Chapter XI: Part II (2)

That he ranges about every where, is _with us_, and sometimes _in us_, sees when he is not seen, hears when he is not heard, comes in without Leave, and goes out without Noise, is neither to be shut in or shut out, that when he runs _from us_ we can't catch him, and when he runs _after us_ we can't escape him, is seen when he is not known, and is known when he is not seen; all these things, and more, we have Knowledge enough about to convince us of the Truth of them; so that, as I have said above, he is certainly walking to and fro thro' the Earth, _&c._ after _some manner or other_, and in some Figure or other, visible or invisible, as he finds Occasion. Now in order to make our History of him complete, the next Question before us is, how, and in what manner he acts with Mankind? how his Kingdom is carried on, and by what Methods he does his Business, for he certainly has a great deal of Business to do; he is not an idle Spectator, nor is he walking about _incognito_, and cloth'd in Mist and Darkness, purely in Kindness to us, that we should not be frighted at him; but 'tis in Policy, that he may act undiscover'd, that he may see and not be seen, may play his Game in the dark, and not be detected in his Roguery; that he may prompt Mischief, raise Tempests, blow up Coals, kindle Strife, embroil Nations, use Instruments, and not be known to have his Hand in any thing, when at the same time he really has a Hand in every thing.

Some are of Opinion, _and I among the rest_, that if the _Devil_ was personally and visibly present among us, and we conversed with him Face to Face, we should be so familiar with him in a little time, that his ugly Figure would not affect us at all, that his Terrors would not fright us, or that we should any more trouble our selves about him, than we did with the last great Comet in 1678, which appear'd so long and so constantly without any particular known Event, that at last we took no more Notice of it than of the other ordinary Stars which had appear'd before we or our Ancestors were born.

Nor indeed should we have much Reason to be frighted at him, or at least none of those silly Things could be said of him which we now amuse our selves about, and by which we set him up like a Scare-Crow to fright Children and old Women, to fill up old Stories, make Songs and Ballads, and in a Word, carry on the low priz'd Buffoonery of the common People; we should either see him in his Angelic Form, as he was from the Original, or if he has any Deformities entail'd upon him by the supreme Sentence, and in Justice to the Deformity of his Crime, they would be of a superior Nature, and fitted more for our Contempt as well as Horror, than those weak fancied Trifles contrived by our antient Devil-raisers and Devil-makers, to feed the wayward Fancies of old Witches and Sorcerers, who cheated the ignorant World with a _Devil_ of their own making, set forth, _in terrorem_, with Bat's Wings, Horns, cloven Foot, long Tail, fork'd Tongue, and the like.

In the next Place, be his frightful Figure what it would, and his Legions as numerous as the Host of Heaven, we should see him still, as the Prince of _Devils_, tho' monstrous as a Dragon, flaming as a Comet, tall as a Mountain, yet dragging his Chain after him equal to the utmost of his supposed Strength; always in Custody of his _Jailors_ the Angels, his Power over-power'd, his Rage cow'd and abated, or at least aw'd and under Correction, limited and restrain'd; in a Word, we should see him a vanquish'd Slave, his Spirit broken, his Malice, tho' not abated, yet Hand-cuff'd and overpower'd, and he not able to work any Thing against us by Force; so that he would be to us but like the Lions in the Tower, encag'd and lock'd up, unable to do the Hurt he wishes to do, and that we fear, or indeed any hurt at all.

From hence 'tis evident, that 'tis not his Business to be public, or to walk up and down in the World visibly, and in his own Shape; his Affairs require a quite different Management, as might be made apparent from the Nature of Things, and the Manner of our Actings, as Men, either with our selves or to one another.

Nor could he be serviceable in his Generation, as a public Person as now he is, or answer the End of his Party who employ him, and who, if he was to do their Business in public, as he does in private, would not be able to employ him at all.

As in our modern Meetings for the Propagation of Impudence and other Virtues, there would be no Entertainment and no Improvement for the Good of the Age, if the People did not all appear in Masque, and conceal'd from the common Observation; so neither could _Satan_ (from whose Management those more happy Assemblies are taken as Copies of a glorious Original) perform the usual and necessary Business of his Profession, if he did not appear wholly in Covert and under needful Disguises; how, but for the Convenience of his Habit, could he call himself into so many Shapes, act on so many different Scenes, and turn so many Wheels of State in the World, as he has done? as a meer profess'd _Devil_ he could do nothing.

Had he been oblig'd always to act the meer Devil in his own Clothes, and with his own Shape, appearing uppermost in all Cafes and Places, he could never have preach'd in so many Pulpits, presided in so many Councils, voted in so many Committees, sat in so many Courts, and influenc'd so many Parties and Factions in Church and State, as we have Reason to believe he has done in our Nation, and in our Memories too, as well as in other Nations and in more antient Times. The Share Satan has had in all the weighty Confusions of the Times, ever since the first Ages of Christianity in the World, has been carried on with so much Secresy, and so much with an Air of Cabal and Intrigue, that nothing can have been manag'd more subtilly and closely, and in the same Manner has he acted in our Times, in order to conceal his Interest, and conceal the Influence he has had in the Councils of the World.

Had it been possible for him to have raised the Flames of Rebellion and War so often in this Nation, as he certainly has done? Could he have agitated the Parties on both Sides, and inflam'd the Spirits of three Nations, if he had appears in his own Dress, a meer naked DEVIL? It is not the Devil as a _Devil_ that does the Mischief, but the _Devil_ in Masquerade, _Satan_ in full Disguise, and acting at the Head of civil Confusion and Distraction.

If History may be credited, the _French_ Court at the Time of our old Confusions was made the Scene of Satan's Politicks, and prompted both Parties in _England_ and in _Scotland_ also to quarrel, and how was it done? Will any Man offer to scandalize the _Devil_ so much as to say, or so much as to suggest that _Satan_ had no Hand in it all? Did not the _Devil_, by the Agency of Cardinal _Richlieu_, send 400000 Crowns at one Time, and 600000 at another, to the _Scots_, to raise an Army and march boldly into _England?_ and did not the same _Devil_ at the same time, by other Agents, remit 800000 Crowns to the other Party, in order to raise an Army to fall upon the _Scots_? nay, did not the _Devil_ with the same Subtilty send down the Archbishop's Order to impose the Service-Book upon the People in _Scotland_, and at the same Time raise a Mob against it, in the great Church (at St. _Giles_'s)? Nay, did not he actually, in the Person of an old Woman (his favourite Instrument) throw the three-leg'd Stool at the Service-Book, and animate the zealous People to take up Arms for Religion, and turn Rebels for God Sake?

All these happy and successful Undertakings, tho' 'tis no more to be doubted they were done by the Agency of _Satan_, and in a very surprizing Manner too, yet were all done in secret, by what I call Possession and Injection, and by the Agency and Contrivance of such Instruments, or by the _Devil_ in the Disguise of such Servants as he found out fitted to be employ'd in his Work, and who he took a more effectual Care in concealing of.

But we shall have Occasion to touch all this Part over again, when we come to discourse of the particular Habits and Disguises which the _Devil_ has made use of, all along in the World, the better to cover his Actions, and to conceal his being concern'd in them.

In the mean Time the Cunning or Artifice the _Devil_ makes use of in all these Things is in it self very considerable; 'tis an old Practice of his using, and he has gone on in diverse Measures, for the better concealing himself in it; which Measures, tho' he varies sometimes, as his extraordinary Affairs require, yet they are in all Ages much the same, and have the same Tendency; namely, that he may get all his Business carried on by the Instrumentality of Fools; that he may make Mankind Agents in their own Destruction, and that he may have all his Work done in such a Manner as that he may seem to have no Hand in it; nay he contrives so well, that the very Name _Devil_ is put upon his opposite Party, and the Scandal of the black Agent lies all upon them.

In order then to look a little into his Conduct, let us enquire into the common Mistakes about him, see what Use is made of them to his Advantage, and how far Mankind is imposed upon in those Particulars, and to what Purpose.

CHAP. IV.

_Of Satan's Agents or Missionaries, and their Actings upon and in the
Minds of Men in his Name._

Infinite Advantages attend the _Devil_ in his retired Government, as they respect the Management of his Interests, and the carrying on his absolute Monarchy in the World; particularly as it gives him room to act by the Agency of his inferior Ministers and Messengers, call'd on many Occasions _his Angels_, of whom he has an innumerable _Multitude_, at his Command, enough, for ought we know, to spare one to attend every Man and Woman now alive in the World; and of whom, if we may believe our second sight Christians, the Air is always as full, as a Beam of the Evening Sun is of Insects, where they are ever ready for Business, and to go and come as their great Governor issues out Orders for their Directions.

These, as they are all of the same spirituous Quality with himself, and consequently invisible like him, _except as above_, are ready upon all Occasions to be sent to _and into_ any such Person, and for such Purposes, _superior Limitations only excepted_, as the grand Director of _Devils_, (The _Devil_ properly so call'd guides them;) and be the Subject or the Object what it will, _that is to say_, be the Person they are sent to, _or into, as above_, who it will, and the Business the Messenger is to do what it will, they are sufficiently qualified; for this is a Particular to Satan's Messengers or Agents, that they are not like us humane _Devils_ here in the World, some bred up one Way, some another, some of one Trade, some of another, and consequently some fit for some Business, some for another, some good for something, and some good for nothing, but his People are every one fit for every Thing, can find their Way every where, and are a Match for every Body they are sent to; in a Word, there are no _foolish Devils_, they are all fully qualified for their Employment, fit for any thing he sets them about, and very seldom mistake their Errand or fail in the Business they are sent to do.

Nor is it strange at all, that the _Devil_ should have such a numberless Train of Deputy _Devils_ to act under him; for it must be acknowledged he has a great deal of Business upon his Hands, a vast deal of Work to do, abundance of public Affairs under his Direction, and an infinite Variety of particular Cases always before him; _for Example_.

How many Governments in the World are wholly in his Administration? how many Divans and great Councils under his Direction? nay, I believe, 'twould be hard to prove that there is or has been one Council of State in the World for many hundred Years past, down to the Year 1713, (we don't pretend to come nearer home) where the _Devil_ by himself, or his Agents in one Shape or another, has not sat as a Member, if not taken the Chair.

And tho' some learn'd Authors may dispute this Point with me, by giving some Examples where the Councils of Princes have been acted by a better Hand, and where Things have been carried against _Satan_'s Interest, and even to his great Mortification, it amounts to no more than this; namely, that in such Cases the _Devil_ has been out-voted; but it does not argue but he might have been present there, and have push'd his Interest as far as he could, only that he had not the Success he expected; for I don't pretend to say that he has never been disappointed; but those Examples are so rare, and of so small Signification, that when I come to the Particulars, as I shall do in the Sequel of this History, you will find them hardly worth naming; and that, take it one Time with another, the _Devil_ has met with such a Series of Success in all his Affairs, and has so seldom been baulk'd; and where he has met with a little Check in his Politicks, has notwithstanding, so soon and so easily recover'd himself, regain'd his lost Ground, or replac'd himself in another Country when he has been supplanted in one, that his Empire is far from being lessen'd in the World, for the last thousand Years of the Christian Establishment.

Suppose we take an Observation from the Beginning of _Luther_, or from the Year 1420, and call the Reformation a Blow to the _Devil_'s Kingdom, which before that was come to such a Height in Christendom, that 'tis a Question not yet thorowly decided, whether that Medley of Superstition and horrible Heresies, that Mass of Enthusiam and Idols call'd the Catholick Hierarchy, was a Church of God or a Church of the _Devil_; whether it was an Assembly of Saints or a Synagogue of Satan: I say, take that Time to be the _Epocha_ of Satan's Declension and of Lucifer's falling from Heaven, that is, from the Top of his terrestrial Glory, yet whether he did not gain in the Defection of the _Greek_ Church about that Time and since, as much as he lost in the Reformation of the _Roman_, is what Authors are not yet agreed about, not reckoning what he has regain'd since of the Ground which he had lost even by the Reformation, (_viz._) the Countries of the Duke of _Savoy_'s Dominion, where the Reformation is almost eaten out by Persecution; the whole _Valtoline_ and some adjacent Countries; the whole Kingdom of _Poland_ and almost all _Hungary_; for since the last War the Reformation, as it were, lies gasping for Breath, and expiring in that Country, also several large Provinces in _Germany_, as _Austria_, _Carinthia_, and the whole Kingdom of _Bohemia_, where the Reformation once powerfully planted, receiv'd its Death's Wound at the Battle of _Prague_, _Ann._ 1627, and languish'd but a very little while, died and was buried, and good King POPERY reign'd in its stead.

To these Countries thus regain'd to Satan's infernal Empire, let us add his modern Conquests and the Encroachments he has made upon the Reformation in the present Age, which are, _however light we make of them_, very considerable (_viz._) the Electorate of the _Rhine_ and the _Palatinate_, the one fallen to the House of _Bavaria_, and the other to that of _Neuburgh_, both Popish; the Dutchy of _Deux Ponts_ fallen just now to a popish Branch, the whole Electorate of _Saxony_ fallen under the Power of popish Government by the Apostacy of their Princes, and more likely to follow the Fate of _Bohemia_, whenever the diligent _Devil_ can bring his new Project in _Poland_ to bear, as 'tis more than probable he will do so some time or other, by the growing Zeal as well as Power of (that House of Bigots) the House of _A----_.

But to sum up the dull Story; we must add in the Roll of the _Devil_'s Conquests, the whole Kingdom of _France_, where we have in one Year seen, to the immortal Glory of the _Devil_'s Politicks, that his Measures have prevailed to the total Extirpation of the Protestant Churches without a War; and that Interest which for 200 Years had supported it self in spight of Persecutions, Massacres, five civil Wars and innumerable Battles and Slaughters, at last receiv'd its mortal Wound from its own Champion _Henry_ IV. and sunk into utter Oblivion, by _Satan_'s most exquisite Management under the Agency of his two prime Ministers Cardinal _Richlieu_ and _Lewis_ the XIV, whom he entirely possess'd.

Thus far we have a melancholy View of the _Devil_'s new Conquests, and the Ground he has regain'd upon the Reformation, in which his secret Management has been so exquisite, and his Politicks so good, that could he bring but one Thing to pass, which by his own former Mistake, (for the _Devil_ is not infallible) he has rendred impossible, he would bring the Protestant Interest so near its Ruin, that Heaven would be, _as it were_, put to the Necessity of working by Miracle to prevent it; _the Case is thus_.

Antient Historians tell us, and from good Authority, that the DEVIL finding it for his Interest to bring his favourite _Mahomet_ upon the Stage, and spread the victorious Half-Moon upon the Ruin of the Cross, having with great Success, rais'd first the _Saracen_ Empire, and then the _Turkish_ to such a Height, as that the Name of Christian seemed to be extirpated in those two Quarters of the World, which were then not the greatest only, but by far the most powerful, I mean _Asia_ and _Africa_; having totally laid wast all those antient and flourishing Churches of _Africa_, the Labours of St. _Cyprian_, _Tertullian_, St. _Augustine_, and 670 Christian Bishops and Fathers, who govern'd there at once, also all the Churches of _Smyrna_, _Philadelphia_, _Ephesus_, _Sardis_, _Antioch_, _Laodicea_, and innumerable others in _Pontus_, _Bithynia_, and the Provinces of the lesser _Asia_.

The _Devil_ having, I say, finish'd these Conquests so much to his Satisfaction, began to turn his Eyes Northward, and tho' he had a considerable Interest in the _Whore of Babylon_, and had brought his Power by the Subjection of the _Roman_ Hierarchy to a great Height, yet finding the Interest of _Mahomet_ most suitable to his _devilish_ Purposes, as most adapted to the Destruction of Mankind, and laying waste the World, he resolv'd to espouse the growing Power of the _Turk_, and bring him in upon _Europe_ like a Deluge.

In order to this, and to make Way for an easy Conquest, like a true _Devil_ he work'd under Ground, and sap'd the Foundation of the Christian Power, by sowing Discord among the reigning Princes of _Europe_; that so envying one another they might be content to stand still and look on while the _Turk_ devoured them one by one, and at last might swallow them up all.

This _devilish_ Policy took to his Heart's Content; the Christian Princes stood still, stupid, dozing, and unconcern'd, till the Turk conquered _Thrace_, over-run _Servia_, _Macedonia_, _Bulgaria_, and all the Remains of the _Grecian_ Empire, and at last the Imperial City of _Constantinople_ it self.

Finding this politic Method so well answer his Ends, the _Devil_, who always improves upon the Success of his own Experiments, resolv'd from that time to lay a Foundation for the making those Divisions and Jealousies of the Christian Princes immortal; whereas they were at first only personal, and founded in private Quarrels between the Princes respectively; such as _Emulation_ of one another's Glory, _Envy_ at the extraordinary Valour, or other Merit of this or that Leader, or _Revenge_ of some little Affront; for which notwithstanding, so great was the Piety of Christian Princes in those Days, that they made no Scruple to sacrifice whole Armies, yea, Nations, to their Piques and private Quarrels, _a certain Sign whose Management they were under_.

These being the Causes by which the DEVIL first sow'd the Seeds of Mischief among them, and the Success so well answering his Design, he could not but wish to have the same Advantage always ready at his Hand; and therefore he resolv'd to order it so, that these Divisions, which, however useful to him, were only personal, and consequently temporary, like an Annual in the Garden, which must be rais'd anew every Season, might for the future be national, and consequently durable and immortal.

To this end it was necessary to lay the Foundation of eternal Feud, not in the Humours and Passions of Men only, but in the Interests of Nations: The Way to do this was to form and state the Dominion of those Princes, by such a Plan drawn in Hell, and laid out from a Scheme truly political, of which the _Devil_ was chief Engineer; that the Divisions should always remain, being made a natural Consequence of the Situation of the Country, the Temper of their People, the Nature of their Commerce, the Climate, the Manner of living, or something which should for ever render it impossible for them to unite.

This, I say, was a Scheme truly infernal, in which the _Devil_ was as certainly the principal Operator, to illustrate great Things by small, as ever _John_ of _Leyden_ was of the High _Dutch_ Rebellion, or Sir _John B------t_ of the late Project, called the _South-Sea_ Stock. Nor did this Contrivance of the _Devil_ at all dishonour his Author, or the Success appear unworthy of the Undertaker; for we see it not only answer the End, and made the _Turk_ victorious at the same Time, and formidable to _Europe_ ever after, but it works to this Day, the Foundation of the Divisions remains in all the several Nations, and that to such a Degree that it is impossible they should unite.

This is what I hinted before, in which the _Devil_ was mistaken, and is another instance that he knows nothing of what is to come; for this very Foundation of immortal Jealousy and Discord between the several Nations of _Spain_, _France_, _Germany_, and others, which the _Devil_ himself with so much Policy contriv'd, and which serv'd his Interests so long, is now the only Obstruction to his Designs, and prevents the entire Ruin of the Reformation; for tho' the reform'd Countries are very Powerful, and some of them, as _Great Britain_ and _Prussia_ is particularly, more powerful than ever; yet it cannot be said that the Protestant Interests in general are stronger than formerly, or so strong as they were in 1623 under the victorious Arms of the _Swede_; On the other Hand, were it possible that the Popish Powers, to wit, of _France_, _Spain_, _Germany_, _Italy_ and _Poland_, which are intirely Popish, could heartily unite their Interests, and should join their Powers to attack the Protestants, the latter would find it very difficult, if not impossible, to defend themselves.

But as fatal as such a Union of the Popish Powers would be, and as useful as it would be to the _Devil_'s Cause at this time, not the _Devil_ with all his Angels are able to bring it to pass; no, not with all his Craft and Cunning; he divided them, but he can't unite them; so that even just as 'tis with Men, so 'tis with _Devils_, they may do in an Hour what they can't undo in an Age.

This may comfort those faint-hearted Christians among us, who cry out of the Danger of a religious War in _Europe_, and what terrible Things will happen when _France_, and _Spain_, and _Germany_, and _Italy_, and _Poland_ shall all unite; let this Answer satisfy them, The _Devil_ himself can never make _France_ and _Spain_, or _France_ and the Emperor unite; jarring Humours may be reconcil'd, but jarring Interests never can: They may unite so as to make Peace, _tho' that can hardly be long_, but never so as to make Conquests together; they are too much afraid of one another, for one to bear, that any Addition of Strength should come to the other. But this is a Digression. We shall find the _Devil_ mistaken and disappointed too on several other Occasions, as we go along.

I return to Satan's Interest in the several Governments and Nations, by vertue of his Invisibility, and which he carries on by Possession; 'tis by this Invisibility that he presides in all the Councils of _foreign Powers_, (for we never mean our own, that we always premise;) and what tho' it is alledged by the Criticks, that he does not preside, because there is always a President; I say, if he is not in the President's Chair, yet if he be in the President himself, the Difference is not much; and if he does not vote as a Counsellor, if he votes in the Counsellor, 'tis much the same; and here, as it was in the Story of _Ahab_ the King of _Israel_, as he was a _lying Spirit_ in the Mouths of _all his Prophets_, so we find him a Spirit of some particular evil Quality or other, in all the Transactions and Transactors on that Stage of Life we call the State.

Thus he was a dissembling Spirit in _Char._ IX. a turbulent Spirit in _Char._ V. Emperors; a bigotted Spirit of Fire and Faggot in our Queen _Mary_; an apostate Spirit in _Hen._ IV.; a cruel Spirit in _Peter_ of _Castile_; a revengeful Spirit in _Ferdinand_ II.; a _Phaeton_ in _Lewis_ XIV.; a _Sardanapalus_ in _C------_ II.

In the Great Men of the World, take them a degree lower than the Class of Crown'd Heads, he has the same secret Influence; and hence it comes to pass, that the greatest Heroes, and Men of the highest Character for Atchievements of Glory, either by their Virtue or Valour, however they have been crowned with Victories, and elevated by human Tongues, whatever the most consummate Virtues or good Qualities they have been known by, yet they have always had some Devil or other in them to preserve _Satan_'s Claim to them uninterrupted, and prevent their Escape out of his Hands; thus we have seen a bloody Devil in a _D'Alva_; a profligate Devil in a _Buckingham_; a lying, artful, or politick Devil in a _Richlieu_; a treacherous Devil in a _Mazarin_; a cruel, merciless Devil in a _Cortez_; a debauch'd Devil in an _Eugene_; a conjuring Devil in a _Luxemburg_; and a covetous Devil in a _M---------h_: In a word, tell me the Man, I tell you the Spirit that reign'd in him.

Nor does he thus carry on his secret Management by Possession in Men of the first Magnitude only, but have you not had Evidences of it among our selves? how has he been a _lying_ Spirit in the Mouths of our Prophets, a factious Spirit in the Heads of our Politicians, a profuse _Devil_ in a _B-----s_, a corrupt Devil in _M-----_, a proud Spirit in my Lord _Plausible_, a bullying Spirit in my Lord _Bugbear_, a talkative Spirit in his Grace the D---- of _Rattle-hall_, a scribling Spirit in my Lord _H------_, a run-away Spirit in my Lord _Frightful_; and so thro' a long Roll of Heroes, whose exceeding, and particular Qualifications proclaim loudly what Handle the _Devil_ took them by, and how fast he held them; for these were all Men of ancient Fame, I hope you know that.

From Men of Figure, we descend to the Mob, and 'tis there the same thing; Possession, like the Plague, is _Morbus Plebaei_; not a Family but he is a Spirit of Strife and Contention among them; not a Man but he has a Part in him; he is a drunken _Devil_ in one, a whoring _Devil_ in another, a thieving _Devil_ in a third, a lying _Devil_ in the fourth, and so on, to a thousand, and a hundred thousand, _ad infinitum_.

Nay, even the Ladies have their Share in the Possession; and if they have not the _Devil_ in their Heads, or in their Tails, in their Faces or their Tongues, it must be some poor despicable She-devil that Satan did not think it worth his while to meddle with; and the Number of those that are below his Operation, I doubt is very small. But that Part I have much more to say to in its Place.

From Degrees of Persons, to Professions and Employments, 'tis the same; we find the _Devil_ is a true Posture-master, he assumes any Dress, appears in any Shape, counterfeits every Voice, acts upon every Stage; here he wears a Gown, there a long Robe; here he wears the Jack-Boots, there the Small-Sword; is here an _Enthusiast_, there a _Buffoon_; on this Side he acts the _Mountebank_, on that Side the _Merry-Andrew_; nothing comes amiss to him, from the Great _Mogul_, to the _Scaramouch_; the _Devil_ is in them, more or less, and plays his Game so well that he makes sure Work with 'em all: He knows where the _Common Foible_ lies, which is UNIVERSAL PASSION, what Handle to take hold of every Man by, and how to cultivate his Interest so, as not to fail of his End, or mistake the Means.

How then can it be deny'd but that his acting thus _in tenebris_, and keeping out of the sight of the World, is abundantly his Interest, and that he could do nothing, comparatively speaking, by any other Method?

What would this publick Appearance have signified? Who would have entertain'd him in his own proper Shape and Person? Even B---- _B----_ himself, tho' all the World knows him to have a foolish _Devil_ in him, would not have been Fool enough to have taken him into his Service, if he had known him: And my Lord _Simpleton_ also, who _Satan_ has set up for a cunning Fool, seems to have it sit much better upon him now he passes for a Fool of Art, than it should have done if the naked DEVIL had come and challenged him for a Fool in Nature.

Infinite Variety illustrate the _Devil_'s Reign among the Sons of Men; all which he manages with admirable Dexterity, and a Slight particular to himself, by the mere Advantage of his present conceal'd Situation, and which, had he been obliged to have appear'd in Publick, had been all lost, and he capable of just nothing at all, or at least of nothing more than the other ordinary Politicians of Wickedness could have done without him.

Now, Authors are much divided as to the manner how the _Devil_ manages his proper Instruments for Mischief; for Satan has a great many Agents in the Dark, who neither have the DEVIL in them, nor are they much acquainted with him, and yet he serves himself of them, whether of their Folly, or of that other Frailty call'd Wit, 'tis all one, he makes them do his Work, when they think they are doing their own; nay, so cunning is he in his guiding the weak Part of the World, that even when they think they are serving God, they are doing nothing less or more than serving the _Devil_; nay, 'tis some of the nicest Part of his Operation, to make them believe they are serving God, when they do his Work. Thus those who the Scripture foretold should persecute Christ's Church in the latter Days, were to think they do God _good Service_: Thus the Inquisition, (for Example,) it may be, at this time, in all the acts of Christian Cruelty which they are so famous for (if any of them are ignorant enough not to know that they are _Devils_ incarnate) they may, for ought we know, go on for God's sake; torture, murther, starve to Death, mangle and macerate, and all for God, and God's Catholic Church; and 'tis certainly the _Devil_'s Master-piece to bring Mankind to such a Perfection of Devilism as that of the _Inquisition_ is; for _if the_ Devil _had not been in them_, could they christen such a _Hell-fire_ Judicature as the _Inquisition_ is, by the Name of _the Holy Office_? And so in Paganism, how could so many Nations among the poor _Indians_ offer human Sacrifices to their Idols, and murther thousands of Men, Women and Children, to appease this God of the Air, when he is angry, if the _Devil_ did not act in them under the Vizor of Devotion?

But we need not go to _America_, or to the Inquisition, not to Paganism or to Popery either, to look for People that are sacrificing to the _Devil_, or that give their Peace-offerings to him, while they are offer'd upon God's Altar; are not our Churches (ay, and Meeting-houses too, as much as they pretend to be more sanctified than their Neighbours) full of _Devil_ Worshipers? Where do his Devotees gratulate one another, and congratulate him, more than at Church? where, while they hold up their Hands, and turn up their Eyes towards Heaven, they make all their Vows to Satan, or at least to the fair _Devils_ his Representatives, which I shall speak of in their Place.

Do not the Sons of God make Assignations with the Daughters of Men in the very House of Worship? Do they not talk to them in the Language of the Eyes? And what is at the Bottom of it, while one Eye is upon the Prayer-book, and the other adjusting their Dress? Are they not sacrificing to _Venus_ and _Mercury_, nay, and the very _Devil_ they dress at?

Let any Man impartially survey the Church-Gestures, the Air, the Postures and the Behaviour; let him keep an exact Roll, and if I do not shew him two _Devil_ Worshipers for one true Saint, then the Word _Saint_ must have another Signification than I ever yet understood it by.

The Church (as a Place) is the Receptacle of the Dead, as well as the Assembly of the Living; what relates to those below, I doubt Satan, if he would be so kind, could give a better Account of than I can; but as to the Superficies, I pretend to so much Penetration as to tell you, that there are more Spectres, more Apparitions always there, than you that know nothing of the matter may be aware of.

I happen'd to be at an eminent Place of God's most devout Worship the other Day, with a Gentleman of my Acquaintance, who, I observed, minded very little the Business he ought to come about; first I saw him always busy staring about him and bowing this Way and that Way, nay, he made two or three bows and Scrapes when he was repeating the Responses to the Ten Commandments, and assure you he made it correspond strangely, so that the Harmony was not so broken in upon as you would expect it should; thus; _Lord_, and a Bow to a fine Lady just come up to her Seat, _have Mercy upon us_; ---- three Bows to a Throng of Ladies that came into the next Pew altogether, _and incline_ ---- then stop'd to make a great Scrape to my Lord ----, _our Hearts_, just then the Hearts of all the Church were gone off from the Subject, for the Response was over, so he huddled up the rest in Whispers, for _God a Mighty_ could hear him well enough, _he said_, nay, as well as if he had spoken as loud as his Neighbours did.

After we were come home, I ask'd him what he meant by all this, and what he thought of it?

How could I help it, _said he_, I must not be rude.

What, _says I_, rude to who?

Why, _says he_, there came in so many she _Devils_ I could not help it.

What, _said I_, could not you help bowing when you were saying your Prayers?

O Sir! _says he_, the Ladies would have thought I had slighted them, I could not avoid it.

Ladies! _said I_, I thought you call'd them _Devils_ just now.

Ay, ay, _Devils_, _said he_, little charming Devils, but I must not be rude to them however.

Very well, _said I_, then you would be rude to _God a Mighty_, because you could not be rude to the Devil?

Why that's true, _said he_, but what can we do? there's no going to Church as the Case stands now, if we must not worship the _Devil_ a little between whiles.

This is the Case indeed, and Satan carries his Point on every Hand; for if the fair speaking World, and the fair looking World are generally _Devils_, that is to say, are in his Management, we are sure the foul speaking and the foul doing World are all on his Side, and you have then only the fair-doing Part of the World that are out of his Class, and when we speak of them, _O how few!_

But I return to the _Devil_'s managing our wicked Part, for this he does with most exquisite Subtilty; and this is one Part of it, (_viz._) he thrusts our Vices into our Virtues, by which he mixes the Clean and the Unclean, and thus by the Corruption of the one, poisons and debauches the other, so that the Slave he governs cannot account for his own common Actions, and is fain to be oblig'd to his Maker to accept of the Heart without the Hands and Feet; to take, as we vulgarly express it, _the Will_ for the _Deed_, and if Heaven was not so good to come into that half in half Service, I don't see but the _Devil_ would carry away all his Servants: Here indeed I should enter into a long Detail of involuntary Wickedness, which in short, is neither more or less than the _Devil_ in every Body, ay, in every one of you, (our Governors excepted) take it as you please.

What is our Language when we look back with Reflection and Reproach on past Follies? _I think I was bewitch'd_, I was _posses'd_, _certainly the Devil was in me, or else I had never been such a Sot_: _Devil_ in you, Sir! Ay, who doubts it; you may be sure the _Devil_ was in you, and there he is still, and next Time he can catch you in the same Snare, you'll be just the same SOT that you say you were before.

In short, the _Devil_ is too cunning for us, and manages us his own Way; he governs the Vices of Men by his own Methods; tho' every Crime will not make a Man a _Devil_, yet it must be owned that every Crime puts the Criminal in some Measure into the Devil's Power, gives him a Title to the Man, and he treats him magisterially ever after.

Some tell us every single Man, every individual has a _Devil_ attending him, to execute the Orders of the (Grand Signior) Devil of the whole Clan; that this attending _evil Angel_, for so he is call'd, sees every Step you take, is with you in every Action, prompts you to every Mischief, and leaves you to do every Thing that is pernicious to your self; they also alledge that there is a good Spirit which attends him too, which latter is always accessary to every Thing that we do that is good, and reluctant to evil; If this is true, how comes it to pass that those two opposite Spirits do not quarrel about it when they are pressing us to contrary Actions, one good and the other evil? and why does the evil tempting Spirit so often prevail? Instead of answering this difficult Question, I shall only tell you, as to this Story of good and evil Angels attending every particular Person, 'tis a good Allegory indeed to represent the Struggle in the Mind of Man between good and evil Inclinations; but as to the rest, the best Thing I can say of it is, _that_ I think _'tis a Fib_.

But to take Things as they are, and only talk by way of natural Consequence, for to argue from Nature is certainly the best Way to find out the _Devil_'s Story; if there are good and evil Spirits attending us, that is to say, a good Angel and a _Devil_, then 'tis no unjust Reproach upon any Body to say, when they follow the Dictates of the latter, the _Devil_ is in them; or they are _Devils_; nay, I must carry it farther still, namely, that as the Generality and greatest Number of People do follow and obey the evil Spirit and not the good, and that the predominate Power is allowed to be the nominating Power; you must then allow, that in short, the greater Part of Mankind has the Devil in them, and so I come to my Text.

To this Purpose give me leave to borrow a few Lines of a Friend on this very Part of the Devil's Management.

To Places and Persons he suits his Disguises,
And dresses up all his Banditti,
Who as Pickpockets flock to a Country Assizes,
Croud up to the Court and the City.

They're at every Elbow and every Ear,
And ready at every call, Sir;
The vigilant Scout plants his Agents about,
And has something to do with us all, Sir.

In some he has Part, and in some he's the Whole,
And of some (like the Vicar of _Baddow_)
It can neither be said they have Body or Soul,
But only are _Devils_ in Shadow.

The Pretty and Witty, are Devils in Masque,
The Beauties are meer Apparitions;
The homely alone by their Faces are known,
And the Good by their ugly Conditions.

The Beaus walk about like the Shadows of Men.
And wherever he leads 'em they follow,
But tak'em and shak'em, there's not one in ten
But's as light as a Feather and hollow.

Thus all his Affairs he drives on in Disguise,
And he tickles Mankind with a Feather:
Creeps in at our Ears, and looks out at our Eyes,
And jumbles our Senses together.

He raises the Vapours, and prompts the Desires,
And to ev'ry dark Deed holds the Candle;
The Passions enflames and the Appetite fires,
And takes ev'ry Thing by the Handle.

Thus he walks up and down in compleat Masquerade,
And with every Company mixes,
Sells in every Shop, works at every Trade,
And ev'ry Thing doubtful perplexes.

How Satan comes by this governing Influence in the Minds and upon the Actions of Men, is a Question I am not yet come to, nor indeed does it so particularly belong to the Devil's History, it seems rather a Polemick, so it may pass at School among the Metaphysicks, and puzzle the Heads of our Masters; wherefore I think to write to the learned Dr. _B----_ about it, imploring his most sublime Haughtiness, that when his other more momentous Avocations of Pedantry and Pedagogism will give him an Interval from Wrath and Contention, he will set apart a Moment to consider human Nature Deviliz'd, and give us a Mathematical Anatomical Description of it; with a Map of Satan's Kingdom in the Microcosm of Mankind, and such other Illuminations as to him and his Contemporaries ---- and, ---- _&c._ in their great Wisdom shall seem meet.

CHAP. V.

_Of the_ Devil_'s Management in the Pagan Hierarchy by Omens, Entrails,
Augurs, Oracles, and such like Pageantry of Hell; and how they went
off the Stage at last by the Introduction of true Religion._

I have adjourn'd, not finished, my Account of the _Devil_'s secret Management by _Possession_, and shall reassume it, in its Place; but I must take leave to mention some other Parts of his retir'd Scheme, by which he has hitherto manag'd Mankind, and the first of these is by that Fraud of all Frauds call'd Oracle.

Here his Trumpet yielded an uncertain Sound for some Ages, and like what he was, and according to what he practised from the Beginning, he deliver'd out Falshood and Delusion by Retale: The Priests of _Apollo_ acted this Farce for him to a great Nicety at _Delphos_; there were divers others at the same Time, and some, which to give the Devil his due, he had very little Hand in, as we shall see presently.

There were also some smaller, some greater, some more, some less famous Places where those Oracles were seated, and Audience given to the Enquirers, in all which the _Devil_, or some Body for him, _Permissu Superiorum_, for either vindictive or other hidden Ends and Purposes, was allow'd to make at least a Pretension to the Knowledge of Things to come; but, as publick Cheats generally do, they acted in Masquerade, and gave such uncertain and inconsistent Responses, that they were oblig'd to use the utmost Art to reconcile Events to the Prediction, even after things were come to pass.

Here the Devil was a _lying Spirit_, in a particular and extraordinary manner, in the Mouths of all the Prophets; and yet he had the Cunning to express himself so, that whatever happen'd, the Oracle was suppos'd to have meant as it fell out; and so all their Augurs, Omens and Voices, by which the Devil amus'd the World, not at that Time only, but since, have been likewise interpreted.

_Julian_ the Apostate dealt mightily in these Amusements, but the Devil, who neither wish'd his Fall, or presag'd it to him, evidenc'd that he knew nothing of _Julian_'s Fate; for that, as he sent almost to all the Oracles of the East, and summon'd all the Priests together to inform him of the Success of his _Persian_ Expedition, they all, like _Ahab_'s _Prophets_, having a lying Spirit in them, encourag'd him and promis'd him Success.

Nay, all the ill Omens which disturb'd him, they presag'd good from; _for Example_, he was at a prodigious Expence when he was at _Antioch_ to buy up white Beasts, and white Fowls, for Sacrifices, and for predicting from the Entrails; from whence the _Antiochians_, in contempt, call'd him _Victimarius_; but whenever the Entrails foreboded Evil, the cunning Devil made the Priests put a different Construction upon them, and promise him Good: When he entred into the Temple of the _Genij_ to offer Sacrifice, one of the Priests dropt down dead; this, had it had any Signification more than a Man falling dead of an Apoplectic, would have signified something fatal to _Julian_, who made himself a Brother Sacrist or Priest; whereas the Priests turn'd it presently to signify the Death of his Colleague, the Consul _Sallust_ which happen'd just at the same Time, tho' eight hundred Miles off; so in another Case, _Julian_ thought it ominous that he, who was _Augustus_ should be nam'd with two other Names of Persons, both already dead; the Case was thus, the Stile of the Emperor was _Julianus Foelix Augustus_, and two of his principal Officers were _Julianus_ and _Foelix_; now both _Julianus_ and _Foelix_ died within a few Days of one another, which disturb'd Him much, who was the third of the three Names; but his flattering _Devil_ told him it all imported Good to him (_viz._) that tho' _Julianus_ and _Foelix_ should die, _Augustus_ should be immortal.

Thus whatever happen'd, and whatever was foretold, and how much soever they differ'd from one another, the lying Spirit was sure to reconcile the _Prediction_ and the _Event_, and make them at least seem to correspond in Favour of the Person enquiring.

Now we are told Oracles are ceased, and the _Devil_ is farther limited for the Good of Mankind, not being allow'd to vent his Delusions by the Mouths of the Priests and Augurs, as formerly: I will not take upon me to say how far they are really ceas'd, more than they were before; I think 'tis much more reasonable to believe there was never any Reality in them at all, or that any Oracle ever gave out any Answers but what were the Invention of the Priests and the Delusions of the DEVIL; I have a great many antient Authors on my Side in this Opinion, as _Eusebius_, _Tertullian_, _Aristotle_, and others, who as they liv'd so near the Pagan Times, and when even some of those Rites were yet in Use, they had much more Reason to know, and could probably pass a better Judgment upon them; nay _Cicero_ himself ridicules them in the openest manner; again, other Authors descend to Particular and shew how the Cheat was manag'd by the Heathen Sacrists and Priests, and in what enthusiastic manner they spoke; namely, by going into the hollow Images, such as the brazen Bull and the Image of _Apollo_, and how subtilly they gave out _dubious_ and _ambiguous_ Answers; that when the People did not find their Expectations answer'd by the Event, they might be imposed upon by the Priests, and confidently told they did not rightly understand the Oracle's Meaning: However, I cannot say but that indeed there are some Authors of good Credit too, who will have it that there was a real prophetic Spirit in the Voice or Answers given by the Oracles, and that oftentimes they were miraculously exact in those Answers; and they give that of the _Delphic_ Oracle answering the Question which was given about _Croesus_ for an Example, _viz._ what _Croesus_ was doing at that time? _to wit_, that he was boiling a Lamb and the Flesh of a Tortoise together, in a brass Vessel, or Boiler, with a Cover of the same Metal; that is to say, in a Kettle with a brass Cover.

To affirm therefore, that they were all Cheats, a Man must encounter with Antiquity, and set his private Judgment up against an establish'd Opinion; but 'tis no matter for that; if I do not see any thing in that receiv'd Opinion capable of Evidence, much less of Demonstration, I must be allow'd still to think as I do; others may believe as they list; I see nothing hard or difficult in the Thing; the Priests, who were always historically inform'd of the Circumstances of the Enquirer, or at least something about them, might easily find some ambiguous Speech to make, and put some double _Entendre_ upon them, which upon the Event solv'd the Credit of the Oracle, were it one way or other; and this they certainly did, or we have room to think the DEVIL knows less of Things now than he did in former Days.

It is true that by these Delusions the Priests got infinite Sums of Money, and this makes it still probable that they would labour hard, and use the utmost of their Skill to uphold the Credit of their Oracles; and 'tis a full Discovery, as well of the Subtlety of the Sacrists, as of the Ignorance and Stupidity of the People, in those early Days of _Satan_'s Witchcraft; to see what merry Work the _Devil_ made with the World, and what gross Things he put upon Mankind: Such was the Story of the _Dordonian_ Oracle in _Epirus_, _viz_. That two _Pigeons_ flew out of _Thebes_ (_N. B._ it was the _Egyptian Thebes_) from the Temple of _Belus_, erected there by the antient Sacrists, and that one of these fled Eastward into _Lybia_, and the Desarts of _Africk_, and the other into _Greece_, namely, to _Dordona_, and these communicated the divine Mysteries to one another, and afterwards gave mystical Solutions to the devout Enquirers; first the _Dordonian_ Pigeon perching upon an Oak spoke audibly to the People there, that the Gods commanded them to build an Oracle, or Temple, to _Jupiter_, in that Place; which was accordingly done: The other Pigeon did the like on the Hill in _Africa_, where it commanded them to build another to _Jupiter Ammon_, or _Hammon_.