Chapter XII: Part II (3)

Wise _Cicero_ contemned all this, and, as Authors tell us, ridiculed the Answer, which, as I have hinted above, the Oracle gave to _Croesus_ proving that the Oracle it self was a _Liar_, that it could not come from _Apollo_, for that _Apollo_ never spoke _Latin_: In a Word, _Cicero_ rejected them all, and _Demosthenes_ also mentions the Cheats of the _Oracles_; when speaking of the Oracle of _Apollo_, he said, _Pithia Philippiz'd_; that is, that when the Priests were brib'd with Money, they always gave their Answers in favour of _Philip_ of _Macedon_.

But that which is most strange to me is, that in this Dispute about the Reality of Oracles, the Heathen who made use of them are the People who expose them, and who insist most positively upon their being Cheats and Impostors, as in particular those mentioned above; while the Christians who reject them, yet believe they did really foretel Things, answer Questions, _&c._ only with this Difference, that the Heathen Authors who oppose them, insist that 'tis all Delusion and Cheat, and charge it upon the Priests; and the Christian Opposers insist that it was real, but that the _Devil_, not the Gods, gave the Answers; and that he was permitted to do it by a superior Power, to magnify that Power in the total silencing them at last.

But, as I said before, I am with the Heathen here, against the Christian Writers, for I take it all to be a Cheat and Delusion: I must give my Reason for it, or I do nothing; my Reason is this, I insist Satan is as blind in Matters of Futurity, as we are, and can tell nothing of what is to come; these Oracles often pretending to predict, could be nothing else therefore but a Cheat form'd by the Money-getting Priests to amuse the World, and bring Grist to their Mill: If I meet with any thing in my Way to open my Eyes to a better Opinion of them, I shall tell it you as I go on.

On the other hand, whether the _Devil_ really spake in those Oracles, or set the cunning Priests to speak for him; whether they predicted, or only made the People believe they predicted; whether they gave Answers which came to pass, or prevail'd upon the People to believe that what was said did come to pass, it was much at one, and fully answer'd the _Devil_'s End; namely, to amuse and delude the World; and as to do, or to cause to be done, is the same Part of Speech, so whoever did it, the _Devil_'s Interest was carried on by it, his Government preserv'd, and all the Mischief he could desire was effectually brought to pass, so that every way they were the _Devil_'s Oracles, that's out of the Question.

Indeed I have wonder'd sometimes why, since by this Sorcery the _Devil_ perform'd such Wonders, that is, play'd so many Tricks in the World, and had such universal Success, he should set up no more of them; but there might be a great many Reasons given for that, too long to tire you with at present: 'Tis true, there were not many of them, and yet considering what a great deal of Business they dispatch'd, it was enough, for six or eight Oracles were more than sufficient to amuse all the World: The chief Oracles we meet with in History are among the _Greeks_ and the _Romans_, _viz._

That of _Jupiter Ammon_, in _Lybia_, as above.

The _Dordonian_, in _Epirus_.

_Apollo Delphicus_, in the Country of _Phocis_ in _Greece_.

_Apollo Clavius_, in _Asia Minor_.

_Serapis_, in _Alexandria_ in _Egypt_.

_Trophomis_, in _Baeotia_.

_Sybilla Cumaea_, in _Italy_.

_Diana_, at _Ephesus_.

_Apollo Daphneus_, at _Antioch_.

Besides many of lesser Note, in several other Places, as I have
hinted before.

I have nothing to do here with the Story mentioned by _Plutarch_, of a Voice being heard at Sea, from some of the Islands call'd the _Echinades_, and calling upon one _Thamuz_, an _Egyptian_, who was on board a Ship, bidding him, when he came to the _Palodes_, other Islands in the _Ionian_ Seas, tell them there that the great God PAN was dead; and when _Thamuz_ perform'd it, great Groanings, and Howlings, and Lamentation were heard from the Shore.

This Tale tells but indifferently, tho' indeed it looks more like _a Christian Fable_, than a Pagan; because it seems as if made to honour the Christian Worship, and blast all the Pagan Idolatry; and for that Reason I reject it, the Christian Profession needing no such fabulous Stuff to confirm it.

Nor is it true in fact, that the Oracles did cease immediately upon the Death of Christ; but, as I noted before, the Sum of the Matter is this; the Christian Religion spreading it self universally, as well as miraculously, and that too _by the Foolishness of Preaching_, into all Parts of the World, the Oracles ceas'd; that is to say, their Trade ceas'd, their Rogueries were daily detected, the deluded People being better taught, came no more after them, and being asham'd, as well as discourag'd, they sneak'd out of the World as well as they could; in short the Customers fell off, and the Priests, who were the Shopkeepers, having no Business to do, shut up their Shops, broke, and went away; the Trade and the Tradesmen were hiss'd off the Stage together; so that the _Devil_, who, it must be confess'd, got infinitely by the Cheat, became bankrupt, and was oblig'd to set other Engines at work, as other Cheats and Deceivers do, who when one Trick grows stale, and will serve no longer, are forc'd to try another.

Nor was the _Devil_ to seek in new Measures; for tho' he could not give out his delusive Trash as he did before, in Pomp and State, with the Solemnity of a Temple and a Set of Enthusiasts call'd Priests, who plaid a thousand Tricks to amuse the World, he then had Recourse to his old _Egyptian_ Method, which indeed was more antient than that of Oracles; and that was by Magic, Sorcery, Familiars, Witchcraft, and the like.

Of this we find the people of the _South_, that is, of _Arabia_ and _Chaldea_ were the first, from whence we are told of the Wise Men, that is to say, Magicians, were call'd _Chaldeans_ and _Southsayers_. Hence also we find _Ahaziah_ the King of _Israel_ sent to _Baalzebub_ the God of _Ekron_, to enquire whether he should live or die? This some think was a kind of an Oracle, tho' others think it was only some over-grown Magician, who counterfeited himself to be a _Devil_, and obtain'd upon that Idol-hunting Age to make a Cunning Man of him; and for that Purpose he got himself made a Priest of _Baalzebub_, the God of _Ekron_, and gave out Answers in his Name. Thus those merry Fellows in _Egypt_, _Jannes_ and _Jambres_, are said to mimick _Moses_ and _Aaron_, when they work'd the miraculous Plagues upon the _Egyptians_; and we have some Instances in Scripture that support this, such as the Witch of _Endor_, the King _Manasses_, who dealt with the _Devil_ openly, and had a Familiar; the Woman mentioned _Acts_ xvi. who had a Spirit of _Divination_, and who got Money by playing the Oracle; that is, answering doubtful Questions, _&c._ which Spirit, or _Devil_, the Apostles cast out.

Now tho' it is true that the old Women in the World have fill'd us with Tales, some improbable, others impossible; some weak, some ridiculous, and that this puts a general Discredit upon all the graver Matrons, who entertain us with Stories better put together, yet 'tis certain, and I must be allow'd to affirm, that the _Devil_ does not disdain to take into his Service many Troops of good _Old Women_, and Old Women-Men too, who he finds 'tis for his Service to keep in constant Pay; to these he is found frequently to communicate his Mind, and oftentimes we find them such Proficients, that they know much more than the _Devil_ can teach them.

How far our antient Friend _Merlin_, or the grave Matron his (Satan's) most trusty and well-beloved Cousin and Counsellor, Mother _Shipton_, were commissioned by him to give out their prophetic Oracles, and what degree of Possession he may have arrived to in them upon their Midnight Excursions, I will not undertake to prove; but that he might be acquainted with them both, as well as with several of our modern Gentlemen, I will not deny neither.

I confess it is not very incongruous with the _Devil_'s Temper, or with the Nature of his Business, to shift hands; possibly he found that he had tried the World with Oracular Cheats; that Men began to be forfeited with them, and grew sick of the Frauds which were so frequently detected; that it was time to take new Measures, and contrive some new Trick to Bite the World, that he might not be expos'd to Contempt; or perhaps he saw the Approach of new Light, which the Christian Doctrine bringing with it began to spread in the Minds of Men; that it would out-shine the dim burning _ignis fatuus_, with which he had so long cheated Mankind, and was afraid to stand it, lest he should be mobb'd off the Stage by his own People, when their Eyes should begin to open: That upon this foot he might in Policy withdraw from those old Retreats the Oracles, and restrain those Responses before they lost all their Credit; for we find the People seem'd to be at a mighty Loss for some time, for want of them, so that it made them run up and down to Conjurers, and _Man-Gossips_, to brazen Heads, speaking Calves, and innumerable simple Things, so gross that they are scarce fit to be named, to satisfy the Itch of having their Fortunes told them, as we call it.

Now as the DEVIL is very seldom blind to his own Interest, and therefore thought fit to quit his old way of imposing upon the World by his Oracles, only because he found the World began to be too wise to be imposed upon that way; so on the other hand, finding there was still a Possibility to delude the World, tho' by other Instruments, he no sooner laid down his Oracles, and the solemn Pageantry, magnificent Appearances, and other Frauds of his Priests and Votaries, in their Temples and Shrines; but he set up a new Trade, and having, as I have said, Agents and Instruments sufficient for any Business that he could have to employ them in, he begins in Corners, as the learned and merry Dr. _Brown_ says, and exercises his minor Trumperies by way of his own contriving, lifting a great Number of new-found Operators, such as Witches, Magicians, Diviners, Figure-casters, Astrologers, and such inferior Seducers.

Now it is true, as that Doctor says, this was running into Corners, as if he had been expell'd his more triumphant way of giving Audience in Form, which for so many Ages had been allow'd him; yet I must add, that as it seem'd to be the DEVIL's own doing, from a right Judgment of his Affairs, which had taken a new Turn in the World, upon the shining of new Lights from the Christian Doctrine, so it must be acknowledged the _Devil_ made himself amends upon Mankind, by the various Methods he took, and the Multitude of Instruments he employ'd, and perhaps deluded Mankind in a more fatal and sensible manner than he did before, tho' not so universally.

He had indeed before more Pomp and Figure put upon it, and he cheated Mankind then in a Way of Magnificence and Splendor; but this was not in above eight or ten principal Places, and not fifty Places in all, public or private; whereas now fifty thousand of his Angels and Instruments, visible and invisible, hardly may be said to suffice for one Town or City; but in short, as his invisible Agents fill the Air, and are at hand for Mischief on every Emergence, so his visible Fools swarm in every Village, and you have scarce a Hamlet or a Town but his Emissaries are at Hand for Business; and which is still worse, in all Places he finds Business; nay even where Religion is planted and seems to flourish; yet he keeps his Ground and pushes his Interest according to what has been said elsewhere upon the same Subject, that wherever Religion plants, the Devil plants close by it.

Nor, as I say, does he fail of Success, Delusion spreads like a Plague, and the Devil is sure of Votaries; like a true Mountebank, he can always bring a Croud about his Stage, and that some Times faster than other People.

What I observe upon this Subject is this, that the World is at a strange Loss for want of the Devil; if it was not so, what's the Reason, that upon the silencing the Oracles, and Religion telling them that Miracles are ceas'd, and that God has done speaking by Prophets, they never enquire whether Heaven has established any other or new Way of Revelation, but away they ran with their Doubts and Difficulties to these Dreamers of Dreams, Tellers of Fortunes, and personal Oracles to be resolv'd; as if when they acknowledge the Devil is dumb, these could speak; and as if the wicked Spirit could do more than the Good, the _Diabolical_ more than the _Divine_, or that Heaven having taken away the DEVIL's Voice, had furnish'd him with an Equivalent, by allowing Scolds, Termagants, and old weak and superannuated Wretches to speak for him; for these are the People we go to now in our Doubts and Emergencies.

While this Blindness continues among us, 'tis Nonsense to say that Oracles are silenced, or the _Devil_ is dumb, for the _Devil_ gives Audience still by his Deputies; only as _Jeroboam_ made Priests of the meanest of the People, so he is grown a little humble, and makes use of meaner Instruments than he did before; for whereas the Priests of _Apollo_, and of _Jupiter_, were splendid in their Appearance, of grave and venerable Aspect, and sometimes of no mean Quality; now he makes use of Scoundrels and Rabble, Beggars and Vagabonds, old Hags, superannuated miserable Hermits, Gypsies and Strollers, the Pictures of Envy and ill Luck.

Either the _Devil_ is grown an ill Master, and gives but mean Wages, that he can get no better Servants; or else Common Sense is grown very low priz'd and contemptible; that such as these are fit Tools to continue the Succession of Fraud, and carry on the _Devil_'s Interest in the World; for were not the Passions and Temper of Mankind deeply pre-engaged in favour of this dark Prince, we could never suffer our selves to accept of his Favours by the Hands of such contemptible Agents as these! How do we receive his Oracles from an old Witch of particular Eminence, and who we believe to be more than ordinarily inspir'd from Hell; I say, we receive the Oracle with Reverence; that is to say, with a kind of Horror, with regard to the Black Prince it comes from, and at the same time turn our Faces away from the Wretch that mumbles out the Answers, lest she should cast an _Evil Eye_, as we call it, upon us, and put a Devil into us when she plays the _Devil_ before us? How do we listen to the Cant of those worst of Vagabonds the _Gypsies_, when at the same time we watch our Hedges and Hen-roosts for fear of their thieving?

Either the DEVIL uses us more like Fools than he did our Ancestors, or we really are worse Fools than those Ages produced, for they were never deluded by such low-priz'd _Devils_ as we are; by such despicable _Bridewell_ DEVILS, that are fitter for a Whipping-post than an Altar, and instead of being receiv'd as the Voice of an Oracle, should be sent to the House of Correction for Pick-pockets.

Nor is this accidental, and here and there one of these Wretches to be seen, but in short, if it has been in other Nations as it is with us, I do not see that the DEVIL was able to get any better People into his Pay, or at least very rarely: Where have we seen any thing above a Tinker turn Wizard? and where have we had a Witch of Quality among us, Mother _Je------gs_ excepted? and if she had not been more of something else than a Witch, 'twas thought she had never got so much Money by her Profession.

Magicians, Southsayers, Devil-raisers, and such People, we have heard much of, but seldom above the Degree of the meanest of the mean People, the lowest of the lowest Rank: Indeed the Word _Wise Men_, which the _Devil_ wou'd fain have had his Agents honour'd with, was used a while in _Egypt_, and in _Persia_, among the _Chaldeans_, but it continued but a little while, and never reach'd so far Northward as our Country; nor, however the _Devil_ has managed it, have many of our great Men, who have been most acquainted with him, ever been able to acquire the Title of Wise Men.

I have heard that in older Times, I suppose in good Queen _Bess_'s Days, or beyond, (for little is to be said here for any thing on this Side of her time) there were some Counsellors and Statesmen who merited the Character of _wise_, in the best Sense; that is to say, _good_, and _wise_, as they stand in Conjunction; but as to what has happen'd since that, or, as we may call it, from that Queen's Funeral to the late Revolution, I have little to say; but I'll tell you what honest _Andrew Marvel_ said of those Times, and by that you may, if you please, make your Calculation or let it alone, 'tis all one.

"To see a white Staff-maker, a Beggar, a Lord,
"And scarce _a wise Man_ at a long Council-Board.

But I may be told this relates to wise Men in another Constitution, or wise Men as they are opposed to Fools; whereas we are talking of them now under another Class, namely, as _Wisemen_ or Magicians, South-sayers, _&c._ such as were in former Times call'd by that Name.

But to this I answer, that take them in which Sense you please, it may be the same; for if I were to ask the _Devil_ the Character of the best States-man he had employ'd among us for many Years past, I am apt to think that tho' Oracles are ceased, he would honestly, according to the old ambiguous Way, when I ask'd if they were Christians, answer they were (his) _Privy-Counsellors_.

It is but a little while ago, that I happen'd (in Conversation) to meet with a long List of the Magistrates of that Age, in a neighbouring Country, that is to say, the Men of Fame among them; and it was a very diverting Thing to see the Judgment which was pass'd upon them among a great deal of good Company; it is not for me to tell you how many white Staves, Golden Keys, Mareshals Batoons, Cordons Blue, Gordon Rouge and Gordon Blanc, there were among them, or by what Titles, as Dukes, Counts, Marquis, Abbot, Bishop, or Justice they were to be distinguish'd; but the marginal Notes I found upon most of them were (being mark'd with an Asterism) as follows.

Such a Duke, such eminent Offices added to his Titles (* in the Margin) ------ _No Saint_.

Such an Arch---- with the Title of Noble added, ------ _No Archangel_.

Such an eminent Statesman and prime Minister, ------ _No Witch_.

Such a Ribbon with a Set of great Letters added, ------ _No Conjurer_.

It presently occurr'd to me that tho' Oracles were ceased, and we had now no more double _Entendre_ in such a Degree as before, yet that ambiguous Answers were not at an End; and that whether those Negatives were meant so by the Writers, or not, 'twas certain Custom led the Readers to conclude them to be Satyrs, that they were to be rung backwards like the Bells when the Town's on fire; tho' in short, I durst not read them backward any where, but as speaking of foreign People, for fear of raising the _Devil_ I am talking of.

But to return to the Subject; to such mean Things is the DEVIL now reduc'd in his ordinary Way of carrying on his Business in the World, that his Oracles are deliver'd now by the Bellmen and the Chimney-Sweepers, by the meanest of those that speak in the Dark, and if he operates by them, you may expect it accordingly; his Agents seem to me as if the DEVIL had singl'd them out by their Deformity, or that there was something particular requir'd in their Aspect to qualify them for their Employment; whence it is become proverbial, when our Looks are very dismal and frightful, to say, I look like a Witch, or in other Cases to say, as ugly as a Witch; in another Case to look as envious as a Witch; now whether there is any Thing particularly requir'd in the Looks of the DEVIL's modern Agents, which is assisting in the Discharge of their Offices, and which make their Answers appear more solemn, this the _Devil_ has not yet reveal'd, at least not to me; and therefore why it is that he singles out such Creatures as are fit only to fright the People that come to them with their Enquiries, I do not take upon me to determine.

Perhaps it is necessary they should be thus extraordinary in their Aspect, that they might strike an Awe into the Minds of their Votaries, as if they were Satan's true and real Representatives; and that the said Votaries may think when they speak to the Witches they are really talking to the _Devil_; or perhaps 'tis necessary to the Witches themselves, that they should be so exquisitely ugly, that they might not be surpriz'd at whatever Figure the Devil makes when he first appears to them, being certain they can see nothing uglier than themselves.

Some are of the Opinion that the Communication with the _Devil_, or between the Devil and those Creatures his Agents, has something assimulating in it, and that if they were tolerable before, they are, _ipso facto_, turn'd into DEVILS by talking with him; I will not say but that a Tremor in the Limbs, a Horror in the Aspect, and a surprizing Stare in the Eyes may seize upon some of them when they really see the DEVIL, and that the frequent Repetition may make those Distortions, which we so constantly see in their Faces becomes natural to them; by which if it does not continue always upon the Countenance, they can at least, _like the Posture-Masters_, cast themselves into such Figures and frightful Dislocations of the Lines and Features in their Faces, and so assume a Devil's Face suitable to the Occasion, or as may serve the turn for which they take it up, and as often as they have any use for it.

But be it which of these the Enquirer pleases, 'tis all one to the Case in Hand; this is certain, that such deform'd _Devil-like_ Creatures, most of those we call _Hags_ and _Witches_, are in their Shapes and Aspects, and that they give out their Sentences and frightful Messages with an Air of Revenge for some Injury receiv'd; for Witches are fam'd chiefly for doing Mischief.

It seems the _Devil_ has always pick'd out the most ugly and frightful old Women to do his Business; _Mother Shipton_, our famous _English_ Witch or Prophetess, is very much wrong'd in her Picture, if she was not of the most terrible Aspect imaginable; and if it be true that _Merlin_, the famous _Welch_ Fortune-Teller, was a frightful Figure, it will seem the more rational to believe, if we credit another Story, (_viz._) that he was begotten by the Devil himself, of which I shall speak by it self: But to go back to the Devil's Instruments being so ugly; it may be observed, I say, that the Devil has always dealt in such sort of Cattle; the _Sybils_, of whom so many strange prophetic Things are recorded, whether true or no is not to the Question, are (if the _Italian_ Painters may have any Credit given them) all represented as very old Women; and as if Ugliness were a Beauty to old Age, they seem to paint them out as ugly and frightful as (not they, the Painters) but even as the Devil himself could make them; not that I believe there are any original Pictures of them really extant; but it is not unlikely that the _Italians_ might have some traditional Knowledge of them, or some remaining Notions of them, or particularly that antient _Sybil_ named _Anus_, who sold the fatal Book to _Tarquin_; 'tis said of her that _Tarquin_ supposed she doated with Age.

I had Thoughts indeed here to have entred into a learned Disquisition of the Excellency of old Women in all diabolical Operations, and particularly of the Necessity of having recourse to them for _Satan_'s more exquisite Administration, which also may serve to solve the great Difficulty in the natural Philosophy of Hell; namely, why it comes to pass that the Devil is oblig'd for want of old Women, properly so call'd, to turn so many antient Fathers, grave Counsellors both of Law and State, and especially Civilians or Doctors of the Law into old Women, and how the extraordinary Operation is perform'd; but this, as a Thing of great Consequence in Satan's Management of humane Affairs, and particularly as it may lead us into the necessary History, as well as Characters of some of the most eminent of these Sects among us, I have purposely reserv'd for a Work by it self, to be published, if _Satan hinders not_, in fifteen Volumes in Folio, wherein I shall in the first Place define in the most exact Manner possible, what is to be understood by a _Male old Woman_, of what heterogeneous Kind they are produced, give you the monstrous Anatomy of the Parts, and especially those of the Head, which being fill'd with innumerable Globules of a sublime Nature, and which being of a fine Contexture without, but particularly hollow in the Cavity, defines most philosophically that antient paradoxical Saying, (_viz._) _being full of Emptiness_, and makes it very consistent with Nature and common Sense.

I shall likewise spend some Time, _and it must be Labour too, I assure you, when 'tis done_, in determining whether this new Species of Wonderfuls are not deriv'd from that famous _old Woman Merlin_, which I prove to be very reasonable for us to suppose, because of the many several judicious Authors, who affirm the said _Merlin_, as I hinted before, to have been begotten by the _Devil_.

As to the deriving his Gift of Prophesy from the Devil, by that pretended Generation, I shall omit that Part, because, as I have all along insisted upon it, that Satan himself has no prophetic or predicting Powers of his own, it is not very clear to me that he could convey it to his Posterity, _nil dat quod not habet_.

However, in deriving this so much magnified Prophet in a right Line from the _Devil_, much may be said in favour of his ugly Face, in which it was said he was very remarkable, for it is no new Thing for a Child to be like the Father; but all these weighty Things I adjourn for the present, and proceed to the Affair in Hand, namely, the several Branches of the _Devil_'s Management since his quitting his Temples and Oracles.

CHAP. VI.

_Of the extraordinary Appearance of the_ Devil, _and particularly of the
Cloven-Foot._

Some People would fain have us treat this Tale of the _Devil_'s appearing with a Cloven-Foot with more Solemnity than I believe the _Devil_ himself does; for Satan, who knows how much of a Cheat it is, must certainly ridicule it, in his own Thoughts, to the last Degree; but as he is glad of any Way to hoodwink the Understandings, and bubble the weak Part of the World; so if he sees Men willing to take every Scarecrow for a Devil, it is not his Business to undeceive them; on the other Hand, he finds it his Interest to foster the Cheat, and serve himself of the Consequence: Nor could I doubt but the Devil, if any Mirth be allow'd him, often laughs at the many frightful Shapes and Figures we dress him up in, and especially to see how willing we are first to paint him as black, and make him appear as ugly as we can, and then stare and start at the Spectrum of our own making.

The Truth is, that among all the Horribles that we dress up Satan in, I cannot but think we shew the least of Invention in this of a Goat, or a Thing with a Goat's Foot, of all the rest; for tho' a Goat is a Creature made use of by our Saviour in the Allegory of the Day of Judgment, and is said there to represent the wicked rejected Party, yet it seems to be only on Account of their Similitude to the Sheep, and so to represent the just Fate of Hypocrisy and Hypocrites, and in particular to form the necessary Antithesis in the Story; for else, _our whimsical Fancies excepted_, a Sheep or a Lamb has a Cloven-Foot as well as a Goat; nay, if the Scripture be of any Value in the Case, 'tis to the _Devil_'s Advantage, for the dividing the Hoof was the distinguishing Character or Mark of a clean Beast, and how the Devil can be brought into that Number is pretty hard to say.

One would have thought if we had intended to have given a just Figure of the _Devil_, it would have been more apposite to have rank'd him among the Cat-kind, and given him a Foot (if he is to be known by his Foot) like a Lion, or like a _red Dragon_, being the same Creatures which he is represented by in the Text, and so his Claws would have had some Terror in them as well as his Teeth.

But neither is the _Goat_ a true Representative of the Devil at all, for we do not rank the Goats among the Subtle or cunning Part of the Brutes; he is counted a fierce Creature indeed of his Kind, tho' nothing like those other abovemention'd; and he is emblematically used to represent a lustful Temper, but even that Part does not fully serve to describe the Devil, whose Operation lies principally another Way.

Besides it is not the _Goat_ himself that is made use of, 'tis the Cloven-Hoof only, and that so particularly, that the _Cloven Foot_ of a Ram or a Swine, or any other Creature, may serve as well as that of a _Goat_, only that History gives us some Cause to call it the _Goat_'s _Foot_.

In the next Place 'tis understood by us not as a bare Token to know _Satan_ by, but as if it were a Brand upon him, and that like the Mark God put upon _Cain_, it was given him for a Punishment, so that he cannot get leave to appear without it, nay cannot conceal it whatever other Dress or Disguise he may put on; and as if it was to make him as ridiculous as possible, they will have it be, that whenever _Satan_ has Occasion to dress himself in any humane Shape, be it of what Degree soever, from the King to the Beggar, be it of a fine Lady or of an _old Woman_, (the Latter it seems he oftenest assumes) yet still he not only must have this _Cloven-Foot_ about him, but he is oblig'd to shew it too; nay, they will not allow him any Dress, whether it be a Prince's Robes, a Lord Cha---r's Gown, or a Lady's Hoop and long Petticoats, but the Cloven-Foot must be shew'd from under them; they will not so much as allow him an artificial _Shoe_ or a _Jack-Boot_, as we often see contriv'd to conceal a _Club-Foot_ or a _Wooden-Leg_; but that the _Devil_ may be known wherever he goes, he is bound to shew his Foot; they might as well oblige him to set a Bill upon his Cap, as Folks do upon a House to be let, and have it written in capital Letters, _I am the_ DEVIL.

It must be confess'd this is very particular, and would be very hard upon the _Devil_, if it had not another Article in it, which is some Advantage to him, and that is, that _the Fact is not true_; but the Belief of this is so universal, that all the World runs away with it; by which Mistake the good People miss the _Devil_ many times where they look for him, and meet him as often where they did not expect him, and when for want of this Cloven-Foot they do not know him.

Upon this very Account I have sometimes thought, not that this has been put upon him by meer Fancy, and the Cheat of a heavy Imagination, propagated by Fable and Chymny-Corner Divinity, but that it has been a Contrivance of his own; and that, in short, the Devil rais'd this Scandal upon himself, that he might keep his Disguise the better, and might go a Visiting among his Friends without being known; for were it really so, that he could go no where without this particular Brand of Infamy, he could not come into Company, could not dine with my Lord Mayor, nor drink Tea with the Ladies, could not go to the Drawing-R---- at ------, could not have gone to _Fountainbleau_ to the King of _France_'s Wedding, or to the Diet of _Poland_, to prevent the Grandees there coming to an Agreement; nay, _which would be still worse than all_, he could not go to the Masquerade, nor to any of our Balls; the Reason is plain, he would be always discover'd, expos'd and forc'd to leave the good Company, or which would be as bad, the Company would all cry out the _Devil_ and run out of the Room as if they were frighted; nor could all the Help of Invention do him any Service, no Dress he could put on would cover him; not all our Friends at _Tavistock Corner_ could furnish him with a Habit that would disguise or conceal him, this unhappy Foot would spoil it all: Now this would be a great a Loss to him, that I question whether he could carry on any of his most important Affairs in the World without it; for tho' he has access to Mankind in his compleat Disguise, I mean that of his Invisibility, yet the Learned very much agree in this, that his corporal Presence in the World is absolutely necessary upon many Occasions, to support his Interest and keep up his Correspondences, and particularly to encourage his Friends when Numbers are requisite to carry on his Affairs; but this Part I shall have Occasion to speak of again, when I come to consider him as a Gentleman of Business in his Locality, and under the Head of visible Apparition; but I return to the _Foot_.

As I have thus suggested that the Devil himself has politically spread about this Notion concerning his appearing with _a Cloven-Foot_, so I doubt not that he has thought it for his Purpose to paint this _Cloven-Foot_ so lively in the Imaginations of many of our People, and especially of those clear sighted Folks who see the _Devil_ when he is not to be seen, that they would make no Scruple to say, nay and to make Affidavit too, even before _Satan_ himself, whenever he sat upon the Bench, that they had seen his Worship's Foot at such and such a Time; this I advance the rather because 'tis very much for his Interest to do this, for if we had not many Witnesses, _viva voce_, to testify it, we should have had some obstinate Fellows always among us, who would have denied the Fact, or at least have spoken doubtfully of it, and so have rais'd Disputes and Objections against it, as impossible, or at least as improbable; buzzing one ridiculous Notion or other into our Ears, as if the Devil was not so black as he was painted, that he had no more a _Cloven-Foot_ than a Pope, whose Apostolical Toes have so often been reverentially kiss'd by Kings and Emperors: but now alas this Part is out of the Question, not the Man in the Moon, not the Groaning-Board, not the speaking of Fryar _Bacon_'s Brazen-Head, not the Inspiration of _Mother Shipton_, or the Miracles of Dr. _Faustus_, Things as certain as Death and Taxes, can be more firmly believ'd: The Devil not have a Cloven-Foot! I doubt not but I could, in a short Time, bring you a thousand old Women together, that would as soon believe there was no Devil at all; nay, they will tell you, he could not be a Devil without it, any more than he could come into the Room, and the Candles not burn blue, or go out and not leave a smell of Brimstone behind him.

Since then the Certainty of the Thing is so well establish'd, and there are so many good and substantial Witnesses ready to testify that he has a Cloven-Foot, and that they have seen it too; nay, and that we have Antiquity on our Side, for we have this Truth confirm'd by the Testimony of many Ages; why should we doubt it any longer? we can prove that many of our Ancestors have been of this Opinion, and divers learn'd Authors have left it upon Record, as particularly that learned Familiarist Mother _Hazel_, whose Writings are to be found in MS. in the famous Library at _Pye-Corner_; also the admir'd _Joan_ of _Amesbury_, the History of the _Lancashire_ Witches, and the Reverend Exorcist of the _Devil_'s of _London_, whose History is extant among us to this Day; all these and many more may be quoted, and their Writings referr'd to for the Confirmation of the Antiquity of this Truth; but there seems to be no Occasion for farther Evidence, 'tis enough, _Satan_ himself, if he did not raise the Report, yet tacitly owns the Fact, at least he appears willing to have it believ'd, and be receiv'd as a general Truth for the Reasons above.

But besides all this, and as much a Jest as some unbelieving People would have this Story pass for, who knows but that if _Satan_ is empower'd to assume any Shape or Body, and to appear to us visibly, as if really so shap'd; I say, who knows but he may, by the same Authority, be allow'd to assume the Addition of the Cloven-Foot, or two or four Cloven-Feet, if he pleased? and why not a _Cloven-Foot_ as well as any other Foot, if he thinks fit? For if the _Devil_ can assume a Shape, and can appear to Mankind in a visible Form, it may, I doubt not, with as good Authority be advanc'd that he is left at Liberty to assume what Shape he pleases, and to choose _what Case of Flesh and Blood he'll please to wear_, whether real or imaginary; and if this Liberty be allow'd him, it is an admirable Disguise for him to come generally with his _Cloven-Foot_, that when he finds it for his Purpose, on special Occasions to come without it, as I said above, he may not be suspected; _but take this with you as you go_, that all this is upon a Supposition that the _Devil_ can assume a visible Shape, and make a real Appearance, which however I do not yet think fit to grant or deny.

Certain it is, the first People who bestow'd a _Cloven-Foot_ upon the Devil, were not so despicable as you may imagine, but were real Favourites of Heaven; for did not _Aaron_ set up the _Devil_ of a Calf in the Congregation, and set the People a dancing about it for a God? Upon which Occasion, Expositors tell us, that particular Command was given, _Levit._ xvii. 7. _They shall no more offer their Sacrifices unto_ Devils, _after whom they have gone a Whoring_; likewise King _Jeroboam_ set up the two Calves, one at _Dan_ and the other at _Bethel_, and we find them charg'd afterwards with setting up the Worship of _Devils_ instead of the Worship of _God_.

After this we find some Nations actually sacrificed to the _Devil_ in the Form of a Ram, and others of a Goat; from which, and that above of the Calves at _Horeb_, I doubt not the Story of the _Cloven-Foot_ first derived; and it is plain that the Worship of that Calf at _Horeb_ is meant in the Scripture quoted above, _Levit._ xvii. 7. _Thou shalt no more offer Sacrifices unto Devils_: The Original is _Seghnirim_; that is, rough and hairy _Goats_ or _Calves_; and some think also in this Shape the _Devil_ most ordinarily appeared to the _Egyptians_ and _Arabians_, from whence it was derived.

Also in the old Writings of the _Egyptians_, I mean their hieroglyphick Writing, before the Use of Letters was known, we are told this was the Mark that he was known by; and the Figure of a _Goat_ was the _Hieroglyphick_ of the _Devil_; some will affirm that the _Devil_ was particularly pleased to be so represented; how they came by their Information, and whether they had it from his own Mouth or not, Authors have not yet determined.

But be this as it will, I do not see that _Satan_ could have been at a Loss for some extraordinary Figure to have banter'd Mankind with, tho' this had not been thought of; but thinking of the _Cloven-Foot_ first, and the Matter being indifferent, this took place, and easily rooted it self in the bewildred Fancy of the People, and now 'tis riveted too fast for the _Devil_ himself to remove it if he was disposed to try; but as I said above, 'tis none of his Business to solve Doubts or remove Difficulties out of our Heads, but to perplex us with more, as much as he can.

Some People carry this Matter a great deal higher still, and will have the _Cloven-Foot_ be like the great Stone which the _Brasilian Conjurers_ used to solve all difficult Questions upon, after having used a great many monstrous and barbarous Gestures and Distortions of their Bodies, and cut certain Marks or magical Figures upon the Stone; so, _I say_, they will have this Cloven-Foot be a kind of a Conjuring-Stone, and tell us, that in former Times, when _Satan_ drove a greater Trade with Mankind in publick, than he has done of late, he gave this _Cloven-Foot_ as a Token to his particular Favourites to work Wonders with, and to conjure by, and that Witches, Fairies, Hobgoblins, and such Things, of which the Antients had several Kinds, at least in their Imagination, had all a _Goat's Leg_ with a _Cloven-Foot_ to put on upon extraordinary Occasions; it seems this Method is of late grown out of Practice, and so like the melting of Marble and the painting of Glass, 'tis laid aside among the various useful Arts which History tells us are lost to the World; what may be practised in the Fairy World, if such a Place there be, we can give no particular Account at present.

But neither is this all, for other wou'd-be-wise People take upon them to make farther and more considerable Improvements upon this Doctrine of the _Cloven-Foot_, and treat it as a most significant Instrument of Satan's private Operation, and that as _Joseph_ is said to _Divine_, that is to say, to _conjure_ by his Golden Cup which was put into _Benjamin_'s Sack, so the _Devil_ has managed several of his secret Operations, and Possessions, and other hellish Mechanisms upon the Spirits as well as Bodies of Men, by the Medium or Instrumentality of the _Cloven-Foot_; accordingly it had a Kind of an hellish Inspiration in it, and a separate and magical Power by which he wrought his infernal Miracles; that the Cloven-Foot had a superior Signification, and was not only emblematic and significative of the Conduct of Men, but really guided their Conduct in the most important Affairs of Life; and that the Agents the Devil employ'd to influence Mankind, and to delude them and draw them into all the Snares and Traps that he lays continually for their Destruction, were equipp'd with this Foot in Aid of their other Powers for Mischief.

Here they read us learn'd Lectures upon the sovereign Operations which the Devil is at present Master of, in the Government of human Affairs; and how the Cloven-Foot is an Emblem of the true _double Entendre_ or divided Aspect, which the great Men of the World generally act with, and by which all their Affairs are directed; from whence it comes to pass that there is no such Thing as a single hearted Integrity, or an upright Meaning to be found in the World; that Mankind, worse than the ravenous Brutes, preys upon his own Kind, and devours them by all the laudable Methods of Flattery, Whyne, Cheat and Treachery; _Crocodile like_, weeping over those it will devour, destroying those it smiles upon, and, in a Word, devours its own Kind, which the very Beasts refuse, and that by all the Ways of Fraud and Allurement that _Hell_ can invent; holding out a cloven divided Hoof, or Hand, pretending to save, when the very Pretence is made use of to ensnare and destroy.

Thus the divided Hoof is the Representative of a divided double Tongue, and Heart, an Emblem of the most exquisite Hypocrisy, the most fawning and fatally deceiving Flattery; and here they give us very diverting Histories, tho' tragical in themselves, of the manner which some of the _Devil_'s inspired Agents have manag'd themselves under the especial Influence of the _Cloven-Foot_; how they have made War under the Pretence of Peace, murther'd Garrisons under the most sacred Capitulations, massacred innocent Multitudes after Surrenders to Mercy.

Again, they tell us the _Cloven-Foot_ has been made use of in all Treasons, Plots, Assassinations, and secret as well as open Murthers and Rebellions. Thus _Joab_ under the Treason of an Embrace, shew'd how dexterously he could manage the _Cloven-Foot_, and struck _Abner_ under the fifth Rib: Thus _David_ play'd the Cloven-Foot upon poor _Uriah_, when he had a Mind to lie with his Wife: Thus _Brutus_ play'd it upon _Caesar_; and to come nearer home, we have had a great many retrograde Motions in this Country by this magical Implement the _Foot_; Such as that of the Earl of _Essex_'s Fate, beheading the Queen of _Scots_, and diverse others in Queen _Elizabeth_'s Time: That of the Earl of _Shrewsbury_ and Sir _Thomas Overbury_, _Gondamor_ and Sir _Walter Raleigh_, and many others in King _James_ the I.'s Time; in all which, if the Cloven-Foot had not been dexterously manag'd, those Murthers had not been so dexterously manag'd, or the Murtherers have so well been skreen'd from Justice; for which and the imprecated Justice of Heaven unappeased, some have thought the innocent Branches of the Royal House of _Stuart_ did not fare the better in the Ages which follow'd.

It must be confess'd, the Cloven-Foot was in its full Exercise in the next Reign, and the Generation that rose up immediately after them, arrived to the most exquisite Skill for Management of it; here they fasted and pray'd, there they plunder'd and murther'd; here they rais'd War for the King, and there they fought against him, cutting Throats for _God's Sake_, and deposing both King and kingly Government according to Law.

Nor was the _Cloven-Foot_ unemployed on all Sides, for 'tis the main Excellency of this Instrument of Hell, that it acts on every Side, it is its denominating Quality, and is for that Reason call'd a cloven or divided Hoof.

This mutilated Apparition has been so publick in other Countries too, that it seems to convince us the Devil is not confin'd to _England_ only, but that as his Empire extended to all the sublunary World, so he gives them all Room to see he is qualified to manage them his own Way.

What abundant Use did that Prince of Dissemblers, _Charles_ V. make of this Foot? 'twas by the Help of this Apparition of the Foot that he baited his Hook with the City of _Milan_, and tickled _Francis_ I. of _France_ so well with it, that when he pass'd thro' _France_, and was in that King's Power, he let him go, and never get the Bait off of the Hook neither; it Seems the _Foot_ was not on King _Francis_'s Side at that Time.

How cruelly did _Philip_ II. of _Spain_ manage this Foot in the Murther of the Nobility of the _Spanish Netherlands_, the Assassination of the Prince of _Orange_, and at last: in that of his own Son _Don Carlos_ Infant of _Spain_? and yet such was the _Devil_'s Craft, and so nicely did he bestir his _Cloven-Hoof_, that this Monarch died consolated (tho' impenitent) in the Arms of the Church, and with the Benediction of the Clergy too, _those second best Managers of the said Hoof in the World_.

I must acknowledge, I agree with this Opinion thus far; namely, that the Devil acting by this Cloven-Foot, as a Machine, has done great Things in the World for the propagating his dark Empire among us; and History is full of Examples, besides the little low priz'd Things done among us; for we are come to such a Kind of Degeneracy in Folly, that we have even dishonour'd the _Devil_, and put this glorious Engine the Cloven-Foot to such mean Uses, that the _Devil_ himself seems to be asham'd of us.

But to return a little to foreign History, besides what has been mention'd above, we find flaming Examples of most glorious Mischief done by this Weapon, when put into the Hands of Kings and Men of Fame in the World: How many Games have the Kings of _France_ play'd with this _Cloven-Foot_, and that within a few Years of one another? First, _Charles_ IX. play'd the _Cloven-Foot_ upon _Gaspar Coligni_ Admiral of _France_, when he caress'd him, complimented him, invited him to _Paris_, to the Wedding of the King of _Navarre_, call'd him Father, kiss'd him, and when he was wounded sent his own Surgeons to take Care of him, and yet three Days after order'd him to be assassinated and murther'd, used with a thousand Indignities, and at last thrown out of the Window into the Street to be insulted by the Rabble?

Did not _Henry_ III. in the same Country, play the Cloven-Foot upon the Duke of _Guise_, when he call'd him to his Council, and caus'd him to be murther'd as he went in at the Door? The _Guises_ again plaid the same Game back upon the King, when they sent out a _Jacobin_ Friar to assassinate him in his Tent as he lay at the Siege of _Paris_.

In a Word, this Opera of the _Cloven-Foot_ has been acted all over the Christian World, ever since _Judas_ betray'd the Son of God with a Kiss; nay, our Saviour says expresly of him, _One of you is a Devil_; and the sacred Text says in another Place, _The Devil enter'd into Judas_.

It would take up a great deal of Time and Paper too, to give you a full Account of the Travels of this _Cloven-Foot_; its Progress into all the Courts of _Europe_, and with what most accurate Hypocrisy _Satan_ has made use of it upon many Occasions, and with what Success; but as in the elaborate Work of which I just now gave you a Specimen I design one whole Volume upon this Subject, and which I shall call, _The compleat History_ of the _Cloven-Foot_; I say, for that Reason, and diverse others, I shall say but very little more to it in this Place.

It remains to tell you, that this merry Story of the _Cloven-Foot_ is very essential to the History which I am now writing, as it has been all along the great Emblem of the _Devil_'s Government in the World, and by which all his most considerable Engagements have been answer'd and executed; for as he is said not to be able to conceal this Foot, but that he carries it always with him, it imports most plainly, that the _Devil_ would be no _Devil_ if he was not a Dissembler, a Deceiver, and carried a _double Entendre_ in all he does or says; that he cannot but say one Thing and mean another, promise one Thing and do another, engage and not perform, declare and not intend, and act like a true _Devil_ as he is, with a Countenance that is no Index of his Heart.