it fall which gave occasion to the Diviners to foretell the happiness of Augustin's life if we may believe Suetonius To the 2d way or the Divination by Singing this Verse of Virgil may be applyed Saepe sinistra cava praedixit ab ilice Cornix Th' ominous Crow foretold it on an Oak For the 3d sort they used the Tripudia solstima which were a sort of Skipping and Dancing during which if the Chicken fell upon the Meat that was fall'n from his Bill on the ground called Solum and swallow'd it greedily it was a happy Omen whereas if he let it stand an ill success was to be feared Thus was foreseen the defeat of Hostilius Mancinus by the Numantines because the Chickens had refused to eat and were fled from their Coops Sect. 8. Sortilegium or Casting of lots was a disposition of some Letters mixed together and drawn at adventure by the first Child to be met with those Letters were engraven on the Bark of an Oak according to the antient Custom and disposed as many different ways as was possible to see whether they should render some Sense or none Whence the good or bad fortune of the Inquirer was inferr'd When Tiberius says Suetonius in his Life undertook a journey into Dalmatia and at Pavia consulted the Oracle of Geryon by Lots he was obliged to make use of another way for he was answered that he should cast Golden Dice in the Spring of the Fountain Apona which having done it was the greatest point that appeared to his Eye which is still to be seen under water at this day Sect. 9. There is yet another way of Divination famous even in the Holy Scripture viz. by expounding of Dreams I shall be obliged to speak of it more at large another time because the Omirocritici or expounders of Dreams are nor yet banish'd out of the World and that some especially of the French Court begin to revive that Art As to the Heathens as often as the Demons Geniuses and Larvae medled with their Dreams it was to offer them something particular by which according to the usual Rules of their Art they might know the good or bad success of future things Sect. 10. Our Ancestors in the time of Paganism had amongst them a Custom of that nature as Tacitus relates Divinations and casting of Lots says he are as much in fashion amongst them as any where else They cast their Lots in a very simple way for they cut the branch of a Fruit-tree in several little Lots on each of which they make a particular mark and then Confusedly throw them on a piece of white Cloth There the Priest if matters of State are treated of or the Father of the Family when it concerns him or his house looking to he Heavens lifts up thrice each little Lot and gives the explication of the marks printed on them if they disswade no farther consultation is made that day but if they allow to proceed they go to the Diviners for an Answer There is yet another particular way of predicting amongst that people by the means of white Horses that were never back'd and are kept together in a Forest at the Publick Cost They hunt them and the Priest King or Governor sitting on a consecrated Chariot observes their Neighing and Foam There is no Divination more esteemd than this not only by the People but even by the Great Men and the Priests the latter are look'd upon as the Ministers of the Gods and the Great Men as those that are nearer and better known to them Sect. 11. But 't is not sufficient to have explained ' the names of those 3 or 4 ways of making the Heathen Gods speak for tho' they be the chief yet I find that several others have been in use called by the Greeks â—egromancy Pyromancy Aeromancy Hydrâ—mancy Geomaâ—cy and Chiromancy the 1st relates to the dead the 2d to the Fire the 3d. to the Air the 4th to the Water the 5th to the Earth the 6th to the Hands Polydore Virgil gives us a description of each of these Arts in the 23 Chapter of his 1st Book Sect. 12. Necromancy or the Divination by dead Bodies is made by something perceived on a Corps which gives occasion to the foretelling The ignorance of the Greek Tongue has made some believe that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies dead was derived from the Latine as tho' it had been Negros from Niger Black which mistake caused Necromancy to be called the Black Art which name is used at present to signifie all sorts of Witchcraft Inchantments and Diabolical Illusions Under this sort is comprehended Sciomancy or Divination by the shadows in which they conjured up the Ghosts or Shadows of the dead to foretell future things It would be a great proof of the power of this Art if what Lucan relate in his 6th Book were true that a Ghost conjured up foretold the whole success of the Battle of Pharsalia Sciomancy differed from Necromancy herein that the latter requires Blood and made the dead Bodies appear whereas the other conjured up only Ghosts Sect. 13. Pyromancy was according to Polydor a Divination by Fire when they supposed to know something by the means of Fire for which purpose Observations were made upon Lightning or some other extraordinary Fire Instances of it are to be read in Livy and in the First Book of Dionysius Halicarnass where 't is related that the Wise of Tarquinius the Ancient seeing a Flame surround the Head of Seruivs Tullius foretold that he should become King of Rome Sect. 14. Acromancy or the Divination by the Air consisted observing Tempests and extraordinary Clouds as when Pliny relates in his Second Book that there Rain'd Iron in Lucania which in his Opinion signified the Defeat of Ceassus by the Parthians He likewise relates in his First Book of the Second Punick War that their Rained Stones in Picenium which he takes for a forerunner of the Evils that Hanibal was bringing to Italy Those Divines are called in the Hebrew Bible 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jidnoni Diviners by the Clouds amongst this sort may be ranck'd the Capnomancy which consisted in observing the motions of the Smoke of Sacrifices Sect. 15. Hydromancy or the Divination by Water arose from somthing particular which they fancyed to see in the Water Varro relates upon this occasion that a Youth saw in the Water the Image of Mercury who declared to him in 150 Verses the whole course and all the events of the War against Mithridates St. Austin in the 9th Book of the City of God says that Numa Pompilius the Second King of the Romans was the Inventer of that Art and that by the illusion of the Demons he made appear upon the Water the Images of the Gods who gave him Laws for governing his People with goodness and Justice Sect. 16. Geomancy or the Divination by the Earth was made by the Observation of the Clefts and Chasms of an Earth quake I
other bad the Author of all Evil and the Prince of darkness That the first as they say is the God that has formed all things and that the other is Hyle that is the matter from which all things have been formed and which is esteem'd by them to be the Devil Some distinguish the Devil from the Prince of darkness and translate not as we do the last words of the 44th v. of the 8th Ch. of St. John He is the Father of lies but his Father is a lie namely the Father of the Devil Second As to the good God they say that his Essence is dispersed as by portions through all the Creatures and inherent to them which they explain by many wonderful Commentaries This is what they think of God and the Devil in relation to their Essence and Existence what follows concerns their Operations Sect. 4. Third The People of darkness formerly warr'd with the People of light The good God went himself to attack the Prince of darkness by some certain principal Spirits which he had produced of his own Essence who however being too weak were taken Prisoners but Christ came to repair that disorder having been begotten by some certain first Man who had been the promoter of this War and had begun it Fourth That in the mean while Christ himself is the Serpent that seduced Adam and Eve Fifth That Christ is now fixed amongst the Stars especially in the luminous Globe of the Sun in which sense they explain his Ascension to Heaven Sect. 5. Sixth They believe the Metempsychosis in this manner That the Souls shall pass into the bodies of such a kind of living Creatures as they have most loved or abused during their Life He that has killed a mouse or a fly shall pass in punishment into the body of a mouse or a fly the state in which he shall be put after death shall likewise be opposed to that in which he was during his Life He that is rich shall be poor and he that is poor shall be rich Seventh They also give two Souls to every Man one of which is always contrary to the other But enough of their Doctrines we leave the rest to Danaeus who ascribes to them 21 in all because what he and other Authors say belongs not to our subject Sect. 6. However I am not apt to assert that they have believed and taught such gross Doctrines as are imputed to them and have been now related For supposing the common Opinion concerning the Doctrine of the Manichees that they were chiefly extracted from the Philosophy of the Persians since Manes their First Author was undoubtedly a Persian and that they are strangely mingled with the Christian Divinity It is unreasonable to have the same Opinion of that People that we have of other Nations who never cultivated the study of Nature and Human learning such as those we have met with in the Northern parts of Africa and the Southern of America It may well be that the Manichees ascribe to the whole Vniverse a principle like that which is observed in it's parts viz. The active cause and the matter which Aristotle established to be eternal as well as the World and that afterwards matter considered as insensible by a misinterpretation of the words of Moses that spreads in the beginning darkness over the Abyss and the Spirit of God moving over it should have produced those monstrous thoughts of which we have given some instances Sect. 7. Supposing they have established two principal causes one of good and the other of evil but yet so as that the First is uncontestably superior to the Second as much as light is above darkness and the workman above the matter he works upon 't is probable that they had an Idea of God as a Soul infused through the whole Vniverse that consider'd by them as the body in which that First cause continually operates And as the contrary motions of corporeal passions rise against the Empire of Reason that ought to govern them so they might believe that the Animal Spirits proceeding from matter perpetually rebel against God the Fountain of all Reason Whence it would follow that God should not be more absolute master of the Vniverse than Man is of his body thence has proceeded that Idea of two different Gods one good and the other bad the latter being still inferior to the former who is indeed the workman but has not an arbitrary Government there being a power in the World so great that it is able to resist him Sect. 8. But whether I have made a just conjecture or whether the Manichees had other Opinions then those I imagine it seems nevertheless that I may reasonable suppose it upon this foundation that no Opinions so gross as those that are ascribed to them not only are not admitted but not so much as moved or propounded as we shall see very soon in the series of this work because the principal points of those sorts of belief with their dependencies have a great relation with my Second and Third Book as I hope to show at the end of the Second And therefore whether any one treats of the Devil and Spirits according to the Holy Scripture or whether he only follows his own sense and right it may 〈◊〉 assured that all his Reasonings will turn upon this notion of his that God and the Devil have each an Empire one contrary to the other and that thô the Devil be subject to the power of God yet his Empire is more apparent It is denyed that God now works any miracles but some are rashly ascribed to the Devil that surpass all those that are mentioned in the Holy writ We believe that there are Angels and gather from the Holy Scripture that they encamp about the faithful and the Devil likewise is incessantly active to do them hurt if possible he can but his abode is in Hell However it is very rare to hear any one say he has seen an Angel in a vision whereas the Devil appears almost continually If any thing has been either signified or foretold we never believe it to be the Operation of an Angel but of the Devil one is possest by him and another bewitch'd by his means unknown Tongues are spoken strange things are said others no less wonderful are perform'd and the most hidden secrets discover'd But you will scarce meet with any that has so good Opinion of the power of an Angel if we have any Holy thought or good inspiration how inconsiderable soever it may be we ascribe it to the Holy Ghost and seem not to believe that the Angels are so much as capable of contributing to it since it ne'er comes in our mind to think upon them But the Devil penetrates the most secret thoughts of Men overthrows their best designs and incessantly excites them to Evil if they are accused and convicted of any crime the excuse is always at hand for the Devil has done it or at least
that is all powerful but that they have associated to him inferior Gods That the Greeks have often called them Demons and likewise Gods as most of the Pagans do at this Day which Demons or inferior Gods have every one their share in the Administration of the Universe directing the affairs of Men under the name and Authority of the Soveraign God and being as Mediators between him and Men They converse also with these last who can by their means know and effect things above the power of Nature This knowledge gives some the name of Diviners and these Operations cause others to be called Magicians and Sorcerers in consequence of which all the effects that we cannot give a Reason for or find the cause of are attributed to these Demons or inferior Gods The Souls of the Dead are also ranked amongst the Demons and according as they have behav'd themselves well or ill upon Earth the good or evil which happens to Men is attributed to one or the other It is that which has given occasion to distinguish the inferior Gods into good and bad After the Pagans which know neither the true God nor Religion I treat of those which have the Holy Scripture among them of whom the first are the Jews having known God a long time before all the others and received his Word in the writings of the Old Testament where they have learned that in truth the Souls of Men are immortal but that there are no Demons or inferior Gods such as the Pagans fancy That God alone by himself rules the Universe and that none can have knowledge or produce effects beyond the strength of nature for that belongs to God only I observe farther that Judaism in the state into which it is insensibly fallen since the coming of Christ and as it is at this Day is very much mixed with Paganism or at least very much infected with it whence proceeds the practices of Divinations and Sorcery that are in fashion amongst the Jews Chapter the 13th After that I represent that the Mahometans who acknowledge but one God and created Angels good and bad and the Devil as chief of them That the Mahometans I say who have admitted the Books of the New Testament and reverence Jesus Christ as a great Prophet have nevertheless mixed in all their Opinions a great many of those of the Pagans which they have for the most part received and that they are no less inclined to Divinations and Witchcraft Chapter the 14th After the Jews and the Mahometans who keep a kind of mean between the Pagans and the Christians I pass to these last and distinguish them according to the time before Popery under Popery and since Popery By this means I show that the primitive Christians since the Apostles have insensibly introduced amongst them many Opinions of Paganism and Judaism which have been increasing under Popery till they attained to the heighest pitch and that they had ascribed to the Angels the Souls of the deceased especially to the Devil all the Miracles which the Pagans attributed to the Demons the Devils and inferior Gods Chapter the 15th to the 21. In the mean while I take notice that among the Ancient Christians there arose a Sect called the Manichees which had admitted in particular a great many Pagan Opinions and made the Devil almost equal to God And I show that their Opinions have insensibly been propagated in Christianity even to our times after that I come to these last Ages and to the Doctrines of the Protestant Churches among which I rank all those that are Call'd The Reformed that is all those that are separated from Popery upon which I remark that the more we are remote from Paganism either for time or place there 's the less credit given to all those things which respect the Devil and his Power Nevertheless I show that part of our People not having comprehended enough what are the foundations of the Protestant Doctrine nor in what it differs from Popery are taken with the common Opinion of Devils to whom as well as to Men that have Communication with him they attribute more easily so many marvelous effects and so much above the power of nature then others do who have more meditated and reflected upon those Doctrines and variations Chapter the 22th and 23. Lastly having compared all these Opinions together I conclude that the common Opinion which has been in request amongst us to this day had it's Original from Paganism not that the meer use of Reason should produce such thoughts but on the contrary the ill use that is made of it It is because we suffer our selves to be seduced and blinded by a false appearance of Piety without having recourse to the light of the Scripture that we fall into such Extravagancies with which we are pleased and love to continue in them I prove that these are thoughts that never were inspired to the Christians by the Holy Scripture by reason that those who read it less and understand it less give more Credit to these sort of things and because all the World is already prevented before they read it and meditate upon it For by these Reasons I endeavour to bring the Reader to consider whether the Scripture gives occasion to believe all those things that are ordinarily said upon that subject or to believe them so as they are said or whether such Sentiments have not taken root in us from our tender Youth and been confirmed by Custom At best I have a very strong presumption for that Reasoning that when we believe before-hand that such a thing is there is a great disposition to turn our Reason and the Expressions of the Scripture to that side and to believe that the inclination we have of it comes from Reason and even the Holy Writ leading us thitherto Moreover we receive the first Interpretations and the Commentaries upon the Scripture from the hands of those antient Doctors touching which I prove Chap. 15. that they have been all prejudiced some more others less in favour of many Pagan Doctrines and Opinions which have unawares given occasion to that Sense in which the Scripture has been expounded by them These are the Contents of the 24th Chapters and the conclusion of the first Book An Illustration upon the three last Books in general In seems to me that for all these Reasons it is easie to conceive that this first part of my Treatise is not so unprofitable as some imagine They will that regard be had only to the second Book and that the first should not be insisted upon because it consists but in Historical narrations which conclude nothing But as far as I am capable to give a reason for the structure of my own building I say the Second Book is founded upon the First according to the proofs I am perswaded I have lawfully drawn by good consequences Chapter 14. For if it were otherwise I had reason to be surprized that of so many
who exclaim against my Second Book passing my First none has taken notice of my error in this point and declared it to me very few having done so much as reflected upon it But in vain they attack the Second if they admit the First They in no wise see the end I aim at nor the order I have followed as ought to be done in an exact search after the Truth But they undertake to confute my Second Book because it offers a larger field to their censures by different things expounded in an opposite Sense to that of the literal like those ignorant Disputants who let slip the antecedent Propositions and deny the consequence that is necessarily drawn from it I have reason to complain for passing an over-hasty judgment upon the halfe of my Work without staying till it appeared intire and they have seen the following Part and the Connexion no circumstance of time required that precipitation for I had not lost a moment to publish the two last Parts had they not hinder'd it by the disturbances they have given me I believe not that the whole extent of a project or its oeconomy may be perfectly seen while 't is but halfe done So 't is but at present that some judgement may be past upon this work since it begins but now to appear altogether and to be a perfect Body with all its Members The Second Book and the Third consist in the search after Truth and what of certainty may be had as to the Sentiments that have been upon this subject of Spirits and Men who have communication with them that is with evil Spirts I examine in the Second Book what concerns Spirits and in the Third what concerns these wicked People who seek to deal with them according to the division that I have proposed in the beginning of the First Book Chap. 1. Sect. 8. As to the Fourth I shall say hereafter what connection it has with the former and its usefulness Touching the method I take to make by degrees and in order this Search after Truth if whatever I have written upon this subject be attentively consider'd you will undoubtedly know the injustice of those who impute to me that I offer chiefly new Propositions of my own head that I take the greatest trouble imaginable to wrest the Scripture and my reasonings to accommodate them to it or that I make use of Reason as of a Rule with which I would measure Scripture and adapt it to the same On the contrary it is impossible not to see that I never had as yet the least thought of building upon such a foundation but that I have run through all the World and all times to discover where Men may have found the foundations of these Opinions which I have undertaken to find out For when one has attain'd to that knowledge he is in a condition to judge solidly whether those Opinions or Practices are grounded upon good or bad Reasons I declare then that I have not examined all the divers Opinions of the Pagans Jews Mahometans and Christians as well Ancient as Modern nor their Doctrines and Practices with an intent to give explanations of them nor to mainâ—aâ—n them or confute them but only to consider them in themselves and to expose them as they are without making any Judgment or producing any proofs to support or destroy them which is an extraordinary labour that none would ever undertake unless carry'd by the desire of truth So far I lay no foundation I that am a Christian and a Protestant and have no desire to become either Papist Jew or Pagan If I found nothing solid in the search I make I consent that they continue to say and believe concerning Spirits in general and Devils in particular all that is wont to be said and all that can be imagined But altho' I have not as yet found the bottom I seek and that neither Popery Judaism nor Paganism considered in themselves having there withal to furnish me I have notwithstanding a solid foundation which is common to me with those People And I have further another particular which I have in common but with part of them The first is reason which is the light of all men in general when it is found pure in them and neither perplexed nor obscured by prejudices or passions The other foundation upon which I rest is the Scripture inspireed by God which is equally pure in it self And and to the reading of which we ought also to apply our selves as if one had never read them that is to say with an entire disingagement of all humane prejudices and from those that may proceed from the versions of the Hebrew and the Greek which are the original languages in which it has been written he must meditate upon it without any regard to the interpretation which have been made by all sorts of Doctors either Ancient or Modern These two foundations are not Subordinate one to the other but subsist equally together Philo the Jew loving very much to search allegorical Sensâ—s in Scripture and not approving what St. Paul wrote upon the subject of Sarah and Agar Galatians Ch. 4. v. 2. has been the first that has applied to the Scripture and to reason the distinction of Mistress and Servant saying that you must thereby understand that Philosophy and humane understanding ought to be submitted to the holy writ This application is become so familiar to Divines that it has been received as an undeniable maxime since Philo took a fancy to propose it It is however a truth that reason ought to precede Scripture because the latter presupposes the former I understand sound reason to which the Scripture ought to present it self and make it self known as divine after that Reason comes to the help of Scripture teaching us things wherein Scripture is silent and the Scripture likewise comes to assist reason discovering to us things which are above it and above the reach of our understanding We must nevertheless confess that the Scripture is above reason not as mistress for they have every one their particular Empire and Direction But as being more noble and excellent because it is in this God manifests to us things which no humane understanding ever could comprehend 1 Corinthians 2.9 notwithstanding it happens sometimes that they meet both in the same way where they lodge together in the same house and by consequence they often lend one another the helping hand but they do it freely althô with this difference that reason as an inferiour alwayes shows a great respect for the Holy writ When therefore 't is said a Christian ought to submit his understanding to the word of God it must be understood the understanding such as it is in the Estate of corruption obscure by he Clouds that surround it and infected by the stâ—ins that dâ—â—â—â—gure it And such it is in respect of things which are above our reach which are only manifested to us in the word of
in this second examination of the second part where the certainty of the knowledge which proceeds from Scripture alone is treated of I am nevertheless obliged to employ my Reason to the end it may serve me to examine what Scripture contains not that it may reach so far as to comprehend the things themselves but it ought nevertheless to comprehend what the Scripture it self says and that things are such as it says although I conceive them not such as they are But see here the knot of the difficulty that is that every one crys out that the Scripture says such or such things because he conceives that the Scripture says them and when the Scripture may be understood two â—â—ys we easily embrace the Sense which best suites our Notions If already without too much examination we have sufferd our selves to be prejudiced with Opinions of which we would however be better satisfied and find some more particular instruction in the Scripture It is not sought with that impartiality and liberty of Mind which are necessary but we still incline towards the prejudices If there is the least appearance that we may by wresting the Scripture adapt it to the Sense we would have it we never fail to do all our Endeavours in order thereto and afterwards imagine to have found there sufficient proofs in favour of our Opinion because it seems to say what we desire As we see two Counsellors explain the same Law each for the advantage of his Client and that they never want Reasons on both sides to confute the contrary Arguments so that they appear each to have the right on his side and that it is very difficult to extricate what they have so much perplexed But it is said that I my self do what I condemn in others and for me I maintain that those who are conscious of their guilt and worthy of censure cast that imputation upon me seeing me explain so many passages in another Sense than that with which they are prevented without any other Reason than because it is ordinarily received They are persuaded that this change proceeds in me from the same cause that I discover in them See the true cause that makes them say I wrest the Scripture not that I really wrest it but rather that I keep not as a Slave to their Interpretations But I make say they a false Supposition and after I endeavour to give to the Scripture a Sense which agrees to that Supposition That may be but to know what it is you must examine after what manner I make the exposition of the Scripture and whether I turn it towards my prejudices and theâ—efore 't is necessary that I explain a little more clearly every one of the Articles I treat of The Principle they say I suppose is that a Spirit cannot act upon a Body nor upon other immaterial Spirits That 's the burthen of the Song and what they make me say over and over every where and is so confidently published that even my Friends can scarce forbear crediting it as there come every day occasions which make me know it It is a prejudice that passes from hand to hand from one party to another It insensibly spreads it self in all the Minds and in that Disposition the reading of my Book is undertaken but they seldom read it entire from one end to the other as it would be but just and necessary to do they only read some separate places viz. those they are referr'd to and especially those in which I dispute upon the Operations of Spirits For I may boldly say that of those that have read my Book with attention I find but very few which hold the same Discourses On the contrary they take quite another party viz. that of Truth So that I defie all those that have read it to mark so much as one place where I put as a Principle of my Opinion touching the Devil That a Spirit cannot act either upon a Body or another Spirit What is then the foundation of this noise which is so strongly and so generally spread abroad and which is the cause of the great prosecution that is made against me It is this general prejudice which proceeds from the common Exposition of the passages of Scripture upon this that is That a Spirit as a Spirit and so much the more as it is a Spirit can without Body act upon all sorts of Bodies and upon other Spirits I require proofs of this Thesis and because this demand is unthought of and extraordinary and upon which by consequence every one is not prepared my demand is taken for a Negative But before I lay my self that foundation which ordinarily is not call'd in Question I examine first the Grounds upon which these People themselves rest their Opinion or upon what they ought to establish it according to the Idea they have of Spirits I say according to the Idea they have of Spirits for whether according to the Principles of Descartes they distinguish them from Bodies the more neatly then other Philosophers do or that they grosly attribute something corporeal to them These two Idea's nevertheless proceed as yet equally from that they conceive the Operations of Spirits upon external Objects whether Bodies or other Spirits as a property of the Spiritual Nature and from that they include them in the notion they have of that Nature and it is by this means that instead of considering the Body as an instrument which is necessary to the Operation of Spirits or at least proper to them they look upon it as an obstacle to the liberty and virtue of the Operations of a Spiritual Nature Thence comes that every Body crys â—ut so differrently against me some saying that Descartes's Philosophy has spoiled me and that is the fruit which is reaped by his Followers desiring to cast upon it the Errors that they accuse me of Others who being in the same prejudice yet are Cartesians at bottom give out that I understand not the Philosophy of Descartes But whatever my Learning and Experience be I intend to have to do but with sensible People and leave the others at full liberty to pass upon the Doctrine I teach such Judgments as they please An Abridgment of the Second Book As to what concerns my Second Book see the method I have taken I begin with the distinction of names in fixing at first what must be understood by a Body and a Spirit to avoid all equivocations which I have done in the first Chapter I speak of God in the Second proveing not only that the supream Being which I denote by that word is only one but also that there is not the least communion between it and created things directly confuting the Opinion of Spinosa upon this subject which I pretend to do with more force and evidence than any hitherto because ordinarily they undertake to demonstrate by the most perfect and incomprehensible Essence of God the manner and virtue of the Operations
proof of his power being well examined in its whole extent attribute to him the least part in the evils which by the Providence of God happen'd to that Holy Man As to the Angel of Satan which tormented St. Paul I place him in the same rank with the fight against Michael that is in uncertainty there being no ground to pretend to a perfect understanding of this passage and therefore I look upon it as insufficient to prove any thing which is the matter of the 25th Chapter But as the Possest are universally alledg'd for a certain proof of the great power of the Devil and that we read so many times in Scripture that the evil Spirits have been cast out by our Saviour Jesus Christ I beslow five Chapters upon examining what is in it I see that the term of Diabolus which we Translate Devil is not found in any of the passages in which those Relations are contained but only that of Daemon which I illustrate in the 26th Chapter In the 27th I shew that the most dangerous diseases especially those of the Head were usually ascribed to Demons or even call'd by the name of Demons and in the 28th that our Saviour Jesus Christ has not changed the usual way of speaking but made use of them according to the custom of that time neither did he always immediately confute all the errors in the 29th and 30th Chapters so that the cure of Daemonia was not properly an expulsion of Devils but a miraculous cure of incurable Diseases I come after to other passages of Scripture where neither the names of Devil Satan or Demon are made use of but those of the Prince of the World Prince of the power of the air Prince of this Age of Lordships Powers Dominions and the like And I shew that there is not the least cause to apply them to the Devil but that the Stile of Scripture leads us of it self to understand by all these names a certain order of persons Having then examined all I could not conclude that the Scripture considered truely and without prejudice attributes to the Devil this power and these operations which the prevention of Commentators and Translators discovers in it I grant it has been very troublesom to me to be obliged to take this party and to confute and censure very famous Men and most approved interpreters It even seemed to me that I exposed my self very much because I know that a more advantageous opinion is had of those that are not known and that a Prophet is neither esteemed in his own time nor in his own Country For this Reason I did first resolve not to meddle with those of Scripture where I found my self constrain'd to go from the expositions ordinarily received But at last considering that my work would appear but imperfect and that they would not fail to object those famous passages to which I should be then obliged to answer I at last prevailed with my self to venture in the main Sea and to fly before none that came to attack me further I do not believe that any one can shew me that the interpretations that I make are founded upon the light of reason and humane understanding or upon any other particular proposition I should have asserted such as this is said to be that a Spirit cannot act upon a body nor upon other Spirits I have made use of for this effect but of the ordinary means that the knowledge of Languages afford us so there is no more unjust accusation then that which is raised against me upon this subject And therefore when I compare with the analogy of the whole Scripture with the grounds of our Divinity and with the rules of true Piety whatever is ordinarily published concerning the understanding of the Devil his power his operations his apparitions in divers places in the World his Dominion and the Kingdom which he raises against that of Jesus Christ I conclude not only that they are not grounded upon these three principles but also being considered with all the necessary attention they appear contrary to them In this place I begin to enter into dispute and to draw my conclusion from arguments which the Scripture and reason furnishes me with having by the means heretofore established upon those two principles searched after the ways how plainly and without equivocation to understand the state of the questions which properly and particularly cocern the Devil This is not then the point in question to dispute of the meaning of those passages which mention the fall of Man or speak of Angels some of whom appeared to Abraham and others wrestled with Jacob or of the tentation of Our Lord Christ in the desert nor of the sense of those that say David was tempted by Satan and that Job was tormented by him and the like places but the Chief point the scope of all this search is to know what to believe concerning the Devil Upon this I bestow the five last Chapters and in the three first of these five which are the 32th 33th and 34th I am not afraid of calling Reason to my assistance after having shewn that the Scripture is silent upon this subject for I presume to have made appear in the 32th Chapter that the apparitions of Evil Spirits are contrary to true Reason and that the Holy Scripture affords no proofs of it Afterwards in the 33th Chapter I show that the knowledge that the Devil may have as well of things Natural as Civil and above all of things Spiritual which concern our Salvation is nothing of what is believed I rest as yet upon the same foundation of Scripture and Reason to prove the Empire of the Devil is but a Chimera and that he has neither such a Power nor such an Administration as is ordinarily ascribed to him which is contained in the 34th Chapter At last after having treated of all those things with all possible exactness I come to the conclusion of my second Book where I shew the importance of this examination by reason of the great value the vulgar put upon the Devil and his Operations in the World My Opinion is that these sorts of Discourses shake the Grounds of the Doctrine of our Salvation and cause a great damage to Piety in divers occasions I demonstrate the first of these things in the 35th Chapter and the second in the 36th As to the Doctrine I prove in this place what I have asserted in the first Chapter of my Book viz. that the common Opinion concerning the Devil is opposite to the proofs that Jehova is God and that Jesus is the Messiah and that the Books of the Prophets and Apostles are the Word of God In what concerns Piety I shew that the Service of God is thereby greatly weakened that the Filial fear is very much diminished by that they have of the Devil that the esteem that the holy Angels deserve is almost destroyed that the glory and virtue of the miracles of
it was possible that whatever the Vulgar and the Learned say of Devils and whatever they ascribe to them were true I would not have spar'd so much time as to search into this matter had not I perceiv'd that the Opinions of most Men and perhaps of all the World are only grounded upon an unsure and wavering Foundation This has moved me impartially to examine several things which my Calling and common Conversation offered to me This examination forced my Mind to reject many Opinions which I had admitted at first only because they were common though grounded upon insufficient Reasons as I came by degrees to be sensible of so that I find that at present I know much less than I formerly imagined to do especially as to the subject in hand This however I do not say with a design to Censure or Destroy what others have Written I only intend to joyn my Thoughts to theirs for a fuller Instruction of such Readers as love Truth and are enquiring after it Sect. 2. I am not afraid to mistake if I say that whatever belongs to this matter has not been exhausted Those that have written upon it before having been somewhat retarded by Prejudices that stick to their Mind though they had freed themselves of many others for I own they have proceeded so far as to destroy most of the works of the Devil at least so far as 't was necessary to free Men from Superstition and frivolous Fears But as for me I would if it were possible altogether overthrow them and not leave one Stone upon another that should not be demolished And therefore I 'll try whether I can bring my Countrymen to my Opinion especially those of my Profession desiring them to read this Treatise with as little prejudice as I have written and not to suffer themselves to be persuaded by other Reasons but such as proceed from Natural Light from a clear Interpretation of the Holy Scripture and from certain Experiments I have right to require these Conditions from the Reader since they cannot be rejected by any Rational Person that they are a Law to which I submit my self and that the great consequence of the matter requires them Sect. 3. I am Confident and I hope that the Reader will more plainly perceive it hereafter that no point of the Christian Religion is more important than this and that no certain and sufficient proofs may be had of all the others than by rejecting the Opinion commonly receiv'd amongst the Vulgar concerning the Craft and Power of the Devil Can it be imagin'd a small Matter to know whether the Devil has a Kingdom upon Earth and what are the Limits that separate his Dominions from that of God Almighty Or is 〈◊〉 unserviceable to examine whether such a cursed and detestable Creature can do more wonderful things than God ever did and consequently whether the trust we repose in God and the fear we have of the Devil ought to be equal Such Thoughts ought never to enter into a Christian Heart yet they creep into it unawares at least I think so and can scarce doubt of it for the more I search into this matter the more it seems evident to me that whoever entirely believes all that it used to be ascrib'd to the Devils and his Angels and all that is commonly said of them both by the Learned and the Vulgar saving the bottom of the Doctrine publickly receiv'd and taught in our Church he can have no convincing proof that JESVS is the Messiah or that there is but one God And if in this Writing I do not make the Reader very sensible of it I grant that I have composed it to no purpose Sect. 4. But if I succeed it will at the same time plainly appear that it was altogether necessary to publish this Treatise because the Vulgar are still confirm'd in their Errors by Men of Letters and of great Name who being full themselves of those prejudices make use of their Tongue and Learning to lead others into the same Labyrinth To that end they wrest several Expressions and Histories of the Holy Scripture which being not accurately examined nor conferr'd with others give a great probability to the common Opinion concerning the Devil but if taken in the ordinary Sense they prove evidently oppos'd to other clear Expressions concerning the Fundamental Articles of our Faith It follows that such a Sense cannot subsist without overthrowing the grounds of our Salvation that I can hardly bear since a long time the nicety with which Points of small consequence or at least of little certainty use to be treated of since one cannot discuss them without getting into a suspicion of entertaining Erroneous Opinions whilst in the mean time we are not yet agreed upon Matters of the utmost consequence or if we are agreed upon them it 't is without any foundation And therefore since none was ever found fault with for defending an Article of Faith or giving out a new Explication of it so I persuade my self that I do well by publishing the Illustrations upon a matter on which the whole Edifice of our Salvation is grounded in order that whoever will carefully and impartially examine it may become Wiser and Learneder Sect. 5. As to what concerns this Book I will at first set down the subject matter of it before the Reader The design is to examine to the bottom what the Devil can do and what he really doth that is How far his Knowledge extends either in Natural or Supernatural Things Either as to the Presence as it is conceal'd from Men or as to the Future as it is contingent or possible and not necessary Moreover what Direction or Power he has to operate in Nature what Communication he has with Men with the Human Soul and with all sorts of Bodies That he should transmute himself into them or put on their various Forms That he should act upon the Soul or upon the Body That he should direct Thoughts Words Actions and Gestures What is his Power over the Beasts and Fruits of the Earth Over the Air and Winds What his help may contribute to the Knowledge of Man and his Actions Herein consist Auguries or Soothsaying Witchcraft the Art of Conjuring up Ghosts and of Divining Dreams All which things are methodically and in the same order that is mentioned here treated of in this Book Sect. 6. But because the perfect Knowledge of them depends upon another viz. which is the Nature of a Spirit wherein it consists and how it 's distinguished from that of the Body for Devils are undeniably Spirits and Man is composed of a Body and a Spirit so it will be necessary in this Treatise to proceed farther and to examine first the Nature of Spirits Good and Bad and then that of Man Besides God himself being a Spirit but infinite and independent we ought not to pay our selves with the conformity of the Name but by reason of the manifest difference betwixt
others 't is as through the former that daâ—ken the sight by their continual presence and by the weariness caused by their too much gazing upon them so that without the help of those comforting Spectacles if I may so speak the faculty weakned by want of habit is no longer able to endure the Light Let this be observed before-hand to be serviceable hereafter Sect. 5. And as to the Holy Writ I think not that it may be taken for the cause of the Opinions Men have of the Devil Those Opinions being already rooted in the mind as deeply as they can be before the Holy Bible be ever read not to say that the less we read it the more we credit what is said upon that account and the more we are disposed to affirm it Had we not in matter of Religion Dispositions alike to those of other Sects and even to those of the Unfaithful we would doubtless make a good use of the sacred Writings and speak as they do But to our great shame most part of us as well as of other Sects that pretend a Veneration for the Holy Writ search not in it after its Sense being satisfied with the vulgar Interpretations and such as they have received from others And therefore we keep to such Explications as we hear in those Churches in which those of our Communion use to gather unless we will be look'd upon as fickle headed and almost as Apostates In vain we endeavour to render the Reason of our Faith that 's not the question that way carries too far and it would be too great a task to examine all to the bottom In short to speak truth we must confess that if we believe such great and wonderful things of the Devil it is not because they are contained in the Holy Scripture since we suspend not our Judgment till we have consulted it but because we are persuaded before-hand that it must be explain'd and understood according to the Judgment we have already pass'd by reason of some expressions that seem to favour the common Belief that the generality of Men already have of the Devil Sect. 6. If we desire more particularly to examine how the Notion of these things is formed in Men of Learning by the means of Learning it self and how it is increased I am ready to declare what I have observed for a long time by the experiments I have made The first prejudices of Man are as ancient as his knowledge and begin from his most tender youth these two ways When to appease the crys of Children or to calm their Passions they are threatned with the Bugbear either by Words or Effects either by making some extraordinary Noise or presenting to them surprising Objects Experience has long since taught us that these Impressions being the first are also those that leave the deepest tracks in the Brain and cannot afterwards be rooted out but with great trouble when Children being more advanced in years begin to play in the Streets and to discourse with their Neighbours they hear almost at every instant the name of the Devil pronounced that is as a kind of ornament to the common Conversation They hear Tales told of him under the specious title of Histories concerning Hobgoblins Phantasms and Witchcraft Even their Parents and some of their Masters by a deplorable mistake never check their Children in their House their Disciples in their Schools nor their Apprentices in their Shops without mentioning the Devil in their Reproofs and enforcing their chiding with it The Names of God and Christ are not half so much used in those occasions where they would be so lawful and serviceable but on the contrary they seem to be banish'd from the Mouths of most Men. Sect. 7. When Youths are put to School they read almost nothing from the lowest to the highest Forms in the Greek and Latin Books but what concerns the Demons and their Effects as they were represented by the Heathens They are imbu'd with that Science before they attain to those that relate to the use of this Life and that are call'd Faculties The infernal Gods and Goddesses as Pluto Vulcan Proserpine are known very early and grown familiar to Youth before they are sufficiently instructed in the knowledge of the true God They greedily imbibe the Epistles Poetry and Histories of the antient Greeks and Romans where a frequent mention is made of the vertue of Dreams Miracles Apparitions Spectres coming out of Subterraneous Places as Caverns or descending from high as the Air. Those Relations read with pleasure are believed almost as the Gospel or rather are to them instead the Gospel For if Parents are not pious enough to take care in their Houses of the instruction of their Children in what concerns Religion and to have an Eye upon their information as to this point in the Schools I believe not that of 25 Books which are made use of in the Latin Schools to learn Sciences more than one or two are fit to inculcate the Grounds of Christianity to the tender Youth Those that go from the Schools to the Universities carry their heads full of thousands of Verses of Horace Ovid Virgil and a vast number of Passages and Relations collected from Heathen Authors both Greek and Latin Those that râ—turn home from the Universities to their Houses carry still more of them but scarce bring back ten passages or perhaps so much as a passage or a lesson drawn from the Word of God for the foundation of their Faith and matter of their Devotion Sect. 8. In the mean while most of the young Men that go to the Universities newly coming from under the Rod and hardly capable of discretion are allowed to make choice of their own Teacher Which St. Paul reckons amongst the faults of these last times 2 Tim. 4.3 They choose the Exercises they are to make the Lessons they are to learn and the Books they are to Read which they do not so much with an intent of Understanding the Holy Scripture as of informing themselves of the Controversies amongst the principal Sects the particular Opinions of our Doctors who are already but too much divided and whose divisions are but too great The curious Youth are more eager to learn such things than those they ought to know Carried away by the heat of their Blood always ready to take fire and flight they ardently apply themselves obstinately to defend the part of their Masters and direct their Studies especially after the enquiry of such Reasons as may help them to maintain the Opinions they have embraced and to confute their Antagonists So that whenever a passage of the Holy Writ is alledg'd for or against their Sentiments either in Divinity or Philosophy they exert all their ability and subtilty to wrest it or to put upon it such a Sense as favours the Opinion with which they are prejudiced Thus Truth is not enquired aftâ—r for it 's own sake and Scripture and Reason are often
God and which we are obliged to believe as Scripture discovers them althô we comprehend them not But it does not follow from thence that we ought to believe those things such as men teach us by their expositions or even by their translations without a great certainty that they are faithful So then the word of God considered as it is originally and in it self and proceeding from God without any respect to the interpretations that have been made by men and reason not such as is born with us and when it is perplex'd with prejudices and blinded with passions but reason purified by the same Spirit which has inspired the Scriptures the Scripture I say and reason are the two only lawful and true grounds of the knowledge we can acquire as well in things Natural as Spiritual But there is yet another distinction to be made upon this Subject that is that reason is the ground and rule of our knowledge in natural things since the Holy writ never treats of them purposely to instruct us and discover them to us and that it speaks of them only as of subjects the nature of which is known to us as much as is necessary to make a good use of them as well in civil matters as in Spiritual In what concerns our Salvation the word of God is the only ground of our Faith and the rule of our Life without being in the power of our reason to add to take from or to change any thing in it thô it ought to be employed on this occasion in two manners the first is to try the Scriptures that are said to be divine in making use of the knowledge that Men have naturally of God to know whether the Scriptures present to them such Characters of truth as are agreeable to that notion The second is to comprehend by the sense of the word contained in them the doctrines there proposed for our Salvation Further we must be persuaded that Scripture and Reason are mutually helping to one another in such matters as are of their Jurisdiction for if the Scripture speaks not sometimes naturally of things naural Nevertheless as it never proposes any thing false t is the part of reason to instructus after what n anner the Holywrit must be understood in these places according as the matter required as Psalm 19. touching the description of the course of the Sun and in many other like places Or if there be any thing in nature that our proper experience has not sufficiently discover'd to us to pass a safe Judgment and that we be obliged to rely upon the Credit of others who perhaps are not much more knowing than ourselves The Scripture may also in this occasion afford us some light As in what is said of the Rain In the Evening and the Morning in Judea Jeremiah 6.24 the little rain that falls in that Country in the time of Harvest and the few storms that are seen there 2 Sam. 12.17 of the violence of the East wind upon the coast of Asia and Palestine in the Mediteranean Sea Psalm 48.8 and the like But that which is most considerable is that the Scripture it self instructs us of some certain natural things to which the reach of reason should never attain they are so much above it Such is the beginning of the World especially that of Man by the immediate creation of God out of nothing And such is the original of the darkness and corruption in which reason and understanding is plunged as they may perceive by the help of such sound and pure remained light as is in them These are the general Principles I presuppose which I believe to be such that there is no Body in what particular Sense he may be that will contest them Upon which I come to examine what is true in all the relations I have faithfully made in my first Book and which are the Sentiments or the ordinary Discourses of all Men upon that subject But it is manifest that I have not made to my self any particular Principles and much less put Reason and Philosophy above Scripture Even the contrary will be seen as clear as the Noon-Day if you take the trouble to read my Writings with attention and without Prejudice For I observe as to this respect as well as in reference to Comets in which Treatise I have followed the same order of which I am amased it has not been perceived the Question ought to be discuss'd of one side with relation to Nature and on the other with reference to Holy Writ and therefore I begin with Reason which is inferiour to the two others to search into Nature as in the lowest School what it teaches most pure touching God and Spirits and particularly the Devil For since the Pagans have presumed to say so many things of the Demons that they had not learned of the Scripture of which they had no knowledge it seems to me that I am not in the wrong to examine what there was that was grounded upon Reason and of what Opinions it seems to be the principle or what are those that are derived from another sourse But as what I could discover by the deepest and most exact search I could make in that lowest School is yet but inconsiderable I ascend a degree higher where I find a Mistress superiour to this first that is the Scripture that I begin to consult in the 8th Chapter of the second part Now as in the seven first Chapters where I walk as in Nature alone I lay aside Scripture to try how far human Understanding may attain by its own strength so I leave reason behind as soon as I enter into the Sanctuary of the Word of God whose Oracles are infallible What I say here that I have no longer recourse t◠Reason I understand it in this Sense that I take 〈◊〉 not as a foundation or as a rule by which I may expound the Scripture But I exclude it not as a means by which I acquire the understanding of the Scripture for on the contrary I cannot want it in this respect were it not for my Reason and Understanding in relation to God I should be in the same rank with Beasts but it is not to Beasts that God speaks but to Men that is to rational Creatures Reason may act alone without Scripture in things that are of its Jurisdiction for Arts and Sciences are the objects of Reason From thence they proceed and thereby they are learned that is Man uses his own light for that purpose without having recourse to the instructions of the Word of God and without having occasion for them But for the things of an higher Nature which concern the Will of God with relation to the Salvation of Man the Scripture is the true principle and solid foundation upon which our trust is founded although Reason ought to concur with it to understand and comprehend under the direction of the Spirit of God the Sense of the Scripture So
Scriptures It seems to me that I am in the right to conclude that those Angels that is to say those Messengers were Men as they named themselves not being able in the mean while to determine what must be understood by the Angel of the Face of God which conducted Israel in the desert Exod. 23 Chap. and by the Angels by whom God gave his Law upon Mount Sinai I propose only my thoughts and what seems to me may be understood by it by a Collation of the passages of the Holy writ which make mention of the manner of that Divine conduct of the Israelites in the desert Chap. 15. I pass farther and examine what is said in the Scripture concerning the Angels with relation to some certain Persons Nations and Countries And I conclude from thence that what has ever been variously written upon this subject by particular Authors is not founded upon Scripture because all the passages made use of to ground those Opinions speak but figuratively At last coming to the Devil and to the rest of evil Angels I see that this name has been given as well to ill Men as to evil Spirits and even first to wicked Men. So I examine in the 17 18 and 19 Chapters what may most conveniently be understood by the Chief of evil Spirits but in making the examination of all the particular passages which are usually applied to the Devil I find that the name of Satan or Devil is used in some of these passages and that of Daemon and of Daemonium in some others And that there are several denominations ordinarily applied to the Devil which obliges me to double my cares that I may discover what ought to be understood by Devil especially in the History of the fall of the first Adam and in that of the temptation of the second This is the matter of the 20 and the 21st Chapters The other passages which contain the name of Satan appear to me to be different from these of which I treat in the 23 24 and 25 Chapters I examine afterwards in the 26 to the 30 what are the Daemonia and those that are called Possest And lastly in the 31st Chapter what must be understood in all the other passages where instead of the name of Devil and of Demons others quite different are used And therefore as the principal operations attributed to the Devil in Scripture consist in the fall of the First Man and the assaults he made upon our Saviour in the Desart Thence I take occasion to examine Whether those Accounts may serve to the Opinion of the power of this evil Spirit and of the power of his operation upon Men But it seems to me that in the narration of Moses touching the fall of Man that happen'd by the discourse of a Serpent nothing is said that ought to carry me to conclude that the Devil himself can act immediately upon the Soul and Body of Man Here I keep to that discovery without going any further Those that are of another Opinion find that this conclusion is drawn from that Relation with a full evidence and aske how the fall of Man could happen otherwise rendring themselves guilty of the same fault they reproach me with by pretending to know themselves how the thing came to pass and to be able to render the reason of it But he that judges ought not to speak of it so positively declaring he knows nothing of it and finds nothing revealed upon that point he is presently accused of denying the same thing it self and of not believing the matter of Fact because he grants he is not acquainted with the manner of it The celebrated Voetius has however explained himself upon this subject very near as I do for in the first part of his Disputes pag. 915. speaking of the fall of Man he says upon the Question to know how and in what manner it is not possible to give so satisfactory an answer but it may be seen that there remains still something which the weakness of our understanding cannot comprehend nor likewise how the Devil seduced Eve Examining the temptation of our Lord by the Devil I agree that the Tempter is the evil Spirit and I believe that the literal Sense may very well pass supposing that it was a wicked Man so called But I shew that understanding these words of the evil Spirit literally the quite contrary may be inferr'd from what is ordinarily gather'd from thence Thereupon if I be ask'd how I understand and explain that narration I answer That I believe that the thing was done in a Vision See how Schultetus speaks who as well as Voetius has been a member of the national Synod of Dordrecht in his Exercit. Evang. Lib. 11. Chap. 3. the question is to know whether the thing really happend or in a vision he answers it was in a vision and after gives some reasons which however I do not judge so strong as mine None has right to require from me that I should precisely explain my self upon the passages of Scripture and upon others from which they suppose to draw strong proofs in favour of that Opinion the truth of which I here call in question nor that I should declare what sense I give them especially to those who mention the fall of the first Man in Paradise and the temptation of our Lord in the Desart For I have had no other design on this occasion but to examine whether these passages understood according to the Letter afford sufficient proof to make us admit the consequences that are usually drawn from thence and to establish the common Opinion which is had of the craft and power of the Devil to act upon Men. If it were necessary to proceed farther and to examine all these passages to the bottom in order to penetrate their true sense a whole Book scarce suffices I refuse not however to do it and hope to undertake it as soon as the Divine Providence will furnish me with occasion and leisure I shew as to other passages of the Holy Writ that they cannot be understood of evil Spirits but only of ill Men and of the works of God not of those of the Devil thô without hesitating these passages are ordinarily applyed to the Devil I maintain in the 22 Chapter that it was a Man which brought David to number the People Chap. 23. that the passage wherein the fight of Michael against the Devil is mention'd is very obscure and that there is a great uncertainty in the present Opinions upon that point as all Divines grant and that by consequence nothing can be concluded from them especially if it be supposed as some learned do that the Devil was but a meer Man I shew in Chap. 24. That the Spirit of Python that is spoken of in the 16th Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles can no ways be applied to the Devil Neither does the famous History of Job always alledged one of the first as a
thereby it may be easily understood that Marriages must be very happy and attended with great Sweetness and Tranquillity when one marries with his peculiar Soul that is with that which was created with her Whereas they cannot be but unhappy and turn to the punishment of Men when they are bound to a Body whose Soul was not created with the Soul of him that Espouses her We have to strive against that Vnhappiness until we be rid of it and that we may be united by a second Marriage to the Soul that was made our Partner in the Creation to lead a happier Life Manasse Ben Israel gives a more large account of that belief in several places as in his Conciliador Quest 6. Pag. 12. In his second Book of the Resurrection Chap. 13. as also in the third Book Chap. 9. and in his Treatise de Termino Vitae Sect. 8. pag. 207. which he more largely confirms after the Jewish manner in his third Question Sect. 19. As to the State of Souls after Death the Metempsychosis of Pythagoras is also received amongst the Jews which Transmigration they call Gilgul that is to say the Revolution of Souls for they imagine that after Death the Soul wanders for a year about the Body whence she is gone out and goes still rambling till she meets with another Body into which she may enter to be born again with it They fancy that this happens three times as it is observed in the Thisbi upon the word Gilgul in this manner The Opinion of the Cabbalists is that every Soul is created thrice to let us understand that she introduces her self successively into the Bodies of three Children or Men. This they hope in some manner to confirm from the Book of Job ch 23. v. 19. according to that they say That the Soul of the first Man enter'd into the Body of King David and is now to pass into that of the Messiah that Mystery being contained in the three Hebrew Letters of Adam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 taking the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the initial Letter of the name of Adam the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the first of that of David and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the first of that of Messiah Their learned hold that the Souls of the wicked pass into the Bodies of Beasts each Soul according to the nature of the Sins she has committed Thus the Soul of a Man that has debauch'd his Neighbours Wife is to enter into a Camel And therefore says David I shall sing to the Lord ki gamal alaii 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because he has deliver'd me from the Camel as they interpret it using this Reason that when the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is punctuated it is read otherwise and pronounced Gamaal which signifies a Camel Sect. 20. There are some however who believe that the Souls of the wicked perish with their Bodies Josephus says of the Pharisees of his time that they asserted the Transmigration of the Souls of the good only but that they sent those of the impious to the eternal Torments in his second Book of the Wars of the Jews Chap. 7. The Sadducees according to the Testimony of the Holy Scripture believed neither Resurrection nor Angels nor Spirits in St. Matth. Chap. 22. v. 23. and in the Acts Ch. 23. v. 8. but now the Jews have invented a great many Chimaera's that powerfully confirmed them in their Magick and the practice of their Conjurations for as it has already been said the Soul separated from the Body must wander a whole year about her Corps during which the wicked Spirits that abide in the Air and are call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Malachi Chabbalah or Devils of Torments and have yet several other Names find occasion to make them reenter into their Bodies as they have power to do when they are required to it by Conjurations Thence proceeds in their meaning That the Witch of Endor called again the Soul of Samuel into his Body because he had not been dead a whole year Manasse Ben Israel teaches the same Doctrine and assures us 't is that of the Ancients which he has extracted especially from Gemara Siabbas There are some however who have more rational Opinions as we shall see in the second Book when we have occasion to examine that instance CHAP. XIII That the Witchcraft anciently Practised and still in use amongst the Jews proceeds from the same Original Sect. 1. WE have examined the Opinions of the Jews upon that matter as much as they differ from the holy writ for as far as their belief is consonant to it we receive and approve of the same Let 's now see what they practise as to Witchcraft the Holy Scripture may fully convince us of the great inclination that People ever had for it which doubtless proceeded First from the practices they had seen in Egypt and of which perhaps they had not abstained but had seen the continuation of them in the Country they inhabited that was surrounded and intermixed with so many Nations addicted to that Art 'T is for that Reason the Law gives them such frequent warnings to beware of it Exodus 22 18. Levit. Chap. 18. v. 31. Cap. 5. v. 27. Deuter. Chap. 13 8 9 14. Isaiah Chap. 6. v. 12.20 And that he threatned them so severely because they could not resolve to forsake that impious exercise as may be seen especially in Manasseh King of Judah 2 Kings Chap. 21. v. 6. 2. Cron. Chap. 3. v. 6. That Sin became general in the midst of Israel or the Kingdom of the 10 Tribes so that the Scripture says that They used Divinations and observed the cry of Birds 2 Kings Chap. 17. v. 17. In the Apostles time there were Seven Sons of the same Father one of the high Priests who took upon them to be Exorcists and to conjure Devils Acts 19. v. 13 14. But all these things made no part of the contents of their Law and on the contrary were the effects of their Rebellion so that Judaism was not properly answerable for them until they were taught by the Rabbins themselves and at last introduced to make up part of their Religion Such are the Doctrines which I have represented in the preceeding Chapter to which the practices of the present Jews are perfectly agreeable Sect. 2. The inquisitive Lighfoot has shewed by many proofs that the Jews at their return from the Babylonian Captivity having entirely forsaken Idolatry and finding they were destitute of Prophets addicted themselves by degrees to Witchcraft and Divination about the time of our Saviours coming The writings of the Talmud that are full of Instructions for that purpose and are nevertheless in great credit among them give upon that subject a testimony not advantageous to them especially since in the following times they used the same Arts against Christianity Lightfoot assures us That after the Destruction of their City and Temple there were several Impostors amongst
little Book De Sortiariis Of Witches but especially the first is described with more circumstances than I have read in any Popish Author So seeing this Doctor has been one of the most considerable among us and that having lived a little after the time of Calvin and Luther his Book which was written 116 years ago has not been attacked nor contradicted that I know of by any Protestant Writer but only by Schottus from thence may be inferr'd that these Doctrines are not unknown to us nor rejected by the Protestant Churches I am going to relate in short the contents of this Author's Writings Sect. 12. See what he sets down in his fourth Chapter Nullum non Sortiarum cum Satana foedus iniisse seque ei devovisse That there is no Sorcerer but he has made agreement with the Devil and devoted himself to him See the description he makes of these contracts First To secure the Person of the Magician the Devil imprints a mark either under the Eye-lids or between the Buttocks or the Pallat of the Mouth that it may not be perceived in those places The Author believes that there are none exempt from carrying it It is for this Reason that the Judges order the whole Body of those that are accused of this Crime to be shaved to know the place that is marked as I have told you Secondly The Conditions of these Contracts imply that they shall renounce God and acknowledge Satan and adore him for their God and in Recompence he shall assist them and shall come to their succour as oft as they apply themselves to him which he will never fail to do no more than the Witches on their part fail to obey all his Commands Thirdly After the Covenant has been thus mutually agreed upon the Magician the morrow after sacrifices to the Devil a Dog a Cat or a Hen that belongs to him by which means the Contract is confirmed a new Fourthly Afterwards the Devil causes in proper time and place all the Magicians to assemble where ever he prescribes there he makes every one of them give an account of the Mischiefs he has done by his Power and Means Fifthly He sometimes takes the trouble to get them together assuming a human shape for that purpose and making himself known to the Magicians only At other times he imploys some of them to go and Convene the Assembly shewing them the time and place This Assembly is not always general sometimes there are but a certain number which he has chosen to please himself Sixthly If there are some who through weakness of Body cannot go he gives them a Stick or a Horse of some Oyntment to anoint themselves by the virtue of which being become invisible he transports them through the Air. Seventhly He appears himself as Master of the Club in shape of a Man or in some ugly He-Goat or in whatever Form he pleases Eightly There they repeat their Oaths made to him after which they sing and dance in honour of their new God Ninthly Afterwards he furnishes them with such means as they desire to do mischief to such as they please He teaches them to make up their Poisons and promises them to continue his assistance to them and his service for their occasions Tenthly By virtue of these Agreements Satan fails not to work wonders in favour of his Magicians as oft as they make the sign that he has taught them and ordered them to do in which sign consists not the operative and active faculty as the Magicians believe but it resides in the Devil who operates when warned by the sign Sect. 13. There is already a great deal but however there are more things which the Author ascribes to the Devil and which may be gathered and inferred from divers places of this Book where they are expressly contained as First That he often appears in human shape Secondly That he sometimes troubles and casts such a Mist over the Senses of those that are ingaged with him that they fancy to have been in certain places and to have acted several things though there is no truth or reality in these Imaginations Thirdly But he really carries them through the Air whither he pleases Fourthly That by the Ministry of Wizzards and Witches he can Poison Men secretly from far without touching them Fifthly That the Devil or the Magicians by his means may raise Tempests and cause Rain Sixthly He rejects the Opinion of those who believe the power of the Devil has no longer any effect upon the Magicians nor can act in their behalf as soon as they are in the Hands and Power of Justice on the contrary he supposes that the virtue of Witchcraft may be exerted even in Prisons and that oftentimes the Devil breaks there the Necks of those who belong to him These are Daneus's his Doctrines Sect. 12. Furthermore the most common Opinion of the Doctors of our Communion is That the Devil does not know things to come but only of himself he forms conjectures that nevertheless the greatest part of Divines consult him for their Predictions That it is from him they learn what they discover to other Men of things present things hidden as when there has been something stoll'n or some body bewitch'd they declare the Thief or Magician They likewise ascribe to him some knowledge of the Thoughts of Men since they fancy that he disturbs and seduces them and that he incites them to mischief For that is properly what we understand when we pray in our Churches for those that are tempted and troubled in their Consciences There are no errors produced there arises no Heresies in the Church it is not afflicted with any persecution but the Devil has contributed thereto All the places of Scripture that speak of the Devil are understood with relation to these Ideas And it is upon these interpretations that these Opinions are grounded It is also by the same reason that not only the Protestants but almost all the Christian Writers assert That it is not allow'd to consult the Devil who is the enemy of God and of Men nor to seek his help They however agree that the Pagan Oracles have not always been given by the Devil but that often they have been the effect of the impostures of Priests which has so often appear'd that it is impossible not to know it Sect. 13. The power of the Devil is extreamlv boasted of for there are very few Doctors who doubt but he can assume a Body and possess the Bodies of Men and transport and torment them several ways as effectively as he had actually the impudence to do these things to our Saviour Jesus Christ himself and to a great many people of which the Gospel tell us that being possest by evil Spirits they were delivered by our Saviour They also suppose that the opinion of the apparitions of Specters is confirmed by Scripture and that it was theâ— Devil at least according to the opinion of some who appeared
under the Figure of Samuel They think that it cannot be deny'd but that he has power over the Air and Winds over Armies over the Goods of Men their Bodies and their Lives which is proved by the example of what happen'd to Job And by the effects that the Magicians of Egypt produc'd in the time of Moses which are as so many sure marks of the power of the Devil either to produce Insects as Frogs and Serpents and to make a Transmutation of the Elements either to represent with an inconceivable readiness things that are to be fetch'd from far or at least so to dazle the eyes of Men to see what is not Sect. 14. As to the means which Magicians Diviners and Inchanters make use of scarce is there a person of good Sense that believes they are efficacious of themselves but they will have it to be effected by the Devil who operates all that those miserable wretches imagine to act and that the Covenants made between him and them oblige him to execute that which they require of him provided only that they make use of Signs and that they imploy circumstances destin'd for that purpose such as he has taught them It is very prudently observed as is believed that those Leagues are made two ways which I shall express in the words of Sennertus taken from his Treatise upon this Question Whether one may be render'd invulnerable to the point of a Sword and to Musquets where he says That the Contract with the Devil is of two kinds mediate or immediate express or tacite The immediate or express Contract is when any makes use of means that he has been immediately furnished with by the Devil The mediate or tacite Contract is when one makes use of the means which in truth have been ordain'd by the Devil but not having been supply'd by the Devil himself comes to him by the hand of some other person which is directly contrary to the Law of God that forbids us to have other Gods but him For he says a little further The consent is not altogether excluded from the tacite agreement because whosoever is not as yet deprived of Reason as not to avoid the Precipices of Rocks or the mouth of a Pit he cannot but see that such Words and Characters have not in themselves any virtue and that by consequence before making use of them we are obliged to examin by what virtue they may produce such effects for if one neglects to do it it is certain a tacite Contract with the Devil who has promised to execute all the clauses and conditions of his writing in favour of those who make use of the Words and Characters therein contained in consequence of which he who makes use of it cannot pretend himself innocent of the crime of Magick Such is Sennertus's opinion and as I may judge from my own experience will not be confuted by our Doctors for I hear them generally hold speaking the same Language Doctor Wierius a famous Man who had very much meditated upon this matter and had studied it very much establishes all these things a little more confusedly but yet very near upon the same foot Sect. 15. I have something to add here concerning Dreams The common Language of our Divines is that there are four sorts Natural Civil or such as are occasion'd by the preceding conversation and actions without Nature or Temper having any share in them Lastly Divine or Diabolical They hold that these last proceed from the inspiration of the Devil who disturbs the imagination of Man and represents to him fearful Figures to disquiet or fright him or to transport him for some time into some place where he pleases as we have seen before that he transports the Witches to their several meetings In consequence of this Doctrine there are some of opinion that the Dream that Pilate's Wife suffered so much because of Christ was a Diabolick Dream Sect. 16. But I find not any of these Doctors who have heretofore ever attributed so little understanding and Power to the Devil as to the knowledge and effects already described as Reynold Schot has before quoted We have at this time Anthony Van Dalen who ascribes no more to him in his Book of Oracles these two Authors hold that there is no other efficient cause of all the things which are practised or which are operated but the impostures of Men the Devil having no part in them I learn also whilst I am taken up in this present Work that the most sensible among us attribute but very little power and knowledge to the Devil and that there are a great many more than I conceived who as to the actions of the possest and bewitched are of the same opinion with Mr. Daillon who in a French Book concerning Demons maintains all that which is contained in the Scripture touching evil and unclean Spirits is not otherwise to be understood than of certain Diseases to which the Jews used to give such names believing however that it might happen evil Spirits medl'd with them at the same time There 's lately come to my hands very conveniently a little Book of Mr. Orchard's an Englishman Preacher in the New-Netherlands as I am told in which the ancient and common opinion upon this subject is confuted as being directly opposite to the Doctrine and belief of the Protestant Churches Sect. 17. But let us leave off speaking of these People because that of one side there is no necessity here to handle them and because I intend to do it afterwards It is not necessary to speak of them here because my intention is not to set down here what is not said of the Devil and what is not attributed to him but my design is to relate that which is said of him and to examine whether it be true or no. 'T is sufficient for me to hold the last Negative with the English Writer because I am much averse from maintaining the opinion which ascribes so much power and virtue to Spirits and especially to the bad And further I shall be obliged to enter the List with Schot Van Dalen and many others who oppose the common belief that they had of this Power when I shall come afterwards to examine the reasons and proofs upon which it is founded However before I finish this First Part I shall rehearse all that has been said and compare the opinions of Infidels with those of the Christians CHAP. XXIII That of all these Opinions put together there result some certain propositions in which they differ and others in which they agree Sect. 1. I have from time to time conferr'd the Opinions that I have related first those of the Ancient and modern Pagans in the 11th Chapter and afterwards those of the Jews Mahometans and Christians of the six first Ages in the 17th Chapter There remains now to compare those of the Papists and Protestants after which we will confer them all together to that end we must
break off the order that we have kept hitherto and begin with the last they will furnish us with very certain proof that there is no Opinion to which the World is more engag'd than to that which is almost generally every where taught and received concerning Spirits for the Protestants have retained all that which cannot be look't upon as a pure invention of Popery in particular and there are even some whose belief upon this subject go farther than those of the Papists The Christians in general believe all that is not particular to the Jews and Pagans the Jews and the Mahometans believe all that according to them is not inconsistant with the belief of one only God some will tell me perhaps that we must not wonder at it and that naturally it ought to be so This is what we have now to examine and there will be as yet room to speak more plainly and fully afterwards Sect. 2. Notwithstanding it is convenient to advertise the Reader that relating here the difference or the conformity of the Opinions of all Nations I mean only the Opinions of the more learned and are remarked amongst the Doctors or who are taken for wisemen in their Country and capable of instructing others in matter of Faith and Religion I intend not to speak of particular Opinions but of those generally received taught and confirmed by practices for as to the common People either Papists Jews or Pagans they know nothing for the most part but a little by hear-say so that there is no relying upon them and it is sure without mistake that for the most part what the most illiterate believe and practice is contrary to the sense of Divines and of all those that understand any thing in the Holy Scripture I will have nothing to do with them upon this subject having often tryed my self how many follies our own People say and believe upon this account Sect. 3. So it is necessary to establish here as certain and undoubted that every Opinion that proceeds from Paganism as from it's Original cannot at the same time be founded upon the Holy Scripture It is true there never was a Doctor either Christian or Jew who has not applied some place in Scripture to what he has proposed but the Question is to know whether the applications were just and whether the Scripture may be expounded in the sense put upon it for it may be that these Doctors having their imagination fill'd with their own Ideas believe in reading to see things there which are not there and that their own prejudice causes â—o be sound there of this the Reader may at first judge himself if he will but mind with attention what follows where I remark briefly what every Sect rejects and what every one admits and afterwards what the one have borrowed of others and what they have retained to this time Sect. 4. Althô the Protestant Churches with one common consent deny Purgatory and all the places where they put Souls except Paradise and Hell these two points are Opinions of Popery There has been some mention made of them amongst the primitive Christians neither the Jews nor the Mahometans reject them and they have been taken from Paganism Whosoever rejects them he must reject together all the Doctrines and practices that are grounded upon them For this reason First We do not believe among us that the Souls of the Deceased are never wandering nor that they appear to the living under any figures whatsoever to obtain help and comfort from them Second It is not believed that the Souls of the blessed come back from Heaven upon Earth nor that those of the damned come back from Hell It is not believed that either the one or the other appears to Men to comfort or afright them and far less as yet that the living can make agreements together to come back after Death and visit those they had agreed with who have surviv'd them Third By this reason the Dead are never ask'd any Questions nor any religious worship paid to them Sect. 5. The Virtue of Conjurations is likewise unknown among us either to drive the Souls of the deceased or to expel evil Spirits with whom any should be tormented No other means is known sufficient for this effect but Prayer and fasting taught by our Saviour Jesus Christ St. Matthew Ch. 17 v. 21. First For this Reason it is not believed that there is any body either Priest or Exorcist which is authorised to make such Conjurations nor ought to meddle with them althô a like practice was admitted in the first time of Christianity whether it had success by the power of God or it was the meer effect of the Artifices of Men and that it has been a custom among the Jews Mahometans and all the Pagans Second Neither is it believed words names signs gestures and postures even thô they were taken from the Holy Scripture have any power for this effect either of themselves or institution of the Church because she has not received any power from God to give her Authority as to this point Third They Conjure not the Devil in the Baptism of Children as the Papists to do the Lutherans do the like but not with the same intent as the first that is that the Devil is in the Infant or that he is driven out by the Virtue of words which are pronounced for they only retain this practice because of it's antiquity it being indifferent of it self at least such is their pretence or excuse Sect. 6. Now that the Doctrines of the Protestants have been conferr'd with those of Popery in particular it remains to see what difference there is between the Christians in general and the Infidels First The Pagans the Jews and the Ancient Christians have believed that there is another kind of Spirits which are placed between God and the Angels or which are in some sort corporeal but it is not granted any more at this time by Christians Second Likewise it is not usual among them to associate God or the Spirits to the Stars As touching God it was an Opinion purely Pagan and ouching Spirits it was a Jewish Opinion I know not whether it may be said that the Ancient Christianity had not some tincture of it Third This difference of nature in the Angels proposed by the Jews is not believed any more it draws its Original from Ancient Paganism and is admitted to this day by the modern Pagans It's true that the Papists acknowledge a difference of Order but they put none in the essence of these Spirits Likewise thô they make generally appear all sorts of Spirits nevertheless the difference is only in respect of places of Persons and effects as we have shewn more fully Ch. 19 Sect. 7.17 Ch. 20. Sect. 1.2.3 but it is no way in respect of their nature nor of their Original Fourth There is not a Christian be he Protestant or Papist who believes that Spirits are truly capable of engendering
the truth we must search into all the quotations and Opinions that are collected here after the Original of this Opinion so general and so deeply rooted touching the great power of the Devil which we see that all the Christians Protestants Romans and others carry so high at this time there is none who can deny but several things present themselves in these narrations that all the World easily perceives and are capable to produce such Opinions or to confirm them in the minds of Mâ—n neither that Scripture or Reason should lead Men thereto But they gather them from other places and without examining whether they are agreeable to those two rules only worthy of being follow'd they respect them nevertheless because of the credit in which they have been for a long time and of the approbation that has been given them Now I intend to show first that all that is believed touching the great power of the Devil beyond what Scripture and Reason manifestly teaches us of it proceeds not from any of these two springs nor takes it 's Original from any consequences that may be drawn from them and afterwards to discover what is the true cause of it Sect. 2. The truth of this proposition is easily known as to it's first respect because it is known that the most stupid and those that partake least of the light of Reason or of knowledge of the Scripture are those which give most credit to what is said upon the matter in hand The common People Children and Old Women are much more perswaded of it than others but the more understanding one has the more one is conversant in the Holy writ and the more experience he has gained by the conversation of the World and by the different accidents which have presented themselves especially when experience is joyned to these two first Conditions the less he will be apt to believe such Opinions I say he will be the less apt to believe them because it must be granted that there are People of a great deal of learning and experience who not only receive them but implâ—â— all their skill and capacity to confirm them and cause them to be admitted as King James the First Bodin Daneus and many others have done But I think not that we must believe what they have done ought to be attributed to the evidence of reason which have perswaded them but to their prejudices and to a certain particular inclination according to which every one turns himself toward such or such an object according to his inclination It is by the motions of this natural inclination that the understanding being surprized takes a disposition to follow it and when it has once addicted it self thereto it makes use of all it's force and light to maintain its choice and to shew that truth and reason have been his guides to the part he has taken which he fancies all other Men by the same Principlâ—s are also obliged to take That being supposed it follows that the Opinion of a very small number of Writers cannot hinder that what I have proposed should be true as to the whole or the greatest part And it is my advice which methinks no body will deny me S. 3. It may be objected as to what concerns Nature that it cannot be said that what was never taught by the Pagans and Philosophers who had not the help of any other Light but that of Nature and Reason or what they have left in their Writings was drawn from any other spring but Nature it self I grant it But what have they taught upon this subject All that we have reported before in the ten Chapters that are betwixt the first and twelfth There every one may see what it is what are their uncertainty and contradictions how different and opposite among them are their practices What foundation can be laid upon a Philosophy which has not sought but to accommodate it self to capricious and prejudiced People and which consists almost in nothing else but the Tricks of Priests Besides it is not a pure Philosophy that has been the original and foundation of Pagan Religions but the Philosophy such as it has been comprehended and understood by the People that is to say very ill in part or in the whole mixed with prejudice and great ignorance The fear caused by extraordinary and surprising objects and the blind love every one has for his own Notions produced in that perturbation drive Men to seek the means to appease a power from which proceed those extraordinary objects and which is the cause of those evils they are not able to resist These two Reasons I say carry Men to practise for that end all sorts of means although they know them but by half 's or not at all The greatest part of those who might discover to them their Mistakes and afford them better Instructions either will not give themselves the trouble or choose rather to keep it secret and make use of the Error of the People to the end to acquire more Credit and to be the objects of a greater admiration as heretofore the Magi did and as at this time the Bramines and the Bonzes do If there is any one who had better inclinations he dares not open his Mouth for fear of incurring the indignation of the publick As Socrates whose boldness cost him his life which was taken away by Poison Sect. 4. We must therefore imagine that there are not any of those that addicted themselves to Philosophy who from their youth had not been bred in the Opinions and exercise of the Religion of their Ancestors So that they owe unto the Schools the Prejudices that they had thereby already swallowed They found Masters who were no less prevented with theirs either that they were alike to those of their Scholars or that they were different If they were alike the Disciples were confirm'd in those prejudices by their Masters and if they were different they afforded them more matter to confound their Understanding Lastly However it was their Understanding could but remain corrupted and their ill disposition but daily increase If this needed a proof and required less time it would be no hard task to prove what I assert since I may name Persons who may be living instances of it But no body methinks will require from me what I have just now said being too evident to be call'd in question If there are some who never reflected upon it in relation to the Infidels he need but make Considerations upon the Christians and himself quickly to discover the Truth A blind and brutish zeal for Religion or rather for what is call'd Religion ordinarily precedes knowledge without which however there is no true Religion nor sincere Piety The Eyes of our Understanding are insensibly used to objects that continually offer themselves to them they turn of their own accord to that side and afterwards neither will nor can look upon others or at least if they perceive
to produce effects by the power of Herbs Stones and other things of the same kind Moreover says again Agrippa for that Reason Natural Magick is that which penetrates the Virtues of all Natural things and which with a subtle discerning having exactly searched into their Indurations and Sympathies discovers so far their secret powers that by them it produces wonders which amaze Humane understanding not so much by Art as Nature to which as to its Soveraign Art submits it self and only lends her the helping Hand Thus we can by Natural ways produce ripe Fruits before their Season and even infects only by supplying the want of time by Natural means unknown to other Men as it is done thô in a less Degree of perfection by Gardners each of whom strives to be the first in getting early Fruits helping Nature by Art and still however by the means of Nature her self The difference only consists in this that a Magus who wholly gives up himself to his study penetrates much farther into the knowledge of the power of Nature than the Vulgar and even those learned who care not to take that trouble upon them But as all these things are done without the particular assistance and concourse of God and the Spirits they concern not the present question however we mention them that we may learn to distinguish them from the subject in Hand and all it's dependencies of which we intend to give a clear and undeniable notion Sect. 4. We have hitherto seen the Magick of the Pagans included within the bounds of Nature Now I desire the Reader to remember what I have said in my Commentary upon Daniel Sect. 26. viz. That to the Magick antiently in use Mathematicks Physick and Divinity were ordinarily conjoyned some giving up themselves to one of those Sciences and others to another whence proceeded a difference of Names betwixt the Students of Magick some of whom were called Mathematicians and others Physicians or by a more odious name Poisoners The former applyed themselve chiefly to perform wonderful things and the others to perpetrate Wickedness Amongst their Wonders may be counted the Wooden Dove of Architas that fly'd and the Statues of Mercury that spake but the imployment of Poisoners was to annoy Men their Goods and their Beasts by many things commonly unknown And having learned the Virtues and Properties of them by their Study they put them in use in such a concealed and imperceptible way that one could scatce belieye what he saw effected and this is what they really operated But as to what they boasted of besides or perhaps imagin'd themselves capable of it was that by the virtues of Simples and some other Drugs mixed together they could transform Men into Beasts Beasts into Men Beasts and Men into other Beasts and Men conjure up Ghosts or raise the Dead out of their Graves c. Sect. 5. Now we must speak of Magick meerly Artificial which may rightly be so called because Nature has no share in it but that is a work of Art alone which however presupposes Nature one may also very fitly give the names of Witchcraft Conjuration and Inchanting in general to all the various practises that are made of it for we call Witchcraft whatever is operated by the power of the Devil with the communication of Men which is never done without using some sort of Conjuration and Inchanting That Art which required of its Professors a particular way of living always consisted in the use of some certain Signs and Words that they utter'd or wrote and in extraordinary Gestures in consideration of which the Demons were ready at all times to discover to them hidden things and to operate in their behalf supernatural Wonders This was therefore the opinion of the Heathens that besides natural Magick they believed themselves capable of producing the most wonderful effects by the power of Demons whom they knew how to make comply by their Conjurations to whatever they desired Sect. 6. We must carefully observe this because natural Magick is not commonly accurately distinguished from the Artificial either by the Antients or by the Moderns and that which belongs to one is frequently attributed to the other even those that meddle with it having committed as many mistakes as the others For some of them says Agrippa are come to that heighth of Folly as to believe that by the different Concourse and Aspects of the Stars with the interposition of time and proportions duely observed they may in a certain instant acquire a sensible Idaea of Celestial things and a Spirit of Life and Understanding which being Interrogated by them will give them Answers and discover 'em hidden things On the other side they ascribe to Nature what is above her power which I cannot better express than by the very words of Agrippa who proceeds thus I desire you to take notice that those Magicians not only rake up into natural things but even in a manner remove Nature out of her place which they endeavour to do by Motions by Numbers by Gestures by Sounds by Voices by Congregations by Lights by the Inclinations of the Mind and by Words Thus it was that the Inhabitants of Psilli and Marsi conjured Serpents and put them to flight thus Orpheus by his singing allay'd the Tempests for the sake of the Argonauts Thus as Homer relates by some certain words the blood of Vlysses was stopp'd There was a punishment ordained by the Law of the 12 Tables to those that should use such sort of Inchantments against Corn. Sect. 7. It must not seem strange to us that things should be so in the Pagans time for Magick consider'd in general and in it self was esteemed because of its depth and honoured as Divine taking the word in the sense of the Heathens and as it may be attributed to their Deities which have been desâ—ribed before Besides Magick was reverenced because of Efficacy and Power beloved for its serviceableness in the good use of it but hated and detested by reason of its malignity and the disturbance it caused when it was abused The same Agrippa will tell us in the words of Porphyry which was the opinion of the most ingenious Heathens upon that subject Porphyry says he treating of Witchcraft and of the Magick of Divine things concludes at last that it may render the Souls of Men capable of receiving Spirits and Angels but he absolutely denies that one may approach God by that Art CHAP. V. That we see still amongst the present Pagans the same Doctrines and Practices WE have spoken as much as it was necessary for our subject of the Doctrines of the Antient Paganism which reigned in the Countries we inhabit We have also spoken of the Nations who introduced most of those Arts and Sciences of which we treat It is now fit to consider the Modern Heathens to know how far their Sentiments and Practises concerning Spirits can reach without the Light of the Holy Scripture which never shined upon them
It is the more necessary to enter into that examination that we shall see withal the Customs of very many Nations arid that the proofs they shall furnish us with of the uniformity of Opinion that which we contend to be amongst the Heathens will then be more general and extended then such as are drawn from the Writings of those we have already spoken of of which Christianity has taken place since they inhabited only a small part of life World and have given us in their Writings but a slender account of the other Heathens So that all these others the number of which is far more considerable are absolutely unknown to us Sect. 2. Experience teaches us that we cannot better divide the World then as into three great Islands one part of which was known to the antient Greeks and Romans though not perfectly The second part is come to our knowledge since about two hundred years The third is yet for the most part unknown The first is called for that Reason the Antient World divided into Europe Asia and Africa But in the North of Europe which continent is not much greater than one half of the other there are still many Heathen Inhabitants In Asia the Christians are hardly the tenth part of the People and about the third part of the rest follow Mahomet so that the greatest number is still Pagans The Mahometans take up the North of Africa and the Heathens possess the two third parts Eastward The half of the third part is filled with Mahometans and the other half by imperfect Christians In the new World called America or the West Indies the Southern part is almost as big as Africa and the Northern which is not yet fully known is perhaps as big as Asia All that Country is Heathen save a small number of Christians gone thither from Europe viz. some Spaniards Portuguese English French and Dutch who bring over from time to time some Heathens though very few to Christianity at least the English are now very earnest in it In the mean while those Europeans may inform us of the State of those Nations as to what concerns their Belief and Religion of which they have gotten a great knowledge by the Commerce they have with them But as to the Austral Country which is known only by the Conjectures that we can make upon its Circuit their being no Inland Sea 't is perhaps as big as Europe and Asia together Now that great part having never been enlightned by the Doctrine of our Saviour must be presumed to be still altogether Heathen Sect. 3. But it will perhaps be said to what purpose is all that Narration I answer that having shown the Reader that three parts of the known World consider'd as divided into five are still Pagan he cannot but infer that we are not sufficiently informed of the Customs and Sentiments of the Heathens concerning Spirits by the Books of those Nations that subsist no more and who never made up the tenth part of the Inhabited World and therefore we must not keep there but 't is likewise fit to examine the Opinions of those many Nations who are not yet Christians whose uniformity upon this question notwithstanding so many other things in which they differ and with all the great distance of the places they Inhabit which cuts of all manner of Communication betwixt them so that the greatest part of the one never heard so much as one word of the other That Uniformity I say is an evident proof of the good which the common light of the Understanding remained in Man after his Fall has preserved in him and of the evil which the general corruption has brought to the fame And when we come to the examination of the Sentiments of the Christians that will help us to distinguish betwixt those general Truths and those impure mixtures of Corruption For these Reasons I shall now speak of the Belief and Practices of the present Heathens Sect. 4. But I need not to treat largely of it for an entire Volume would not suffice Neither do I intend to write a History but only to give Instances in order to show what the most pare of the Nations known to us think in this matter 'T is not convenient to proceed in this enquiry farther then it 's requisite to show that all those People agree together as also with the Ancient Nations thô there is never so great a difference in their Language Country and time The way is already more than half traced out by the diligence of Carolinus who in his Modern Paganis◠has extracted out of more than 50 Authors whatever the Heathens of our time Believe and Practise as to Religion in all Asia Africa and part of Europe 'T is pity he has not lived long enough to inform us of the Opinions of the new World It would have proved very serviceable to me for it would have spared me the trouble of consulting a great many Writers whence I have extracted them Sect. 5. In the mean while it will not be useless to observe that all the Authors which Carolinus has follow'd and which I am likewise oblig'd to follow are Christians and therefore they have set down the Belief and Worship of those Heathens only upon the particular Information they received from the Heathens themselves or the things that they saw them practise so that they cannot afford us such a clear and neat knowledge of what they relate as is that which may be gathered from the Writings of the Ancient Heathens who have themselves in their own Tongue treated of their own Affairs And therefore we cannot relie so much upon the descriptions of the present Heathenism which are made by Christians who undoubtedly have but seen or learned part of the Sentiments and Customs of the People they speak of and who perhaps are not disposed to make such a simple and natural relation of them as could be desired Now I find that all those Writers are in the fame prejudice when they tell us that there are many Nations who adore the Devil himself vexing themselves with grievous pains and cruel torments to be his Martyrs But the mistake of those Authors seems to me to discover it self for he that has been quoted before says in the 7th Chap. of his 1st Part pa. 56. That Trigaltius testifies that most of the Chinese interrogated the Devil or Familiar Spirits as they call'd a them of which there are many amongst them and that they esteem it rather a Divine than a Diabolical operation I believe that 't is the same with all the other Nations woh are accused directly to adore the Devil and am perswaded that if the thing were strictly examined it would be found that they have not so much as a Notion of what we understand by the word Devil Sect. 6. For 't is easie to conceive that those that have not the same knowledge and sentiments of God with us cannot also have the same Ideas of