therefore say that Christians are altogether without faith God forbid that we should thinke so badly of God his people For they haue iustifying faith but that which they call the faith of miracles is alreadie ceased For seeing that the ende of working miracles was to confirme the word as Saint Paul saith 1. Cor. cap. 14. vers 22. of the miraculous gift of languages that it was a token to them that beleeue not and not to them that beleeue to prepare and mooue their mindes to the imbracing of the Gospel which Gospel beeing now a great while since sufficiently prooued and the truth therof established by miracles what needeth the continuance of the said gift amongst vs And that the gift of working miracles was but for a certaine time at the beginning onely bestowed vpon his Church as diuers other spirituall gifts were which are rehearsed in the 12. chap. of the 1. Epist. Cor. it is very manifest because that all the rest of miraculous gifts there recited are ceased out of vse at this present Wherefore the wizzards of these our daies howsoeuer they colour their legerdemaine in this behalfe yet they are farre from the true practise of working miracles giuen and accepted of God by reason that the vse thereof is ceased with the end for which it was giuen and ordained Neither are we to thinke that the hand of the Lord is shortened therby no more then it was when Manna ceased among the Israelites But the Lord knoweth and doth alwaies that which is most conuenient and profitable both for his owne glorie and for our eternall comfort Yea by his prouidence he so moderateth the particular actions of all those vpon whome hee bestoweth this grace of working miracles that they doe nothing in this behalfe but onely as he doth direct and assigne them So Moses did his miracles alwaies at God his appointment and the disciples of our Sauiour Iesus Christ could not heale the lunaticke childe in the 17. chap. of Saint Matthew Howbeit at other times they did greater wonders And the Prophet Nathan in the second booke of Samuel cap. 7. because he was not first directed by God failed in giuing counsaile vnto Dauid to build the temple Neither may wee thinke that it hath beene otherwise in this case with any other of the seruants of God For albeit it bee not expressed alwaies in the scripture yet it is out of doubt that were inwardly ledde by the spirit of God to doe euery particular miracle that they wrought euen as the disciples of our Sauiour Christ were what they should speake in the 10. chapter of Matth. where our Sauiour Christ saith vnto them Take no thought how or what ye shall speake for it shall be giuen you in that houre what ye shall say for it is not ye that speake but the spirit of your father which speaketh in you Wherefore our Sauiour Christ in the 9. chapter of the Gospel after Saint Luke findeth fault with his disciples because they would haue had fire to come downe from heauen vpon the Samaritans as Elias did procure to fall vpon the two fifties of men and their leaders in the 2. booke of the Kings cap. 1. saying that they knew not of what spirit they were as though he should haue said If that ye did know and consider as the truth is that Elias was mooued by the spirit of God to execute his iudgement vpon those men and that ye are onely ledde by your desire of reuenge ye would neuer haue motioned this matter for now ye aske ye wot not what But those that are counted cunning men amongst vs doe at no time looke for God his direction but for the opposition and coniunction of the planets with a sort of other vaine and wicked obseruations fitter for heathen men thē for those that beare the names of Christians which God hath flatly forbidden in the 18. chapter of Deuteronomy and Leuiticus cap. 19. vers 26. and by the Prophet Ieremy he saith cap. 10. Learne not the way of the heathen and bee not afraid for the signes of heauen though the heathen bee afraid of such for the customes of the people are vaine For the right vse of the starres and the motions thereof is set downe by God himselfe in the 1. cap. of Gen. vers 14 and 15. in these wordes And God said let there be lights in the firmament of heauen to separate the day from the might and let them be for signes and for seasons and for daies and yeares and let them be for lights in the firmament of heauen to giue light vpon the earth The like impietie is to be found in these men when they appoint and set downe vnto themselues and their disciples in what place such and such wonders are to be wrought As though the power of God were tied to one place more then vnto another Wherein they are like the Aramites in the 20. cap. of the 1. booke of the King when they say that the God of Israel is God of the mountaines and not of the valleies and therefore the Lord slew them with the edge of the sword Furthermore for euery particular miracle God directeth if it be done as it should be the meanes and manner how it should be wrought either outwardly by his word or inwardly by his spirit Thus the Lord when he did send Moses to worke miracles before Pharaoh Exod. the 7 8 and 9 chapters He instructeth and telleth him after what manner he should doe them So when he ledde the children of Israel ouer Iorden by the hand of Iehosuah cap. 3. he biddeth him to command the priests that did beare the Arke of the couenant that when they came to the brinke of the waters of Iorden they should stand stil in Iorden whereby the people went ouer that riuer dry In like manner in the 6. cap. of the booke of Iehosuah the Lord declareth vnto Iehosuah what he will haue done that the walles of the citie of Iericho might fall downe before the children of Israel the which being once done the wall sell flat downe so the people went vp into the citie euery man straight before him And they tooke the city So in the 1. booke of the Kings cap. 13. assoone as the man of God had vttered the word of the Lord against the altar it claue asunder and the ashes fell out But in the 2. booke of the King cap. 4. because that Elisha did presume of himselfe without the Lord his direction to deuise a course to raise the womans child being dead to life againe by laying the staffe vpon the childes face by the hand of Gehazi his seruant therefore it tooke no effect Neither ought we to imagine by this that God is tyed to these or any other meanes of like sort For he doth the selfe same sometimes by one meanes sometimes by another as in the 4. cap. of Exod. vers 9. he biddeth Moses to powre the water of the riuer vpon the
THE ANATOMIE OF SORCERIE VVHEREIN THE WICKED IMPIEtie of Charmers Inchanters and such like is discouered and confuted BY IAMES MASON Master of Artes. Printed at London by IOHN LEGATTE Printer to the Vniuersitie of Cambridge 1612. And are to be sold in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the Crowne by Simon Waterson To the Reader THou maiest maruaile gentle reader what hath moooued mee after so many zealous and learned Diuines to take in hand this treatise against sorcery Wherfore I haue thought it good to certifie thee in some measure of my meaning herein It was my chance to fall into communication with a notable supporter of those wicked vanities which are spoken against in this booke who not contented to practise the same himselfe went about to perswade others thereunto and to that end had framed reasons and arguments to vphold his assertion Which when I heard and vnderstood considering that he was a man of place and some learning and therefore might preuaile the more in this mischieuous deuise I determined to search out what authors had written concerning that matter But finding them all that I could hit vpon to be more occupied in making inuectiues against sorcerie in generall then in particular setting downe what it was or wherein it consisted thereby leauing a dare open to these vaine and wicked men to creepe out at by reason the chiefe grounds were not taken away whereon they stand Therefore I resolued to make some treatise of mine own And because I thought I should haue thereby fit occasion both to answer his arguments and also to speake of other matters very meete and necessarie in this case I made choice of this text in the Actes of the Apostles and so much the rather for that it was a place alleadged by the aforesaid partie himselfe that so I might as it were vna fidelia duos parietes dealbare That is as we say stoppe two gappes with one bush both answering to the aduersaries reasons and likewise opening the meaning of the said place to all such simple and true meaning Christians as should heare or reade the same Howbeit at the first I had no such purpose as to make it common to all but onely to such of my friends and acquaintance to whom I meant to commit it and my selfe should thinke good Notwithstanding afterward at my aforesaid friends request who did beare me in hand that it would be profitable to the Church of God if it should come abroad into the open view of the world at the last I yielded as thou seest God graunt that it may worke that effect which I wish for the which if I shall perceiue it shall encourage me to imploy my studies hereafter for thy further benefit In the meane while I commit thee to the tuition of him who is able to doe more then we can wish or desire And so I bid thee heartily farewell Iames Mason Act. cap. 19. the 11 12 13 14 15 and 16. verses 11. And God wrought no small miracles by the hand of Paul 12. So that from his bodie were brought vnto the sicke napkins or hand-kerchefes and the diseases departed from them and the euill spirits went out of them 13. Then certaine of the vagabond Iewes exorcists tooke in hand to name ouer them which had euill spirits the name of the Lord Iesus saying we adiure you by Iesus whome Paul preacheth 14. And there were certaine sonnes of Sceua a chiefe priest of the Iewes about seauen which did this 15. And the euill spirit answered and said Iesus I acknowledge and Paul I know but who are ye 16. And the man in whome the euill spirit was ranne on them and ouer came them and preuailed against them so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded WHen our Sauiour Christ Iesus was to depart out of this world as pertaining to his bodily presence and to ascend vp into heauen he commaunded his Apostles to preach the Gospel promising that he would ratifie the same with signes and wonders as appeareth cap. 16. of Marke The fulfilling of which promise as in many other places so in this chapter it is most notably set downe For wheras before the spirit of God had shewed the preaching of Saint Paul as also his confutation of the aduersaries of the Gospel in disputation in these words hee declareth how God confirmed the same by miracles especially in the 11. and 12. verses Then followeth the peruerse emulation thereof by the wicked coniurers in the 13. and 14. verses And lastly the effect or punishment of this their practise in the 15. and 16. verses For the first The miracles which Saint Paul is here said to worke are set downe first generally in the 11. verse and afterward in the 12. verse the same is amplified by particulars In the generall we must obserue two things viz. The chiefe efficient cause of miracles which is God And the instrumentall cause which in this place is the Apostle Saint Paul But before we enter into the particular discourse of these points we must consider the coherence of these words with those which went before and that is insinuated by this word and in greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is a copulatiue coniunction ioyneth these words with the former as if he should haue said that not only the Gospel was preached by the Apostle Saint Paul but also the same was ratified and confirmed of God by miracles And truly if we looke throughout the whole booke of God we shall finde the working of miracles alwaies annexed vnto the word to giue credit and authoritie thereunto and to confirme the vocation of those that are setters forth of the same So the Lord furnished Moses with a most excellent gift of working miracles but hee first appointed him to deliuer his will vnto Pharaoh for the bringing of the children of Israel out of Egypt The like may be said of Iehosuah and Samuel and also of all the rest of the Prophets in the olde Testament which for breuity sake I omit to name leauing them to your owne consideration to examine the truth in this case As for the Apostles and Disciples of our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ I thinke no man wil denie but that they were indued with the gift of working miracles to this end that thereby their calling might the better be confirmed and the Gospel of Christ magnified Neither can the contrarie bee prooued in any of the holy men of God which haue wrought miracles And Saint Paul in the first Epistle to the Corinthians cap. 12. vers 7. saith that this gift of working miracles is giuen to profit and edifie the Church and not for any mans priuate vse as it may be necessarily gathered out of the circumstance of that place The which if it be so thē most abominable are the dealings of those most cursed blessers commonly called wise cunning men and women who hauing no publike calling either ordinarie or extraordinarie whereby
dry ground onely and it should be turned into blood and in the 7. cap. of Exod. vers 17. he commaundeth him to stretch out his hand with the rodde in it ouer the waters they should be blood yea God doth bring to passe contrarie things by one and the selfe same meanes as in the 14. cap. of Exod. the sea is both made dry for the Israelites to go ouer and the waters returne againe to couer the Egyptians when Moses stretcheth forth his hand ouer the same as before Nay seeing the Lord is omnipotent he can doe what he will as well without as with meanes but that it pleaseth him to exercise his children to attend vpon his ordinances and not to feine vnto themselues deuises of their owne braine which the Lord alloweth not as doe the cunning men and women in these our daies thinking thereby to worke those wonders which they desire The which although the Lord permitteth the diuell to bring to passe for them yet is it not therefore a necessary consequent that God is the author or allower of this their worke for God doth it other-whiles to try them as he saith in the 13. cap. of Deuteronomy So the sorcerers of Egypt in the 7. cap. of Exod. did bring to passe some things by their inchantments as did Moses and Aaron by the finger of God whereby the heart of Pharaoh was hardened And if it be so will some say how shall we discerne the seruants of God from the seruants of the diuell in this behalfe To these I answer that albeit it be not very easie especially to the children of disobedience as the spirit of God by Saint Paul 2. Thess. cap. 2. speaking of Antichrist the man of sinne saith that his comming is by the working of Satan with all power and signes and lying wonders and in all deceiueablenesse of vnrighteousnesse among them that perish because they did not receiue the loue of the truth that they might be saued And therefore God shall send them strong delusions that they should beleeue lies that all they might be damned which beleeued not the truth but had pleasure in vnrighteousnesse And our Sauiour Christ in the 24. cap. of the Gospell after Saint Mathew saith that there shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall shew great signes and wonders so that if it were possible they should deceiue the very elect Yet they may be discerned by three especial means and notes viz. First by their vocation calling Secondly by their manner of working And thirdly by the end and intent of their working As for the first it is euident that in the primitiue Church the gift and grace of miracles working was annexed vnto the Ecclesiasticall function as it appeareth in the 12. cap. of the 1. epist. Cor. vers 28. where Saint Paul saith that God hath ordeined in the Church first Apostles secondly Prophets thirdly teachers then doers of miracles after that the gifts of healing helpers gouernours diuerse tongues And therfore the Papists least they should seeme any thing to be inferiour vnto the primitiue Church haue like apes appointed Exorcistae as they tearme them for one of their ecclesiasticall orders albeit in vaine they hauing not their inward calling from God Who at the first planting of his Gospell did bestow this grace vpon his Church that whereas the onely preaching of the word tooke little or none effect yet by those miracles which they see done in the Church they might be conuerted and acknowledge the truth Thus the Lord when he sent Moses vnto the children of Israel to tell them that by his hand God would deliuer them out of their bondage in Egypt because that Moses seemed to doubt least they would not beleeue Therefore the Lord appointed him to worke miracles before them at the sight whereof they beleeued Exod. cap. 4. And Sergius Paulus in the 13. cap. of the Actes of the Apostles when he did see the miraculous striking of Elimas the sorcerer blind is said to beleeue and to be astonied at the doctrine of the Lord. So also the Iaylour in the 16. cap. of the Actes was conuerted to the faith when he saw the miracle wrought in the prison where whilest Paul and Silas prayed and sung psalmes in the night suddainely there was a great earth-quake so that the foundation of the prison was shaken and by and by all the prison dores opened and euery mans bonds were loosed And the ruler in the 4. cap. of the Gospell after Saint Iohn with all his houshould beleeued in our Sauiour Iesus Christ when he had seene the miracle which he had done in healing of his sonne To these I may adde that which Saint Paul saith in the 14. cap. of the 1. epist. Cor. vers 22. where affirming the miraculous gift of languages to be a signe vnto those that beleeue not seemeth to insinuate the like end and effect of other miracles And experience doth approoue the same For since the time of Constantine the great that the Christian religion hath bin publikely professed and by godly Emperours maintained the gift of miracles hath ceased Many more proofes might be alleadged to this purpose but because this matter hath beene handled before in a fitter as I take it and a more conuenient place I wil therefore passe it ouer and returne to the point which I had in hand against the which it may be obiected that Tertullian in his bookes de Idololatria and de Corona militis seemeth to affirme that marchants and souldiers did miracles in his time and therefore this gift is not alwaies annexed to the Ecclesiasticall function To this it may be answered That although their outward vocation seemed to be meere laick as they tearme it yet were they inwardly and extraordinarily called of God to the working of miracles to the which no doubt was ioyned the preachin of the Gospell either by themselues or els some other of the clergy So Saint Paul albeit a most excellent Apostle and preacher of the Gospell in the Church of God is said to be a Tent-maker and wrought of the same trade for his liuing as it is set downe in the 18. cap. of the Actes vers 3. so that a mechanical trade or any other honest and lawfull profession of trafficke in marchandize or warrefare doth not exclude them altogether from being of the clergy But as for our cunning men as we tearme them what ecclesiasticall function haue they or how doth their profession belong thereunto Seeing that for ordinarie callings we haue none such in our Churches except as I said it be among the Papists wherein how ridiculous they are who seeth not which is not wilfully blinded And that they haue no such like extraordinarie calling it appeareth plainely both by reason and experience For as our Sauiour Christ in the 4. chapter of S. Marke vers 21. and Saint Luke the 8. cap. vers 16. saith that a candle is not lighted to be put vnder a bushell
are infused and wherewith they are mixed and the greeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 betokeneth the same thing Neither do I see wherefore Satan should vse naturall meanes in the parties before specified and such like rather then supernaturall if it had not past his reach seeing that he doth for the most part endeauour to couer his dealing as much as he can that it may not be espied As he did when he laid his hand vpon Iob as it apeareth in the first chapter of his booke And therefore it is to be thought that he made vse in the aforesaid persons of those naturall meanes which came first into his minde and were nearest at hand for that present time And as concerning the second kind of miracle which S. Paul is heere said to worke by napkins and partlets sent vnto the parties grieued To wit the casting out of diuels the same is to be iudged and said which hath beene spoken of the miracle of healing both in regard of the outward and also of the inward meanes of the same For as for the inward which is the onely meanes It is the power and spirit of God alone and as for the outward manner it maketh as I said before nothing to the working of the miracle Wherefore they are all in a mighty errour which thinke that Satan can be cast out by certaine set and conceited words or characters as they vse in magicke For we must not thinke that the diuell is either so simple or so weake if God permit him to vse his strength as to be as it were blowne out with the winde or sound of words or so timorous that he may be fraied away with the sight of figures or characters when as he durst tempt our first parents in their state of innocency Gen. cap. 3. Nay he was not afraide to set vpon our Sauiour Christ as it is in the 4. cap. of Saint Luk. although he was God albeit in the forme of man Phil. cap. 2. vers 6. And S. Peter likeneth him to a roaring lyon in his first epist. and cap. 5. And our Sauiour Christ in the 12. cap. of S. Mathewes Gospell seemeth to compare him to a strong man which will not yield till a stronger then he compelleth him Indeede sometime he will faine as though he were forcibly dispossessed by the vaine trickes of magitians and coniurers but it is onely to this end that he may thereby the more strengthen and enlarge his owne kingdome by bringing into detaining men in this wicked errour to thinke that such things are brought to passe by magicall conceits when as the diuell goeth out of himselfe euen as when we see two men pulling at a thing one of them contrary to the other and the stronger will seeme to be forced to yield and so letteth goe his hold but it is when he seeth his most aduantage to giue his aduersary the greater fall Euen so Satan albeit he may sometime seeme to be forced yet indeed and in truth it is but policy thereby to worke the more harme For he is not constrained to go out by any such vaine follies or by any other howsoeuer vsed but onely by the meere power and finger of God as it will appeare by that which followeth in the text Then certaine of the vagabond Iewes exorcistae Heere in this verse we see the effect of those miracles which Paul is said to worke in this place in the wicked sorcerers who when the Apostle had preached the Gospell of our Sauiour Christ and by his power and in his name had done these said miracles for the confirmation of the same went about most wickedly to abuse his sacred name to the establishing of their magicke and sorcery For although the name which they are called by may seeme to haue no badde but an indifferent signification being vsed in the primitiue Church for those which hauing receiued the gift of working miracles from God did vse his name in casting out of diuels and the very etymologie of the word in the originall tongue doth shew the same Yet it is most euident by the circumstance of this place that these men were nothing but meere wicked magitians and namely of that sort which we cal coniurers who although there be no difference in respect of the substance of their wicked seruing of Satan in this behalfe Notwithstanding the fashion and manner of their seruice seemeth somewhat to differ For those which we call witches or sorcerers seeme to be in a more vile and slauish condition being alwaies at the diuels commaundement but these which we terme coniurers will make as though they commaunded the diuell howbeit they profit nothing thereby sauing that they serue his turne herein and sometime their own so farre forth as their practise may stand with the furtherance of Satans purpose in the same which is the enlargement of his owne kingdome Otherwise they may commaund as they say and goe without he will doe what himselfe listeth and not what they would haue him to doe The which peraduenture when these Exorcistes saw hauing eftsoones vsed their accustomed manner and ceremonies of coniuration and neuertheles many times missing of their purposes And likewise seeing and considering the Apostle Saint Paul how he neuer fayled in the working of his miracles by the name of the Lord Iesus They thought that they would make triall what they could bring to passe thereby and so as they traueliled about the country as fortune-rellers charmers inchanters and such like do with vs they tooke in hand to cast out diuels out of those which were possessed with the same by naming ouer them which had the said euill spirits the name of the Lord Iesus Marke I pray you the incredible boldnes of these wicked coniurers who not considering neither the occasion end nor authority whereby S. Paul did worke Nor their owne daunger which might ensue vnto them thereby rashly take vpon them to doe such miracles by the name of our Lord Iesus without any further direction But such is all kinde of magicke and sorcery being founded neither vpon reason nor yet vpon common sense albeit they will seeme to make an art of it For whosoeuer shal examine the truth of the grounds and principles thereof in their bookes shall finde no pith nor any sound matter worth the noting but onely foolish and vaine trickes as are circles characters and such like or words notvnderstood or vainely or wickedly applied as in abusing the name of God or his word and such like when they vse them not to that end for the which they were appointed as doe heere the aforesaid forcerers the exorcists and therfore for the most part they are frustrate of their purposes except it be sometime by God his permission that the diuell of his owne minde for causes before rehearsed doth worke the effect for them The which when the Emperour Nero saw as it is recorded in the thirtieth booke and first chapter of Plinies naturall
God did as well cure diseases as foretell the euent thereof For the damsell which waited vpon the wife of Naaman the Syrian told her mistris that if her master Naaman were with the prophet Elisha in Samaria he would soone deliuer him of his leprosie The which no doubt shee would neuer haue done if she had not knowne or heard that he had done the like before Nay if it had not been well knowne that they which went to the Idol Baalzebub had sometimes obtained their purpose in those cases Ahaziah being a man of that power and authority would not haue sent vnto him But to leaue this come to their next argument which is That oftentimes they vse good and godly words and characters and therefore their doings are not euill nor wrought by Satan But herein they doe mightily bewray their ignorance in the crafty policies of the diuell who euer as neare as it is possible for him will couer his wicked entents and dealings with the cloake of holinesse and honesty turning himselfe as the Apostle Saint Paul saith 2. Cor. cap. 11. vers 14. into an angell of light For euen as the holy angels in heauen doe indeede performe all duties and vse al good and godly meanes according to God his commandements to the honour of God and the good of his elect euen so Satan and his ministers the sorcerers will seeme to doe the same albeit they haue alwaies another yea a contrary entent and meaning So the diuell in the beginning would not seeme to doe it himselfe but when there was no humane creature vpon the earth to suborne in that behalfe he entred into the serpent vsing him to perswade the woman to disobey the commaundement of God in eating of the forbidden fruit because he was the wiliest beast of all that God had made and therfore Eue might the rather be drawne thereby to follow his counsell which he would seeme to giue vnto her for her good as one that wished her well and sought her commodity when as he went about her eternall destruction and of all her posterity And in the 22. cap. of the first booke of the King he did not take a direct course to shew himselfe according vnto his intention in that action but he vsed the tongue of the prophets to tell lies that thereby Achab might be perswaded to goe and fall in battell And albeit they were all of them false prophets yet they were not so reputed or esteemed of the king who asked counsell at their hands And it is manifest in that place that they pretended the authority and commaundement of God by the suggestion of the diuell as it is in the aforesaid chapter v. 11. where it is said that Zidkiiah made hornes of iron saying thus saith the Lord with these shalt thou push the Aramites vntill thou haue consumed them We see also in the 4. cap. of Saint Mathewes Gospel and likewise in Saint Luke That Satan himselfe in his owne person vsed the words of the scripture to couer his mischieuous intent when he tempted our Sauiour Christ. The which if it be so then why may not his seruants and instruments the sorcerers vse the like meanes to colour their wicked practises Nay whosoeuer shall looke into their bookes and writings albeit for the most part they be badly and without any sense or reason applied yet he shall find often times very good words and sentences partly out of the scripture and partly of their owne deuising the which a man would not thinke to be greatly to be found fault withal if their intent were good and their authority from God lawfull and allowed As it is manifest by histories That the Aegyptian sorcerers vsed in their sorceries these words To wit The god of Israell The god of the Hebrewes The god which drowned the Aegyptians and their king in the red sea And is it not most manifest by the plaine words of this text which I haue in hand that the Exorcistes vsed the same words in effect which Saint Paul and the other holy Apostles of our Sauiour Christ did making as it were a charme of the scripture of God For what is a Charme els but a certaine or set forme of words either by themselues alone or ioyned with characters without any commission or especiall authority from God vsed to the intent that by them some extraordinary worke or wonder might be wrought So that how glorious soeuer or how goldy soeuer the words may seeme to be in outward shew yet if they be vsed without gods especiall direction or commaundement to the aforesaid end they are but meere charmes Albeit my selfe haue heard some being patrones of these kinds of wicked practises who haue said That then it is a charme onely when as such words are vsed which are not vnderstood of him which vseth them The which is confuted in the 58. Psal. in these words They are as venemous as the poyson of a serpent euen like the deafe adder that stoppeth hir eares which refuseth to heare the voice of the charmer charme he neuer sowisely In which words the prophet Dauid describeth the obstinate wickednesse of his aduersaries in the court of king Saul who hauing beene often reprooued and told their duty out of the word of truth did notwithstanding wilfully persist in their sinnes giuing no eare to that wholesome counsell whereby they might be bettered much like vnto the adder which will not heare when she should with inchantment be bound and restrained from hurting with her poison but stoppeth her eares least shee should hear the voice of the charmer charming Now if a charme cannot be vnderstood what it signifieth what needeth the adder to stoppe her eares at it or what wisedome or cunning can be discerned therein if so be the meaning thereof is not to be knowne what is said or sung or finally how serueth this comparison to the purpose of the Psalmist if no difference may be perceiued betwixt one charme and another whether of them is the better or morewise or cunning Nay the very etymologie of the word doth insinuate vnto vs that it may be vnderstood For it is certaine that the word charme is deriued of the Latine word carmen the letter h being put in as we see in the word Inchantment when as in the Latine word incantamentum whereof it is deriued the said letter is not found but in the french tongue it is put in Wherefore both these words viz. charme and inchantment seeme to come from the Latines vnto the French men first and from them to vs by the comming in of William the Conquerour as it appeareth by auncient recordes that charmes and inchantments in old time were called Spells which seemeth to haue the same signification that carmen hath in Latine as it may be gathered out of Chaucer where he saith Listen to my spell which is as much to say as Listen to my words or worke in vers For a spell as also carmen among the
Latines is when a set forme order or number of words in matters are as it were so religiously to be kept that it is not lawfull to alter or chaunge the same Now because that in poeticall workes in verse this is chiefly to be obserued therefore they are most commonly called by the aforesaid names Howbeit all charmes and inchantments by reason that they are also tyed to a certaine forme order or number of words are also termed Spelles as night-spells and wood-spells and such like As also in Latine Carmina as it is manifest by diuerse Latine authours and namely in Virgil in his eight eglogue by these words Ducite ab vrbe domum mea carmina ducite Daphnim c. And for as much as the same were sometimes pronounced in a singing manner therefore they were also called otherwhiles Incantamenta that is as we translate it Inchantments of the Latine word canto which doth betoken to sing and also to charme or inchaunt as it is in the aforesaid eglogue where it is said Frigidus in pratis cantando rumpitur anguis So that heere we see that one the selfe same thing in effect is signified by diuerse words although in diuerse respects Yea and the originall word in the aforesaid 58. Psal. which is there translated a charmer and in some translations an inchaunter doth naturally betoken one that whispereth muttereth or mumbleth speaking softly as it were betwixt the teeth And because the charmers and inchaunters do so as it is manifest by experience and likewise by the 8. cap. of Esa. vers 19. in these words And when they shall say vnto you inquire at them that haue a spirit of diuination and at the south-sayers which whisper and murmur c. and Esa. the 29. cap. vers 4. Thy voice shall be also out of the ground like him that hath a spirit of diuination and thy talking shall whisper out of the dust Wherefore that we may not striue or contend about words alone let vs returne to the very point and pith of the matter which we haue in handling which is what is lawful in this case and what is vnlawfull The which may easily and briefly bee determined if wee call to mind what I haue said before concerning the difference betwixt the seruants of God and the seruants of the diuell in this behalfe For seeing that there be three especiall things required in him that is a lawfull worker of miracles First that he haue an especiall calling from God secondly that the means and manner which he vseth be lawfull good godly and thirdly that he doth it to the glory of God and the edification of his Church whosoeuer wanteth any one of these three things in his working what words or characters or what meanes soeuer he vseth hee is but a charmer or inchanter and the meanes or manner which hee vseth are but meere charmes and inchantments and therefore vtterly vnlawfull and abominable before God Albeit some doe holde that the signe of the crosse is very effectuall in these cases as it is much vsed in charmes inchantments And to approoue their assertion they alleadge the figure which appeared vnto Constantine the great wherein it was said that hee should ouercome as it is in Latine in hoc signo vinces But this may be easily answered That it was not the signe of the crosse but of Christs name for the said figure was made of two greeke letters conioyned togither viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is manifest in Eusebius in the life of Constantine l. 1. cap. 22. 25. So that it is not signum crucis that did this but fides crucifixi or rather Christ himselfe And although it pleased God at that time to shew this signe of the crosse to that Emperour to confirme his faith yet it followeth not that that figure was to be vsed afterward to worke wonders by or that there was any such vertue therein Nay otherwhiles it commeth to passe that the same which God hath commaunded to be vsed for a time vpon especiall occasion knowne to himselfe alone and hath giuen vertue and power to it to worke some especiall good vnto his children doth after lose the same vertue is an occasion of falling to them that vse it as the brasen serpent which the Lord appointed to be set vp vpon a pole and whosoeuer then beeing bitten of the fiery serpents which are there spoken of did looke vpon it recouered health as it is in the booke of Numbers the 21. chapter vers 8. besides that it was a type of our Sauiour Christs passion as it is in the 3. chapter of Saint Iohns Gospel vers 14. Yet we cannot reade that euer afterward it wrought the like effect Yea Hezekiah seemeth to be commended in the second booke of the Kings cap. 18. ver 4. for breaking the same in pieces But let this suffice concerning their second reason The third argument which they vse to defend these sorcerers which they call cunning folkes is That they worke these things by the saith of miracles and therefore by no euill or diuellish meanes To this I answer That if their antecedent were true I could easily graunt their consequent But that by no possible meanes can be prooued by them For albeit our Sauiour Christ in the 17. chapter of the Gospel after S. Matthew vers 20. saith vnto his disciples Verily I say vnto you if ye had faith as much as is a graine of mustard-seede ye shall say to this mountaine remooue thy selfe hence to yonder place and it shall remooue and nothing shall be vnpossible vnto you Yet it followeth not that these cunning folke as they are termed doe worke by the said kinde of faith For our Sauiour Christ speaketh in that place vnto his disciples vpon whome he had bestowed the gift of working miracles before as it is in the 10 chapter of the Gospel by Saint Mathew and yet notwithstanding their faith wauered so that they could not cast out the diuell out of that childe as it is in the said 17. chapter of the Gospel after Saint Matthew Euen as we see also in Peter who although our Sauiour Christ in the 14. chapter of the said Gospel did bidde him come vnto him walking vpon the sea yet through infidelitie he had beene drowned if Christ had not taken him by the hand and as it were againe renewing his former faith and strengthening it For it is most certaine that no man liuing hath the faith of miracles except the Lord hath first giuen him the grace and gift of working miracles For seeing that faith is a beliefe and how can a man beleeue that which he knoweth not and how can he know without some especiall promise For to build his faith of miracles simply vpon the word of God alone as it is generally set downe in the scripture is not sufficient vnlesse he haue further an especiall promise or reuelation from God For otherwise euery one that beleeueth might