CHAP. II.

Of the Notion, Conception, and Description of Witches and Witchcraft, according to divers Authors, and in what sense they may be granted, and in what sense and respect they are denied.

Those that are Masters in Ethicks teach us, that every Vertue hath on either side one Vice in the extreme, and that Vertue only consists in the mean, which how hard that mean is to be kept in any thing, the Writings and Actions of the most Men do sufficiently inform us. This is manifest, that not many years ago the truth of Philosophy lay inchained in the Prisons of the Schools, who thought there was no proficiency to be made therein, but only in their Logical and Systematical ways: so that (in a manner) all liberty was taken away both in writing and speaking, and nothing was to be allowed of that had not the Seal of Academick Sanction. And now when Philosophy hath gotten its freedom, to expatiate through the whole Sphere of Nature, by all sorts of inquiries andtryals, to compleat a perfect History of Nature, some are on the other hand grown so rigid and peremptory, that they will condemn all things that have not past the test of Experiment, or conduce not directly to that very point, and so would totally demolish that part of Academick and Formal Learning that teacheth men Method and the way of Logical procedure in writing of Controversies, and handling of Disputes. Whereas what is more necessary and commendable for those that treat of any controverted point in Writing or in other Disputations, than a clear and perspicuous Method, a right and exact stating of the Question in doubt, defining or describing the terms that are or may be equivocal, and dividing the whole into its due and genuine parts, distinguishing of things one from another, limiting things that are too general, and explaining of every thing that is doubtful? Those that would totally take away this so profitable and excellent a part of Learning, are not of my judgment, nor can be excused for having run into that extreme that is extremely condemnable. Let Experimental Philosophy have its place and due honour; and let also the Logical, Methodical, and Formal ways of the Academies have its due praise and commendation, as being both exceedingly profitable, though in different respects; otherwise, in writing and arguing, nothing but disorder and confusion will bear sway.

I have premised thus much, because the most of the Authors that have treated about this knotty and thorny Subject of Witches and Witchcraft, have been as confused and immethodical as any. For whereas the learned OratorCicerotells us, thatomnis discursus à definitione debet proficisci; and that it is also true, that what is not aptly and fitly defined or described, as far as the Subject will admit of, is never perfectly understood: yet have the most of these Authors (which are numerous) laid down no perfect description of a Witch or Witchcraft, nor explained fully what they meant by that name, notion, or conception. And therefore, lest I become guilty of the same fault, I shall lay down what the most considerable Authors that have treated of this Subject, do mean or intend by this wordWitch, andWitchcraft, and shall fully explain in what notion or sense I either allow or deny them, and their actions, and that in this order, and in these Particulars following.

Lib. 14. method. c. 9.

Ibid. c. 1.

1. Though an argument takenà denotatione nominisbe of little weight or validity, and that the industrious and sharp-witted personGalendoth seem to make little account of words, that is, in this respect, when we would only understand the nature of things, yet in another respect he concludeth thus: “Verùm qui alterum docere volet quæ ipse tenet, huic prorsus nominibus propter res uti est opus.” Now the handling of Controversies is chiefly and principally to inform others, and teach them the truth, and to discover errours; therefore in this respect the explication and denotation of words is exceeding profitable and necessary: and soPlato in Cratylotells us: “Nomen itaq; rerum, substantiam docendi discernendiq;instrumentum est.” And it being a manifest truth, that words are but the making forth of those notions that we have of things, and ought to be subjected to things, and not things to words: if our notions do not agree with the things themselves, then we have received falseIdolaor images of them; but if we have conceived them aright, and do not express them fitly and congruously, then we shall hardly make others understand us aright, nor can clearly open unto them the doctrine that we would teach them.

2. But to come to the signification and acceptation of the words that those Authors, who have magnified and defended the power of Witches, have used to express their notions by, we shall find them to be so far fetcht, so metaphorical, and improperly applied, that no rational or understanding man can tell us what to make of them. And if we take the notion, as they do, of a killing and murthering Witch, with the rest of the adjuncts, which they couple with it, we shall not be able to find a proper and significative word, either in the Hebrew, Greek, Latine, French, Spanish, Italian, or High-Dutch, but a multitude or aFerragoof words, whereof not one doth properly signifie any such thing, as they would make us believe, by the notion that they maintain of a Witch: of which we shall principally note these.

Lament. 4. 3.

1. For the Hebrew words used in the Old Testament we shall not mention them here, but afterward, where we speak of the mistranslation of them, and therefore shall pursue them in the Latine, and other Languages. And first they sometimes use the wordLamiain the Latine,Λάμιαin Greek, whichGesnerand others tell us doth signifie a terrestrial Creature, or a voracious fish, as also a Spectrum or Phantasm. And this was supposed to be a Creature with a face like a Woman, and feet like a Horse or an Ass, such as (indeed) neither is, nor ever wasin rerum natura, but was only a figment devised to affright children withal. But if we will believe Poetical Fables, the Romances ofPhilostratusconcerningApollonius, or the lying Diary of his ManDamis, we must take it to be a Spirit or Apparition, such as the Greeks calledEmpusæ, that went upon one leg, and had eyes that they could take forth, and set in, when they pleased. And such a monstrous Fable and Lye was a sufficient ground for doting Witchmongers to build their incredible stories of the power and actions of Witches upon, having no proper word for such a Witch as they falsely believe and suppose. Though there be a Text in the Lamentations ofJeremiah, that hath given occasion or colour to this vain opinion, especially as the vulgar Latine renders it, which is thus:Sed & Lamiæ nudaverunt mammam, lactaverunt catulos suos. Filia populi mei crudelis, quasi struthio in deserto.The French render it,The Dragons have made bare their breasts: and so have also the Italians in their Translation retained the words Dragon and Ostrich; and also the Septuagint render the wordsδράχοντεςandστρουθίον. AndLutherin his Translation hath kept the same words, though the Germans callLamiaEin Rachtsgeist. But our own Translation hath come more near the truth:Even the Sea-monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the Daughter of my people are become cruel like the Ostriches in the wilderness.AndArias Montanusgives it thus:Etiam draco——תניןTannin(which signifieth a Dragon, Serpent, Whale, or other Sea-creatures)solverunt mammam, lactaverunt catulos suos: Filia populi mei in crudelem, veluti ululæ in deserto.But none hath come up close to the mark butJuniusandTremellius, who render the place thus:Etiam Phocæ præbent mammam, lactant catulos suos, quomodo filia populi mei, propter crudelem inimicum, est similis ululis in deserto.And the Notes upon the place do make it plain: “Vox quidem Hebræa latè patet, significans serpentes & reptilia magna, sive terrestria sive aquatilia; sed cùm non omnium reptilium sint mammæ, neq; aquaticorum sint ii quos Propheta vocat catulos; necesse fuit hunc locum ad Phocas, id est marinos vitulos accommodari, qui à natura sint quasi Amphibii. Nam Draconibus accommodari non potest, cùm volucrium solus vespertilio mammas habeat: serpentium terrestrium nulla species mammata est, ac proinde hæc ad marinum istud genus referri debent.”

Isa. 34. 14.

Gesn. de Avib. l. 3. p. 241.

Hist. Anat. Cent. 1. p. 18.

2. Another far fetcht and improperly applied name to Witches, isStrix, and so some Authors call themStriges; when as the wordStrixdoth properly signifie a nocturnal bird,à stridendo sic dicta, that do use to suck the dugs of Goats, and also of young children, which we shall shew hereafter to be a Truth, and no Fable, asOvidsaith,

Nocte volant, puerósq; petunt nutricis egentes,Et vitiant cunis corpora rapta suis.Carpere dicuntur lactentia viscera rostris,Et plenum poto sanguine guttur habent.Est illis strigilis nomen; sed nominis hujusCausa, quòd horrendâ stridere nocte solent.

Nocte volant, puerósq; petunt nutricis egentes,

Et vitiant cunis corpora rapta suis.

Carpere dicuntur lactentia viscera rostris,

Et plenum poto sanguine guttur habent.

Est illis strigilis nomen; sed nominis hujus

Causa, quòd horrendâ stridere nocte solent.

This is that sort of bird thatGesnercallethCaprimulgus, and the GreeksἈιγαθήλας, the GermansRachtvogelorRachtraven, the HebrewsליליתLillith, as is said inIsaiah: Quin & ibi subitò quievit strix (seu lamia) & invenit sibi requiem.It is taken to be a kind of Owl, little bigger than an Ousel, and less than a Cuckow, they are blind upon the day, and flye abroad upon the nights, making an horrible noise, and were to be found aboutRome,Helvetia, andCreteorCandy, and do certainly suck the dugs of Goats, that thereby they waste away and become blind. And that they are also sometimes found inDenmark, that learned Physician and laborious AnatomistBartholinusdoth make manifest, and that they do suck the breasts or navils of young children. Now what affinity hath this to a Witch or Witchcraft? but that Witchmongers would bring in any allusion or Metaphor, though never so impertinent or incongruous? For if it were transferred to the actions of Witches, yet asCalepinetells us:Ab hujus avis nocumento striges appellamusmulieres puellulos fascinantes suo contactu, & lactis mammarúmq; oblatione. So that if the assimulation were proper in any proportion or particular, those Women they do account Witches, do but hurt the little children with the virulent steams of their breath, and the effluviums that issue from their filthy and polluted bodies, and so wrought by contact and contrectation, by which the contagious poyson is conveyed, but not by Witchcraft.

Act. 1. 26.

Prov. 16. 33.

3. There is another word that they apply to Witches, as insignificant and improper as the other, and that isSortilegus,χρησμολόγος,a Teller of Fortunes by Lots or Cuts: andLambertus Danæus, who in other things was a judicious and learned person, yet doted extremely about this opinion, calling a WitchSortiarius, deriving it fromSortilegus, which the French callSorcier. Now what affinity or congruity hath casting or using of Lots with that which these men callWitchcraft? surely none at all. For though Lots may, like the best things, be abused and wrested to a vain or evil end, yet are they not altogether evil, but that a civil and lawful use may be made of them, as is manifest this day at the famous City ofVenice, where their chief Officers are chosen by them. And also there hath been a godly and divine use made of them even by the Apostles themselves, in the deciding of the Election ofBarsabasandMatthias, upon the latter of which the Lot fell, and so he was numbred with the eleven Apostles. AndSolomontells us,The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. And sure these men were at a loss to find a suitable word to fix upon these Creatures, to whom they ascribe such impossible and incredible actions, when they were fain to bring this appellation ofSortilegus, that hath no kinship at all with such Witches, as they mean and intend.

4. Sometimes they call them by the nameSaga, which signifieth no more than a Wife and subtil Woman, being derivedà sagiendoto perceive quickly, or to smell a thing quickly forth, which the Germans callVnhold, which is no more thanmalevolus, or evil-willed.

5. They use the wordVeneficus,venefica, andveneficium, and this in its proper signification and derivation from the Latine, doth import no more than a Poysoner, or to make poyson,venenum facere, and so might perhaps be given unto them, because by Tradition they had learned several ways to poyson secretly and strangely, as doubtless there may be divers hidden and not ordinarily known ways (as we shall shew hereafter) by which either by smelling, tasting, touching (and it may be by sight) they could kill and destroy, though the means they used, and the effects produced, were meerly natural; yet because the manner was very occult and unperceivable, it was through ignorance and want of due inspection into the matters accounted Diabolical; when there was no more of a Devil in the business, than is in a Thief or Murtherer, but only in the Use and Application, which is to steal, kill, or destroy.And this, though now improperly and abusively called Witchcraft, doth but signifie poysoning, and so the French call itEmpoisonnement, and the ItaliansVeneficioorAvenenatione, and the GermansVergifftung, which all amount to one purpose. And thisVeneficiumor poysoning the Greeks callΦαρμάκευσιςandΦαρμακίαfromΦάρμακονMedicamentum v.l. Venenum; for sometimes it was taken in the better sense for a curing and healing Medicine; and sometimes in the worse for poyson that did kill or destroy. Neither can it be found in any Greek Author to signifie any more, than such men or women that used Charms and Incantations, and were believed by the Vulgar to effect strange things by them, when in truth and indeed they effected nothing at all but by natural means and secret poysons, and from thence had these names. And the Poets spoke of them to adorn and imbellish their Poems withal, according to common opinion; not that either they themselves believed the things to be so done, as the Vulgar believed, nor to give credit to such false Fables and impossibilities; but to make their Poems more delectable and welcome to the common people, who are usually taken with such fond Romantick stories and lyes. But after the year 1300. when the Spanish Inquisitors, the Popish Doctors and Writers had found the sweetness and benefit of the confiscated Goods of those that they had caused to be accused and condemned for Witches, in their sense then these words either in the Greek or Latine were wrested to signifie a Witch that made a visible and corporeal League with the Devil, when in the true sense of them they did but signifie a secret Poysoner. So that all things were hurried, though never so improper and dissonant, to be made serviceable to their filthy lucre and avaritious self-endedness.Templum venale Deúsq;.

6. Lastly, For Witchcraft they used the LatineFascinumandFascinatio, and so they called a WitchFascinatorandFascinatrix, and this the Greeks calledΒασκανίον, Βασκανία,Fascinum,Fascinatio, alsoinvidia, odium, seu invidentia,ἀπὸ τοῦ Βασκανεῖν,à fascinando, seu oculis occidendo: the Germans call itZaubery, andVerzauberung, and sometimesHexenwerk;the FrenchEnsorcellementandSorcelerie; the ItaliansLestrigare & amaliare,amaliamento; the BelgicksBetoovenge: the Saxons called them and itǷɩcceandǷɩcce-cꞃeeꝼꞇ, from whence we have the name Witch and Witchcraft, that signifiedSaga,Venefica,Lamia, andFascinum,Magia,Incantatio,Fascinatio,Præstigium: of which (because we shall have occasion to speak more of it hereafter) we shall here only note these few things.

Vid. Alexand. Aphrod. lib. 2. Probl. 53.

1. It is taken sometimes for Envy and Malice, because those that were supposed to use Fascination, did direct it to one Creature more than another through their envious minds, as may be perceived by some few Authors: And so was accounted a kind of eye-biting whereby (as the Vulgar believed) children did wax lean, and pined away, the original whereof they referred to the crookedand wry looks of malicious persons, never examining the truth of the matter of fact, whether those children that pined away, had any natural disease or not, that caused that macilency or pining away; nor considered, whether or no there was any efficiency in the envy or wry looks of those malicious persons, but vainly ascribed effects to those things that had in them no causality at all to produce such effects.

Eclog. 3.

2. Sometimes this kind of Fascination was ascribed to the sore or infected eyes of those that were accounted causers of hurt thereby in others, and in this senseVirgilsaith:Nescio quis teneros oculus mihi fascinat agnos. And by this no more could be understood, but that those that had infected and sore eyes might infect others, and this was nothing but contagion, or corrupt steams issuing from one body to another, which may happen in many diseases, as is manifest by the Writings of divers learned Physicians, as in bodies infected with the Plague, French Pox, Leprosie, Ophthalmies, and such like.

Sup. Epist. D. Paul. ad Galat.c.3.

3. Sometimes Fascination is taken for some kind of Incantation, that by virtue of Words or Charms doth perform some strange things; but concerning this there is such incertainty of the opinions of the Learned, some flatly denying that Words or Charms have in them any natural efficacy at all; others as strongly affirming it, that of this point it is very difficult to make a clear determination: and therefore we shall say but this of it here, that the Angelical Doctor did conclude well in this particular, in these words: “Ad sciendum autem quid sit fascinatio, sciendum est quòd secundùm glossam fascinatio propriè dicitur ludificatio sensus, quæ per artes magicas fieri consuevit, puta, cum hominem facit aspectibus aliorum apparere leonem, vel cornutum, & hujusmodi.”

Having been thus large in considering the names and denomination given to those persons that are esteemed Witches, and finding them to be so improper, impertinent, various, and uncertain, let us now proceed to the notion and acceptation of Witchcraft and Witches, to try if in that we can find any more certainty or consonancy, and herein we shall produce some of the chief descriptions that are given of them by several Authors; for to quote all would be tedious and superfluous. Those that are or may be accounted Witches we rank in these two orders.

1. Those that were and are active deceivers, and are both by practice and purpose notorious Impostors, though they shadow their delusive and cheating knaveries under divers and various pretences; some pretending to do their Feats by Astrology (which is a general Cheat as it is commonly used) some by a pretended gift from God, when they are notoriously drunken, debauched, and blasphemous persons, such as of very late years was the Cobler that lived uponEllillMoor, namedRichmond, and divers others that I could name, but that in modesty I would spare their reputations: some by pretending skill in Natural Magick, when indeed they canhardly read English truly; some by pretending a familiar Spirit, as oneThomas BoltonnearKnaresboroughinYorkshire, when indeed and in truth they have no other Familiar but their own Spirit of lying and deceiving: some by pretending to reveal things in Crystal-glasses or Beryls, as was well known to be pretended by DoctorLamb, and divers others that I have known. And some by pretending to conjure and call up Devils, or the Spirits of men departed; and some by many other ways and means that are not necessary to be named here; for errour and deceit have a numerous train of Followers and Disciples. And the existence of such kind of Witches as these (if you will needs call them by that name, and not by their proper titles, which are, that they truly are Deceivers, Cheaters, Couseners, and Impostors) I willingly acknowledge, as having been, and are to be found in all ages, and these sorts are also acknowledged byWierus, Mr.Scot,Johannes Lazarus Gutierius,Tobias Tandlerus,Hieronymus Nymannus,Martinius Biermannus, and all the rest, that notwithstanding did with might and main oppose the gross Tenent of the common Witchmongers.

A Candle in the dark, p. 12, 13.

Object. p. 78.

And of this sort were all those several differences of Diviners, Witches, or Deceivers named in the Scriptures, as Mr.Adyhath sufficiently declared in this passage, which we shall transcribe. “A Witch is a man or woman that practiseth Devillish crafts of seducing the people for gain, from the knowledge and worship of God, and from the truth, to vain credulity (or believing of lyes) or to the worshipping of Idols”. And again he saith: “Witchcraft is a Devillish craft of seducing the people for gain, from the knowledge and worship of God, and from his truth, to vain credulity (or believing of lyes) or to the worshipping of Idols. That it is a Craft truly so called, and likewise that it is for gain, is provedAct.16. 16, 19. The Maid that followedPaulcrying, brought in her Master much gain; and that it is a Craft of perverting the people, or seducing them from God and his Truth, is provedAct.6. 7, 8.Elimas the Sorcerer laboured to pervert Deputy from the Faith.So likewiseAct.8. 9, 10, 11. it doth more plainly prove all these words:And there was a man before in the City called Simon, which used Witchcraft, and bewitched the people of Samaria, saying, That he himself was some great man, to whom they gave heed from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God, and gave heed unto him, because that of long time he had bewitched them with Sorceries. How bewitched them with Sorceries? That is, seduced them with Devillish Crafts: (as the Greek and alsoTremeliusLatine Translation do more plainly illustrate.) In this sense speakethPaulto theGalatians3. 1.O foolish Galathians, who hath bewitched you, that you should not obey the truth?And that a Witch or Witchcraft is taken in no other sense in all the Scripture, it appeareth by the whole current of the Scriptures, as you may see in this Book.” But against this Mr.Glanviland the rest of hisopinion will object and say, that it is hard and severe that Cheaters and Impostors should be ranked with Inchanters, and such as converse with Devils and with Idolaters, and that of this it is hard to give a reason. To this we shall give this full responsion.

Levit. 20. 10.

Deut. 22. 22, 23, 24.

1. We are to consider in what precise respect actions are in Sacred Writ called sinful and wicked, and wherefore they have such severe punishments annexed unto them, and we shall find that this is notratione medii vel actùs, sed finis. As for instance and illustration: we shall find that the Law was peremptory in point of adultery, which saith:If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them dye. Now the act of copulation, as it is an act, is all one with a lawful wife, and with the wife of another man (that is, one generically considered) and yet the one is lawful, as agreeing with Gods Law and Ordinance, and the other is unlawful, sinful, wicked, and therefore to be punished with death, because it is an aberration from the Divine Ordinance, and contrary to the Command of God, who saith,Thou shalt not commit adultery. So though the things committed by these persons, were or might be performed by natural or artificial means, that simply in themselves were not sinful, or so severely punishable, yet were they evil in regard of the end, which was to deceive and seduce the people to Idolatry.

2 Chron. 33. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

Psal. 115. 4, 5, 6, 7. ibid. Psal. 135. 17.

2. Therefore the true and punctual reason why these persons (termed Witches or Diviners) are by the Law of God so severely to be punished, is, because they drew the people to Idolatry, the thing that God most hateth, and against which he hath pronounced the most severe and terriblest judgments of all. Nay these people were the very false Prophets, especially of one sort, and the very Priests to the Idols, as is manifest in the wicked and filthy Idolatry of all sorts set up and practised byManasses, even all the sorts (or the most of them) mentioned in the Scriptures. And God declareth himself to be a jealous God, and that he will not give his glory to another, but is the only Lord God, and him only we ought to serve; and therefore will most severely punish those that attribute that unto Idols, that is only proper unto himself: and for this cause, and upon this ground are all those terrible Comminations used in the Scriptures, and especially against this sort of people, who were the chief Instruments of promoting Idol-worship, ascribing the power of a Deity unto them, when the Prophet tells us,Their idols are silver and gold, the work of mens hands; they have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; they have ears, but they hear not; noses have they, but they smell not; they have hands but they handle not; feet have they, but they walk not, neither speak they through their throat; neither is there any breath in their mouths.

2 King. 1. 4.

1 King. 18.

3. That many great and abstruse things may be lawfully done by Natural Magick, is well known to the best Naturalists, and how great Feats may be performed by the Mathematicks and MechanicalArts, are well known to the Learned; and that there is and may be a lawful use of Astrology, and many things may be foretold by it, few that are judicious are ignorant; that the Prognosticks in the Art of Medicine are necessary, and of much use and certainty, all learned Physicians know very well; that observing of times, and many other such like things may for divers respects be lawfully practised. But if all or any of these be used to draw people to Idolatry, and their strange effects ascribed unto dumb and dead Idols, then what horrible sin and abomination were this, and no punishment could be too heavy for it. And so it is in the case of these sort of people called Witches or Diviners, they perswaded the multitude, that their false Gods (or rather Devils) in their Idols, could foretel life or death, and so led the people a whoring after them, asAhaziahsent to inquire of the god ofEkron, whether he should recover or not, and therefore he had that sharp judgment,That he should not come down from that bed whither he was gone up, but should surely dye. And did not the Priests ofBaal(which were the same rabble namedDeut.18. 10, 11, 12, 13, &c.) obstinately labour to makeAhaband all the people believe, that the Gods (or Devils) that they worshipped in their Idols, could and would answer by fire, and pertinaciously persisted in their obstinacy,cutting themselves with knives and lancets from morning until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, and yet nothing was effected? so that they were justly guilty of that punishment which they received, which was death, for ascribing that to a dead Idol, that none could perform, but the only true God ofIsrael, and yet in the meantime could neither by their own skill, nor the skill of their Idols foresee that sudden death that fell upon them: which punishment fell deservedly upon them, for labouring to deceive the people, and confirm them in Idolatry, in ascribing that unto a dead stock, which was only in the power of the Almighty to perform. So if all those fine Knacks and neat Tricks thatAthanasius Kircherperformed atRomeby the help and means of the Loadstone, and mentioned in his Bookde Arte Magnetica, had been by him ascribed unto some Saint, thereby to have drawn the people to the adoration of that Saint, and so to Idolatry, it had been active imposture, deceit, and knavery in him, and he might justly have been inrolled in the Catalogue of these Witches or Diviners, and had really been an active Impostor, as they were, and so had deserved the same punishment: when on the contrary for ascribing effects unto their true and proper causes, and clearly shewing the manner and means of producing those effects, he hath justly deserved the title of a learned and honest man. And though a commonHocus Pocusman, or one that playeth Tricks of Leger-de-main or slight of hand, to get a livelihood by, do labour to make the ignorant multitude believe that he doth his Feats by virtue of his barbarous terms or non-significant words, or by the help of some familiar Spirit; must therefore a prudent or learned person believe the same, andnot labour to understand that those pretences are but used the better to deceive the senses of the beholders, and so that pretence but a cheat and imposture?

Isa. 44. 15, 16.

Isa. 41. 22, 23.

Dan. 22. 11.

Gen. 41. 8.

1 Sam. 28. 11.

Act. 8. 9.

4. We affirm that all these mentioned in the Scriptures (nay, and that the Priests attending all the so famoused Oracles) were but meer Cheaters and Impostors, and that for these reasons. 1. They could not be, nor were ignorant that all their numerous Idols were but the works of mens hands, and that they could not of themselves move, see, hear, smell, or breathe, much less eat and drink; and therefore were notorious Cheaters and Impostors in labouring to make the people believe the contrary. 2. They could not be ignorant but what answers were given, and what acts were done, were performed by themselves, and not by the Idols, and yet they laboured to make the people believe the contrary, as theBraminesand Priests do to this day all over the Eastern parts ofAsia, and in many other places, and so must needs be notorious Knaves and Cheaters; because, asIsaiahsaith,With part of the wood whereof he hath made himself an Idol, he maketh a fire and warmeth himself. 3. They could not be ignorant that their Idols could not, nor did declare any thing truly that was to come, but what Answers were given, or Divinations were uttered, were of their own devising and invention, and no other Devil in the case, but Diabolical inspirations in their minds. And this is manifest by their pitiful shuffling equivocations (especially of all the Oracles) their responsions being always ambiguous, and bearing a double sense, which causedCardanto say: “Oracula, si non essent ambigua, non essent oracula.” And commonly (if not always) they were given in the favour of those that gave the largest gifts, which madeDemosthenessay, that the Oracle atDelphosdidφιλιππίζειν, because it always spoke in favour ofPhilipand his proceedings. And it was with the Oracles, as with the Temple ofNeptune, All the Offerings of those that escaped shipwrack were preserved, and to be seen; but of those that had suffered shipwrack, there was no memorial nor knowledge of their number: so, many have noted some few Hits of the Oracles, but few have noted their Misses, which doubtless were far the greater number. For so it is here in this North Country with our Figure-flingers and pretended Conjurers, Piss-Prophets, and Water-Witches, that if they hit once, it is cryed up and told every where; but if they erre an hundred times, it is soon buried in silence and oblivion, and one fool will not take warning at anothers being cheated and deceived. And that their Idols did not, nor could declare truly what was to come, is manifest by the Prophet who saith:Let them bring them forth(that is, their Idols)and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea do good or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.Yet thesemiserable, cheating, dissembling Wretches that would have had the multitude to have believed, that their Idols could have foretold truly almost any thing; yet neither their Idols, nor the Gods (or Devils) they pretended to be in them, nor themselves could foretel or foresee their own destruction, as is manifest in the Prophets ofBaalin the time ofElijah, who went up to MountCarmelto advance the worship and power of their Idols, but did not foresee it should be all their destructions and deaths. Doubtless those that in the Book ofDanielare called Wise-men, Magicians, Astrologers, Sorcerers, and Chaldeans were endowed with much rare knowledge, both in respect of Nature and Art: for if their knowledge had been Diabolical, without questionDanielwould hardly have interceded for them, yet could they not reveal what the Kings dream was that was gone from him, nor foresee that they run the hazard of their lives; but did conclude that none other could shew it, except thegods whose dwelling is not with flesh. 4. In matters of fact it appeareth, that they were active deceivers and deluders, as is manifest whenPharaohhad dreamed two dreams, that he called and sent for all the Magicians and Wise-men ofEgypt; but they could not interpret them unto him.JuniusandTremeliusrender it:Omnes Magos Ægypti, & omnes Sapientes ejus. The vulgar Latine (or that which is improperly called St.HieromesTranslation) gives it:Misit ad omnes Conjectores Ægypti, cunctósq; Sapientes. And these doubtlessPharaohwould not have sent for, but that either upon his own knowledge he knew that they professed the ability of the interpretation of dreams, and (perhaps) as the sequel shewed, greater matters; or else upon common repute, or relation of others, and that must needs arise from their own profession of the knowledge of such abstruse matters: and so of necessity must have pretended greater matters, than when they came to tryal they were able to perform, and so must needs be Impostors. And the Woman atEndor(falsely called a Witch, or a Woman that had a familiar Spirit, when in the Hebrew she is only called the Mistress of the Bottle, as we shall manifest hereafter) must needs be a Deceiver and Impostor, because she pretended to bring up whomsoeverSauldesired, which was a thing absolutely not in her power, as I shall undeniably prove afterwards. And notwithstanding the stories ofEusebius, and the strong endeavours of DoctorHamondto make it good, thatSimon Maguswas a person that had peculiar and corporeal converse with the Devil, and by that league and converse could perform strange and wonderful things; yet was he but a notorious Impostor, as appeareth by two reasons. 1. The Text saith,that he gave out that himself was some great one, that is, that he had great skill, and was able to perform wonderful things. This sheweth his presumption and pretence, the certain badge of a Deceiver and Cheater. 2. But could do little, except some petty jugling Tricks of Leger-de-main, confederacy, and the like;because he wondred, or was amazed, beholding the Miraclesand signs which were done, and those were, that unclean Spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: And many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. Now if he had been any great Magician, or could have performed any great things, he could not have so much wondred at those things thatPhilipwrought: or if he could have flown in the air, asEusebius(or those that have foisted such incredible lyes into his Writings) pretendeth, then he need not have been so amazed at the miracles and signs that the Apostles wrought, nor to have offered to have bought the gift of bestowing the Holy Ghost, but only because he was a notorious Dissembler and Impostor. And if he had been in league with the Devil, surely he might have cast forth Devils by the power ofBeelzebubthe Prince of Devils: all which do plainly conclude him to be an absolute Cheater and Impostor. And the story ofBeland theDragon(though but an Apocryphal piece, yet very ancient, and of sufficient credit as to matter of fact) doth evidently demonstrate, that these sort of people were abominable Cheaters and Impostors, and were not endowed with any supernatural power, nor had assistance of any visible Demon, but only the Devil of deceit and cousenage in their own breasts, and so were, asCardansaith,Carnales Dæmones ipsis Dæmonibus callidiores.

Instit. p. 3. p. 45.

5. And though by the Laws of our own Nation these kind of people were to be severely punished, as appeareth by the Statute1 Jac. cap. 12.yet had they respect in that Act, not only to the punishment in respect of what these persons could or did do, but also in regard of their being Impostors and Deceivers of the people; for so the Lord Chief Justice SirEdward Cook, the best Expositor of Law that hath written in our Language, doth expound it in these words. The mischiefs before this part of this Act were: “That divers Impostors, men and women, would take upon them to tell or do these fine things here specified, in great deceit of the people, and cheating and cousening them of their money or other goods: therefore was this part of the Act made, wherein these words [take upon him or them] are very remarkable. For if they take upon them, &c. though in truth they do it not, yet are they in danger of this first branch.”

6. And whereas in the objection Mr.Glanvilmentioneth converse with Devils, if he mean mental, internal, and spiritual converse, such as Murtherers, Adulterers, Thieves, Robbers, and all wicked persons have with Satan, we grant it; for so had the Jews and the High Priests in conspiring and acting to put our blessed Saviour to death:it was their hour, and the power of darkness. But if he mean a visible and corporeal converse, then we plainly affirm that there is not, nor can be any such, whereby any such strange things (as Witchmongers fondly and falsely believe) can be performed or effected. Therefore by way of conclusion in this particular, we grant that there are many sorts of such kind ofWitches, as for gain and vain-glory do take upon them to declare hidden and occult things, to divine of things that are to come, and to do many wonderful matters, but that they are but Cheaters, Deceivers, and Couseners.

2. And as there are a numerous crew of active Witches, whose existence we freely acknowledge; so there are another sort, that are under a passive delusion, and know not, or at least do not observe or understand, that they are deluded or imposed upon. These are those that confidently believe that they see, do, and suffer many strange, odd, and wonderful things, which have indeed no existence at all in them, but only in their depraved fancies, and are meerlymelancholiæ figmenta. And yet the confessions of these, though absurd, idle, foolish, false, and impossible, are without all ground and reason by the common Witchmongers taken to be truths, and falsely ascribed unto Demons, and that they are sufficient grounds to proceed upon to condemn the Confessors to death, when all is but passive delusion, intrinsecally wrought in the depraved imaginative faculty by these three ways or means.

1. One of the Causes that produceth this depraved and passive delusion, is evil education; they being bred up in ignorance, either of God, the Scriptures, or the true grounds of Christian Religion, nay not being taught the common Rules of Morality, or of other humane Literature; but only imbibing and sucking in, with their mothers and nurses milk, the common gross and erroneous opinions that the blockish vulgar people do hold, who are all generally inchanted and bewitched with the belief of the strange things related of Devils, Apparitions, Fayries, Hobgoblins, Ghosts, Spirits, and the like: so that thereby a most deep impression of the verity of the most gross and impossible things is instamped in their fancies, hardly ever after in their whole life time to be obliterated or washt out: so prevalent a thing is Custom and Institution from young years, though the things thus received, and pertinaciously believed, and adhered unto, are most abominable falsities and impossibilities, having no other existence but in the brains and phantasies of old, ignorant, and doting persons, and are meerlymuliercularum & nutricum terriculamenta & figmenta, and therefore didSenecasay:Gravissimum est consuetudinis imperium. And that this is one main cause of this delusion, is manifest from all the best Historians, that where the light of the Gospel hath least appeared, and where there is the greatest brutish ignorance and heathenish Barbarism, there the greatest store of these deluded Witches or Melancholists are to be found, as in the North ofScotland,Norway,Lapland, and the like, as may be seen at large inSaxo Grammaticus,Olaus Magnus,Hector Boetius, and the like.

Schenck. observ. medic.lib.1.pag.129.

2. But when an atrabilarious Temperament, or a melancholick Complexion and Constitution doth happen to those people bred in such ignorance, and that have suckt in all the fond opinions that Custom and Tradition could teach them, then what thing can beimagined that is strange, wonderful, or incredible, but these people do pertinaciously believe it, and as confidently relate it to others? nay even things that are absolutely impossible, as that they are really changed into Wolves, Hares, Dogs, Cats, Squirrels, and the like; and that they flye in the Air, are present at great Feasts and Meetings, and do strange and incredible things, when all these are but the meer effects of the imaginative function depraved by the fumes of the melancholick humor, as we might shew from the Writings of the most grave and learned Physicians; but we shall content our selves with some few select ones. 1. That distemper which Physicians callLycanthropia, is according to the judgment ofAetiusandPaulus, but a certain species of Melancholy, and yet they really think and believe themselves to be Wolves, and imitate their actions: of whichJohannes Finceliusin his second Bookde Mirac.giveth us a relation to this purpose. “That atPaduain the year 1541. a certain Husband-man did seem to himself a Wolf, and did leap upon many in the fields, and did kill them. And that at last he was taken not without much difficulty, and did confidently affirm that he was a true Wolf, only that the difference was in the skin turned in with the hairs. And therefore that certain, having put off all humanity, and being truly truculent and voracious, did smite and cut off his legs and arms, thereby to try the truth of the matter; but the innocency of the man being known, they commit him to the Chirurgions to be cured, but that he dyed not many days after.” Which instance is sufficient to overthrow the vain opinion of those men that believe that a man or woman may be really transformed or transubstantiated into a Wolf, Dog, Cat, Squirrel, or the like, without the operation of an omnipotent power, as inLotsWife becoming a Pillar of Salt; though St.Augustinewas so weak as to seem to believe the reality of these transformations: of which we shall have occasion to speak more largely hereafter.

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