.
How happy is it, that this great Secret comes thus to be discover'd to
mankind? Certainly the World has gone on in Ignorance a long time, and
at a strange rate, that we should have so many _Devils_ continually
walking about among us in humane Shape, and we know it not.
Philosophers tell us that there is a World of Spirits, and many learned
Pieces of Guess-work they make at it, representing the World to be so
near us, that the Air, as they describe it, must be full of Dragons and
_Devils_, enough to fright our Imaginations with the very Thoughts of
them; and if they say true, 'tis our great Felicity that we cannot see
any farther into it than we do, which if we could, would appear as
frightful as Hell itself; but none of those Sages ever told us, till
now, that half the People who converse with us are _Apparitions_,
especially of the Women; and among them especially this valuable Part,
the Woman of Figure, the fair, the beautiful, or patch'd and painted.
This unusual Phaenomenon has been seen but a little while, and but a
little way, and the general Part of Mankind cannot come into the same
Notions about it; nay, perhaps they will all think it strange; but be
it as strange as it will, the Nature of the Thing confirms it, this
lower Sphere is full of _Devils_; and some of both Sexes have given
strange Testimonies of the Reality of their pre-existent _Devilism_ for
many Ages past, tho' I think it never came to that Height as it has now.
It is true, in former times Satan dealt much in old Women, and those, as
I have observ'd already, very ugly, _Ugly as a Witch_, _Black as a
Witch_, _I look like a Witch_, all proverbial Speeches, and which
testify'd what Tools it was Satan generally work'd with; and these old
Spectres, they tell us, us'd to ride thro' the Air in the Night, and
upon Broomsticks too, all mighty homely Doings; some say they us'd to go
to visit their Grand Seignior the _Devil_, in those Nocturnal
Perambulations: But be that as it will, 'tis certain the _Devil_ has
chang'd hands, and that now he walks about the World cloth'd in Beauty,
cover'd with the Charms of the Lovely, and he fails not to disguise
himself effectually by it, for who would think a beautiful Lady could be
a Masque to the Devil? and that a fine Face, a divine Shape, a heavenly
Aspect, should bring the _Devil_ in her Company, nay, should be herself
an _Apparition_, a mere DEVIL.
The Enquiry is indeed worth our while, and therefore I hope all the
enamour'd Beaus and Boys, all the Beauty-hunters and Fortune-hunters,
will take heed, for I suppose if they get the _Devil_, they will not
complain for want of a Fortune; and there's Danger enough, I assure you,
for the World is full of Apparitions, _non rosa sine spinis_; not a
Beauty without a _Devil_, the old Women Spectres, and the young Women
Apparitions; the ugly ones Witches, and the handsome ones _Devils_;
Lord ha' Mercy, and a [Illustration: Cross] may be Set on the Man's Door
that goes a courting.
CHAP. VIII.
_Of the Cloven-Foot walking about the World without the_ Devil, (viz.) _of
Witches making Bargains for the_ Devil, _and particularly of selling
the Soul to the_ Devil.
I have dwelt long upon the _Devil_ in Masque as he goes about the World
incog. and especially without his Cloven-Foot, and have touched upon
some of his Disguises in the Management of his Interest in the World; I
must say some of his Disguises only, for who can give a full account of
all his Tricks and Arts in so narrow a Compass as I am prescrib'd to?
But as I said, that every _Devil_ has not a Cloven-Foot, so I must add
now for the present Purpose, that every Cloven-Foot is not the Devil.
Not but that wherever I should meet the Cloven-Hoof, I should expect
that the _Devil_ was not far off, and should be apt to raise the Posse
against him, to apprehend him; yet it may happen otherwise, that's
certain; every Coin has its Counterfeit, every Art its Pretender, every
Whore her Admirer, every Error its Patron, and every Day has its DEVIL.
I have had some thought of making a full and compleat Discovery here of
that great Doubt which has so long puzzl'd the World, namely, whether
there is any such Thing, as secret making Bargains with the Devil, and
the first positive Assurance I can give you in the Case, is, that if
there is not, 'tis not his Fault, 'tis not for want of his Endeavour,
'tis plain, if you will pardon me for taking so mean a Step, as that of
quoting Scripture; I say, 'tis evident he would fain have made a
Contract with our Saviour, and he bid boldly (_give him his due_)
namely, _all the Kingdoms of the World for one bend of his Knee_:
Impudent Seraph! To think thy Lord should pay thee Homage! How many
would agree with him here for a less Price! They say, _Oliver Cromwell_
struck a Bargain with him, and that he gave _Oliver_ the Protectorship,
but would not let him call himself King, which stuck so close to that
_Furioso_, that the Mortification Spread into his Soul, and 'tis said,
he dy'd of a Gangreen in the Spleen. But take Notice and do _Oliver_
Justice; I do not vouch the Story, neither does the Bishop say one Word
of it.
Fame us'd to say, that the old famous Duke of _Luxemburg_ made a Magic
compact of this Kind; nay, I have heard many an (old Woman) Officer of
the Troops, who never car'd to see his Face, declare that he carry'd the
Devil at his Back. I remember a certain Author of a News Paper in
_London_ was once taken up, and they say, it cost him 50_l._ for
printing in his News, that _Luxemburg_ was _Humpback'd_. Now if I have
resolv'd the Difficulty, namely, that he was not hump'd, only carry'd
the _Devil_ at his Back; I think the poor Man should have his 50_l._
again, or I should have it for the Discovery.
I confess, I do not well understand this compacting with such a Fellow
as can neither write nor read; nor do I know who is the Scrivener
between them, or how the Indenture can be executed; but that which is
worse than all the rest is, that in _the first Place_, the _Devil_ never
keeps Articles; he will contract perhaps, and they say he is mighty
forward to make Conditions; but who shall bind him to the Performance,
and where is the Penalty if he fails? if we agree with him, he will be
apt enough to claim his Bargain and demand Payment; nay, perhaps before
it is due; but who shall make him stand to his.
Besides, he is a Knave in his Dealing, for he really promises what he
cannot perform; witness his impudent Proposal to our Lord mentioned
above. _All these Kingdoms will I give_ thee! _Lying Spirit!_ Why they
were none of thine to give, no not one of them; for the Earth is the
Lords and the kingdoms thereof, nor were they in his Power any more than
in his Right: So (I have heard that) some poor dismal Creatures have
sold themselves to the Devil for a Sum of Money, for so much Cash, and
yet even in that Case, when the Day of Payment came, I never heard that
he brought the Money or paid the Purchase, so that he is a Scoundrel in
his Treaties, for you shall trust for your Bargain, but not be able to
get your Money; and yet for your Part, he comes for you to an Hour: _Of
which by it self_.
In a Word, let me caution you all, when you trade with the Devil, either
get the Price or quit the Bargain; the _Devil_ is a cunning Shaver, he
will wriggle himself out of the Performance on his Side if possible, and
yet expect you should be punctual on your Side. They tell you of a poor
Fellow in _Herefordshire_, that offer'd to sell his Soul to him for a
Cow, and though the _Devil_ promised, and as they say, sign'd the
Writings, yet the poor Countryman could never get the Cow of him, but
still as he brought a Cow to him, some body or other came and challeng'd
it, proving that it was lost or stolen from them; so that the Man got
nothing but the Name of a Cow-stealer, and was at last carried to
_Hereford_ Goal, and condemn'd to be hang'd for stealing two Cows, one
after the other: The wicked Fellow was then in the greatest Distress
imaginable, he summon'd his _Devil_ to help him out, but he failed him,
as the _Devil_ always will; he really had not stolen the Cows, but they
were found in his Possession, and he could give no Account how he came
by them; at last he was driven to confess the Truth, told the horrid
Bargain he had made, and how the _Devil_ often promis'd him a Cow, but
never gave him one, except that several Times in the Morning early he
found a Cow put into his Yard, but it always prov'd to belong to some of
his Neighbours: Whether the Man was hang'd or no, the Story does not
relate; but this Part is to my Purpose, that they that make Bargains
with the _Devil_, ought to make him give Security for the Performance of
Covenants, and who the Devil would get to be bound for him, I can't
tell, they must look to that who make the Bargain: Besides, if he had
not had a Mind to cheat or baffle the poor Man, what need he have taken
a Cow so near home? if he had such and such Powers as we talk of, and as
Fancy and Fable furnish for him, could not he have carried a Cow in the
Air upon a Broom-stick, as well as an old Woman? Could he not have stole
a Cow for him in _Lincolnshire_, and set it down in _Herefordshire_, and
so have performed his Bargain, saved his Credit, and kept the poor Man
out of Trouble? so that if the Story is True, as I really believe it is,
either it is not the Devil that makes those Bargains, or the Devil has
not such Power as we bestow on him, except on Special Occasions he gets
a Permit, and is bid go, as in the Case of _Job_, the _Gadaren Hogs_,
and the like.
We have another Example of a Man's selling himself to the _Devil_, that
is very remarkable, and that is in the Bible too, and even in that, I
do not find, what the _Devil_ did for him, in Payment of the Purchase
Price. The Person selling was _Ahab_, of whom the Text says expresly,
_there was none like_ him, _who did sell himself to work Wickedness in
the Sight of the_ LORD, 1 _Kings_ xxi. 20, and the 25. I think it might
have been rendred, if not translated _in Spight of the Lord_, or _in
Defiance of God_; for certainly that's the Meaning of it; and now
allowing me to preach a little upon this Text, my Sermon shall be very
short. _Ahab_ sold himself, who did he sell himself to? I answer that
Question by a Question; who would buy him? who, _as we say_, would give
any thing for him? and the Answer to that is plain also, you may judge
of the Purchaser by the Work he was to do; he that buys a Slave in the
Market, buys him to work for him, and to do such Business as he has for
him to do: _Ahab_ was bought to work wickedness, and who would buy him
for that but the _Devil_?
I think there's no room to doubt but _Ahab_ sold himself to the Devil;
the Text is plain that he sold himself, and the Work he was sold to do
points out the Master that bought him; what Price he agreed with the
_Devil_ for, that indeed the Text is silent in, so we may let it alone,
nor is it much to our Purpose, unless it be to enquire whether the
_Devil_ stood to his Bargain or not, and whether he paid the Money
according to Agreement, or cheated him as he did the Farmer at
_Hereford_.
This buying and selling between the _Devil_ and us, is, I must confess,
an odd kind of Stock-jobbing, and indeed the _Devil_ may be said to sell
the _Bear-skin_, whatever he buys; but the strangest Part is when he
comes to demand the transfer; for as I hinted before, whether he
Performs or no, he expects his Bargain to a Tittle; there is indeed
some Difficulty in resolving how and in what Manner Payment is made; the
Stories we meet with in our Chimney-Corner Histories, and which are so
many Ways made Use of to make the _Devil_ frightful to us and our Heirs
for ever, are generally so foolish and ridiculous, as, if true or not
true, they have nothing Material in them, are of no Signification, or
else so impossible in their Nature, that they make no Impression upon
any body above twelve Years old and under seventy; or else are so
tragical that Antiquity has fabled them down to our Taste, that we might
be able to hear them and repeat them with less Horror than is due to
them.
This Variety has taken off our Relish of the Thing in general, and made
the Trade of Soul-selling, like our late more eminent Bubbles, be taken
to be a Cheat and to have little in it.
However, to speak a little more gravely to it, I cannot say but that
since, by the two eminent Instances of it above in _Ahab_, and in Christ
himself, the Fact is evidently ascertain'd; and that the Devil has
attempted to make such a Bargain on one, and actually did make it with
the other. The Possibility of it is not to be disputed; but then I must
explain the Manner of it a little, and bring it down, nearer to our
Understanding, that it may be more intelligible than it is; for as for
this selling the Soul, and making a Bargain to give the _Devil_
Possession by Livery and Seisin on the Day appointed, that I cannot come
into by any Means; no nor into the other Part, namely, of the Devil
coming to claim his Bargain, and to demand the Soul according to
Agreement, and upon Default of a fair Delivery, taking it away by
Violence _Case and all_, of which we have many historical Relations
pretty current among us; some of which, _for ought I know_, we might
have hop'd had been true, if we had not been sure they were false, and
others we had Reason to fear were false, because it was impossible they
should be true.
The Bargains of this Kind, according to the best Accounts we have of
them, used to consist of two main Articles, according to the ordinary
Stipulations in all Covenants; namely,
1. Something to be perform'd on the Devil's Part, buying.
2. Something to be performed on the Man's Part, selling.
1. The _Devil_'s Part: This was generally some poor Trifle, for the
Devil generally bought good Penny-worths, and oftentimes like a compleat
Sharper, agreed to give what he was not able to procure; that is to say,
would bargain for a Price he could not pay, as in the Case of the
_Hereford_ Man and the Cow; for Example, 1. _Long Life_: This tho' the
deluded Chapman has often had folly enough to contract for, the Devil
never had Power to make good; and we have a famous Story, how true I
know not, of a Wretch that sold himself to the DEVIL on Condition he,
_Satan_, should assure him (1.) That he should never want Victuals; (2.)
That he should never be a cold; (3.) That he should always come to him
when he call'd him; and (4.) That he should let him live one and twenty
Years, and then Satan was at Liberty to have him; that is, I suppose, to
take him wherever he could find him.
It seems, the Fellow's desire to be assur'd of 21 Years Life, was
chiefly, that during that Time, he might be as wicked as he would, and
should yet be sure not to be hang'd, nay, to be free from all
Punishment; upon this Foot 'tis said he commenc'd Rogue, and committed a
great many Robberies and other villanous Things; now it seems the
_Devil_ was pretty true to his Bargain in several of those things;
particularly, that two or three times when the Fellow was taken up for
petty Crimes, and call'd for his old Friend, he came and frighted the
Constables so, that they let the Offender get away from them: But at
Length having done some capital Crime, a Set of Constables, or such like
Officers, seiz'd upon him, who were not to be frighted with the _Devil_,
in what Shape soever he appear'd; so that they carry'd him off, and he
was committed to _Newgate_ or some other Prison as effectual.
Nor could Satan with all his Skill unlock his Fetters, much less the
Prison Doors; But he was try'd, convicted, and executed. The Fellow in
his Extremity, _they say_, expostulated with the _Devil_ for his
Bargain, the Term of 21 Years it seems not being expir'd. But the
_Devil_, it is said, shuffl'd with him, told him a good while, he would
get him out, bid him have Patience and stay a little, and thus led him
on, till he came as it were within Sight of the Gallows, that is to say,
within a Day or two of his Execution; when the _Devil_ cavill'd upon his
Bargain, told him, he agreed to let him live 21 Years, and he had not
hindred him, but that he did not Covenant to cause him to live that
Time; that there was a great deal of Difference between doing and
suffering; that he was to suffer him to live, and that he did; but he
could not make him live when he had brought himself to the Gallows.
Whether this Story were true or not, for you must not expect we
Historians should answer for the Discourse between the _Devil_ and his
Chaps, because we were not privy to the Bargain: I say, whether it was
true or not, the Inference is to our Purpose several Ways.
1. It confirms what I have said of the Knavery of the _Devil_ in
his Dealings, and that when he has Stock-jobb'd with us on the best
Conditions he can get, he very seldom performs his Bargain.
2. It confirms what I have likewise said, that the _Devil_'s Power
is limited; with this Addition, that he not only cannot destroy the
Life of Man, but that he cannot preserve it; _in short_, he can
neither prevent or bring on our Destruction.
I may be allow'd, I hope, for the Sake of the present Discourse, to
suppose that the _Devil_ would have been so just to this wicked, tho'
foolish Creature, as to have sav'd him from the Gallows if he could; but
it seems, he at last acknowledg'd that it was not in his Power; nay, he
could not keep him from being taken and carry'd to Prison, after he was
gotten into the Hands of a bold Fellow or two, that were not to be
fear'd with his Bluster, as some foolish Creatures had been before.
And how simple, how weak, how unlike any Thing of an Angelick Nature,
was it to attempt to save the poor Wretch, only by little Noises and
sham Appearances, putting out the Candles, rushing and josteling in the
Dark, _and the like_! If the _Devil_ was that mighty Seraph, which we
have heard of, if he is a God of this World, a Prince of the Air, a
Spirit able to destroy Cities and make Havock in the World; if he can
raise Tempests and Storms, throw Fire about the World, and do wonderful
Things, as an unchain'd _Devil_ no Doubt could do; what need all this
Frippery? and what need he try so many ridiculous Ways, by the
Emptiness, nay, the silly nonsensical Manner, of which, he shews, that
he is able to do no better, and that his Power is extinguish'd? _In a
Word_, he would certainly act otherwise, if he could. _Sed caret
pedibus_, he wants Power.
How weak a thing is it then, for any Man to expect Performance from the
_Devil_? If he has not Power to do Mischief, which is his Element, his
very Nature, and on many Accounts, is the very sum of his Desires; How
should he have Power to do Good? how Power to deliver from Danger or
from Death? which Deliverance would be in itself a Good, and we know it
is not in his Nature to do Good to or for any Man?
In a Word, the _Devil_ is strangely impudent, to think that any Man
should depend upon him for the Performance of an Agreement of any Kind
whatever, when he knows himself, that he is not able, if he was honest
enough, to be as good as his Word.
Come we next to his expecting our Performance to him; tho' he is not so
just to us, yet, it seems, he never fails to come and demand Payment of
us at the very Day appointed: He was but a weak Trader in Things of this
Nature, who having sold his Soul to the _Devil_, so our old Women's
Tales call the Thing, and when the _Devil_ came to demand his Bargain,
put it off as a Thing of no Force, for that it was done so long ago, he
thought he (_the Devil_) had forgot it. It was a better Answer, which
they tell us, a _Lutheran_ Divine gave the _Devil_ in the Name of a poor
Wretch, who had sold himself to the _Devil_, and who was in a terrible
Fright about his coming for his Bargain, as he might well be indeed, if
the _Devil_ has such a Power, as really to come and take it by Force.
_The Story (if you can bear a serious one) is this._
The Man was in great Horror of Mind, and the Family fear'd he would
destroy himself; at length they sent for a _Lutheran_ Minister to talk
with him, and who after some Labour with him, got out the Truth (_viz._)
that he had sold himself to the _Devil_, and that the Time was almost
expir'd, when he expected the _Devil_ would come and fetch him away, and
he was sure he would not fail coming to the Time to a Minute; the
Minister first endeavour'd to convince him of the horrid Crime, and to
bring him to a true Penitence for that Part; and having as he thought
made him a sincere Penitent, he then began to encourage him, and
particularly, desir'd of him, that when the Time was come, that the
_Devil_ should fetch him away, he, the Minister, should be in the House
with him; accordingly, to make the Story short, the Time came, the
_Devil_ came, and the Minister was present, when the _Devil_ came; what
Shape he was in, the Story does not say; the Man said he saw him, and
cry'd out; the Minister could not see him, but the Man affirming he was
in the Room, the Minister said aloud, _in the Name of the_ living God,
_Satan, what comest thou here for?_ The _Devil_ answer'd, _I come for my
own_; the Minister answer'd, _He is not thy own, for Jesus Christ has
redeem'd him, and in his Name I charge thee to avoid and touch him not_;
at which, says the Story, the _Devil_ gave a furious Stamp (with his
Cloven-Foot I suppose) and went away, and was never known to molest him
afterward.
Another Story, tho' it be in it self a long one, I shall abridge (for
your reading with the less Uneasiness) as follows.
A young Gentleman of _----berg_, in the Elector of _Brandenburgh_'s (now
the King of _Prussia_'s) Dominions, being deeply in Love with a
beautiful Lady, but something above his Fortune, and whom he could by no
Means bring to love him again, apply'd himself to an _old thing_ call'd
_a Witch_, for her Assistance, and promised her great Things, if she
could bring the Lady to love him, or any how compass her, so as he might
have his Will of her; nay, at last he told her he would give up his Soul
to her, if she would answer his Desire.
The old Hag, it seems, having had some of his Money, had very honestly
tried what she could do, but all to no Purpose, the Lady would not
comply; but when he offer'd such a great Price, she told him, she would
consider farther against such a Time, and so appointed him the next
Evening.
At the Time appointed he comes, and the Witch made a long Speech to him
upon the Nicety of the Affair; I suppose to prepare him not to be
surpriz'd at what was to come; for she suppos'd he was not so very
desperately bent as he appear'd to be; she told him it was a Thing of
very great Difficulty; but as he had made such a great Offer, of
_selling his Soul for it_, she had an Acquaintance in the House, who was
better skill'd (than she was) in such particular Things, and would treat
with him farther, and she doubted not but that both together they might
answer his End. The Fellow it seems was still of the same Mind, and told
her, he car'd not what he pawn'd or sold, if he could but obtain the
Lady; well, says the old Hag, sit still a while, and with that she
withdraws.
By and by she comes in again with a Question in her Mouth; pray, says
she, do you seek this Lady for a Wife, or for a Mistress, would you
marry her, or would you only lie with her? The young Man told her _no,
no_, he did not expect she would lie with him, therefore he would be
satisfied to marry her, but asks her the Reason of the Question; why
truly, says the old Hag, my Reason is very Weighty; for if you would
have her for your Wife, I doubt, we can do you no Service; but if you
have a Mind to lie with her, the Person, I speak of, will undertake it.
The Man was surpriz'd at that, only he objected that this was a
transient or short Felicity, and that he should perhaps have her no
more; the old Hag bid him not fear, but that if she once yielded to be
his Whore, he might have her as often as he pleased; upon this he
consents, for he was stark mad for the Lady; He having consented, she
told him then, he should follow her, but told him, whoever he saw, he
must speak to no body but her, till she gave him leave, and that he
should not be surpriz'd, whatever happen'd, for no hurt should befall
him; all which he agreed to, and the old Woman going out he follow'd
her.
Being upon this led into another Room, where there was but very little
Light, yet enough to let him see that there was no body in it but
himself and the Woman, he was desired to sit down in a Chair next to a
Table, and the old Woman clapping the Door too after her, he asked her
why she shut the Door, and where was the Person she told him of? At
which she answer'd _there he is_, pointing to a Chair at a little
Distance: The young Gentleman turning his Head, saw a grave Kind of a
Man sitting in an Elbow-Chair, tho' he said, he could have sworn there
was no body in the Chair when the old Woman shut the Door; however,
having promis'd not to speak to any body but the old Woman, he said not
a Word.
By and by the Woman making abundance of strange Gestures and Motions,
and mumbling over several Things which he could not understand, on a
suddain a large Wicker-Chair, which stood by the Chimney, removes to the
other End of the Table which he sat by, but there was no body in the
Chair; in about two Minutes after that the Chair remov'd, there appear'd
a Person sitting in that too, who, the Room being, as is said, almost
dark, could not be so distinguish'd by the Eye, as to see his
Countenance.
After some while, the first Man, and the Chair he sat in, mov'd, as if
they had been one Body, to the Table also; and the old Woman and the two
Men seem'd to talk together, but the young Man could not understand any
Thing they said; after some Time the old Witch turn'd to the young
Gentleman, told him his Request was granted, but not for Marriage, but
the Lady should love and receive him.
The Witch then gave him a Stick dipt in Tar at both Ends, and bid him
hold it to a Candle, which he did, and instead of burning like a Stick
it burnt out like a Torch; then she bid him break it off in the Middle,
and light the other End; he did that too, and all the Room seem'd to be
in a light Flame; then she said, deliver one Piece here, pointing to one
only of the Persons, so he gave the first Fire-stick to the first Man or
_Apparition_; now says she, deliver the other here, so he gave the other
Piece to the other Apparition, at which they both rose up and spoke to
him Words, which he said he understood not, and could not repeat, and
immediately vanish'd with the Fire-sticks and all, leaving the Room full
of Smoke: I do not remember that the Story says any Thing of Brimstone,
or the Smell of it, but it says the Door continu'd fast lock'd, and no
Body was left in the Room but the young Gentleman and the Witch.
Now the Ceremony being over, he ask'd the Witch if the Business was
done? She said _yes_. Well, but says he, have I sold my Soul to the
Devil? Yes, says she, you have, and you gave him Possession, when you
deliver'd the two Fire-sticks to him. _To him!_ says he, why, was that
the _Devil_? Yes, says the old Hag. At which the young Man was in a
terrible Fright for a while, but it went off again.
And what's next, says he, when shall I see the Lady for whose sake I
have done all this? You shall know that presently, said she, and opening
the Door, in the next Room she presents him with a most beautiful Lady,
but had charg'd him not to speak a Word to her: She was exactly dress'd
like, and he presently knew her to be the Lady he desir'd; upon which he
flew to her and clasped her in his Arms, but that Moment he had her
fast, as he thought, in his Arms, she vanish'd out of his sight.
Finding himself thus disappointed, he upbraids the old Woman with
betraying him, and flew out with ill Language at her, in a great Rage;
the _Devil_ often deluded him thus, after this, with Shews and
Appearances, but still no Performance; after a while he gets an
Opportunity to speak with the Lady her self in Reality, but she was as
positive in her Denial as ever, and even took away all Hopes of his ever
obtaining her, which put him into Despair; for now he thought he had
given himself up to the _Devil_ for nothing, and this brought him to
himself; so that he made a penitent Confession of his Crime to some
Friends, who took great Care of him, and encourag'd him, and at last
furnish'd him with such an Answer as put the _Devil_ into a Fright, when
he came for the Bargain.
For Satan, it seems, _as the Story says_, had the Impudence to demand
his Agreement, notwithstanding he had fail'd in the Performance on his
Part; what the Answer was I do not pretend to have seen, but it seems
it was something like what is mention'd above, (_viz._) that he was in
better Hands, and that he durst not touch him.
I have heard of another Person that had actually sign'd a Contract with
the _Devil_; and upon a Fast kept by some Protestant or Christian
Divines, while they were praying for the poor Man, the Devil was oblig'd
to come and throw the Contract in at the Window.
But I vouch none of these Stories, there may be much in them and much
Use made of them, even whether exactly such in Fact, as they are
related, or no; the best Use I can make of them, is this, if any wicked
desperate Wretches have made Bargain and Sale with _Satan_, their only
Way is to repent, if they know how, and that before he comes to claim
them; then batter him with his own Guns; play Religion against Devilism,
and perhaps they may drive the _Devil_ out of their Reach; at least he
will not come at them, which is as well.
On the other Hand, how many Stories have we handed about of the Devil's
really coming with a terrible Appearance at the Time appointed, and
powerfully or by violence carrying away those, that have given
themselves thus up to him; nay, and sometimes a Piece of the House along
with them, as in the famous Instance of _Sudbury_, _Anno_ 1662. It seems
he comes with Rage and Fury upon such Occasions, pretending he only
comes to take his own, or as if he had leave given him to come and take
his Goods, _as we say_, where he could find them, and would strike a
Terror into all that should oppose him.
The greatest Part of the Terror we are usually in upon this Occasion, is
from a Supposition, that when this _Hell-Fire Contract_ is once made,
God allows the _Devil_ to come and take the wicked Creature, how and in
what manner he thinks fit, as being given up to him by his own Act and
Deed; but in my Opinion there's no Divinity at all in that; for as in
our Law we punish a _Felo de se_, or Self-murtherer, because, _as the
Law suggests_, he had no Right to dismiss his own Life; that he being a
Subject of the Common-wealth, the Government claims the _Ward_ or
Custody of him, and so 'twas not Murther only, but Robbery, and is a
Felony against the State, robbing the King of his Liege-Man, as _'tis
justly call'd_; so neither has any Man a Right to dispose of his Soul,
which belongs to his Maker in Property and in Right of Creation: The Man
then having no Right to sell, Satan has no Right to buy, or at best he
has made a Purchase without a Title, and consequently has no just Claim
to the Possession.
It is therefore a Mistake to say, that when any of us have been so mad
to make such a pretended Contract with the Devil, that God gives him
leave to take it as his Due; _'tis no such thing_; the _Devil_ has
bought, what you had no Right to sell, and therefore, as an unlawful
Oath is to be repented of, and then broken; so your Business is to
repent of the Crime, and then tell the _Devil_, you have better
consider'd of it, and that you won't stand to your Bargain, for you had
no Power to sell; and if he pretends to Violence after that, I am
mistaken; I believe the _Devil_ knows better.
It is true, our old Mothers and Nurses have told us other Things, but
they only told us what their Mothers and Nurses told them, and so the
Tale has been handed down from one Generation of old Women to another;
but we have no Vouchers for the Fact other than Oral Tradition, the
Credit of which, I confess, goes but a very little Way with me; nor do I
believe it one Jot the more for all the frightful Addenda which they
generally join to the Tale, for it never wants a great Variety of that
Kind.
Thus they tell us the Devil carried away Dr. _Faustus_ and took a Piece
of the Wall of his Garden along with them: Thus at _Salisbury_ the
_Devil_ as it is said, and publickly printed, carried away two Fellows
that had given themselves up to him, and carried away the Roof of the
House with them, _and the like_; all which I believe my Share of;
besides, if these Stories were really true, they are all against the
Devil's true Interest, _Satan_ must be a Fool, which is indeed what I
never took him to be in the Main; this would be the Way not to encrease
the Number of Desperadoes, who should thus put themselves into his Hand,
but to make himself a Terror to them; and this is one of the most
powerful Objections I have against the Thing, for the Devil, I say, is
no Fool, that must be acknowledg'd; he knows his own Game, and generally
plays it sure.
I might, before I quit this Point, seriously reflect here upon our _Beau
mond_ (_viz._) the gay Part of Mankind, especially those of the Times we
live in, who walk about in a Composure and Tranquillity inexpressible,
and yet as we all know, must certainly have all sold themselves to the
Devil, for the Power of acting the foolishest Things with the greater
Applause; it is true, to be a Fool is the most pleasant Life in the
World, if the Fool has but the particular Felicity, which few Fools
want, (_viz._) to think themselves wise: The learned say, it is the
Dignity and Perfection of Fools, that they never fail trusting
themselves; they believe themselves sufficient and able for every Thing;
and hence their want or waste of Brains is no Grievance to them, but
they hug themselves in the Satiety of their own Wit; but to bring other
People to have the same Notion of them, which they have of themselves,
and to have their apish and ridiculous Conduct make the same Impression
on the Minds of others, as it does on their own; this requires a general
Infatuation, and must either be a Judgment from Heaven, or a Mist of
Hell; nothing but the Devil can make all the Men of Brains applaud a
Fool, and can any Man believe, that the Devil will do this for nothing?
no, no, he will be well paid for it, and I know no other Way they have
to compound with him, but this of Bargain and Sale.
'Tis the same thing with Rakes and Bullies, as 'tis with Fools and
Beaus; and this brings me to the Subject of _buying_ and _selling_ it
self, and to examine what is understood by it in the World, what People
mean by such and such a Man selling himself to the Devil: I know the
common Acceptation of it is, that they make some Capitulation for some
Indulgence in Wickedness, on Conditions of Safety and Impunity, which
the Devil promises them; tho' as I said above, he is a _Bite_ in that
too, for he can't perform the Conditions; however, I say, he promises
boldly, and they believe him, and for this Privilege in Wickedness, they
consent, that he shall come and fetch them for his own, at such or such
a Time.
This is the State of the Case in the general Acceptation of it; I do not
say 'tis really so, nay 'tis even an Inconsistency in it self; for one
would think, they need not capitulate with the Devil to be so, and so,
superlatively wicked, and give him such a Price for it, seeing, unless
we have a wrong Notion of him, he is naturally enclin'd, as well as
avow'dly willing to have all Men be as superlatively wicked as possibly
they can, and must necessarily be always ready to issue out his Licenses
gratis, as far as his Authority will go in the Case; and therefore I do
not see why the Wretches that deal with him, should article with him for
a Price; but suppose, for Argument sake, that it is so, then the next
Thing is, some capital Crime follows the Contract, and then the Wretch
is forsaken, for the Devil cannot protect him, as he promised; so he is
_Trust up_, and like _Coleman_ at the Gallows, he exclaims that _there
is no Truth in_ Devils.
It may be true, however, that under the powerful Guard and Protection of
the Devil, Men do sometimes go a great Way in Crime, and that perhaps
farther in these our Days of boasted Morals than was known among our
Fathers; the only Difference that I meet with between the Sons of
_Belial_ in former Days, and those of our Ages, seems to be in the
Devil's Management, not in theirs; the Sum of which amounts to this,
that Satan seems to act with more Cunning, and they with less; for in
the former Ages of Satan's Dominion, he had much Business upon his
Hands, all his Art and Engines, and Engineers also, were kept fully
employ'd, to wheedle, allure, betray and circumvent People, and draw
them into Crimes, and they found him, as we may say, a full Employment;
I doubt not, he was call'd the Tempter on that very Account; but the
Case seems quite alter'd now, the Tables are turned; then the Devil
tempted Men to sin, _But now, in short_, they tempt the Devil; Men push
into Crimes before he pushes them; they out shoot him in his own Bow,
out run him on his own Ground, and, as we say of some hot Spurs who ride
Post, they whip the Post-Boy; in a Word, the Devil seems to have no
Business now but to sit still and look on.
This, I must confess, seems to intimate some secret Compact between the
Devil and them; but then it looks, not as is they had contracted with
the Devil for leave to sin, but that the Devil had contracted with them,
that they should sin so and so, up to such a Degree, and that without
giving him the Trouble of daily Solicitation, private Management, and
artful screwing up their Passions, their Affections and their most
retir'd Faculties, as he was before oblig'd to do.
This also appears more agreeable to the Nature of the Thing; and as it
is a most exquisite part of Satan's Cunning, so 'tis an undoubted
Testimony of his Success; if it was not so, he could never bring his
Kingdom to such a height of absolute Power as he has done; this also
solves several Difficulties in the Affair of the World's present Way of
sinning, which otherwise it would be very hard to understand; as
particularly how some eminent Men of Quality among us, whose upper Rooms
are not extraordinary well furnished in other Cases, yet are so very
witty in their Wickedness, that they gather Admirers by hundreds and
thousands; who, however heavy, lumpish, slow and backward, even by
Nature, and in force of Constitution in better things, yet in their Race
Devil-wards they are of a sudden grown nimble, light of Foot, and outrun
all their Neighbours; Fellows that are as empty of Sense as Beggars are
of Honesty, and as far from Brains as a Whore is of Modesty; on a sudden
you shall find them dip into _Polemicks_, study _Michael Servetus_,
_Socinus_, and the most learned of their Disciples; they shall reason
against all Religion, as strongly as a Philosopher; blaspheme with such
a Keenness of Wit, and satyrise God and Eternity, with such a Brightness
of Fancy, as if the soul of a _Rochester_ or a _Hobbs_ was
transmigrated into them; in a little length of Time more they banter
Heaven, burlesque the Trinity, and jest with every sacred thing, and all
so sharp, so ready, and so terribly witty, as if they were born
Buffoons, and were singl'd out by Nature to be Champions for the Devil.
Whence can all this come? how is the Change wrought? who but the Devil
can inject Wit in Spight of natural Dullness, create Brains, fill empty
Heads, and supply the Vacuities in the Understanding? and will Satan do
all this for nothing? _No, no_, he is too wise for that; I can never
doubt a secret Compact, if there is such a thing in Nature; when I see a
Head where there was no Head, Sense in _Posse_ where there is no Sense
in _Esse_, Wit without Brains, and Sight without Eyes, 'tis all
_Devil-Work_: Could _G----_ write Satyrs, that could neither read
_Latin_ or spell _English_, like old Sir _William Read_, who wrote a
Book of Opticks, which when it was printed, he did not know which was
the right Side uppermost, and which the wrong? Could this eminent
uninform'd Beau turn Atheist, and make wise Speeches against that Being,
which made him a Fool, if the Devil had not sold him some Wit in
exchange for that Trifle of his, call'd Soul? Had he not barter'd his
Inside with that Son of the Morning, to have his Tongue tip'd with
Blasphemy, he that knew nothing of a God, but only to swear by him,
could never have set up for a Wit, to burlesque his Providence and
ridicule his Government of the World.
But the Devil, as he is God of the World, has one particular Advantage,
and that is, that when he has Work to do he very seldom wants
Instruments; with this Circumstance also, that the Degeneracy of human
Nature supplies him; as the late King of _France_ said of himself, when
they told him what a Calamity was like to befal his Kingdom by the
Famine: _Well_, says the King, then I shall not want Soldiers; _and it
was so_, want of Bread supplied his Army with Recruits; so want of Grace
supplied the _Devil_ with Reprobates for his Work.
Another Reason why, I think, the _Devil_ has made more Bargains of that
Kind we speak of, in this Age, is, because he seems to have laid by his
Cloven-Foot; all his old Emissaries, the Tools of his Trade, the
Engineers which he employ'd in his Mines, such as Witches, Warlocks,
Magicians, Conjurers, Astrologers, and all the hellish Train or Rabble
of human _Devils_, who did his Drudgery in former Days, seem to be out
of Work: I shall give you a fuller Enumeration of them in the next
Chapter.
These, I say, seem to be laid aside; not that his Work is abated, or
that his Business with Mankind, for their Delusion and Destruction is
not the same, or perhaps more than ever; but the _Devil_ seems to have
chang'd Hands; the Temper and Genius of Mankind is alter'd, and they are
not to be taken by Fright and Horror, as they were then: The Figures of
those Creatures was always dismal and horrible, and that is it which I
mean by the _Cloven-Foot_; but now Wit, Beauty and gay Things, are the
Sum of his Craft, he manages by the Soft and the Smooth, the Fair and
the Artful, the Kind and the Cunning, not by the Frightful and Terrible,
the Ugly and the Odious.
When the _Devil_ for weighty Dispatches,
Wanted Messengers cunning and bold,
He pass'd by the beautiful Faces,
And pick'd out the _Ugly_ and _Old_.
Of these he made _Warlocks_ and _Witches_,
To run of his Errands by Night,
Till the over wrought Hag-ridden Wretches,
Were as fit as the _Devil_, to fright.
But whoever has been his Adviser,
As his Kingdom encreases in Growth;
He now takes his Measures much wiser,
And Trafficks with Beauty and Youth.
Disguis'd in the Wanton and Witty,
He haunts both the Church and the Court,
And sometimes he visits the City,
Where all the best Christians resort.
Thus dress'd up in full Masquerade,
He the bolder can range up and down,
For he better can drive on his Trade,
In any one's Name than his own.
CHAP. IX.
_Of the Tools the_ Devil _works with,_ (viz.) _Witches, Wizards or
Warlocks, Conjurers, Magicians, Divines, Astrologers, Interpreters
of Dreams, Tellers of Fortunes; and above all the rest, his
particular modern Privy-Counsellors call'd Wits and Fools._
Tho', as I have advanc'd in the foregoing Chapter, the _Devil_ has very
much chang'd Hands in his modern Management of the World, and that
instead of the Rabble and long Train of Implements reckoned up above, he
now walks about in Beaus, Beauties, Wits and Fools; yet I must not omit
to tell you that he has not dismiss'd his former Regiments, but like
Officers in Time of Peace, he keeps them all in half Pay, or like
Extraordinary Men at the Custom-House, they are kept at a Call, to be
ready to fill up Vacancies, or to employ when he is more than ordinarily
full of Business; and therefore it may not be amiss to give some brief
Account of them, from Satan's own Memoirs, their Performance being no
inconsiderable Part of his History.
Nor will it be an unprofitable Digression to go back a little to the
primitive Institution of all these _Orders_, for they are very antient,
and I assure you, it requires great Knowledge of Antiquity, to give a
Particular of their Original; I shall be very brief in it.
In order then to this Enquiry, you must know that it was not for want of
Servants, that Satan took this Sort of People into his Pay; he had, as I
have observ'd in its Place, Millions of diligent _Devils_ at his Call,
whatever Business, and however difficult, he had for them to do; but as
I have said above, that our modern People are forwarder than even the
_Devil_ himself can desire them to be; and that they come before they
are call'd, run before they are sent, and crowd themselves into his
Service; so it seems it was in those early Days, when the World was one
universal Monarchy under his Dominion, as I have at large describ'd in
its Place.
In those Days the Wickedness of the World keeping a just Pace with their
Ignorance, this inferior Sort of low priz'd Instruments did the
_Devil_'s work mighty well; they drudg'd on in his Black-Art so
laboriously, and with such good Success, that he found it was better to
employ them as Tools to delude and draw in Mankind, than to send his
invisible Implements about, and oblige them to take such Shapes and
Dresses as were necessary upon every trifling Occasion; which, perhaps,
was more Cost than Worship, more Pains than Pay.
Having then a Set of these Voluntiers in his Service, the true _Devil_
had nothing to do but to keep an exact Correspondence with them, and
communicate some needful Powers to them, to make them be and do
something extraordinary, and give them a Reputation in their Business;
and these, in a Word, did a great Part of, nay almost all the _Devil_'s
Business in the World.
To this Purpose gave he them Power, if we may believe old _Glanville_,
_Baxter_, _Hicks_, and other learn'd Consultors of Oracles, to walk
invisible, to fly in the Air, ride upon Broom-sticks, and other Wooden
Gear, to interpret Dreams, answer Questions, betray Secrets, to talk
(Gibberish) the universal Language, to raise Storms, sell Winds, bring
up Spirits, disturb the Dead, and torment the Living, with a thousand
other needful Tricks to amuse the World, keep themselves in Veneration,
and carry on the _Devil_'s Empire in the World.
The first Nations among whom these infernal Practices were found, were
the _Chaldeans_; and that I may do Justice in earnest, as well as in
jest, it must be allow'd that the _Chaldeans_, or those of them so
call'd, were not Conjurers or Magicians, only Philosophers and Studiers
of Nature, wise, sober and studious Men at first, and we have an
extraordinary Account of them; and if we may believe some of our best
Writers of Fame, _Abraham_ was himself famous among them for such
Magick, as Sir _Walter Raleigh_ expresses it, _Qui Contemplatione
Creaturarum Cognovit Creatorem_.
Now granting this, it is all to my Purpose, namely, that the Devil drew
these wise Men in, to search after more Knowledge than Nature could
instruct them in; and the Knowledge of the true God being at that Time
sunk very low, he debauch'd them all with Dreams, Apparitions,
Conjurers, _&c._ till he ruin'd the just Notions they had, and made
_Devils_ of them all, like himself.
The learned _Senensis_, speaking of this _Chaldean_ Kind of Learning,
gives us an Account of five Sorts of them; you will pardon me for being
so grave as to go this Length back.
1. _Chascedin_ or _Chaldeans_, properly so call'd, being
Astronomers.
2. _Asaphim_ or _Magicians_, such was _Zoroastres_ and _Balaam_ the
Son of _Beor_.
3. _Chatumim_ or Interpreters of Dreams and hard Speeches,
Inchanters, _&c._
4. _Mecasphim_ or Witches, call'd at first Prophets, afterwards
_Malefici_ or _Venefici_, Poisoners.
5. _Gazarim_ or _Auruspices_, and Diviners, such as divin'd by the
Entrails of Beasts, the Liver in particular; mention'd in _Ezek._
or as others, call'd Augurs.
Now, as to all these, I suppose, I may do them no wrong, if I say,
however justifiable they were in the Beginning, the _Devil_ got them all
into his Service at last, and that brings me to my Text again, from
which the rest was a Digression.
1. The _Chascedin_ or _Chaldean_ Astronomers turned Astrologers,
Fortune-Tellers, Calculators of Nativities, and vile Deluders of
the People, as if the Wisdom of the holy God was in them, as
_Nebuchadnezzar_ said of _Daniel_ on that very Account.
2. The _Asaphim_ or Magi, or Magicians; _Sixtus Senensis_ says,
they were such as wrought by Covenants with Devils, but turn'd to
it from their Wisdom, which was to study the practical Part of
Natural Philosophy, working admirable Effects by the mutual
Application of Natural Causes.
3. The _Chartumim_ from being Reasoners or Disputers upon difficult
Points in Philosophy, became Enchanters and Conjurers. So,
4. The _Mecasphim_ or Prophets, they turn'd to be Sorcerers,
Raisers of Spirits, such as wounded by an evil Eye, and by bitter
Curses, and were afterwards fam'd for having familiar Converse with
the _Devil_, and were called Witches.
5. The _Gazarim_, from the bare observing of the good and bad
Omens, by the Entrails of Beasts, flying of Birds, _&c._ were
turn'd to Sacrists or Priests of the Heathen Idols and Sacrificers.
Thus, I say, first or last the _Devil_ engross'd all the Wise-Men of the
East, for so they are call'd; made them all his own, and by them he
work'd Wonders, that is, he fill'd the World with lying Wonders, as if
wrought by these Men, when indeed it was all his own, from Beginning to
the End, and set on Foot meerly to propagate Delusion, impose upon
blinded and ignorant Men; the God of this World blinded their Minds, and
they were led away by the Subtilty of the _Devil_, to say no worse of
it, till they became _Devils_ themselves, as to Mankind; for they
carried on the Devil's Work upon all Occasions, and the Race of them
still continue in other Nations, and some of them among our selves, as
we shall see presently.
The _Arabians_ follow'd the _Chaldeans_ in this Study, while it was kept
within its due Bounds, and after them the _Egyptians_; and among the
Latter we find that _Jannes_ and _Jambres_ were famous for their leading
_Pharaoh_ by their pretended magic Performances, to reject the real
Miracles of _Moses_; and History tells us of strange Pranks the
Wise-Men, the Magicians and the Southsayers plaid to delude the People
in the most early Ages of the World.
But, as I say, now, the _Devil_ has improv'd himself, so he did then;
for the _Grecian_ and _Roman_ Heathen Rites coming on, they outdid all
the Magicians and Southsayers, by establishing the _Devil_'s lying
Oracles, which, as a Master-Piece of Hell, did the _Devil_ more Honour,
and brought more Homage to him, than ever he had before, or could arrive
to since.
Again, as by the setting up the Oracles, all the Magicians and
Southsayers grew out of Credit; so at the ceasing of those Oracles, the
_Devil_ was fain to go back to the old Game again, and take up with the
Agency of Witches, Divinations, Inchantments and Conjurings, as I hinted
before, answerable to the four Sorts mention'd in the Story of
_Nebuchadnezzar_, (viz.) _Magicians_, _Astrologers_, the _Chaldeans_ and
the _Southsayers_: How these began to be out of Request, I have
mention'd already; but as the _Devil_ has not quite given them over,
only laid them aside a little for the present, we may venture to ask
what they were, and what Use he made of them when he did employ them.
The Truth is, I think, as it was a very mean Employment for any thing
that wears a human Countenance to take up, so I must acknowledge, I
think, 'twas a mean low priz'd Business for _Satan_ to take up with;
below the very _Devil_; below his Dignity as an Angelic, tho' condemn'd
Creature; below him even as a _Devil_; to go to talk to a parcel of
ugly, deform'd, spiteful, malicious old Women; to give them Power to do
Mischief, who never had a Will, after they enter'd into the State of
_old Woman-Hood_, to do any thing else: Why the _Devil_ always chose the
ugliest old Women he could find; whether _Wizardism_ made them ugly,
that were not so before, and whether the Ugliness, as it was a Beauty in
Witchcraft, did not encrease according to the meritorious Performance in
the Black-Trade? These are all Questions of Moment to be decided, (if
human Learning can arrive to so much Perfection) in Ages to come.
Some say the evil Eye and the wicked Look were Parts of the Enchantment,
and that the Witches, when they were in the height of their Business,
had a powerful Influence with both; that by looking upon any Person they
could bewitch them, and make the _Devil_, _as the Scots express it_,
ride through them booted and spurr'd; and that hence came that very
significant Saying, _to look like a Witch_.
The strange Work which the _Devil_ has made in the World, by this Sort
of his Agents call'd Witches, is such, and so extravagantly wild, that
except our Hope that most of those Tales happen not to be true, I know
not how any one could be easy to live near a Widow after she was five
and fifty.
All the other Sorts of Emissaries which Satan employs, come short of
these Ghosts; and Apparitions sometimes come and shew themselves, on
particular Accounts, and some of those Particulars respect doing
Justice, repairing Wrongs, preventing Mischief; sometimes in Matters
very considerable, and on Things so necessary to publick Benefit, that
we are tempted to believe they proceed from some vigilant Spirit who
wishes us well; but on the other Hand, these Witches are never concern'd
in any thing but Mischief; nay, if what they do portends good to one, it
issues in hurt to many; the whole Tenour of their Life, their Design in
general, is to do Mischief, and they are only employ'd in Mischief, and
nothing else: How far they are furnish'd with Ability suitable to the
horrid Will they are vested with, remains to be describ'd.
These Witches, 'tis said, are furnish'd with Power suitable to the
Occasion that is before them, and particularly that which deserves to be
consider'd, as Prediction, and foretelling Events, which I insist the
Author of Witchcraft is not accomplish'd with himself, nor can he
communicate it to any other: How then _Witches_ come to be able to
foretel Things to come, which, 'tis said, the _Devil_ himself cannot
know, and which, as I have shewn, 'tis evident he does not know himself,
is yet to be determin'd; that Witches do foretel, is certain, from the
Witch of _Endor_, who foretold Things to _Saul_, which he knew not
before, namely, that he should be slain in Battle the next Day, which
accordingly came to pass.
There are, however, and notwithstanding this particular Case, many
Instances wherein the _Devil_ has not been able to foretel approaching
Events, and that in Things of the utmost Consequence, and he has given
certain foolish or false Answers in such Cases; the DEVIL's Priests,
which were summon'd in by the Prophet _Elija_, to decide the Dispute
between God and _Baal_, had the _Devil_ been able to have inform'd them
of it, would certainly have receiv'd Notice from him, of what was
intended against them by _Elija_; that is to say, that they would be all
cut in pieces; for Satan was not such a Fool as not to know that _Baal_
was a Non-Entity, a Nothing, at best a dead Man, perish'd and rotting in
his Grave; for _Baal_ was _Bell_ or _Belus_, an ancient King of the
_Assyrian_ Monarchy, and he could no more answer by Fire to consume the
Sacrifice, than he could raise himself from the dead.
But the Priests of _Baal_ were left of their Master to their just Fate,
namely, to be a Sacrifice to the Fury of a deluded People; hence I infer
his Inability, for it would have been very unkind and ungrateful in him
not to have answer'd them, if he had been able. There is another
Argument raised here most justly against the _Devil_, with Relation to
his being under Restraint, and that of greater Eminence than we imagine,
and it is drawn from this very Passage, thus; 'tis not to be doubted but
that _Satan_, who has much of the Element put into his Hands, as Prince
of the Air, had a Power, or was able potentially speaking, to have
answer'd _Baal_'s Priests by Fire; Fire being in Vertue of his airy
Principality a Part of his Dominion; but he was certainly _withheld_ by
the Superior Hand, which gave him that Dominion, I mean _withheld_ for
the Occasion only: So in another Case, it was plain that _Balaam_, who
was one of those Sorts of _Chaldeans_ mention'd above, who dealt in
_Divinations_ and _Inchantments_, was withheld from cursing Israel.
Some are of Opinion that _Balaam_ was not a Witch or a Dealer with the
_Devil_ because 'tis said of him, or rather he says it of himself, that
he saw the Visions of God, _Numb._ xxiv. 16. _He hath said_, who _heard
the Words of_ GOD, _and knew the Knowledge of the most High, which saw
the Visions of the Almighty, falling into a_ TRANCE, _but having his
Eyes open_: Hence they alledge he was one of those Magi, which St.
_Augustin_ speaks of, _de Divinatione_, who by the Study of Nature, and
by the Contemplation of created Beings came to the Knowledge of the
Creature; and that _Balaam_'s Fault was, that being tempted by the
Rewards and Honours that the King promised him, he intended to have
curs'd _Israel_; but when his Eyes were open'd, and that he saw they
were God's own People, he durst not do it; they will have it therefore,
that except, _as above_, _Balaam_ was a good Man, or at least that he
had the Knowledge of the true God, and the Fear of that God upon him,
and that he honestly declares this, _Numb._ xxii. 18. _If_ Balak _would
give me his House full of Silver and Gold, I cannot go beyond the Word
of the Lord_ MY GOD: Where tho' he is call'd a false Prophet by some, he
evidently owns God, and assumes a Property in him, as other Prophets
did; MY GOD, and I cannot go beyond his Orders; but that which gives me
a better Opinion of _Balaam_ than all this is, his plain Prophesy of
Christ, Chap. xxiv. 17. where he calls him the Star of _Jacob_, and
declares, _I shall see him, but not now, I shall behold him, but not
nigh; there shall come a Star out of_ Jacob, _and a Scepter shall rise
out of_ Israel, _and shall smite the Corners of_ Moab, _and destroy all
the Children of_ Seth, all which express not a Knowledge only, but a
Faith in Christ; but I have done preaching, this is all by the by, I
return to my Business, which is the History.
There is another Piece of dark Practice here, which lies between Satan
and his particular Agents, and which they must give us an Answer to,
when they can, which I think will not be in haste; and that is about the
obsequious _Devil_ submitting to be call'd up into Visibility, whenever
an old Woman has her Hand cross'd with a white Six-pence, _as they Call
it_: One would think that instead of these vile Things call'd Witches,
being sold to the _Devil_, the _Devil_ was really sold for a Slave to
them; for how far soever Satan's Residence is off of this State of Life,
they have Power, it seems, to fetch him from home, and oblige him to
come at their Call.
I can give little Account of this, only that indeed so it is; nor is the
Thing so strange in its self, as the Methods to do it are mean, foolish,
and ridiculous; as making a Circle and dancing in it, pronouncing such
and such Words, saying the Lord's Prayer backward, and the like; now is
this agreeable to the Dignity of the Prince of the Air or Atmosphere,
that he should be commanded forth with no more Pomp or Ceremony than
that of muttering a few Words, such as the old Witches and he agree
about? or is there something else in it, which none of us or themselves
understand?
Perhaps, indeed, he is always with those People call'd Witches and
Conjurers, or at least some of his _Camp Volant_ are always present, and
so upon the least call of the Wizard, it is but putting off the misty
Cloak and showing themselves.
Then we have a Piece of mock Pageantry in bringing those Things call'd
witches or Conjurers to Justice, that is, first to know if a Woman be a
Witch, throw her into a Pond, and if she be a Witch, she will swim, and
it is not in her own Power to prevent it; if she does all she can to
sink her self, it will not do, she will swim like a Cork. Then that a
Rope will not hang a Witch, but you must get a With, a green Osyer; that
if you nail a Horse-Shoe on the Sill of the Door, she cannot come into
the House, or go out, if she be in; these and a thousand more, too
simple to be believ'd, are yet so vouch'd, so taken for granted, and so
universally receiv'd for Truth, that there is no resisting them without
being thought atheistical.
What Methods to take to know, who are _Witches_, I really know not; but
on the other Side, I think there are variety of Methods to be used to
know who are not; _W--- G---_, Esq; is a Man of Fame, his Parts are
great, because his Estate is so; he has threescore and eight Lines of
_Virgil_ by rote, and they take up many of the Intervals of his merry
Discourses; he has just as many witty Stories to please Society; when
they are well told, _once over_, he begins again, and so he lives in a
round of Wit and Learning; he is a Man of great Simplicity and
Sincerity; you must be careful not to mistake my Meaning, as to the Word
Simplicity; some take it to mean Honesty, and so do I, only that it has
a Negative attending it, in his particular Case; in a Word, _W----
G----_ is an honest Man, and no _Conjurer_; a good Character, I think,
and without Impeachment to his Understanding, he may be a Man of Worth
for all that; take the other Sex, there is the Lady _H----_ is another
Discovery; bless us! what Charms in that Face! How bright those Eyes!
How flowing white her Breasts! How sweet her Voice? add to all, how
heavenly, divinely good her Temper! How inimitable her Behaviour! How
spotless her Virtue! How perfect her Innocence! and to sum up her
Character, we may add, the Lady _H----_ is no _Witch_; sure none of our
Beau Critics will be so unkind now as to censure me in those honest
Descriptions, as if I meant that my good Friend _W---- G----_ Esq; or my
ador'd Angel, the bright, the charming Lady _H----_ were Fools; but what
will not those Savages, call'd Critics, do, whose barbarous Nature
enclines them to trample on the brightest Characters, and to cavil on
the clearest Expressions?
It might be expected of me, however, in justice to my Friends, and to
the bright Characters of abundance of Gentlemen of this Age, who, by the
Depth of their Politics, and the Height of their Elevations might be
suspected, and might give us Room to charge them with Subterranean
Intelligence; I say, it might be expected that I should clear up their
Fame, and assure the World concerning them, even by Name, that they are
no _Conjurers_, that they do not deal with the _Devil_, at least, not by
the Way Witchcraft and Divination, such as Sir _T---k_, _E--- B---_,
Esq; my Lord _Homily_, Coll. _Swagger_, _Jeoffry Well with_, Esq; Capt.
_Harry Go Deeper_, Mr. _Wellcome Woollen_, Citizen and Merchant Taylor
of _London_, _Henry Cadaver_, Esq; the D---- of _Caerfilly_, the
Marquess of _Sillyhoo_, Sir _Edward Thro' and Thro'_ Bart. and a World
of fine Gentlemen more, whose great Heads and Weighty Understandings
have given the World such Occasion to challenge them with being at least
descended from the _Magi_, and perhaps engaged with old Satan in his
Politics and Experiments; but I, that have such good Intelligence among
_Satan_'s Ministers of State, as is necessary to the present
Undertaking, am thereby well able to clear up their Characters: and I
doubt not, but they will value themselves upon it, and acknowledge
their Obligation to me, for letting the World know the _Devil_ does not
pretend to have had any Business with them, or to have enroll'd them in
the List of his Operators; _in a Word_, that none of them are
_Conjurers_: Upon which Testimony of mine, I expect they be no longer
charg'd with, or so much as suspected of having an unlawful Quantity of
Wit, or having any Sorts of it about them, that are contraband or
prohibited, but that for the future they pass unmolested, and be taken
for nothing but what they are, (_viz._) very honest worthy Gentlemen.
CHAP. X.
_Of the various Methods the Devil takes to converse with Mankind._
Having spoken something of Persons, and particularly of such as the
_Devil_ thinks fit to employ in his Affairs in the World, it comes next
of course to say something of the Manner how he communicates his Mind to
them, and by them to the rest of his Acquaintance in the World.
I take the _Devil_ to be under great Difficulties in his Affairs on his
Part, especially occasion'd by the Bounds which are set him, or which
Policys oblige him to set to himself, in his Access to the conversing
with Mankind; 'tis evident he is not permitted to fall upon them with
Force and Arms, that is to say, to muster up his infernal Troops, and
attack them with Fire and Sword; if he was not loose to act in this
Manner as he was able, by his own seraphic Power to have destroy'd the
whole Race, and even the Earth they dwelt upon, so he would certainly,
and long ago have effectually done it; his particular Interests and
Inclinations are well enough known.
But in the next Place, as he is thus restrain'd from Violence, so
Prudentials restrain him in all his other Actings with Mankind; and
being confin'd to Stratagem, and soft still Methods, such as Persuasion,
Allurement, feeding the Appetite, prompting, and then gratifying corrupt
Desires, and the like; he finds it for his Purpose not to appear in
Person, except very rarely, and then in Disguise; but to act all the
rest in the Dark, under the Vizor of Art and Craft, making Use of
Persons and Methods conceal'd, or at least not fully understood or
discover'd.
As to the Persons whom he employs, I have taken some Pains you see to
discover some of them; but the Methods he uses with them, either to
inform and instruct, and give Orders to them, or to converse with other
People by them, these are very particular, and deserve some Place in our
Memoirs, particularly as they may serve to remove some of our Mistakes,
and to take off some of the frightful Ideas we are apt to entertain in
Prejudice of this great Manager; as if he was no more to be match'd in
his Politics, than he would be to be match'd in his Power, if it was let
loose; which is so much a Mistake, that on the contrary, we read of
several People that have abused and cheated the _Devil_, a Thing, which
I cannot say, is very honest nor just, notwithstanding the old Latin
Proverb, _Fallere fallentem non est fraus_, (which Men construe, or
rather render, by way of Banter Upon Satan) 'tis no Sin to cheat the
_Devil_, which for all that, upon the whole I deny, and alledge, that
let the _Devil_ act how he will by us, we ought to deal fairly by him.
But to come to the Business, without Circumlocutions; I am to enquire
how Satan issues out his Orders, gives his Instructions and fully
delivers his Mind to his Emissaries, of whom I have mention'd some in
the Title to Chap. IX. In order to this, you must form an Idea of the
_Devil_ sitting in great State, in open Campaign, with all his Legions
about him, in the height of the Atmosphere; or if you will, at a certain
Distance from the Atmosphere, and above it, that the Plan of his
Encampment might not be hurried round its own Axis, with the Earth's
diurnal Motion, which might be some Disturbance to him.
By this fix'd Situation, the Earth performing its Rotation, he has every
Part and Parcel of it brought to a direct Opposition to him, and
consequently to his View once in twenty four Hours: The last time I was
there, if I remember right, he had this Quarter of the World, which we
call Christendom, just under his Eye; and as the Motion is not so swift,
but that his piercing Opticks can take a strict View of it _en passant_;
for the Circumference of it being but twenty one thousand Miles, and its
circular Motion being full twenty four Hours performing, he has
something more than an Hour to view every thousand Miles, which, to his
supernatural Penetration, is not worth naming.
As he takes thus a daily View of all the Circle, and an hourly View of
the Parts, he is fully Master of all Transactions, at least such as are
done above Board by all Mankind; and then he dispatches his Emissaries
or _Aid du Camps_ to every Part with his Orders and Instructions: Now
these Emissaries, you are to understand, are not the _Witches_ and
_Diviners_, who I spoke of above, for I call them also Emissaries; but
they are all _Devils_ or (as you know they are call'd) _Devil_'s Angels;
and these may, perhaps, come and converse personally with the
Sub-emissaries I mention'd, to be ready for their Support and Assistance
on all Occasions of Business: These are those _Devils_ which the Witches
are said to raise; for we can hardly suppose the Master _Devil_ comes
himself, at the Summons of every ugly old Woman.
These run about into every Nook and Corner, wherever Satan's Business
calls them, and are never wanting to him; but are the most diligent
_Devils_ imaginable; like the _Turkish Chaiux_, they no sooner receive
their Errand, but they execute it with the utmost Alacrity; and as to
their Speed, it may be truly written as a Motto, upon the Head of every
individual _Devil_,
_Non indiget calcaribus._
These are those, who they tell us our Witches, Sorcerers, Wizards, and
such Sorts of Folks converse freely with, and are therefore call'd their
_Familiars_; and as they tell us, come to them in human Shapes, talk to
them with articulate plain Voices, as if Men, and that yet the said
Witches, _&c._ know them to be _Devils_.
History has not yet enlighten'd us in this Part of useful Knowledge, or
at least not sufficiently for a Description of the Persons or Habits of
these Sorts of Appearances; as what Shapes they take up, what Language
they speak, and what particular Works they perform, so we must refer it
to farther Enquiry; but if we may credit History, we are told many
famous Stories of these Appearances; for Example, the famous Mother
_Lakland_, who was burnt for a Witch at _Ipswich_, _Anno_ 1646,
confessed at the Time of her Execution, or a little before it, that she
had frequent Conversation with the _Devil_ himself; that she being very
poor, and withal of a devilish passionate, cruel and revengeful
Disposition before, used to wish she had it in her Power to do such and
such mischievous Things to some that she hated; and that the _Devil_
himself, who, it seems, knew her Temper, came to her one Night as she
lay in her Bed, and was between sleeping and waking, and speaking in a
deep hollow Voice, told her; if she would serve him in some Things he
would employ her to do, she should have her Will of all her Enemies, and
should want for nothing: That she was much afraid at first, but that he
solliciting her very often, bad her not be afraid of him, and still
urg'd her to yield, and as she says, struck his Claw into her Hand, and
tho' it did not hurt her, made it bleed, and with the Blood wrote the
Covenants, that is to say, the Bargain between them: being ask'd what
was in them, and whether he requir'd her to curse or deny God or Christ?
She said no.
N. B. I do not find she told them whether the _Devil_ wrote it with
a Pen, or whether on Paper or Parchment, nor whether she sign'd it
or no, but it seems he carry'd it away with him. I suppose, if
Satan's Register were examin'd, it might be found among the
Archives of Hell, the Rolls of his _acta Publica_; and when his
Historiographer Royal publishes them, we may look for it among
them.
Then he furnish'd her with three _Devils_, to wait upon her (I suppose)
for she confess'd they were to be employ'd in her Service; they attended
in the Shapes of two little Dogs and a Mole: The first she bewitch'd
was her own Husband, by which he lay a while in great Misery and died;
then she sent to one Captain _Beal_ and burnt a new Ship of his just
built, which had never been at Sea; these and many other horrid Things
she did and confess'd, and having been twenty Years a Witch, at last the
_Devil_ left her, and she was burnt as she deserv'd.
That some extraordinary Occasions may bring these Agents of the _Devil_,
nay, sometimes the _Devil_ himself, to assume human Shapes, and appear
to other People we cannot doubt; he did thus in the Case of our Saviour
_as a Tempter_, and some think he did so to _Manasses_ as a Familiar,
who the Scripture charges with Sorcery, and having a Familiar or Devil;
Fame tells us that St. _Dunstan_ frequently converst with him, and
finally, took him by the Nose; and so of others.