Of the Manner ofSatan’s acting and carrying on his Affairs in this World, and particularly of his ordinary Workings in the dark, byPossessionandAgitation.
Of the Manner ofSatan’s acting and carrying on his Affairs in this World, and particularly of his ordinary Workings in the dark, byPossessionandAgitation.
TheDevil being thus reduc’d to act upon Mankind by Stratagem only, it remains to enquire how he performs, and which way he directs his Attacks; the Faculties of Man are a kind of a Garrison in a strong Castle, which as they defend it on the one hand under the Command of the reasoning Power of Man’s Soul, so they are prescribed on the other hand, and can’t sally out without Leave; for the Governor of a Fort does not permit his Soldiers to hold any Correspondence with the Enemy, without special Order and Direction. Now the great Enquiry before us is, How comes theDevilto a Parley with us? how does he converse with our Senses, and with the Understanding? How does he reach us, which way does he come at the Affections, and which way does he move the Passions? ’Tis a little difficult to discover this treasonable Correspondence, and that Difficulty is indeed theDevil’s Advantage, and, for ought I see, the chief Advantage he has over Mankind.
It is also a great Enquiry here, whether theDevilknows our Thoughts or no? If I may give my Opinion, I am with the negative; I deny that he knows any thing of our Thoughts, except of those Thoughts which he puts us upon thinking, for I will not doubt but he has the Art to inject Thoughts, and to revive dormant Thoughts in us: It is not so wild a Scheme as some take it to be,that Mr.Miltonlays down, to represent theDevilinjecting corrupt Desires and wandring Thoughts into the Head ofEve, by Dreams, and that he brought her to Dream whatever he put into her Thoughts, by whispering to her vocally when she was asleep; and to this End, he imagines theDevillaying himself close to her Ear, in the Shape of a Toad, when she was fall asleep; I say, this is not so wild a Scheme, seeing even now, if you can whisper any thing close to the Ear of a Person in a deep Sleep, so as to speak distinctly to the Person, and yet not awaken him, as has been frequently tried, the Person sleeping shall dream distinctly of what you say to him; nay, shall dream the very Words you say.
We have then no more to ask, but how theDevilcan convey himself to the Ear of a sleeping Person, and it is granted then that he may have Power to make us dream what he pleases: But this is not all, for if he can so forcibly, by his invisible Application, cause us to dream, what he pleases, why can he not with the same Facility prompt our Thoughts, whether sleeping or waking? To dream, is nothing else but to think sleeping; and we have abundance of deep-headed Gentlemen among us, who give us ample Testimony that they dream waking.
But if theDevilcan prompt us to dream, that is to say, to think, yet if he does not know our Thoughts, how then can he tell whether the Whisper had its Effect? The answer is plain, theDevil, like the Angler, baits the Hook, if the Fish bite he lies ready to take the Advantage, he whispers to the Imagination, and then waits to see how it works; asNaomisaid toRuth, Chap. iii. 5, 18.Sit still, my Daughter, until thou know how the Matter will fall, for the Man will not be at rest until he have finished the thing.Thuswhen theDevilhad whisper’d toEvein her Sleep,according to Milton, and suggested Mischief to her Imagination, he only sat still to see how the Matter would work, for he knew if it took with her, he should hear more of it; and then by finding her alone the next Day, without her ordinary Guard her Husband, he presently concluded she had swallowed the Bait, and so attack’d her afresh.
A small deal of Craft, and less by far than we have reason to believe theDevilis Master of, will serve to discover whether such and such Thoughts as he knows he has suggested, have taken Place or no; the Action of the Person presently discovers it, at least to him that lies always upon the Watch, and has every Word, every Gesture, every Step we take subsequent to his Operation, open to him; it may therefore, for ought we know, be a great Mistake, and what most of us are guilty of, to tell our Dreams to one another in the Morning, after we have been disturb’d with them in the Night; for if theDevilconverses with us so insensibly as some are of the Opinion he does,that is to say, if he can hear as far as we can see, we may be telling our Story to him indeed, when we think we are only talking to one another.
This brings me most naturally to the important Enquiry, whether theDevilcan walk about the World invisibly or no? The Truth is, this is no question to me; for as I have taken away his Visibility already, and have denied him all Prescience of Futurity too, and have prov’d he cannot know our Thoughts, nor put any Force upon Persons or Actions, if we should take away his Invisibility too, we shouldundevilhim quite, to all Intents and Purposes, as to any Mischief he could do; nay, it would banish him the World,and he might e’en go and seek his Fortune some where else; for if he could neither be visible or invisible, neither act in publick or in private, he could neither have Business or Being in this Sphere, nor could we be any way concern’d with him.
TheDeviltherefore most certainly has a Power and Liberty of moving about in this World, aftersome manner or another; this is verify’d as well by way of Allegory, as by way of History, in the Scripture it self; and as the first strongly suggests and supposes it to be so, the last positively asserts it; and, not to croud this Work with Quotations from a Book which we have not much to do with in theDevil’s Story, at least not much to his Satisfaction, I only hint his personal Appearance to our Saviour in the Wilderness, where it is said,the Devil taketh him up to an exceeding high Mountain; and in another Place,the Devil departed from him. What Shape or Figure he appear’d in, we do not find mentioned, but I cannot doubt his appearing to him there, any more than I can his talking to our Saviour in the Mouths, and with the Voices of the several Persons who were under the terrible Affliction of an actual Possession.
These Things leave us no room to doubt of what is advanced above, namely, that he, (theDevil) has a certain Residence, or Liberty of residing in, and moving about upon the Surface of this Earth, as well as in the Compass of the Atmosphere, vulgarly call’d the Air, in some manner or other: That is the general.
It remains to enquire into the manner, which I resolve into two Kinds;
1.Ordinary, which I suppose to be his invisible Motions as a Spirit; under whichConsideration I suppose him to have an unconfin’d, unlimited, unrestrain’d Liberty, as to the manner of acting; and this either in Persons, by Possession; or in Things, by Agitation.2.Extraordinary; which I understand to be his Appearances in borrowed Shapes and Bodies, or Shadows rather of Bodies; assuming Speech, Figure, Posture, and Several Powers, of which we can give little or no Account; in which extraordinary manner of Appearances, he is either limited by a Superior Power, or limits himself politically, as being not the Way most for his Interest or Purpose, to act in his Business, which is more effectually done in his State of Obscurity.
1.Ordinary, which I suppose to be his invisible Motions as a Spirit; under whichConsideration I suppose him to have an unconfin’d, unlimited, unrestrain’d Liberty, as to the manner of acting; and this either in Persons, by Possession; or in Things, by Agitation.
2.Extraordinary; which I understand to be his Appearances in borrowed Shapes and Bodies, or Shadows rather of Bodies; assuming Speech, Figure, Posture, and Several Powers, of which we can give little or no Account; in which extraordinary manner of Appearances, he is either limited by a Superior Power, or limits himself politically, as being not the Way most for his Interest or Purpose, to act in his Business, which is more effectually done in his State of Obscurity.
Hence we must suppose theDevilhas it very much in his own Choice, whether to act in one Capacity, or in the other, or in both; that is to say, of appearing, and not appearing, as he finds for his Purpose: In this State of Invisibility, and under the Operation of these Powers and Liberties, he performs all his Functions and Offices, asDevil, as Prince of Darkness, as God of this World, as Tempter, Accuser, Deceiver, and all whatsoever other Names of Office, or Titles of Honour he is known by.
Now taking him in this large unlimited, or little limited State of Action, he is well call’d,the God of this World, for he has very much of the Attribute of Omnipresence, and may be said,either by himself or his Agents, to be every where, and see every thing; that is to say, every thing that is visible; for I cannot allow him any Share ofOmniscienceat all.
That he ranges about every where, iswith us, and sometimesin 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 runsfrom uswe can’t catch him, and when he runsafter uswe 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.aftersome 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 aboutincognito, 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 theDevilwas 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 selvesabout 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 aDevilof 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 ofDevils, 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 hisJailorsthe 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 couldSatan(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’dDevilhe 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, hecould 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 nakedDevil? It is not the Devil as aDevilthat does the Mischief, but theDevilin Masquerade,Satanin full Disguise, and acting at the Head of civil Confusion and Distraction.
If History may be credited, theFrenchCourt at the Time of our old Confusions was made the Scene of Satan’s Politicks, and prompted both Parties inEnglandand inScotlandalso to quarrel, and how was it done? Will any Man offer to scandalize theDevilso much as to say, or so much as to suggest thatSatanhad no Hand in it all? Did not theDevil, by the Agency of CardinalRichlieu, send 400000 Crowns at one Time, and 600000 at another, to theScots, to raise an Army and march boldly intoEngland?and did not the sameDevilat the same time, by other Agents, remit 800000 Crowns to the other Party, in order to raise an Army to fallupon theScots? nay, did not theDevilwith the same Subtilty send down the Archbishop’s Order to impose the Service-Book upon the People inScotland, 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 ofSatan, 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 theDevilin 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 theDevilhas 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 theDevilmakes 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 Manneras that he may seem to have no Hand in it; nay he contrives so well, that the very NameDevilis 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.
Of Satan’s Agents or Missionaries, and their Actings upon and in the Minds of Men in his Name.
Of Satan’s Agents or Missionaries, and their Actings upon and in the Minds of Men in his Name.
InfiniteAdvantages attend theDevilin 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 Occasionshis Angels, of whom he has an innumerableMultitude, 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 toand intoany such Person, andfor such Purposes,superior Limitations only excepted, as the grand Director ofDevils, (TheDevilproperly 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 humaneDevilshere 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 nofoolish 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 theDevilshould have such a numberless Train of DeputyDevilsto 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 theDevilby 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 againstSatan’s Interest, and even to his great Mortification, it amounts to no more than this; namely, that in such Cases theDevilhas 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, theDevilhas 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 ofLuther, or from the Year 1420, and call the Reformation a Blow to theDevil’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 theDevil; whether it was an Assembly of Saints or a Synagogue of Satan: I say, take that Time to be theEpochaof Satan’s Declension and ofLucifer’sfallingfrom Heaven, that is, from the Top of his terrestrial Glory, yet whether he did not gain in the Defection of theGreekChurch about that Time and since, as much as he lost in the Reformation of theRoman, 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 ofSavoy’s Dominion, where the Reformation is almost eaten out by Persecution; the wholeValtolineand some adjacent Countries; the whole Kingdom ofPolandand almost allHungary; for since the last War the Reformation, as it were, lies gasping for Breath, and expiring in that Country, also several large Provinces inGermany, asAustria,Carinthia, and the whole Kingdom ofBohemia, where the Reformation once powerfully planted, receiv’d its Death’s Wound at the Battle ofPrague,Ann.1627, and languish’d but a very little while, died and was buried, and good KingPoperyreign’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 theRhineand thePalatinate, the one fallen to the House ofBavaria, and the other to that ofNeuburgh, both Popish; the Dutchy ofDeux Pontsfallen just now to a popish Branch, the whole Electorate ofSaxonyfallen under the Power of popish Government by the Apostacy of their Princes, and more likely to follow the Fate ofBohemia, whenever the diligentDevilcan bring his new Project inPolandto 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 ofA——.
But to sum up the dull Story; we must add in the Roll of theDevil’s Conquests, the whole Kingdom ofFrance, where we have in one Year seen, to the immortal Glory of theDevil’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 ChampionHenryIV. and sunk into utter Oblivion, bySatan’s most exquisite Management under the Agency of his two prime Ministers CardinalRichlieuandLewisthe XIV, whom he entirely possess’d.
Thus far we have a melancholy View of theDevil’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 theDevilis 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 theDevilfinding it for his Interest to bring his favouriteMahometupon the Stage, and spread the victorious Half-Moon upon the Ruin of the Cross, having with great Success, rais’d first theSaracenEmpire, and then theTurkishto such a Height, as that the Name ofChristianseemed to be extirpated in those two Quarters of the World, which were then not the greatest only, but by far the most powerful, I meanAsiaandAfrica; having totally laid wast all those antient and flourishing Churches ofAfrica, the Labours ofSt.Cyprian,Tertullian, St.Augustine, and 670 Christian Bishops and Fathers, who govern’d there at once, also all the Churches ofSmyrna,Philadelphia,Ephesus,Sardis,Antioch,Laodicea, and innumerable others inPontus,Bithynia, and the Provinces of the lesserAsia.
TheDevilhaving, 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 theWhore of Babylon, and had brought his Power by the Subjection of theRomanHierarchy to a great Height, yet finding the Interest ofMahometmost suitable to hisdevilishPurposes, as most adapted to the Destruction of Mankind, and laying waste the World, he resolv’d to espouse the growing Power of theTurk, and bring him in uponEuropelike a Deluge.
In order to this, and to make Way for an easy Conquest, like a trueDevilhe work’d under Ground, and sap’d the Foundation of the Christian Power, by sowing Discord among the reigning Princes ofEurope; that so envying one another they might be content to stand still and look on while theTurkdevoured them one by one, and at last might swallow them up all.
ThisdevilishPolicy took to his Heart’s Content; the Christian Princes stood still, stupid, dozing, and unconcern’d, till the Turk conqueredThrace, over-runServia,Macedonia,Bulgaria, and all the Remains of theGrecianEmpire, and at last the Imperial City ofConstantinopleit self.
Finding this politic Method so well answer his Ends, theDevil, 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 atfirst only personal, and founded in private Quarrels between the Princes respectively; such asEmulationof one another’s Glory,Envyat the extraordinary Valour, or other Merit of this or that Leader, orRevengeof 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 theDevilfirst 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 theDevilwas 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 theDevilwas as certainly the principal Operator, to illustrate great Things by small, as everJohnofLeydenwas of the HighDutchRebellion, orSirJohn B———tof the late Project, called theSouth-SeaStock. Nor did this Contrivance of theDevilat all dishonour his Author, or the Success appear unworthy of the Undertaker; for we see it not only answer the End, and made theTurkvictorious at the same Time, and formidable toEuropeever 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 theDevilwas mistaken, and is another instance that he knows nothing ofwhat isto come; for this very Foundation of immortal Jealousy and Discord between the several Nations ofSpain,France,Germany, and others, which theDevilhimself 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, asGreat BritainandPrussiais 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 theSwede; On the other Hand, were it possible that the Popish Powers, to wit, ofFrance,Spain,Germany,ItalyandPoland, 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 theDevil’s Cause at this time, not theDevilwith all his Angels are able to bring it to pass; no, not with all his Craft and Cunning; he dividedthem, but he can’t unite them; so that even just as ’tis with Men, so ’tis withDevils, 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 inEurope, and what terrible Things will happen whenFrance, andSpain, andGermany, andItaly, andPolandshall all unite; let this Answer satisfy them, TheDevilhimself can never makeFranceandSpain, orFranceand 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 theDevilmistaken anddisappointedtoo 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 offoreign 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 ofAhabthe King ofIsrael, as he was alying Spiritin the Mouths ofall 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 inChar.IX. a turbulent Spirit inChar.V. Emperors; a bigotted Spirit of Fire and Faggot in our QueenMary; an apostate Spirit inHen.IV.; a cruel Spirit inPeterofCastile; a revengeful Spirit inFerdinandII.; aPhaetoninLewisXIV.; aSardanapalusinC———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 preserveSatan’s Claim to them uninterrupted, and prevent their Escape out of his Hands; thus we haveseena bloody Devil in aD’Alva; a profligate Devil in aBuckingham; a lying, artful, or politick Devil in aRichlieu; a treacherous Devil in aMazarin; a cruel, merciless Devil in aCortez; a debauch’d Devil in anEugene; a conjuring Devil in aLuxemburg; and a covetous Devil in aM————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 alyingSpirit in the Mouths of our Prophets, a factious Spirit in the Heads of our Politicians, a profuseDevilin aB——s, a corrupt Devil inM——, a proud Spirit in my LordPlausible, a bullying Spirit in my LordBugbear, a talkative Spirit in his Grace the D—— ofRattle-hall, a scribling Spirit in myLordH———, a run-away Spirit in my LordFrightful; and so thro’ a long Roll of Heroes, whose exceeding, and particular Qualifications proclaim loudly what Handle theDeviltook 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, isMorbus Plebæi; 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 drunkenDevilin one, a whoringDevilin another, a thievingDevilin a third, a lyingDevilin 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 theDevilin 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 theDevilis 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 anEnthusiast, there aBuffoon; on this Side he acts theMountebank, on that Side theMerry-Andrew; nothing comes amiss to him, from the GreatMogul, to theScaramouch; theDevilis in them, more or less, and plays his Game so well that he makes sure Work with ’em all: He knows where theCommon Foiblelies, which isUniversal 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 thusin 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 foolishDevilin him, would not have been Fool enough to have taken him into his Service, if he had known him: And my LordSimpletonalso, whoSatanhas 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 nakedDevilhad come and challenged him for a Fool in Nature.
Infinite Variety illustrate theDevil’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 theDevilmanages his proper Instruments for Mischief; for Satan has a great many Agents in the Dark, who neither have theDevilin 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, whenthey 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 theDevil; 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 Godgood 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 areDevilsincarnate) 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 theDevil’s Master-piece to bring Mankind to such a Perfection of Devilism as that of theInquisitionis; forif theDevilhad not been in them, could they christen such aHell-fireJudicature as theInquisitionis, by the Name ofthe Holy Office? And so in Paganism, how could so many Nations among the poorIndiansoffer 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 theDevildid not act in them under the Vizor of Devotion?
But we need not go toAmerica, or to the Inquisition, not to Paganism or to Popery either, to look for People that are sacrificing to theDevil, 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 ofDevilWorshipers? Where do his Devotees gratulate one another, andcongratulate 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 fairDevilshis 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 toVenusandMercury, nay, and the veryDevilthey 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 twoDevilWorshipers for one true Saint, then the WordSaintmust 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 brokenin 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, forGod a Mightycould 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 sheDevilsI 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 themDevilsjust 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 toGod 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 theDevila 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 generallyDevils, 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 theDevil’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 Willfor theDeed, and if Heaven was not so good to come into that half in half Service, I don’t see but theDevilwould 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 theDevilin 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 wasposses’d,certainly the Devil was in me, or else I had never been such a Sot:Devilin you, Sir! Ay, who doubts it; you may be sure theDevilwas in you, and there he is still, and next Time he can catch you in the same Snare, you’ll be just the sameSotthat you say you were before.
In short, theDevilis 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 aDevil, yet it must be owned that every Crime puts the Criminal in some Measure into the Devil’s Power, gives him a Titleto the Man, and he treats him magisterially ever after.
Some tell us every single Man, every individual has aDevilattending him, to execute the Orders of the (Grand Signior) Devil of the whole Clan; that this attendingevil 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,thatI 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 theDevil’s Story; if there are good and evil Spirits attending us, that is to say, a good Angel and aDevil, then ’tis no unjust Reproach upon any Body to say, when they follow the Dictates of the latter, theDevilis in them; or they areDevils; 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 ofMankind 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 ofBaddow)It can neither be said they have Body or Soul,But only areDevilsin 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 tenBut’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 moremomentousAvocations 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.