So Orpheus asswag'd the Tempest of the Argonauts with a Song and Homer relates how the course of Vlysses blood was stopt by the power of words Moreover in the Law of the Twelve Tables there is a Law against those that did inchant the standing Corn whereby it is apparent that Witches have a power by the force of words to produce strange Effects not onely upon themselves but also upon outward things All which things that is to say to separate the hidden force of things and either draw them to themselves and repel them from themselves they credibly believe themselves to effect no other way than as the Loadstone draws Iron or Amber or Jet draws Chaff and as Onions again destroys the Magnetick Power So that by this Gradual and Concatenated Sympathy not only Natural and Celestial Gifts but also Intellectual and Divine may be receiv'd into humane Souls as Iamblicus Proculus and Sinesius gather from the Opinions of Great Men and that by this Consent and Harmony of things Magicians do call up the very Spirits For some of them are arriv'd at such a height of Madness that they believe that upon the right Observation of such and such Constellations at such intervals of time and by such reason of Proportions an Image being made would receive Life and Motion which upon counsel desired should be able to give Answers and Reveal the hidden Secrets of Truth Hence it is manifest That this Natural Magick inclining toward Conjuring and Necromancy is often entangled in the Snares and Delusions of Evil Spirits CHAP. XLV Of Conjuring and Necromancy THE Ceremonial Parts of Magick Conjuring and Necromancy Geocie or Conjuring curs'd for being familiar with unclean Spirits ceremonies of wicked curiosity compos'd of Prayers and Inchantments is held Abominable and wholly Condemn'd by the Decrees of all Lawgivers Men hateful to the Gods that stain the Skie And blot the Stars though Natures Progenie The setled course of things they can confound Can fix the Poles send Lightnings on the ground Pull down the Heavens and Hills eradicate These are those that Invoke the Souls of dead Bodies who Inchant Children and cause them to give the Answer of the Oracle and as we read of Socrates carry about with them certain Pocket Daemons and who as they say nourish little Spirits in Glasses by which they pretend to Foretel and Prophesie All these proceed in a twofold manner For some of them make it their business to adjure and compel Evil Spirits to appearance by the Efficacy and Power of sacred Names because seeing that every Creature doth fear and reverence the Name of its Creator no wonder if Conjurors and other Infidels Pagans Jews Saracens or prophane Persons do think to force the Devils Obedience by the Terrour of his Creators Name Others more to be detested than they and worthy the utmost punishment of Fire submitting themselves to the Devils sacrifice to them and Worship them become guilty of the vilest subjection and Idolatry that may be to which Crimes though the former are not quite so obnoxious yet they expose themselves to manifest dangers For the Devils are always watchful to intrap Men in the Errors they heedlesly run into From this insipid crowd of Conjurors have flow'd all those Books of Darkness which Vlpian the Civilian calls by the name of forbidden Writings Of which one of the first Authors is said to be Zabulus a man wholly inclin'd to unlawful Arts. Then Barnabas 〈◊〉 Cyprian and now frequently other Books are Published up and down under the feigned Titles and Names of Adam Abel Enoch Abraham and Solomon others under the Names of Paulus Honorius Cyprian Albertus Thomas Hierome and one Eboracensis to whose silly trifles Alphonsus King of Castile Robert the Englishman Bacon Apponus and many other of deprav'd Fancies have adher'd But besides this they have not only made the holy Patriarchs and Angels Authors and Upholders of their detestable Studies but also shew several Books which they pretend were written and delivered by Razial and Raphael tutelar Angels of Adam and Tobias Which Books notwithstanding to any one that narrowly considers the Rules of the Masters the Customes and Ordinances of their Ceremonies the Nature and Choice of their Words and Characters their insipid and barbarous Pharases sufficiently betray themselves to contain nothing but meer Toys and Geugaws and that they were in far later Ages contriv'd by such as were utterly ignorant of that Magick Profess'd by the Ancients being â—ounded only upon certain prophane Observations mixt with the Ceremonies of our Religion with an addition of many unknown Names and Characters to terrifie ignorant and silly people and to amuse those that are void of sence and understanding Neither doth it therefore follow that these Delusions are Fables for unless there were something of reality in them and that many mischievous and wicked things were accomplish'd thereby both Divine and Humane Laws had not so strictly provided for the punishment thereof and Ordain'd them to be quite extirpated from the Earth Now why these Conjurers make use only of evil Spirits the reason is because the Good Angels seldome appear being only attendant on the Commands of God and not vouchsafing to be known but only to upright and holy Men. But evil Spirits submit themselves more willingly to their Invocations falsely assuming to themselves and counterfeiting Divinity always ready to deceive and delighting to be ador'd and worship'd and because Women are more covetous of the Knowledge of Secrets and not less cautious and prone to Superstition and more easily Deluded therefore to them the Devils show themselves more familiar and make them the performers of many Miracles as are related of Circe and Medaea of many others the Stories of the Poets are full and Cicero Pliny Seneca St. Austin and many others both Philosophers Doctors and Historians as also Sacred Writ bring many Testimonies For in the Book of Samuel we read of a certain Woman-Witch that liv'd in Endor that rais'd the Soul of Samuel though most Interpreters agree that it was not the soul of Samuel but an Evil spirit that took upon him the shape of the Prophet Yet some of the Hebrew Doctors aver neither doth St. Austin to Simplician deny the possibility thereof that it was the true Soul of Samuel which before a compleat Year after its departure from the Body might be easily call'd up according to the rule of Necromancy The Necromantick Magicians believe that the same may be performed by certain Natural tyes and Obligations which was the reason that the Ancient Fathers well-read in Spirituals not without good cause ordain'd that the Bodies of the Dead might be buried in Holy-ground should be assisted with Lights and sprinkled with Holy-water be perfumed with Incense and pray'd for by the Living so long as they were above Ground For say the Hebrew Doctors All our Carnal Body remains as Food for the Serpent which they call Arazel which is Lord of the Flesh and the Blood
and Prince of this World in Leviticus nam'd the Prince of the Deserts to whom it was said in Genesis Thou shalt eat the dust all the days of thy life And in Isaiah The Dust is thy bread that is our Corporeal Body Created out of the dust of the Earth so long as it remains unsanctifi'd and not chang'd for the better to be no longer then at the disposal of the Serpent but of God according to the word of St. Paul It is sow'd corporal but shall rise spiritual And in another place All shall rise but all shall not be chang'd for that many shall remain perpetual food for the Serpent This foul and detestable matter of the Flesh the food of the Serpent lies in the Grave in hopes of a better Lot and spiritual Transmutation which is already come to pass in those that have already tasted the first-Fruits of Redemption and some have attain'd it by vertue of the Deifick Spirit as Elias and Enoch and as some are of opinion Moses whose bodies being chang'd into the nature of Spirits never saw corruption nor as other Carcasses were left to the power of the Serpent And something to this purpose it was thought was the great dispute of Michael with the Devil about the body of Moses which St. Jude mentions in his Epistle Thus much concerning Conjuring and Necromancy CHAP. XLVI Of Theurgy MAny there are that believe Theurgy not to be unlawful which pretends to have to do with none but good Angels and the Divine Numen himself though under the names of God and Angels it proves to be onely the delusion and mockery of evil Spirits It pretends no natural Power but to make use of Celestial Ceremonies by which they think to attract and reconcile the Divine Natures Concerning which the antient Magi have deliver'd several Rules in several Volumes But the chiefest part of their Ceremonies is in observing Cleanliness first of the Soul then of the Body then of those things about the Body as in the Skin the Garments the Dwelling Vessels Utensils Immolations and Sacrifices which cleanliness renders them capable of being the receptacles and fit for the entertainment of Divine Spirits and is very much encourag'd and commended in Sacred Scripture according to the words of Esay Be glad and be clean and take away the evil of your thoughts But uncleanness which often corrupts and defiles and infects man disturbs the most clean and pure Society of Celestial Beings and chases away the spotless Spirits and Angels of God It is true that many times unclean and delusive powers to the end they may be ador'd and worship'd for Gods do counterfeit this Purity and therefore great diligence and care is to be us'd for the avoiding thereof and therefore we have abundantly discours'd thereof in our Books of Occult Philosophy Now of this Theurgy or Divine Magick Porphyrius having delivered many things at length concludes that by Theurgick Operations the soul may be made fit to receive Spirits and Angels and to see and converse with them but that there can be any access to the Deity thereby he altogether denies His Rules and Directions are contain'd in his Art Almabel his Notorious Art his Art Pauline his Art of Revelations where are abundance of Superstitions to be found which are so much the more pernicious by how much they seem more Losty and Divine to the unskilful CHAP. XLVII Of the Cabalists HEre the words of Pliny come into my minde There is saith he another Sect of Magicians of which Moses and Latopea Jews were the first Authors which words bring to my remembrance the Cabala of the Jews which as the constant opinion among the Hebrews goes was delivered by God to Moses and thence through succession of Ages even to the times of Ezra preserv'd by Tradition onely without the help of writing As of old the Doctrine of Pythagoras was delivered by Archippus and Lysiades who kept School at Thebes in Greece where the Scholars learning all their Masters Precepts by heart made use onely of their Memories instead of Books So certain Jews despising Letters plac'd all their Learning in Memory Observation and verbal Tradition whence it was call'd by the Hebrews Cabala that is to say a receiving from one to another by the Ear An Art by report very antient though the name be but of later times known among the Christians Now this Cabala they divide into three parts the first contains the knowledge of Bresith which they call also Cosmology explaining and teaching the force and efficacie of things created Natural or Celestial expounding also the Laws and Mysteries of the Bible according to Philosophical reasons which for that cause differs little from Natural Magick wherein they say K. Solomon excell'd Therefore we finde in the Sacred Histories of the Jews that he was wont to discourse from the Cedar of Libanon to the low Hyssop as also of Cattle Birds Reptiles and Fish all which contain within themselves a certain kinde of Magical vertue Moses also the Egyptian in his Expositions upon the Pentateuch and most of the Talmudists have followed the Rules of this Art The other part thereof contains the knowledge of more sublime things as of Divine and Angelical Powers the contemplation of Sacred Names and Characters being a certain kinde of Symbolical Theology wherein the Letters Figures Numbers Names Points Lines Accents are esteemed to contain the significations of most profound things and great Mysteries This part again is twofold Arithmantick handling the nature of Angels the Powers Names Characters of Spirits and Souls departed and Theomantick which searches into the mysteries of the Divine Majesty his Emanations his Names and Pentacula which he that attains to they account endu'd with most admirable power By vertue of this Art they say Moses wrought so many Miracles changing his Rod into a Serpent the Water into Blood and plagu'd Egypt with Frogs Flyes Lice Locusts Emrodes and Pestilence slaying the first-born of Man and Beast By this Art he divided the Red-sea caus'd Water to flow out of the Rock brought the Qualls into the Wilderness sweeten'd the bitter Waters made Lightning by day and a Pillar of Fire by night to lead the March of his people call'd down the Voice of God among the people By this Art he punish'd the Arrogant with Fire the Murmurers with Leprosie Mutiners with sudden Destruction causing the Earth to swallow them up preserv'd the Clothes of the Israelites from wearing out and gave them Victory over their Enemies Lastly by means of this Art Josua commanded the Sun to stand still Elias call'd down Fire from Heaven and rais'd the dead Youth to life Daniel muzzled the Lions mouths and the three Children sang in the middle of the fiery Furnace Nay the perfidious and unbelieving Jews stick not to aver that Christ himself wrought all his Miracles by vertue of this Art Solomon as they say did excel in this Art and that he discovered several secrets thereof
to one World but said withal that this was a small Particle only of the Universe But Democritus and Epicurus were of Opinion That there were Innumerable worlds whom Metrodorus their Disciple follows saying That there are Innumerable Worlds being that the Causes of them are Innumerable neither was it less absurd to think that there should be one World in the Universe than to imagine one Ear of Corn in a whole Field But as to the Continuance of the World Aristotle Averroes Cicero Xenophon make it Aeternal and void of all Corruption For when that they could not understand whether the Egg or the Bird were first Generated since no Bird could be without the Egg Hence they imagin'd that this World and the Beginning of every begotten thing together with the End thereof was by perpetual Revolution sempiternal Pythagoras and the Stoicks said That the World was of God yet as far as its Divine Nature could permit should be corrupted in time with whom Anaxagoras Thales Herocles Avicen Algasel Alcmeus and Philo the Jew concur in Opinion But Plato affirming that it was Created by God after his own likeness denies that it shall ever be destroy'd Democritus saith That the World was once Created shall once be Destroyed and never more be renewed Empedocles and Heraclitus the Ephesian were of Opinion That the World doth every day renew and every day perish or decay Let us discourse of any thing which they say proceeds from a Natural Cause as for Example let it be an Earthquake yet are they at no certainty therein but wander in Extravagancies while Anaxagoras makes the Cause thereof to be the Air Empedocles Fire Thales Milesius Water Aristotle Theophrastus and Albertus Subterraneal Wind or Vapour Asclepiades great Mischances or Devastations Possidonius Calisthenes and Metrodorus the Destinies Seneca and others variously dissenting seem to have labour'd in vain in the search thereof And therefore the Ancient Romans when they either felt or heard of shaking or trembling of the Earth commanded Holy-days but never did Enact to which of the Gods they should be Dedicated because it was uncertain what force or which of the Gods was the Cause thereof CHAP. LII Of the Soul IF you desire to know any thing from them concerning the Soul there is far less of certainty among them For Crates the Theban affirm'd that there was no Soul but that the Body was mov'd by Nature Those who grant that there is a Soul suppos'd it to be the most thin and subtile of all bodies infus'd into this thick and earthy body Others there be that affirm it to be of a fiery nature of which number were Hipparchus and Leucippus with whom the Stoicks for the most part agree who define the Soul to be a hot Spirit together with Democritus who calls it a moveable and fierce Spirit mix'd and infus'd into Atomes Others said it was the Air as Anaximines and Anaxagoras Diogenes the Cynick and Critias with whom Varro concurs where he says that The Soul is Air receiv'd into the Mouth heated in the Lungs temper'd in the Heart and diffus'd over the whole Body Others will have it of a watery substance as Hippias Others of an earthy substance as Heliodorus and Pronopides to whose opinion Anaximander and Thales willingly agree both fellow-Citizens with Thales Others will have it to be a Spirit compos'd partly of Fire and partly of Air as Boetes and Epicurus Others compos'd of Earth and water as Zenophantes Others of earth and fire as Parmenides Others affirm'd the Soul to be the blood as Empedocles and Circias Some would have it be a thin Spirit diffus'd through the body as Hippocrates the Physitian Others flesh exercis'd by the senses as Asclepiades But many others have been of opinion that the Soul is not that little body but a certain quality or complexion thereof infus'd through all the particles of the same as Zeno the Cithick and Dicearchus defining the Soul to be the complexion of the four Elements Cleanthes also Antipater and Possidonius affirming the same to be a certain heat or complexion of heat drew Calenus the Pergamenian into the same opinion Others there are that uphold that the Soul is not that quality or complexion but something residing in some part of the body as the heart or brain as it were in its proper point or center and from thence governing the whole body Amongst the number of these are Chrysippus Archelaus and Heraclitus Ponticus who thought the Soul to be Light There are others who have thought more freely believing the Soul to be a certain unfix'd Point ty'd to no part of the Body but separated from any determinated Situation being totally present in every part of the Body which whether it were begot by Complexion or Created by God yet was first hatch'd and form'd in the bosome of Matter Of this Opinion were Zenophanes Colophonius Aristoxenus and Asclepiades the Physitian who held the Soul to be the Exercise of the Sences and Cretolaus the Peripatetick who call'd it the Fifth Essence as also Thales who held That the Soul is an unquiet Nature moving it self and Zenocrates would have it to be a Number moving it self whom the Aegyptians follow asserting the Soul to be a certain Force or Vertue passing through all Bodies The Caldaeaus were of Opinion That it was a Force or Vertue without a determinate Form but receiving all Forms that are External So that they altogether agree That the Soul is a certain Vertue fit to cause Motion or that it is else a Sublime Harmony of all the Corporeal Parts depending however upon the Nature of the Body The Footsteps of these Men are followed by that Daemoniack Aristotle who by a new-invented Name of his own calls the Soul Entelechia that is to say the Perfection of a Corporal Organ Potentially having life from which the same Body receives the Principles of Understanding Perceiving and Moving And this is the most receiv'd though most impâ—rtinent Definition of a Soul found out by that great Philosopher which doth not however declare or make manifest the Nature or Original but only the Affections of the Soul There are others that soare somewhat higher than these men who affirm the Soul to be a certain Divine Substance whole and individual diffus'd through the whole and every part of the Body produc'd in such manner from the Incorporeal Author as that it depends upon the force of the Agent not on the Generative Faculty of the Matter Of this Opinion were Zoroastes Hermes Trismegistus Pythagoras Euminius Hammonius Plutarch Porphyrius Timaeus Locrus and Divine Plata himself who defin'd the Soul to be an Essence moving it self endu'd with Understanding Eunomius the Bishop consenting partly to Plato partly to Aristotle affirms the Soul to be an Incorporeal substance made in the Body upon which definition he lay'd the Foundation of all his Opinions Cicero Seneca and Lactantius affirm That it is impossible to define what the Soul should be Thus it is
spoken to contentious Theosophists but to the true Divines Apostles Evangelists and Messengers of the Word of God who say I dare not utter any thing which Christ doth not work by me Therefore the Traditions of these Divines concerning Faith and Godliness are truely Theological To the Writings and sayings of these men we give credit as being founded not upon contentious Syllogisms or Opinions of men but as S. Paul saith being divinely inspired not in defining compounding dividing contemplating after the manner of Philosophers but in an essential contact of Divinity apprehended through a clear vision in the divine light it self of which vision we finde several sorts in the holy Scripture as the Prophets had several dispositions to receive For we read how some saw God or Angels in the forms of men others in the shape of Fire others in the similitude of Air or Wind others in the shape of Rivers or Water others in the form of Birds Precious Stones or Metals others in the forms of Letters or Characters others in the sound of a Voice others in Dreams others in a Spirit residing within themselves others in the work of the Understanding And therefore the Scripture calls all Prophets Seers Thus we read of The Visions of Isaias The Visions of Jeremy The Visions of Ezekiel and the rest And under the New law S. John faith I was in the Spirit upon the Lords day On the wings whereof he was carried and beheld the Throne of God And Paul witnesses that he saw those things which it is not lawful for men to utter And this Vision is called a Rapture or Ecstasie or spiritual death Concerning this death it is said No man shall see God and live And in another place Precious in the sight of God is the death of his Saints And it is more clearly expressed by the Apostle where he says You are dead and your life is hid with Christ. And it is necessary for him to die this death that will pierce into the secrets of Prophetick Theologie Now there is a double sight of this Deifick vision One when God is seen face to face and then the Prophets see what S. Paul faith Things which are not fit for men to utter and which no tongue of men or Angels can express nor Pen unfold There is also a certain contact or union of the Divine Essence and an illustration or enlightning of the pure and separate Intellect without appearance of any shape or likeness This Divines call The Meridional Understanding Of which S. Augustin upon Genesis and Origen against Celsus largely dispute The other sort of Seeing is that by which we see the hinder parts of God when the creatures which are the hinder parts or effects of God are understood with a more exalted judgement as by the knowledge whereof the Creator the chief workman and the First Cause that moves all things is the better known as the Wiseman faith From the bigness of the kinde and of the creature may be known the Creator of things And Paul also about the same subject The invisible things of God are known being understood by these things which are made And it is an usual Saying among the Peripateticks that they who argue from the Effects to the Causes are said to argue à posteriori from the hinder part Moses enjoyed both these Visions as the Scriptures witness Of the first we read that Moses saw God face to face As to the other we read what God spake to him Thou shalt see my hinder parts And by the means of this later Vision Moses made a Law instituted Sacrifices and Ceremonies built a Tabernacle and other Mysteries according to the most elaborate Exemplar of the whole world comprehending all the secret works of God and Nature therein This Vision is again twofold for we either behold the creature in God himself which Divines call The Morning-vision or else we behold God himself in the creatures There is also another Prophetick Vision in Dreams thus we read in Matthew how the angel of God appeared to Joseph in a dream And in another place that the Magi who ador'd Christ were admonisht in a dream that they should return another way into their own Country There are in the Old Testament many Examples thereof Now what this Vision is Job expounds where he says In the horrour of nocturnal visions when sleep falleth upon men and they sleep in their beds then he opens their ears and teaching them instructs them with learning And this being a fourth species of Vision is called Nocturnal There are also two other kindes of Prophecie the one receiv'd by word of mouth and thus was Moses enlightened and taught in Mount Sinai Abraham Jacob Samuel and many other Prophets under the Old Law Under the New Law the Apostles and Disciples of Christ were taught by the mouth of Christ he being alive among them There is another sort of Prophecie which consists in the agitation of the Spirit while the soul ravisht away by some Deity then joyn'd to that and abstracted from the body of man is by the same Spirit fill'd with Knowledge beyond humane strength or wit Which ravishment is not performed always by Angels but sometimes by the Spirit of God as we read of Saul that the Spirit of God came upon him and he prophesied and was changed into a new man and numbered among the Prophets And in the Acts of the Apostles the Spirit of God came upon them that were baptized in flames of fire Which Spirit also many times seizes upon men that are liable to sin so that there were many Prophets among the Gentiles as Cassandra Helenus Calchas Ampharans Tiresias Mopsus Amphilochus Polybius Corinthus also Galanus the Indian Socrates Diotyma Anaximander Epimenides the Cretan Also the Magi among the Persians Brachmans among the Indians Gymnosophists among the Aethiopians Druids among the Gauls and Sibyls among the Romans To which Prophetick seizure of the Spirit many times certain previous Ceremonies authority of Function and communion of sacred Mysteries do very much conduce as the Scripture amply declares concerning Balaam and in other places by the application of the Ephod And the Evangelist witnesses concerning Caiaphas that he prophesied being high priest that year Hence the Mecubals among the Hebrews adventured to counterfeit their Artificial Prophecie I omit what the Hebrews have written concerning the Two and thirty paths of Wisdom and what S. Austin has toucht upon concerning the Degrees or Albertus in his reception of Forms of which he reckons up seven Apparitions in Dreams and as many waking So we read in Plato and Proculus of Socrates that he was not inspired by an intelligible influx but by voice and familiar speech But these things come to pass more easily in Dreams But let us return to our purpose Now therefore Prophetick Theologie is that which by an Intuitive Inspiration teaches the unshaken Word of God But the Authority and Arguments by which that Truth is confirm'd are
Arguments and talk in wrangling Syllogisms with Hereticks but to labour to convince them by the Word of God then to determine the matter according to the Decrees and Canons of the Church and either to reduce him to the Orthodox Faith or pronounce him a Hereticks for he is no Heretick who is not obstinate nor is he a favourer of Hereticks who seeks to defend an innocent person condemned of Heresie left he should be deliver'd up by these cruel and ravenous Inquisitors to be butchered without a cause And although it be expresly provided in the Law that the Inquisitors shall have no power of Examining nor any Jurisdiction over any suspition defence or favour of Heresie which is not a Heresie manifestly exprest and absolutely already condemn'd yet these bloudy Vultures going beyond the Priviledges and Commission of their Office against all right and contrary to the Canons themselves take upon them to meddle with ordinary things arrogating and usurping the power of Popes in those things which are not Heretical but onely Scandalous or offensive to the ear most cruelly raging against the poor Country-women whom being once accused of Witchcraft and condemned without the examination of any lawful Judge they expose to most strange and unheard-of Torments till having extorted from them what they least thought to confess they finde matter to proceed upon to condemnation and then they think they do the Office of Inquisitors truly when they never leave the business off till the poor woman be burnt or else have so far gilded the Inquisitors hand until he take pitie of her as sufficiently purg'd for an Inquisitor may alter the punishment from penal into pecuniary and convert it to the use of the Office by which there is not a little Money to be got and some of these poor creatures are forc'd to pay them an annual Stipend for fear of being harass'd to Torment And when the Goods of Hereticks are confiscated then the Inquisitor gets no small matter The very accusation or highest suspicion of Heresie nay the very Citation of the Inquisitor is enough to bring a womans credit in question which is not to be salved without money given to the Inquisitor which is no small gain Thus while I was in Millain several Inquisitors did torment many honest Matrons some of very good Quality and privately milk very large sums from the poor affrighted and terrified women till at length their Cheating being discovered they were severely handled by the Gentry hardly escaping Fire and Sword When I was President of the Commonwealth in the Citie of Mediomatricum I had a very great Contest with an Inquisitor who being a loose fellow had hal'd a poor Country-woman into his Slaughter-house being a place of disrepute and all for a very slight Accusation not so much to Examine her as to Crucifie her This woman when I undertook to defend her Cause and found and had made it evident that there was nothing of Proof to make out the Crime the Inquisitor made answer that there was one proof not to be question'd That her mother many years ago was burnt for a Witch Which Article when I shew'd how impertinent it was and that it was not for the Law to condemn one for the fact of another presently he lest he should have seemed to have talkt out of Reason before produces this Argument That therefore it was so and the Proof good because Witches were wont to devote their children to the devil as also because they are wont to Conceive by lying with the devil and therefore there is an inherent Guiltiness in the Off-spring Wicked Father said I is this thy way of Theologie Are these the Fictions for which thou harriest silly women to Torture are these the Sophisms with which thou condemnest Hereticks Thou thy self in my opinion art far worse than Faustus or Donatus Grant it were as thou sayst dost thou not hereby abrogate the grace of Baptism if for the impiety of a Parent the Off-spring should be the devils due And if it were true that Incubi did generate yet was never any one of that opinion so infatuated as to think those Spirits did mingle any thing of their own nature with the suffoced seed But I tell thee upon the true grounds of Faith and by the true natures of our Humanities we are all one mass of sin and eternal malediction sons of perdition sons of the devil sons of the wrath of God and heirs of hell but by the grace of Baptism Satan is cast out of us and we are made new creatures in Jesus Christ from whom no man can be separated but by his own sin for far is it from truth that he should suffer for another mans sin Seest thou not now how invalid thy most sufficient Proof is how vain in Law and indeed how absolutely Heretical it is The cruel Hypocrite grew very wroth against me and threatned to sue me as a favourer of Hereticks However I persisted in defence of the poor creature and at length by the power of the Law I delivered her out of the Lions mouth and the bloudy Monk stood rebuk'd and sham'd before um all and ever after infamous for his Cruelty and the Accusers of the poor woman in the Capitol of the Church of Metz whose Subjects they were were very considerably Fin'd CHAP. XCVII Of Scholastick Theologie IT remains that we discourse concerning Theologie I shall pass by the Theologie of the Gentiles mentioned in Orpheus Musaeus and Hesiod which all men acknowledge to be Poetical and fictitious and which Lactantius and Eusebius and many other eminent Doctors of the Christians have convinced by most strenuous Arguments Nor shall we speak of the Religion of Plato or the rest of the Philosophers whom we have already shew'd to be the teachers of nothing but Errour But we shall here discourse concerning the Christian Religion This onely depends upon the faith of its Doctors seeing that it can fall under no Art or Science And first of Scholastick Divinity a certain Hodge-podge or Mixture of Divine Precepts and Philosophical Reasons looking like a Centaur written after a new manner far different from the antient way of delivery diffus'd into little Questions and subtil Syllogisms without any Elegancie of speech and which has brought not a little profit to the Church in the convincing of Hereticks The first Authors whereof and who were most excellent therein were Thomas Aquinas Albertus sirnamed the Great and many other famous men besides Johannes Scotus a most subtil and acute Writer though a little more given to Contention Hence Scholastick Theologie sell into Sophisms while those newer Theosophists and as it were Sutlers of the Word of God never worthy of the title of Divines but for their money of so sublime a Studie and Contemplation made a meer Logomachie wandring from School to School starting little Questions framing Opinions forcing the Scriptures inducing a strange sence with intricate words and more nimble to ventilate
Mysteries It was a name common to the Christians among the Romans to be call'd Asinarii and they were wont to paint the Image of Christ with the ears of an Ass as Tertullian witnesses Wherefore let neither Popes repute it to their shame if among those Giant like Elephants of Sciences there may be some Asses Neither let Christians wonder if among those Prelates and expert Doctors the better learned one is the less he be esteemed for the songs of Nightingales are not proper for the ears of Asses and it is a Proverb That the untuneable braying of Asses is not agreeable to the Harp And yet the best Pipes are made of the bones of Asses the marrow being taken out which as they far exceed the harmony of the Harp so these Religious Asses far surpass the Brangling and Braying of idle Sophisters Thus several Philosophers coming to visit Antony and to discourse with him being by him answer'd in a few words return'd with shame We read also of a certain Idiot that convinc'd a most learned and subtil Heretick and forc'd him to turn to the Faith whom the best and most learned Bishops at the Council of Nice with a long and difficult Disputation could not convince Who being afterwards demanded by his friends how it came to pass that he yielded to the Fool who had resisted and withstood so many and so great Learned Bishops replied That he had easily given the Bishops words for words but that he could not resist this Idiot who spake not according to humane wisdom but according to the Spirit The Conclusion of the Work YOu therefore O ye Asses who are now with your children under the command of Christ by means of his Apostles and Messengers and Readers of true wisdom in his holy Gospel being freed from the foggs and mists of flesh and bloud if ye desire to attain to this divine and true wisdom not of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil but of the tree of life set aside the Traditions of Men and every enquiry and discourse of flesh and bloud whether it concern Reason consideration of Causes or Effects conversing now not with the Schools of Philosophers and Sophisters but with your own selves For the Notions of all things are trusted within your own brests which as the Academicks confess the Scriptures themselves do testifie seeing that God created all things very good that is to say in the best degree they could consist He therefore as he created the trees full of fruit so he created our souls which are like rational trees full of Forms and Idea's though through the sin of our first parents all things were conceal'd and Oblivion took place the mother of Ignorance But you that can remove the Veil from your Understandings who are wrapt up in the darkness of Ignorance vomit up that Lethean Drench which has made ye drunk with Forgetfulness awake in the true light you that are drown'd in the sleep of Irrationality and then forthwith with an open countenance ye shall pass from light to light for ye are anointed as S. John saith by the holy Ghost and know all things And again There is no necessity that ye should be taught by any because his Anointing instructs ye in all things For he alone it is that giveth language and wisdome David Isaiah Ezekiel Jeremiah Daniel John Baptist and many other Prophets and Apostles were never bred up in Learning but of Shepherds Husbandmen and Fools became throughly learned in all things Solomon in a dream of one night was replenished with the knowledge of all things both sublunary and celestial and with so much prudence in the administration of Government that there was never any Prince equal to him Yet all these were mortal men as you are and sinners You will say perhaps that this has happen'd to a very few and those A few whom equal Jove Would signalize by his transcending love Or such whose ardent zeal divinely fir'd With constant motion to the Stars aspir'd However do not despair the hand of God is not shortned to them that call upon him that give a true obedience to his will Anthony and the Barbarian Christian servant gain'd the full knowledge of Divine things by the help of thrre days prayer as S. Austin testifies But you that cannot like the Prophets like the Apostles like those other holy men behold those things with a clear and unclouded Intellect may procure Understanding from them who have beheld these things with a clear sight There is also another way remaining as S. Jerome saith to Russinus that what the Spirit hath suggested to the Prophets and Apostles should be sought by you with diligent studie I mean the study of that Learning which is deliver'd in the Bible being the most sacred Oracles of the true God and received by the Church with an unanimous consent not of such things as have been invented by the Wit of men for they do not enlighten but darken the Understanding And therefore we must have recourse to Moses to Solomon to the Prophets to the Evangelists to the Apostles who shining with all sorts of Learning Wisdom Manners Languages Oracles Prophecies Miracles and Holiness of heavenly things have spoken from God himself of inferiour things above men delivering all the things of God and secrets of Nature distinctly and clearly to us For all the secrets of God and Nature all manner of Customs and Laws all understanding of things past present and to come are fairly taught in the Books of the holy Scripture Whither do ye therefore run headlong why seek ye knowledge of them who having spent all their days in searching have lost all their time labour being unable to attain to any thing of certain truth Fools and wicked men who not regarding the gifts of the holy Ghost strive to learn from lying Philosophers and Doctors of Errour those things which ye ought to receive from Christ and the holy Ghost Think ye to draw knowledge from the ignorance of Socrates or light out of the darkness of Anâ—xagoras or vertue out of the Wells of Democritus and wisdom out of the madness of Empedocles Think ye to lave piety out of Diogenes's Tub or sence out of the stupidity of Carneades or wisdom from impious Aristotle or perfidious Averroes or faith out of the superstition of the Platonicks Ye are in an Errour being deceived by them who were themselves deceiv'd But recal your selves you who are desirous of the Truth descend from the clouds of mens Traditions and adhere to the true light Behold a voice from heaven a voice speaking from above and shewing more apparent than the Sun that ye are enemies to your selves and delay the receiving of wisdom Hear the Oracle of Baruch God is saith he and no other shall be compared to him He hath found out all manner of learning and hath taught it to Jacob his son and to Israel his beloved giving laws and precepts and ordaining sacrifices After this he was seen upon the earth conversed with men was made flesh teaching us plainly with his own mouth what was mysteriously deliver'd in the Law and by the Prophets And that ye may nor think the Scriptures relate onely to Divine and not to natural things hear what the Wise-man witnesseth of himself He hath given the true knowledge of those things which are that I might know the situation of the earths compass the vertues of the Elements the beginning ending middle and revolutions of the Times the course of the Year the influences of the Stars the nature of Animals Sympathy and Antipathy of Creatures the force of the Winds Thoughts of Men difference of Plants and the vertues of Roots In brief I have learnt whatever things are hidden and conceal'd for the Artificer of all things hath taught me wisdom The Divine wisdom faileth in nothing nothing escapes it there is no addition to it for it comprehends all things Know therefore that there needs not long Studie but Humility of spirit and Pureness of heart not the sumptuous furniture of many Books but a pure Understanding made fit for the Truth as the Lock is for the Key For number of Books hinders the learner and he that follows many Authors erres with many All things are contain'd and taught in the onely Volume of the Bible but with this Proviso That they are not to be understood but by those who are enlightned for to others they are onely Parables and Riddles seal'd up with many Seals Pray then to the Lord God in saith doubtful of nothing that the Lamb of the Tribe of Judah may come and open his Sealed Book which Lamb is onely holy and true who onely has the key of wisdom and knowledge whâ— opens and no man shuts and shuts what no man opensâ— This is JESUS CHRIST the Word the Soâ— of God the Father the true Teacher made Man likâ— unto us that he might make us the children of Godâ— like Himself blessed to all Eternity But lest 〈◊〉 should declaim beyond my Hour-glass let this be thâ— End of our Discourse FINIS
all these things that were contained in the Volume of the Law before all the multitude of men women children and strangers And Esdras brought the book of the Law before all the multitude of men and women and read therein openly in the street before all that could understand And Christ commanded his Gospel to be preached to all creatures throughout the whole world and this not in the dark not whisper'd in the ear not in secret not in private chambers not to some particular Doctors and Scribes but openly upon the house tops to the people to the multitude for thus faith he to the Apostles That which I speak to you I speak to all men that which I speak to you in darkness declare you in the face of the sun that which I tell you in your ears publish you upon the house-tops And S. Peter in the Acts saith He hath charged us to preach to the people And Paul commands us to bring up our children in the discipline and doctrine of Christ. And which is more Christ himself blam'd his disciples for hindering little children to come to him whose simplicity and humility whose mindes are not passed up with vain Opinions or swell'd with humane knowledge teacheth us how necessary it is for us to become as little children seeing that without being such we are altogether unfit for the kingdom of heaven For this cause S. Chrysostom in a certain Homily advises that children above all things should be bred up in the knowledge of the holy Scripture and that husbands should discourse in their houses at home with their wives concerning the Scripture and make diligent search and enquiry into the sence and meaning thereof And the Council of Nice decreed that no Christian should be without the Book of the holy Scripture Know then that there is nothing in the holy Scripture so hard so profound so difficult so hidden which pertains not to all the faithful in Christ nor that ever was so committed to these our Masters for them to hide it from the people but rather all Divinity ought to be common to all believers and to every one according to the capacity and measure of the gift of the holy Ghost Wherefore it is the duty of a good Preacher to distribute to every man as much as he is able to receive to one in milk to another in strong meat and to beguile no man of the food of necessary Truth CHAP. CI. Of Masters of Arts. NOw at length that I may recollect my self again ye have heard from those things which have been hitherto said That Arts and Sciences are nothing else but the Traditions of men received by us upon the good esteem we have of them and that they all consist of nothing else but of things doubtful confirm'd by apparent Demonstrations and that most of um are not so uncertain and doubtful as they are deceitful and wicked and therefore it is also an evil thing to believe that they can bring to us any heavenly advantage It is true that in times past it was the superstition of the Gentiles that gave Divine worship to the Inventors of things and to them whom they saw surpass others in any Art or Science and plac'd them in the number of their Gods dedicating to them Temples Altars and Images adoring them under several likenesses Thus Vulcan among the Egyptians being the first Philosopher and referring the beginnings of Nature to the Fire was by them worshipt as the God of Fire and Esculapius as Celsus saith because he more subtilly practised Physick then rude and imperfect was for that reason made the God of Physick And this and no other deification of Sciences was that which the ancient Serpent the type of these Gods promised to our first Parents saying to them Ye shall be as gods knowing good and evil Let him then boast the authority of this Serpent that boasts in worldly knowledge For no man can possess Knowledge without the favour of this Serpent whose doctrines are nothing but delusions and the end thereof evil When it is a Proverb among the Vulgar That the Learned are all mad To which Aristotle himself assents saying that there is no man of great knowledge without a mixture of madness And Austin witnesses that many for the desire of knowledge have lost their wits Neither is there any thing more contrary to Christian Faith and Religion than Knowledge nor any two things that less agree together For we finde in the Ecclesiastical Histories and are also taught by Experience how Sciences went to wrack when Christian Religion waxed strongest so that the greatest part of them utterly perished and those mighty Arts of Magick departed in such wise that not the least signe of them remains many Sects of Philosophy vanished very little of the Peripatetick Philosophy known and that imperfect Nor was the state of the Church in more quiet than when these Sciences were reduced to the lowest extremity when Grammar was taught by one onely Alexander Gallus Logick onely by Petrus Hispanus Laurentius Aquilegius was the onely Rhetorician a small Collection of annual transactions serv'd for a History the Ecclesiastical Computation serv'd for Mathematical Instruction and for the rest one single Isidorus But now after that knowledge of Tongues Eloquence and number of Authors began to multiply as formerly the quiet of the Church began to be troubled and Heresies arose Neither is there any sort of men less fit to receive Christian doctrine than they who have their mindes tainted with the knowledge of the Sciences for they are so stiff and obstiâ—ate in their self-opinions that they leave no place for the Holy Ghost and do so assure themselves and trust in their own strength and power that they will allow of nothing else for truth and they scorn and despise all those things which they cannot understand by their own Industry Therefore hath Christ hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to little children that is to say to the poor in spirit not enriched with the treasuries of humane knowledge to the pure in heart not defil'd with the vanity of Opinions and to the peace-makers not followers of other men not contentious overthrowers of the Truth with wrangling Syllogisms and suffer persecution for the sake of Truth and Justice Thus Socrates was poysoned by the Athenians Anaxagoras condemned to die Diagoras accus'd but escap'd death by flight Among the Jews Isaiah was cut to pieces Jeremiah stoned to death Daniel condemned to the lions Amos kill'd with a club Micah cast headlong from a rock Zachariah slain at the Altar Elias persecuted by Jezebel who slew many of the Prophets Thus also were the Apostles and other Martyrs witnesses of the Divinity of Christ several ways tormented to death And all this for no other cause but that they thought more holily of God than the Wise-men of the world Behold these who in purity of heart poverty of spirit and peace of Conscience resemble
the humility and simplicity of little children who are prepar'd to shed their bloud for the Truth These are they to whom onely the true Deifying wisdom is given that is to bring us to the heavenly Quires and transforms us into Angels As we read in the Sermon of Christ Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God Blessed are the peace-makers for they shall be call'd the sons of God Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice sake It is therefore better and more profitable to be Idiots and without knowledge to believe by faith and charity and to become next to God than being lofty and proud through the subtilties of the Sciences to fall into the possession of the Serpent Thus we finde in the Gospel how Christ was receiv'd of Idiots of the vulgar people and of the simpler sort while he was rejected despised and persecuted even to death by the High-priests by the Lawyers by the Scribes by the Doctors and Rabbies For this cause Christ chose his Apostles not Scribes not Doctors not Priests but unlearned persons of the vulgar people void of knowledge unskilful and Asses CHAP. CII A Digression in praise of the Ass. BUt lest any one should falsly accuse me that I have call'd the Apostles Asses it will not be from the purpose to discourse the Mysteries of the Ass. For this creature the Hebrew Doctors expound to be the Hieroglyphick of Fortitude and Strength Patience and Clemency and that his influence dependeth on Sephiroth that is Hochma which signifies wisdom For his conditions are most necessary for a Scholar of wisdom for he lives by little food and is contented whatsoever it be Patiently he endures Penury Hunger Labour Stripes and all manner of Persecution yet of so low and poor an Understanding that he cannot discern between Lettice and Thistles Of a clean and innocent heart void of Choler being at peace with all living creatures patiently carrying all burthens laid upon his back as a reward whereof he is never troubled with Lice or any diseases and liveth longer than any other Beast An Ass saith Columella performs many and very necessary labours beyond his share for he is many times used in Plowing and drawing heavie Carts He is also used in Mills for the grinding of Corn. There is no Country but wants so necessary a creature as the Ass is How much the Ass is regarded and esteemed in Augury Valerius witnesses of C. Marius who having conquered both North and South being at length declared an enemy of his Country and pursued by Sylla by the advice and guidance of an Ass escaped all his threatnings an Ass being the cause of his flight and safety Also in the Old Law God so far honour'd the Ass that when he commanded every first begotten to be slain for Sacrifice he onely exempted Men and Asses granting that Man should be redeemed for a price and that a Sheep should be exchanged for the Ass. Christ would that this Beast should be a witness of his Nativity as is generally affirm'd And by him he would be saved from the hands of Herod The Ass was consecrated by the touch of the body of Christ for Christ ascending to Jerusalem in triumph for the Redemption of mankinde as it is recorded in the Gospel rode upon an As which was mysteriously foretold by the Oracle of Zachary And we read that Abraham the Father of the Elect rode onely upon Asses So that the Proverb commonly repeated among the Vulgar is not spoken in vain That the Ass carries Mysteries Wherefore I would hereby advertise the famous Professors of Sciences that if the unprofitable burthen of Humane Knowledge be not laid aside and that Lions borrowed skin put off not that of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah but of the Lion that goes about roaring and seeking whom he may devour whereby ye shall be turned into meer and bare Asses that ye will be utterly and altogether unfit to carry the Mysteries of Divine wisdom Neither had Apuleius of Megara's Ass been admitted to the holy Mysteries of Isis if he had not been turn'd out of a Philosopher into an Ass. We read Miraculous actions of divers Beasts as that an Elephant writ the Greek letters and Plutarch relateth a Story of one that being a Rival with Aristophanes the Grammarian lov'd a young Maid named Stephanopolides And in the same Author we read of a Dragon that lov'd a Virgin of Etholis The same also preserv'd his Nourisher running to her assistance as knowing her voice In Pliny we finde that a Serpent call'd Aspis was accustomed to come daily to a certain mans Table who perceiving the son of her Host to be stain by one of her young ones she flew her young one in revenge of the broken law of Hospitality nor would ever after for shame come to that house again The same Gratitude is recorded of a Panther to a man for helping her young ones out of a ditch for which she conducted him out of the desart till she brought him safe into the open Road. Histories also report that Cyrus was suckled by a Bitch and the founder of the Roman Citie by a She-wolf I pass over the Wonders related of Dolphins and the Gratitude of Lions for benefits receiv'd Nor will I speak of the Bear of Daunia nor of the Bull of Tarentum both tam'd by Pythagoras But that which surpasseth all admiration is this That Ammonius of Alexandria Master of Origen and Porphyrie is said to have had an Ass one of the hearers of his Wisdom a Fellow-scholar with the rest We finde also in sacred Story that an Ass was endued with the spirit of Prophecie for when Balaam a wise man and a Prophet went to curse the people of Israel he saw not the Angel of the Lord but the Ass saw him and with the voice of a man spake to Balaam that rode him Thus I say sometimes the simple and rude Idiot sees those things oft-times which a School-Doctor blinded with the Traditions of men cannot perceive Did not Sampson with the jaw-bone of an Ass kill and slay the Philistims and being thirsty when he prayed to the Lord the Lord loosned a tooth in the same jaw-bone and clean water sprang out immediately which when he had drank his spirits were refreshed and his strength recovered Did not Christ by the mouth of his silly Asses and rude Idiots the Apostles vanquish and put to silence all the Learned Philosophers of the Gentiles and great Lawyers among the Jews trampling under-foot all manner of worldly wisdom drinking to us out of the Cheek-bone of his Asses the water of wisdom and everlasting life By what has been already said it is now as clear as the Sun that there is no Beast so fit and proper to retain Divinity as the Ass into which creature if ye be not transform'd ye shall not be able to carry the Divine