1147 _Of the Tools the_ Devil _works with,_ (viz.) _Witches, Wizards or Warlocks, Conjurers, Magicians, Divines, Astrologers, Interpreters of Dreams, Tellers of Fortunes; and above all the rest, his particular modern Privy-Counsellors call'd Wits and Fools._
1148 Tho', as I have advanc'd in the foregoing Chapter, the _Devil_ has very much chang'd Hands in his modern Management of the World, and that instead of the Rabble and long Train of Implements reckoned up above, he now walks about in Beaus, Beauties, Wits and Fools; yet I must not omit to tell you that he has not dismiss'd his former Regiments, but like Officers in Time of Peace, he keeps them all in half Pay, or like Extraordinary Men at the Custom-House, they are kept at a Call, to be ready to fill up Vacancies, or to employ when he is more than ordinarily full of Business; and therefore it may not be amiss to give some brief Account of them, from Satan's own Memoirs, their Performance being no inconsiderable Part of his History.
1149 Nor will it be an unprofitable Digression to go back a little to the primitive Institution of all these _Orders_, for they are very antient, and I assure you, it requires great Knowledge of Antiquity, to give a Particular of their Original; I shall be very brief in it.
1150 In order then to this Enquiry, you must know that it was not for want of Servants, that Satan took this Sort of People into his Pay; he had, as I have observ'd in its Place, Millions of diligent _Devils_ at his Call, whatever Business, and however difficult, he had for them to do; but as I have said above, that our modern People are forwarder than even the _Devil_ himself can desire them to be; and that they come before they are call'd, run before they are sent, and crowd themselves into his Service; so it seems it was in those early Days, when the World was one universal Monarchy under his Dominion, as I have at large describ'd in its Place.
1151 In those Days the Wickedness of the World keeping a just Pace with their Ignorance, this inferior Sort of low priz'd Instruments did the _Devil_'s work mighty well; they drudg'd on in his Black-Art so laboriously, and with such good Success, that he found it was better to employ them as Tools to delude and draw in Mankind, than to send his invisible Implements about, and oblige them to take such Shapes and Dresses as were necessary upon every trifling Occasion; which, perhaps, was more Cost than Worship, more Pains than Pay.
1152 Having then a Set of these Voluntiers in his Service, the true _Devil_ had nothing to do but to keep an exact Correspondence with them, and communicate some needful Powers to them, to make them be and do something extraordinary, and give them a Reputation in their Business; and these, in a Word, did a great Part of, nay almost all the _Devil_'s Business in the World.
1153 To this Purpose gave he them Power, if we may believe old _Glanville_, _Baxter_, _Hicks_, and other learn'd Consultors of Oracles, to walk invisible, to fly in the Air, ride upon Broom-sticks, and other Wooden Gear, to interpret Dreams, answer Questions, betray Secrets, to talk (Gibberish) the universal Language, to raise Storms, sell Winds, bring up Spirits, disturb the Dead, and torment the Living, with a thousand other needful Tricks to amuse the World, keep themselves in Veneration, and carry on the _Devil_'s Empire in the World.
1154 The first Nations among whom these infernal Practices were found, were the _Chaldeans_; and that I may do Justice in earnest, as well as in jest, it must be allow'd that the _Chaldeans_, or those of them so call'd, were not Conjurers or Magicians, only Philosophers and Studiers of Nature, wise, sober and studious Men at first, and we have an extraordinary Account of them; and if we may believe some of our best Writers of Fame, _Abraham_ was himself famous among them for such Magick, as Sir _Walter Raleigh_ expresses it, _Qui Contemplatione Creaturarum Cognovit Creatorem_.
1155 Now granting this, it is all to my Purpose, namely, that the Devil drew these wise Men in, to search after more Knowledge than Nature could instruct them in; and the Knowledge of the true God being at that Time sunk very low, he debauch'd them all with Dreams, Apparitions, Conjurers, _&c._ till he ruin'd the just Notions they had, and made _Devils_ of them all, like himself.
1156 The learned _Senensis_, speaking of this _Chaldean_ Kind of Learning, gives us an Account of five Sorts of them; you will pardon me for being so grave as to go this Length back.
1157 1. _Chascedin_ or _Chaldeans_, properly so call'd, being Astronomers.
1158 2. _Asaphim_ or _Magicians_, such was _Zoroastres_ and _Balaam_ the Son of _Beor_.
1159 3. _Chatumim_ or Interpreters of Dreams and hard Speeches, Inchanters, _&c._
1160 4. _Mecasphim_ or Witches, call'd at first Prophets, afterwards _Malefici_ or _Venefici_, Poisoners.
1161 5. _Gazarim_ or _Auruspices_, and Diviners, such as divin'd by the Entrails of Beasts, the Liver in particular; mention'd in _Ezek._ or as others, call'd Augurs.
1162 Now, as to all these, I suppose, I may do them no wrong, if I say, however justifiable they were in the Beginning, the _Devil_ got them all into his Service at last, and that brings me to my Text again, from which the rest was a Digression.
1163 1. The _Chascedin_ or _Chaldean_ Astronomers turned Astrologers, Fortune-Tellers, Calculators of Nativities, and vile Deluders of the People, as if the Wisdom of the holy God was in them, as _Nebuchadnezzar_ said of _Daniel_ on that very Account.
1164 2. The _Asaphim_ or Magi, or Magicians; _Sixtus Senensis_ says, they were such as wrought by Covenants with Devils, but turn'd to it from their Wisdom, which was to study the practical Part of Natural Philosophy, working admirable Effects by the mutual Application of Natural Causes.
1165 3. The _Chartumim_ from being Reasoners or Disputers upon difficult Points in Philosophy, became Enchanters and Conjurers. So,
1166 4. The _Mecasphim_ or Prophets, they turn'd to be Sorcerers, Raisers of Spirits, such as wounded by an evil Eye, and by bitter Curses, and were afterwards fam'd for having familiar Converse with the _Devil_, and were called Witches.
1167 5. The _Gazarim_, from the bare observing of the good and bad Omens, by the Entrails of Beasts, flying of Birds, _&c._ were turn'd to Sacrists or Priests of the Heathen Idols and Sacrificers.
1168 Thus, I say, first or last the _Devil_ engross'd all the Wise-Men of the East, for so they are call'd; made them all his own, and by them he work'd Wonders, that is, he fill'd the World with lying Wonders, as if wrought by these Men, when indeed it was all his own, from Beginning to the End, and set on Foot meerly to propagate Delusion, impose upon blinded and ignorant Men; the God of this World blinded their Minds, and they were led away by the Subtilty of the _Devil_, to say no worse of it, till they became _Devils_ themselves, as to Mankind; for they carried on the Devil's Work upon all Occasions, and the Race of them still continue in other Nations, and some of them among our selves, as we shall see presently.
1169 The _Arabians_ follow'd the _Chaldeans_ in this Study, while it was kept within its due Bounds, and after them the _Egyptians_; and among the Latter we find that _Jannes_ and _Jambres_ were famous for their leading _Pharaoh_ by their pretended magic Performances, to reject the real Miracles of _Moses_; and History tells us of strange Pranks the Wise-Men, the Magicians and the Southsayers plaid to delude the People in the most early Ages of the World.
1170 But, as I say, now, the _Devil_ has improv'd himself, so he did then; for the _Grecian_ and _Roman_ Heathen Rites coming on, they outdid all the Magicians and Southsayers, by establishing the _Devil_'s lying Oracles, which, as a Master-Piece of Hell, did the _Devil_ more Honour, and brought more Homage to him, than ever he had before, or could arrive to since.
1171 Again, as by the setting up the Oracles, all the Magicians and Southsayers grew out of Credit; so at the ceasing of those Oracles, the _Devil_ was fain to go back to the old Game again, and take up with the Agency of Witches, Divinations, Inchantments and Conjurings, as I hinted before, answerable to the four Sorts mention'd in the Story of _Nebuchadnezzar_, (viz.) _Magicians_, _Astrologers_, the _Chaldeans_ and the _Southsayers_: How these began to be out of Request, I have mention'd already; but as the _Devil_ has not quite given them over, only laid them aside a little for the present, we may venture to ask what they were, and what Use he made of them when he did employ them.
1172 The Truth is, I think, as it was a very mean Employment for any thing that wears a human Countenance to take up, so I must acknowledge, I think, 'twas a mean low priz'd Business for _Satan_ to take up with; below the very _Devil_; below his Dignity as an Angelic, tho' condemn'd Creature; below him even as a _Devil_; to go to talk to a parcel of ugly, deform'd, spiteful, malicious old Women; to give them Power to do Mischief, who never had a Will, after they enter'd into the State of _old Woman-Hood_, to do any thing else: Why the _Devil_ always chose the ugliest old Women he could find; whether _Wizardism_ made them ugly, that were not so before, and whether the Ugliness, as it was a Beauty in Witchcraft, did not encrease according to the meritorious Performance in the Black-Trade? These are all Questions of Moment to be decided, (if human Learning can arrive to so much Perfection) in Ages to come.
1173 Some say the evil Eye and the wicked Look were Parts of the Enchantment, and that the Witches, when they were in the height of their Business, had a powerful Influence with both; that by looking upon any Person they could bewitch them, and make the _Devil_, _as the Scots express it_, ride through them booted and spurr'd; and that hence came that very significant Saying, _to look like a Witch_.
1174 The strange Work which the _Devil_ has made in the World, by this Sort of his Agents call'd Witches, is such, and so extravagantly wild, that except our Hope that most of those Tales happen not to be true, I know not how any one could be easy to live near a Widow after she was five and fifty.
1175 All the other Sorts of Emissaries which Satan employs, come short of these Ghosts; and Apparitions sometimes come and shew themselves, on particular Accounts, and some of those Particulars respect doing Justice, repairing Wrongs, preventing Mischief; sometimes in Matters very considerable, and on Things so necessary to publick Benefit, that we are tempted to believe they proceed from some vigilant Spirit who wishes us well; but on the other Hand, these Witches are never concern'd in any thing but Mischief; nay, if what they do portends good to one, it issues in hurt to many; the whole Tenour of their Life, their Design in general, is to do Mischief, and they are only employ'd in Mischief, and nothing else: How far they are furnish'd with Ability suitable to the horrid Will they are vested with, remains to be describ'd.
1176 These Witches, 'tis said, are furnish'd with Power suitable to the Occasion that is before them, and particularly that which deserves to be consider'd, as Prediction, and foretelling Events, which I insist the Author of Witchcraft is not accomplish'd with himself, nor can he communicate it to any other: How then _Witches_ come to be able to foretel Things to come, which, 'tis said, the _Devil_ himself cannot know, and which, as I have shewn, 'tis evident he does not know himself, is yet to be determin'd; that Witches do foretel, is certain, from the Witch of _Endor_, who foretold Things to _Saul_, which he knew not before, namely, that he should be slain in Battle the next Day, which accordingly came to pass.
1177 There are, however, and notwithstanding this particular Case, many Instances wherein the _Devil_ has not been able to foretel approaching Events, and that in Things of the utmost Consequence, and he has given certain foolish or false Answers in such Cases; the DEVIL's Priests, which were summon'd in by the Prophet _Elija_, to decide the Dispute between God and _Baal_, had the _Devil_ been able to have inform'd them of it, would certainly have receiv'd Notice from him, of what was intended against them by _Elija_; that is to say, that they would be all cut in pieces; for Satan was not such a Fool as not to know that _Baal_ was a Non-Entity, a Nothing, at best a dead Man, perish'd and rotting in his Grave; for _Baal_ was _Bell_ or _Belus_, an ancient King of the _Assyrian_ Monarchy, and he could no more answer by Fire to consume the Sacrifice, than he could raise himself from the dead.
1178 But the Priests of _Baal_ were left of their Master to their just Fate, namely, to be a Sacrifice to the Fury of a deluded People; hence I infer his Inability, for it would have been very unkind and ungrateful in him not to have answer'd them, if he had been able. There is another Argument raised here most justly against the _Devil_, with Relation to his being under Restraint, and that of greater Eminence than we imagine, and it is drawn from this very Passage, thus; 'tis not to be doubted but that _Satan_, who has much of the Element put into his Hands, as Prince of the Air, had a Power, or was able potentially speaking, to have answer'd _Baal_'s Priests by Fire; Fire being in Vertue of his airy Principality a Part of his Dominion; but he was certainly _withheld_ by the Superior Hand, which gave him that Dominion, I mean _withheld_ for the Occasion only: So in another Case, it was plain that _Balaam_, who was one of those Sorts of _Chaldeans_ mention'd above, who dealt in _Divinations_ and _Inchantments_, was withheld from cursing Israel.
1179 Some are of Opinion that _Balaam_ was not a Witch or a Dealer with the _Devil_ because 'tis said of him, or rather he says it of himself, that he saw the Visions of God, _Numb._ xxiv. 16. _He hath said_, who _heard the Words of_ GOD, _and knew the Knowledge of the most High, which saw the Visions of the Almighty, falling into a_ TRANCE, _but having his Eyes open_: Hence they alledge he was one of those Magi, which St. _Augustin_ speaks of, _de Divinatione_, who by the Study of Nature, and by the Contemplation of created Beings came to the Knowledge of the Creature; and that _Balaam_'s Fault was, that being tempted by the Rewards and Honours that the King promised him, he intended to have curs'd _Israel_; but when his Eyes were open'd, and that he saw they were God's own People, he durst not do it; they will have it therefore, that except, _as above_, _Balaam_ was a good Man, or at least that he had the Knowledge of the true God, and the Fear of that God upon him, and that he honestly declares this, _Numb._ xxii. 18. _If_ Balak _would give me his House full of Silver and Gold, I cannot go beyond the Word of the Lord_ MY GOD: Where tho' he is call'd a false Prophet by some, he evidently owns God, and assumes a Property in him, as other Prophets did; MY GOD, and I cannot go beyond his Orders; but that which gives me a better Opinion of _Balaam_ than all this is, his plain Prophesy of Christ, Chap. xxiv. 17. where he calls him the Star of _Jacob_, and declares, _I shall see him, but not now, I shall behold him, but not nigh; there shall come a Star out of_ Jacob, _and a Scepter shall rise out of_ Israel, _and shall smite the Corners of_ Moab, _and destroy all the Children of_ Seth, all which express not a Knowledge only, but a Faith in Christ; but I have done preaching, this is all by the by, I return to my Business, which is the History.
1180 There is another Piece of dark Practice here, which lies between Satan and his particular Agents, and which they must give us an Answer to, when they can, which I think will not be in haste; and that is about the obsequious _Devil_ submitting to be call'd up into Visibility, whenever an old Woman has her Hand cross'd with a white Six-pence, _as they Call it_: One would think that instead of these vile Things call'd Witches, being sold to the _Devil_, the _Devil_ was really sold for a Slave to them; for how far soever Satan's Residence is off of this State of Life, they have Power, it seems, to fetch him from home, and oblige him to come at their Call.
1181 I can give little Account of this, only that indeed so it is; nor is the Thing so strange in its self, as the Methods to do it are mean, foolish, and ridiculous; as making a Circle and dancing in it, pronouncing such and such Words, saying the Lord's Prayer backward, and the like; now is this agreeable to the Dignity of the Prince of the Air or Atmosphere, that he should be commanded forth with no more Pomp or Ceremony than that of muttering a few Words, such as the old Witches and he agree about? or is there something else in it, which none of us or themselves understand?
1182 Perhaps, indeed, he is always with those People call'd Witches and Conjurers, or at least some of his _Camp Volant_ are always present, and so upon the least call of the Wizard, it is but putting off the misty Cloak and showing themselves.
1183 Then we have a Piece of mock Pageantry in bringing those Things call'd witches or Conjurers to Justice, that is, first to know if a Woman be a Witch, throw her into a Pond, and if she be a Witch, she will swim, and it is not in her own Power to prevent it; if she does all she can to sink her self, it will not do, she will swim like a Cork. Then that a Rope will not hang a Witch, but you must get a With, a green Osyer; that if you nail a Horse-Shoe on the Sill of the Door, she cannot come into the House, or go out, if she be in; these and a thousand more, too simple to be believ'd, are yet so vouch'd, so taken for granted, and so universally receiv'd for Truth, that there is no resisting them without being thought atheistical.
1184 What Methods to take to know, who are _Witches_, I really know not; but on the other Side, I think there are variety of Methods to be used to know who are not; _W--- G---_, Esq; is a Man of Fame, his Parts are great, because his Estate is so; he has threescore and eight Lines of _Virgil_ by rote, and they take up many of the Intervals of his merry Discourses; he has just as many witty Stories to please Society; when they are well told, _once over_, he begins again, and so he lives in a round of Wit and Learning; he is a Man of great Simplicity and Sincerity; you must be careful not to mistake my Meaning, as to the Word Simplicity; some take it to mean Honesty, and so do I, only that it has a Negative attending it, in his particular Case; in a Word, _W---- G----_ is an honest Man, and no _Conjurer_; a good Character, I think, and without Impeachment to his Understanding, he may be a Man of Worth for all that; take the other Sex, there is the Lady _H----_ is another Discovery; bless us! what Charms in that Face! How bright those Eyes! How flowing white her Breasts! How sweet her Voice? add to all, how heavenly, divinely good her Temper! How inimitable her Behaviour! How spotless her Virtue! How perfect her Innocence! and to sum up her Character, we may add, the Lady _H----_ is no _Witch_; sure none of our Beau Critics will be so unkind now as to censure me in those honest Descriptions, as if I meant that my good Friend _W---- G----_ Esq; or my ador'd Angel, the bright, the charming Lady _H----_ were Fools; but what will not those Savages, call'd Critics, do, whose barbarous Nature enclines them to trample on the brightest Characters, and to cavil on the clearest Expressions?
1185 It might be expected of me, however, in justice to my Friends, and to the bright Characters of abundance of Gentlemen of this Age, who, by the Depth of their Politics, and the Height of their Elevations might be suspected, and might give us Room to charge them with Subterranean Intelligence; I say, it might be expected that I should clear up their Fame, and assure the World concerning them, even by Name, that they are no _Conjurers_, that they do not deal with the _Devil_, at least, not by the Way Witchcraft and Divination, such as Sir _T---k_, _E--- B---_, Esq; my Lord _Homily_, Coll. _Swagger_, _Jeoffry Well with_, Esq; Capt. _Harry Go Deeper_, Mr. _Wellcome Woollen_, Citizen and Merchant Taylor of _London_, _Henry Cadaver_, Esq; the D---- of _Caerfilly_, the Marquess of _Sillyhoo_, Sir _Edward Thro' and Thro'_ Bart. and a World of fine Gentlemen more, whose great Heads and Weighty Understandings have given the World such Occasion to challenge them with being at least descended from the _Magi_, and perhaps engaged with old Satan in his Politics and Experiments; but I, that have such good Intelligence among _Satan_'s Ministers of State, as is necessary to the present Undertaking, am thereby well able to clear up their Characters: and I doubt not, but they will value themselves upon it, and acknowledge their Obligation to me, for letting the World know the _Devil_ does not pretend to have had any Business with them, or to have enroll'd them in the List of his Operators; _in a Word_, that none of them are _Conjurers_: Upon which Testimony of mine, I expect they be no longer charg'd with, or so much as suspected of having an unlawful Quantity of Wit, or having any Sorts of it about them, that are contraband or prohibited, but that for the future they pass unmolested, and be taken for nothing but what they are, (_viz._) very honest worthy Gentlemen.
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