Chapter XVII: Part II (8)

Nor let any Man be alarm'd at this Alteration, in the Case as it stands between Mankind and the _Devil_, and think the _Devil_ having gain'd so much Ground, may in time, by Encroachment, come to a general Possession of the whole Race, and so we should all come to be _Devils_ incarnate; I say, let us not be alarm'd, for Satan does not get these Advantages by Encroachment, and by his infernal Power or Art, no not at all; but 'tis the Man himself does it by his Indolence and Negligence on one Hand, and his Complaisance to the _Devil_ on the other; and both Ways he, as it were, opens the Door to him, beckons him with his very Hand to come in, and the Devil has nothing to do but enter and take Possession: Now if it be so, and Man is so frank to him; you know the _Devil_ is no Fool not to take the Advantage when 'tis offer'd him, and therefore 'tis no wonder if the Consequences which I have been just now naming follow.

But let no Man be discourag'd by this, from reaffirming his natural and religious Powers, and venturing to shut the _Devil_ out; for the Case is plain he may be shut out; the Soul is a strong Castle, and has a good Garrison plac'd within to defend it; if the Garrison behave well, and do their Duty, it is impregnable, and the cowardly _Devil_ must raise his Siege and be gone; nay, he must fly, or, as we call it, make his Escape, lest he be laid by the Heels, that is, lest his Weakness be exposed, and all his Lurking, lying in Wait, ambuscade-Tricks; this Part would bear a great Enlargement, but I have not room to be witty upon him, so you must take it in the Gross, the DEVIL lies at _Blye Bush_, as our Country People call it, to watch your coming out of your Hold; and if you happen to go abroad unarm'd he seizes upon and masters you with ease.

Unarm'd, you'll say, what Arms should I take? what Fence against a Flail? What Weapons can a Man take to fight the _Devil_? I could tell you what to fight him with, and what you might fright him with, for the _Devil_ is to be frighted with several Things besides _Holy Water_; but 'tis too serious for you, and you'll tell me I am a preaching and a canting, and the like; so I must let the _Devil_ manage you rather than displease you with talking Scripture and Religion.

Well, but may not the _Devil_ be fought with some of his own Weapons? Is there no dealing with him in a Way of human Nature? This would require a long answer, and some Philosophy might be acted, or at least imitated, and some Magic, perhaps; for they tells us there are Spells to draw away even the Devil himself; as in some Places they nail Horse-Shoes upon the Threshold of the Door, to keep him out; in other Places old pieces of Flint, with so many Holes and so many Corners, and the like: But I must answer in the Negative, I don't know what _Satan_ might be scar'd at in those Days, but he is either grown cunninger since or bolder, for he values none of those Things now; I question much whether he would value St. _Dunstan_ and his red hot Tongs, if he was to meet him now, or St. _Francis_ or any of the Saints, no not the Host itself in full Procession; and therefore, tho' you don't care I should preach, yet in short, if you are afraid he should charge upon you and attack you, if you won't make Use of those Scripture Weapons I should have mention'd, and which you may hear of, if you enquire at _Eph._ vi. 16. you must look for better where you think you can find them.

But to go on with my Work, the Devil, I say, is not to be fear'd with Maukins, nor does he employ his old Instruments, but does much of his Work himself without Instruments.

And yet I must enter a Caveat here too, against being misunderstood in my saying the Devil stands in no need of Agents; for when I speak so, I am to be taken in a limited Sense; I don't say he needs them no where, but only that he does not need them in those polite Parts of the World which I have been speaking of, and perhaps not much here; but in many remote Countries 'tis otherwise still; the _Indians_ of _America_ are particularly said to have Witches among them, as well in those Countries where the _Spaniards_ and the _English_ and other Nations have planted themselves, as amongst those where the _European_ Nations seldom come: _for Example_, the People of _Canada_, that is, of the Countries under the _French_ Government of _Quebeck_, the Equimeaux, and other Northern Climates, have Magicians, Wizards and Witches, who they call _Pilloatas_ or _Pillotoas_; these pretend they speak intimately and familiarly with the Devil, and receive from him the Knowledge of Things to come; all which, by the Way, I take to be little more than this; that these Fellows being a little more cunning than the rest, think, that by pretending to something more than human, they shall make the stronger Impressions on the ignorant People; as _Mahomet_ amus'd the World with his Pigeon, using it to pick Peas out of his Ear, and persuaded the People it brought him superior Revelations and Inspirations from Paradise.

Thus these _Pillotoas_ gaining an Opinion among the People, behave like so many Mountebanks of Hell, pretending to understand dark Things, cure Diseases, practise Surgery, Physick and Necromancy altogether; I will not say, but _Satan_ may pick out such Tools to work with, and I believe does in those Parts, but I think he has found a nearer Way to the Wood with us, and that is sufficient to my present Purpose.

Some would persuade me the _Devil_ had a great Hand in the late religious Breaches in _France_, among the Clergy, (_viz._) about the Pope's Constitution _Unigenitus_, and that he made a fair Attempt to set the Pope and the _Gallican_ Church together by the Ears, for they were all just upon the Point or breaking out into a Church War, that for ought we knew might have gone farther than the _Devil_ himself car'd it should; now I am of the quite contrary Opinion, I believe the _Devil_ really did not make the Breach, but rather heal'd it, for fear it should have gone so far among them as to have set them all in a Flame, and have open'd the Door to the Return of the _Hugonots_ again, which it was in a fair Way to have done.

But be it one Way or t'other, the historical Part seems to be a little against me; for 'tis certain, the _Devil_ both wanted and made Use of Legions of Agents, as well human as infernal, visible and invisible in that great and important Affair, and we cannot doubt but he has innumerable Instruments still at work about it.

Like as in _Poland_, I make no Question but the _Devil_ has thousands of his Banditti at work at this Time, and in another Country not far from it, perhaps, preparing Matters for the next General Diet, taking care to prevent giving any Relaxation to the Protestants, and to justify the moderate Executions at _Thorn_, to excite a Nation to quarrel with every Body who are able to fight with no body; to erect the Apostate Race of _S----y_ upon a Throne which they have no Title to, and turn an elective Throne into an hereditary, in favour of Popery.

I might anticipate all your Objections, by granting the busy _Devil_ at this Time employing all his Agents and Instruments (for I never told you they were idle and useless) in striving to enflame the Christian World, and bring a new War to overspread _Europe_; I might, perhaps, point out to you some of the Measures he takes, the Provocatives which his State Physicians administer to the Courts and Counsellors of Princes, to foment and ferment the Spirits, and Members of Nations, Kingdoms, Empires and States in the World, in order to bring these glorious Ends of Blood and War to pass; for you cannot think but he that knows so much of the _Devil_'s Affairs, as to write his History, must know something of all these Matters more than those that do not know so much as he.

But all this is remote to the present Case, for this is no Impeachment of Satan's new Methods with Mankind, in this Part of the World, and in his private and separate Capacity; all this only signifies that in his more general and national Affairs, the _Devil_ acts still by his old Methods; and when he is to seduce or embroil Nations, he, like other Conquerors, subdues them by Armies, employs mighty Squadrons of _Devils_, and sends out strong Detachments, with Generals and Generalissimos to lead them, some to one Part of the World, some to another; some to influence one Nation, some to manage and direct another, according as Business presents, and his Occasions require, that his Affairs may be carried on currently, and to his Satisfaction.

If it were not thus, but that the _Devil_ by his new and exquisite Management, of which I have said so much, had brought Mankind in general to be the Agents of their own Mischiefs, and that the World were so at his Beck, that he need but command them to go and fight, declare War, raise Armies, destroy Cities, Kingdoms, Countries and People; the World would be a Field of Blood indeed, and all Things would run into Confusion presently.

But this is not the Case at all, Heaven has not let go the Government of the Creation to his subdu'd Enemy, the Devil; that would overturn the whole System of God, and give Satan more Power, than ever he was or will be vested with; when, therefore, I speak of a few forward Wretches in our Day, who are so warm in their Wickedness, that they anticipate the Devil, save him the Trouble to tempt, turn Devils to themselves, and gallop Hellward faster than he drives; I speak of them as single Persons, and acting in their own personal and private Capacity, but when I speak of Nations and Kingdoms, there the Devil is oblig'd to go on in the old Road, and act by Stratagem, by his proper Machinery, and to make use of all his Arts, and all his Agents, just as he has done in all Ages, from the beginning of his politic Government to this Day.

And if it was not thus too, what would become of all his numberless Legions, of which all Ages have heard so much, and all Parts of the World have had so much fatal Experience? They would seem to be quite out of Employment, and be render'd useless in the World of Spirits, where it is to be supposed they reside; not the Devil himself could find any Business for them, which by the Way, to busy and mischievous Spirits, as they are, would be a Hell to them, even before their Time; they would be, as it were, doom'd to a State of Inactivity, which we may suppose was one Part of their Expulsion from Blessedness and the Creation of Man; or as they were for the surprising Interval between the Destruction of Mankind by the Deluge and _Noah_'s coming out of the Ark, when indeed they might be said to have nothing at all to do.

But this is not Satan's Case, and therefore let me tell you too, that you may not think I treat the Case with more Levity than I really do, and than I am sure I intend to do; tho' it is too true that our modern and modish Sinners have arrived to more exquisite Ways of being wicked, than their Fathers, and really seem, as I have said, to need no Devil to tempt them; nay, that they do Satan's Work for him as to others also, and make themselves Devils to their Neighbours, tempting others to crime even faster than the Devil desires them, running before they are sent, and going of the _Devil_'s Errands _gratis_; by which Means Satan's Work is, as to them, done to his Hand, and they may be said to save him a great deal of Trouble; yet after all, the Devil has still a great deal of Business upon his Hands, and as well himself as all his Legions, find themselves a full Employment in disturbing the World, and opposing the Glory and Kingdom of their great Superior, whose Kingdom it is their whole Business, however vain in its End, to overthrow and destroy, if they were able, or at least to endeavour it.

This being the Case, it follows of course that the general Mischiefs of Mankind, as well national and public, as family Mischiefs, and even personal, (except as before excepted) lie all still at the _Devil_'s Door, as much as ever, let his Advocates bring him off of it if they can; and this brings us back again to the manner of the Devil's Management, and the Way of his working by human Agents, or if you will, the Way of human Devils, working in Affairs of low Life, such as we call Divination, Sorcery, Black-Art, Necromancy, and the like; all which I take to consist of two material Parts, and both very necessary for us to be rightly inform'd of.

1. The Part which Satan by himself or his inferior _Devils_
empowers such People to do, as he is in Confederacy with here on
Earth; to whom he may be said, like the Master of an Opera or
Comedy, to give their Parts to act, and to qualify them to act it;
whether he obliges them to a Rehearsal in his Presence, to try
their Talents, and see that they are capable of performing, that
indeed I have not enquir'd into.

2. That Part which these empower'd People do voluntier or beyond
their Commission, to shew their Diligence in the Service of their
new Master, and either (1.) to bring Grist to their own Mill, and
make their Market of their Employment in the best manner they can;
or (2.) to gain Applause, be admir'd, wonder'd at, and applauded,
as if they were ten Times more _Devils_ than really they are.

In a Word, the Matter consists of what the _Devil_ does by the Help of these People, and what they do in his Name without him; the Devil is sometimes cheated in his own Business; there are Pretenders to Witchcraft and Black-Art, who Satan never made any Bargain with, but who he connives at, because at least they do his Cause no harm, tho' their Business is rather to get Money, than to render him any Service, of which I gave you a remarkable Instance before.

But to go back to his real Agents, of which I reckon two.

1. Those who act by Direction and Confederacy, as I have said
already many do.

2. Those whom he acts in and by, and they (perhaps) know it not, of
which Sort History gives us plenty of Examples, from _Machiavel_'s
first Disciple ---- to the famous Cardinal _Alberoni_, and even to
some more modern than his Eminence, of whom I can say no more till
farther Occasion offers.

1. Those who act by immediate Direction of the Devil, and in Confederacy with him; these are such as I mention'd in the beginning of this Chapter, whose Arts are truly black, because really infernal; it will be very hard to decide the Dispute between those who really act thus in Confederacy with the _Devil_, and those who only pretend to it; so I shall leave that Dispute where I find it; but that there are, or at least have been, a Set of People in the World, who really are of his Acquaintance, and very intimate with him; and tho', as I have said, he has much alter'd his Schemes and chang'd Hands of late; yet that there are such People, perhaps of all Sorts; and that the Devil keeps up his Correspondence with them; I must not venture to deny that Part, lest I bring upon me the whole Posse of the conjuring and bewitching Crew, Male and Female, and they should mob me for pretending to deny them the Honour of dealing with the _Devil_, which they are so exceeding willing to have the Fame of.

Not that I am hereby oblig'd to believe all the strange Things the Witches and Wizards, who have been allow'd to be such, nay, who have been hang'd for it, have said of themselves; nay, that they have confess'd of themselves, even at the Gallows; and if I come to have an Occasion to speak freely of the Matter, I may perhaps convince you that the Devil's possessing Power is much lessen'd of late, and that he either is limited, and his Fetter shortened more than it has been, or that he does not find the old Way (as I said before) so fit for his Purpose as he did formerly, and therefore takes other Measures, but I must adjourn that to a Time and Place by itself: But we are told that there are another Sort of People, and, perhaps, a great many of them too, in whom and by whom the Devil really acts, and they know it not.

It would take up a great deal of Time and Room, too much for this Place, so near the Close of this Work, to describe and mark out the involuntary _Devils_ which there are in the World; of whom it may be truly said, that really the _Devil_ is in them, and they know it not: Now, tho' the _Devil_ is cunning and managing, and can be very silent where he finds it for his Interest not to be known; yet it is very hard for him to conceal himself, and to give so little Disturbance in the House, as that the Family should not know who lodged in it; yet, I say, the Devil is so subtle and so mischievous an Agent, that he uses all manner of Methods and Craft to reside in such People as he finds for his Purpose, whether they will or no, and which is more, whether they know it or no.

And let none of my Readers be angry or think themselves ill used, when I tell them the Devil may be in them, and may act them, and by them, and they not know it; for I must add, it may, perhaps, be one of the greatest Pieces of human Wisdom in the World, for a Man to know when the Devil is in him, and when not; when he is a Tool and Agent of Hell, and when he is not; in a Word, when he is doing the Devil's Work, and under his Direction, and when not.

It is true, this is a very weighty Point, and might deserve to be handled in a more serious Way than I seem to be talking in all this Book; but give me leave to talk of Things my own way, and withall, to tell you, that there is no Part of this Work so seemingly ludicrous, but a grave and well weigh'd Mind may make a serious and solid Application of it, if they please; nor is there any Part of this Work, in which a clear Sight and a good Sense may not see that the Author's Design is, that they should do so; and as I am now so near the End of my Book, I thought it was meet to tell you so, and lead you to it as far as I can.

I say, 'tis a great Part of human Wisdom to know when the _Devil_ is acting in us and by us, and when not; the next and still greatest Part would be to prevent him, put a Stop to his Progress, bid him go about his Business, and let him know he should carry on his Designs no farther in that manner; that we will be his Tools no longer; in short, to turn him out of Doors, and bring a stronger Power to take Possession; but this, indeed, is too solid a Subject, and too great to begin with here.

But now, as to the bare knowing when he is at work with us, I say this, tho' it is considerable, may be done, nor is it so very difficult; _for Example_, you have no more to do but look a little into the Microcosm of the Soul, and see there how the Passions which are the Blood, and the Affections which are the Spirit, move in their particular Vessels; how they circulate, and in what Temper the Pulse beats there, and you may easily see who turns the Wheel; if a perfect Calm possesses the Soul; if Peace and Temper prevail, and the Mind feels no Tempests rising; if the Affections are regular and exalted to vertuous and sublime Objects, the Spirits cool, and the Mind sedate, the Man is in a general Rectitude of Mind, he may be truly said to be _his own Man_; Heaven shines upon his Soul with its benign Influences, and he is out of the Reach of the evil Spirit; for the divine Spirit is an Influence of Peace, all calm and bright, happy and sweet like it self, and tending to every Thing that is good both present and future.

But on the other Hand, if at any Time the Mind is ruffled, if Vapours rise, Clouds gather, if Passions swell the Breast, if Anger, Envy, Revenge, Hatred, Wrath, Strife; if these, or any of these hover over you, much more if you feel them within you; if the Affections are possess'd, and the Soul hurried down the Stream to embrace low and base Objects; if those Spirits, which are the Life and enlivening Powers of the Soul, are drawn off to Parties, and to be engag'd in a vicious and corrupt manner, shooting out wild and wicked Desires, and running the Man headlong into Crime, the Case is easily resolv'd, the Man is possess'd, the _Devil_ is in him; and having taken the Fort, or at least the Counterscarp and Out-Works, is making his Lodgment to cover and secure himself in his Hold, that he may not be dispossess'd.

Nor can he be easily dispossess'd when he has got such hold as this; and 'tis no wonder, that being lodg'd thus upon the Out-Works of the Soul he continues to sap the Foundation of the rest, and by his incessant and furious Assaults, reduces the Man at last to a Surrender.

If the Allegory be not as just and apposite as you would have it be, you may, however, see by it in a full View, the State of the Man, and how the _Devil_ carries on his Designs; nothing is more common, and I believe there are few thinking Minds but may reflect upon it in their own Compass, than for our Passions and Affections to flow out of the ordinary Channel; the Spirits and Blood of the Soul to be extravasated, the Passions grow violent and outragious, the Affections impetuous, corrupt and violently vicious: Whence does all this proceed? from Heaven we can't pretend it comes; if we must not say 'tis the _Devil_, whose Door must it lie at? Pride swells the Passions; Avarice moves the Affections; and what is Pride, and what is Avarice, but the _Devil_ in the Inside of the Man? ay, as personally and really as ever he was in the Herd of Swine.

Let not any Man then, who is a Slave to his Passions, or who is chain'd down to his Covetousness, pretend to take it ill, when I say he has the _Devil_ in him, or that he is a _Devil_: What else can it be, and how comes it to pass that Passion and Revenge so often dispossess the Man of himself, as to lead him to commit Murther, to lay Plots and Snares for the Life of his Enemies, and so to thirst for Blood? How comes this but by the Devil's putting those Spirits of the Soul into so violent a Ferment, into a Fever? that the Circulation is precipitated to that Degree, and that the Man too is precipitated into Mischief, and at last into Ruin; 'tis all the _Devil_, tho' the Man does not know it.

In like manner Avarice leads him to rob, plunder and destroy for Money, and to commit sometimes the worst of Violences to obtain the wicked Reward. How many have had their Throats cut for their Money, have been murther'd on the Highway, or in their Beds, for the Desire of what they had? It is the same Thing in other Articles, every Vice is the Devil in a Man; Lust of Rule is the _Devil_ of great Men, and that Ambition is their _Devil_ as much as whoring is Father ------'s _Devil_, one has a _Devil_ of one Class acting him, one another, and every Man's reigning Vice is a _Devil_ to him.

Thus the _Devil_ has his involuntary Instruments, as well as those who act in Confederacy with him; he has a very great Share in many of us, and acts us, and in us, unknown to our selves tho' we know nothing of it, and indeed tho' we may not suspect it of our selves; like _Hazael_ the _Assyrian_, who when the Prophet told him how he would act the _Devil_ upon the poor _Israelites_, answer'd with Detestation, _is thy Servant a Dog that he should do this Thing_, and yet he was that Dog, and did all those cruel Things for all that; the _Devil_ acting him, or acting in him, to make him wickeder than ever he thought it was possible for him to be.

The CONCLUSION.

_Of the_ Devil_'s last Scene of Liberty, and what may be supposed to be
his End, with what we are to understand of his being tormented for
ever and ever._

As the _Devil_ is a Prince of the Power of the Air, his Kingdom is mortal, and must have an End; and as he is call'd the God of this World, that is, the great Usurper of the Homage and Reverence which Mankind ought of right to pay to their Maker, so his Usurpation also, like the World it self, must have an End: Satan is call'd the God of the World, as Men too much prostrate and prostitute themselves to him, yet he is not the Governor of this World; and therefore the Homage and Worship he has from the World is an Usurpation; and this will have an End, because the World it self will have an End; and all Mankind, as they had a beginning in Time, so must expire and be remov'd before the End of Time.

Since then the _Devil_'s Empire is to expire and come to an End, and that the _Devil_ himself and all his Host of _Devils_ are immortal Seraphs, Spirits that are not embodied and cannot die, but are to remain in being; the Question before us next will be, what is to become of him? what is his State to be? whether is he to wander, and in what Condition is he to remain to that Eternity to which he is still to exist?

I hope no Man will mistake me so much in what I have said as to Spirits, which are all Flame, not being affected with Fire, as if I supposed there was no Place of Punishment for the _Devil_, nor any Kind of Punishment that could affect them; and so of our Spirits also when transform'd into Flame.

I must be allow'd to speak there of that material Fire, by which, as by an Allegory, all the Terrors of an eternal State are represented to us in Scripture, and in the Writings of the learned Commentators, and by which the Pain of Sense is describ'd; this, perhaps, I do not understand as they seem to do, and therefore have said,

When we're all Flame (that is all Spirit) we shall all Fire (that is, all such Fire as this) despise. And thus I claim to be understood.

It does not follow from hence, neither do I suggest, or so much as think that infinite Power cannot form a something (tho' inconceivable to us here) which shall be as tormenting, and as insupportable to a Devil, an apostate Seraph, and to a Spirit, tho' exalted, unembodied and rarified into _Flame_, as Fire would be to other Bodies; in which I think I am orthodox, and do not give the least Occasion to an Enemy to charge me with profane Speaking, in those Words, or to plead for thinking prophanely himself.

It must be Atheistical to the last Degree to suggest, that whereas the _Devil_ has been heaping up and amassing Guilt ever since the Creation of Man, encreasing in hatred of God and Rebellion against him, and in all possible endeavour to dethrone and depose the Majesty of Heaven; that yet Heaven had not prepar'd, or could not prepare a just Penalty for him; and that it should not all end in God's entire Victory over Hell, and in Satan's open Condemnation: Heaven could not be just to its own Glory, if he should not avenge himself upon this Rebel, for all his superlative Wickedness in his modern as well as ancient Station; for the Blood of so many millions of his faithful Subjects and Saints whom he has destroy'd; and if nothing else offer'd it self to prove this Part, it would appear undoubted to me; but this, I confess, does not belong to Satan's History, and therefore I have reserv'd it to this Place, and shall also be the shorter in it.

That his Condition is to be a State of Punishment, and that by Torment, the _Devil_ himself has own'd, and his calling out to our blessed Lord when he cast him out of the furious Man among the Tombs, is a Proof of it, _What have we to do with thee_, and _art thou come to torment us before the Time?_ Luke viii. 28. where the _Devil_ acknowledges four Things, and three of them are directly to my present Purpose, and if you won't believe the Word of God, I hope you will believe the _Devil_, especially when 'tis an open Confession against himself.

1. He confess Christ to be the _Son of God_ (that by the Way) and _no Thanks to him_, for that does not want the _Devil_'s Evidence.

2. He acknowledges he may be tormented.

3. He acknowledges Christ was able to torment him.

4. He acknowledges that there is a Time appointed when he shall be tormented.

As to _how_, in _what Manner_, and by _what Means_, this tormenting the Devil is to be performed or executed, that I take to be as needless to us as 'tis impossible to know, and being not at present inclined to fill your Heads and Thoughts with weak and imperfect Guesses, I leave it where I find it.

It is enough to us that this Torment of the _Devil_ is represented to us by Fire, it being impossible for our confin'd Thoughts to conceive of Torment by any Thing in the World more exquisite; whence I conclude, that _Devils_ shall at last receive a Punishment suitable to their Spirituous Nature, and as exquisitely Tormenting as a burning Fire would be to our Bodies.

Having thus settl'd my own Belief of this Matter, and stated it so, as I think will let you see 'tis rightly sounded, the Matter stands thus.

Satan having been let loose to play his Game in this World, has improv'd his Time to the utmost; he has not fail'd on all Occasions to exert his Hatred, Rage, and Malice at his Conqueror and Enemy, _namely, his Maker_; he has nor fail'd, from Principles of meer Envy and Pride, to pursue Mankind with all possible Rancour, in order to deprive him of the Honour and Felicity which he was created for, namely, to succeed the _Devil_ and his Angels in the State of Glory from which they fell.

This Hatred of God and Envy at Man, having broken out in so many several Ways in the whole Series of Time from the Creation, must necessarily have greatly encreased his Guilt; and as Heaven is righteous to judge him, must terminate in an encrease of Punishment, adequate to his Crime, and sufficient to his Nature.

Some have suggested, that there is yet a Time to come, when the _Devil_ shall exert more Rage, and do more Mischief than ever yet he has been permitted to do; whether he shall break his Chain, or be unchain'd for a Time, they cannot tell, nor I neither; and 'tis happy for my Work, that even this Part too does not belong to his History; if ever it shall be given an Account of by Mankind, it must be after it is come to pass, for my Part is not Prophesy of foretelling what the Devil shall do, but History of what he has done.

Thus, good People, I have brought the History of the Devil down to _your own Times_; I have, as it were, _rais'd him_ for you, and set him in your View, that you may know him and have a Care of him.

If any cunninger Men among you think they are able now to _lay him_ again, and so dispose of him out of your Sight, that you shall be troubled no more with him, either here or hereafter, let them go to work with him their own Way; you know Things future do not belong to an Historian, so I leave him among you, wishing you may be able to give no worse an Account of him for the Time to come, than I have done for the Time past.

FINIS.

Footnotes:

[1] N. B. He never refus'd setting his hand to any opinion, which he thought it for his interest to acknowledge.

[2] Mean't of nothing.

[3] _Mr._ Pool's _words are these_: Some refer the words, _This day have I begotten thee_, to the incarnation of the Son of GOD, others to the Resurrection: our Translators lay the stress on the preposition of which the verb is compounded, and by adding _again_, (viz.) _rais'd up Jesus again_, Acts xiii. 33. intend it to be understood of the Resurrection; and there is ground for it, in the context, for the Resurrection of Christ, is that which St. _Paul_ had propounded in v. 30. of the same Chapter, as his theme or argument to preach upon.

Not that Christ at his Resurrection began to be the Son of God, but that he was manifested then to be so.

[4] Satan.

[5] The meaning of the word Devil is Destroyer. See _Pool_ upon _Acts_ xiii. 10.

[6] _As great as the Devil and Doctor_ Faustus. Vulg. Dr. _Foster_.

Transcriber's Notes:

Passages in italics are indicated by _underscore_.

Additional spacing after some of the quotes is intentional to indicate both the end of a quotation and the beginning of a new paragraph as presented in the original text.

Long "s" has been modernized.

The original text includes Greek characters. For this text version these letters have been replaced with transliterations.

The text includes two instances of unmatched round brackets; as these require interpretation to close, they have been left unmatched.

The following misprints have been corrected:
"Origiual" corrected to "Original" (Table of Contents)
"34" corrected to "31" (Table of Contents)
"259" corrected to "159" (Table of Contents)
extraneous "a" removed (page 1)
"blinding" corrected to "binding" (page 9)
"decrib'd" corrected to "describ'd" (page 57)
"Battels" corrected to "Battles" (page 76)
"inconcievable" corrected to "inconceivable" (page 91)
"Devils" corrected to "Devil's" (page 101)
"hut" corrected to "but" (page 120)
"that that" corrected to "that" (page 127)
"opposs'd" corrected to "oppos'd" (page 152)
"notwitstanding" corrected to "notwithstanding" (page 162)
"a as Body" corrected to "as a Body" (page 172)
"Peoples" corrected to "People's" (page 184)
"Asia" corrected to "Asa" (page 187)
"was" corrected to "saw" (page 213)
"faling" corrected to "falling" (page 229)
"Christain" corrected to "Christian" (page 230)
"what's is" corrected to "what is" (page 233)
"disapointed" corrected to "disappointed" (page 234)
"been" corrected to "seen" (page 235)
"momentons" corrected to "momentous" (page 244)
"Chritians" corrected to "Christians" (page 250)
"Egyytian" corrected to "Egyptian" (page 252)
"Magnifience" corrected to "Magnificence" (page 256)
"whereever" corrected to "wherever" (page 267)
"compliasant" corrected to "complaisant" (page 294)
"coul'd" corrected to "cou'd" (page 298)
"Acquiantance" corrected to "Acquaintance" (page 299)
"Oportunity" corrected to "Opportunity" (page 300)
"har'd" corrected to "hard" (page 301)
"distingush" corrected to "distinguish" (page 312)
"whereever" corrected to "wherever" (page 322)
"the the" corrected to "the" (page 330)
"CHAP. VII" corrected to "CHAP. IX" (page 339)
"Businses" corrected to "Business" (page 370)

Other than the corrections listed above, printer's inconsistencies in spelling, punctuation, and hyphenation usage have been retained.

End of Project Gutenberg's The History of the Devil, by Daniel Defoe