Part 7

That the Scriptures and sound Reason are the true and proper Mediums to prove the Actions attributed unto Witches by, and not other improper ways that many Authors have used. And of the Requisites necessary truly to prove a matter of Fact by.

As we have in the former Chapter proved, that Apparitions (though true) are no sufficient warrant to ground our belief upon, for the Existence of Angels or Spirits, but the Word of God: so here we shall endeavour clearly to manifest, that the Sacred Scriptures are the only Medium, joyned with sound Reason, of deciding this point of the power and operation of Demons and Witches, and not other improper Mediums brought in by divers Authors, and first we shall answer the Objection of Mr. Glanvil, that runs thus.

“That though the New Testament had mentioned nothing of this matter, yet its silence in such cases is not argumentative. He said nothing of those large unknown Tracts of America, nor gave he any intimations of as much as the existence of that numerous people; much less did he leave instructions about their Conversion. He gives no account of the affairs and state of the other World, but only that general one of the happiness of some, and the misery of others. He made no discovery of the Magnalia of Art or Nature, no not of those whereby the propagation of the Gospel might have been much advanced, viz. the Mystery of Printing and the Magnet, and yet no one useth his silence in these instances as an argument against the being of things, which are evident objects of sense.” To which we answer.

1. He falleth into a common mistake in making the Proposition universal, and dolus versatur in universalibus, when it ought but to be particular: so for him to say, that no silence of Scripture is argumentative, is too universal; for its silence in point of Geography, as in describing America, and the people thereof, nor in discovering the Magnalia Naturæ & Artis is not argumentative; and we do not say, that all silence of Scripture is argumentative, but yet we affirm that some silence of Scripture is argumentative. So we cannot universally say, that nothing hath a being but what is mentioned in Scripture; but we may very well affirm, that some things have no being, or truth of existence, because not declared in Scripture.

2. The Scriptures were not written to teach Natural Philosophy, Arts or Sciences, humane Policy, or the like; but were given, that the man of God might be perfect, furnished for every good work: and it is by them that we have the doctrine of eternal Salvation revealed unto us, and we positively affirm the sufficiency of the Scriptures unto Salvation, which thing no Orthodox Divine (we suppose) will deny, and Bellarmine himself did confess in these words: Prophetici & Apostolici libri sunt verum verbum Dei, ac stabilis regula fidei. And if it be a certain Rule of Faith, and the true Word of God, then whatsoever it is silent of, we ought not to believe, and so its silence is argumentative in that point. The Scriptures are utterly silent concerning Purgatory, and therefore it is a good argument to affirm there is no such place as Purgatory, because the Word of God is silent as concerning it; but if it had been necessary to have been believed, then there would have been mention made of it.

3. And as the Scriptures are sufficient in matters of Faith, and circa credenda, and what they are silent in, are not to be received as Articles of our Faith, but to be rejected, as having no truth of Existence: So likewise what Worship God requireth of his people, is fully revealed in his Word, and therefore I am to reject the worshipping of Mahomet with the Turks, or Images, and praying to Saints with the Papists, because I have neither precept nor president in the Word, but it is silent in such matters; nay tells us, That he is the Lord our God, and him only we ought to serve.

4. Though Mr. Glanvil say, that God hath given no account of the state of the other World, but only that general one of the happiness of some, and the misery of others; yet Am I to believe as Mr. Glanvil somewhere in his Book affirmeth, that Samuels Soul was raised up by the Woman at Endor, and that those that he feigneth to make Leagues and Contracts with Witches, are the Souls of such as had been Witches when they lived, and asketh, Who saith that happy Souls were never imployed in any ministeries here below? Or am I to believe that both the Souls of the godly and wicked, do rove up and down here upon earth, and make Apparitions, because the Popish Teachers do hold it to be so? I hope not, and therefore I shall in part give an answer here to some of these, and handle that of the Woman of Endor in another place. 1. The Word of God doth particularly teach us the state and condition of the Souls after death, that they shall be like the Angels in Heaven; and all other things necessary to move and draw us to believe the immortal Existence of Souls, as that most able and learned Divine Dr. Stillingfleet hath asserted in these words: “The Scriptures give the most faithful representation of the state and condition of the Soul of Man. The World (he saith) was almost lost in Disputes concerning the Nature, Condition, and Immortality of the Soul, before divine Revelation was made known to Mankind by the Gospel of Christ; but life and immortality was brought to light by the Gospel, and the future state of the soul of man not discovered in an uncertain Platonical way, but with the greatest light and evidence from that God who hath the supreme disposal of souls, and therefore best knows and understands them.” A Sentence truly pious and orthodoxal. 2. Hath not God in the holy Scriptures amply and plainly taught us the state of the other World, in describing unto us such a numerous company of Seraphims and Cherubims, Angels and Archangels, with their several Orders, Offices, Ministeries, and Imployments? and this is more than a general account, as may be seen at full in that learned and godly Piece of Bishop Halls, called The invisible World. And hath he not given us a particular account of the very Kingdom of Darkness, telling us of the Devil and his Angels, and precisely in this enumeration? For we wrestle not with flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. And this is more than a general account, and we must needs say, that what he holds is very derogatory to the wisdom and goodness of God, and the sufficiency and truth of the Scriptures. 3. Must I believe him that the souls of the Saints do rove and wander here below? when as Bishop Hall saith, where he is speaking against the opinion of those that hold, that Souls do sleep until the Day of Judgment: “Indeed who can but wonder that any Christian can possibly give entertainment to so absurd a thought, whilst he hears his Saviour say, Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, and that (not in a safe sleep) they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me.” Sure if the Souls departed be with Christ where he is, and do behold his glory, then it is a Popish Fable of Mr. Glanvil, to feign their coming upon Messages hither. The saying of St. Bernard is remarkable in this case: Advertistis tres esse sanctarum status animarum, primum videlicet in corpore corruptibili, secundum sine corpore, tertium in corpore jam glorificato. Primum in militia, secundum in requie, tertium in beatitudine consummata. And if the second state of holy Souls be without a body, and be at peace and rest, then it must necessarily be a truth, that they do not wander here, nor run upon Errands; For the souls of the righteous are in the hands of the Lord, and there shall no torment touch them. And our Saviour told the Thief upon the Cross, This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise, that is, as Dr. Hammond giveth the Paraphrase: “Immediately after thy death thou shalt go to a place of bliss, and there abide with me, a Member of that my Kingdom which thou askest for.” Now if the souls of the godly, after their death, be immediately in a place of bliss, and abide with Christ as Members of his Kingdom, then they do not wander up and down here, as Mr. Glanvil and the Papists vainly fancy and believe; for as Chrysostome saith upon that place of Lazarus his being carried by Angels into Abrahams bosome. “What is it then that the Devils say, I am the Soul of such a Monk? Truly I therefore believe it not, because the Devils say it, for they deceive their Auditors.” 4. Or must I believe that the souls of the wicked do wander, and make Apparitions here, because Mr. Glanvil and the Popish Writers tell me so? I hope not; for the Text telleth us plainly, that the rich man presently after his death was in Hell in torments, and could not come hither unto earth again to warn his brethren, otherwise he would not have prayed Abraham to have sent Lazarus. And whether it be taken for a real History of things done, or but a Parable, yet the spiritual meaning of our Saviour must be infallibly true, that immediately after death the souls of the godly are by Angels carried into Abrahams bosome, and the wicked go down into Hell, from whence there is no redemption; and therefore do not wander up and down here, nor make any Apparitions: for I imagine that the authority of holy King David, a Prophet and a man after Gods own heart, is to be preferred before the authority of a thousand Popish Writers, and he tells us, when the child was dead: But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me. And Job tells us: As the cloud is consumed, and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave, shall come up no more, he shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more. And therefore it was a vain argument of Bellarmine when he said: “Apparitiones animarum ex Purgatorio venientium idem testantur.” To which the Protestants answer: “But who shall bear witness of these Apparitions, that they were not either feigned fables, or Satanical illusions? They were men, and might be deceived, even the best of them, with whom doth rest the faith of these Narrations.” 5. And whereas he audaciously asketh, “Who saith that happy Souls were never imployed in any Ministeries here below?” I shall tell him who they are that say, that happy Souls departed are never imployed here in any Ministeries; and they are all the learned Divines of the Reformed Churches, and all those that were true Sons of the Doctrine of the Church of England, such as were Bishop Jewel, Bishop Hall, Dr. Willet, Dr. Whitaker, Mr. Perkins, and many more such, the authority and reputation of the least of which is far above the simple question of Mr. Glanvil. And therefore saith the latter Confession of Helvetia: “Now that which is recorded of the Spirits or Souls of the dead sometimes appearing to them that are alive, &c. we count those Apparitions among the delusions and deceits of the Devil.”

5. And as the Scriptures are sufficient both in respect of matters of Faith, and concerning divine Worship, that their silence in those two particulars are fully argumentative, to deny whatever is not contained in them, as unfit to be received to either purpose. So in respect of a Christians warfare, all things for the obtaining of a perfect and compleat victory, and for standing and perseverance, are in them fully declared, and what they mention not is to be rejected, as wanting the seal of Divine Authority, whether it be in regard of eschewing what is prohibited, or in following what is commanded. And therefore we affirm, that what the Scriptures have not revealed of the power of the Kingdom of Satan, is to be rejected, and not to be believed, and what weapons we are to use against the wiles of the Devil, we are to be furnished withal, but have need of no others but what the Holy Ghost in the Scriptures hath made known unto us, the rest are to be cast off, as fables and lyes, or humane inventions, because the Scriptures are silent of any such matter, and that for these weighty grounds and considerations.

1. We shall take the Concession of Bellarmine himself, who saith: Nullum est vitium ad quod sanandum non invenitur in Scriptura aliquod remedium. And again: Illa quæ sunt simpliciter omnibus necessaria, Apostoli consueverunt omnibus prædicare: & aliorum quæ sunt omnibus utilia. And to the same purpose is the saying of St. Austin: Titubat fides, si divinarum Scripturarum vacillet authoritas: porrò fide titubante, etiam ipsa charitas languescit. Therefore if there be no fault for which the Scripture doth not yield some remedy, then surely to make a visible League with the Devil, or to have carnal Copulation with him, either must have no verity at all in it, or that the Scripture hath provided no remedy for it, for of such things there is no mention. And if Faith must stumble, where the authority of the Scriptures is wanting, then surely the belief of all rational men must needs be staggering, to believe what these common Witchmongers affirm of the Witches visible League and carnal Copulation with the Devil, when there is no authority of Scripture at all to strengthen or countenance any such matter.

2. The Scriptures do fully and abundantly inform us of the Devils spiritual and invisible power, and against the same declares unto us the whole Armor of God, with which we ought to be furnished, as the Apostle saith: Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. And the Apostle St. Peter telleth us: Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, like a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour; whom resist stedfast in the faith. And in another place: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God. From which Scriptures we may take these remarkable observations.

1. We are to consider the nature of this Warfare, that it is spiritual and against spiritual wickedness in high places, and not against flesh and blood; and the Holy Ghost could not be wanting nor defective, but superabundantly full in describing the nature of this warfare, that it is spiritual, not carnal; and therefore we are to prepare our selves against all spiritual assaults: but as for any visible, carnal, or bodily, there is not, nor can be any such, because the Apostle that declared by his Preaching and Writings the whole counsel of God, hath revealed no such thing as the visible appearing of Satan, much less of his making of a visible League with the Witches, or the sucking of their bodies, or the having carnal Copulation with them, which must of necessity be lyes and figments, because the Holy Ghost hath not warned us of any such, which we ought certainly to believe he would have done, if there had been any such matter. And the holy Apostle, who was not ignorant of the devices νοήματα, notions or intentions of Satan, would not have omitted to have warned the godly, if there had been any such matter as a visible League, sucking of their bodies, or carnal Copulation, the thing being of so great weight and concern. For as one said well: Grave est de vita & bonis periclitari, sed multò gravius insidiantem habere Satanam. And he that so often hath given us warning of the wiles, devices, and snares of the Devil, if there had been any such dangerous snare as this, would without doubt have given us notice of it.

2. We are to consider the end of this Warfare, that it is for no less than a Crown, and that not a terrestrial, but a celestial one, not a fading one, but an everlasting one, a Crown of eternal life, of immortal glory, even for an house given of God, eternal in the Heavens. Therefore this being a thing of the greatest concern that belongs to a Christian, the Apostle would not doubtlesly omit any thing that had been necessary to the obtaining of such an inestimable prize, and such an important Victory; and therefore cannot in reason have concealed or omitted such a weighty matter as a visible League, and the like, if there had been any such thing.

3. We are to consider that this Armor prescribed for the Souldiers of Jesus Christ, is the whole armor of God, πανοπλίαν, the compleat armor of God (as Dr. Hammond renders it) perfect both for defence and offence. And therefore the Apostle describes it fully by a Metaphor, taken from such Arms as the Roman or other Nations in his time use, saying: Stand therefore, having your loyns girt about with truth, and having on the breast-plate of righteousness: And your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace. Above all taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all Saints. And as it is a compleat and perfect Armor, both in respect of defence and offence; so it is a spiritual, not a carnal, corporeal, or bodily armor, because the warfare is not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness in high places, against spiritual enemies, not against corporeal and carnal ones; for as the enemies are and the warfare, so are the armor and weapons. From whence we truly urge, that the Apostle led by the Holy Ghost, and the Wisdom of the Father, and knowing the whole counsel of God (especially in this point) hath omitted nothing that is fitting armor for a Christian either of defence or offence, whereby he may be inabled to get the victory against Satan, and all his spiritual Army. And therefore that either Satan hath not power, or doth not assault Christians after a visible, carnal, and bodily manner, or else that the Holy Ghost hath been defective in prescribing armor against such assaults, and consequently that the armor of a Souldier of Jesus Christ is not compleat, or else there is no such bodily assaults of Satan at all, as to tempt visibly, to make a corporeal League, to suck upon the Witches bodies, nor to have carnal Copulation with them. But we affirm, and that (as we conceive) with sound reason, that the Scriptures in this particular of a Christians armor, and the compleatness of it, is abundantly sufficient against all spiritual assaults whatsoever, and consequently that there is no other kind of assaults but meerly spiritual, and therefore the Word of God, the most proper Medium with sound reason, to judge of the power of Spirits and Devils by.

3. That the Scriptures and sound reason are the only true and proper Medium to decide these Controversies by, is most undeniably apparent, because God is a Spirit, and the invisible God, and therefore best knows the nature and power of the spiritual and invisible World, and being the God of truth, can and doth inform us of their power and operations, better than the vain lyes and figments of the Heathen Poets, or the dreams of the Platonick School, either elder or later, nay better than all the notional and groundless speculations of the Schoolmen, of whom it may truly be said that, Rivulo divinæ Scripturæ relicto, in abyssos vanarum opinionum incidêrunt. Nay these can better inform us in this point, than the Writings of all Mortals besides, and therefore whatsoever may be said to the contrary, may receive its answer from the Father: Quod de Scripturis sacris authoritatem non habet, eâdem facilitate contemnitur, quâ probatur. Therefore he being the King eternal, immortal, invisible, and the only wise God, of none can we so truly and certainly learn these things, as of him who hath plentifully taught us in his Word all things necessary to Salvation, that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished to every good work. Nay he is the Father of Spirits, and therefore truly knoweth, and can and doth teach us their Natures, Offices, and Operations.

4. The Scriptures (especially the Writings of Moses) considered only as Historical, are of more antiquity, verity, and certainty both as to Doctrine, Precepts, matters of Fact, and Chronology, than all other Histories whatsoever, whether of the Phenicians, Egyptians, Chaldeans, or Grecians, as the learned person Dr. Stillingfleet hath sufficiently proved. Now if there had been such an one as a Witch, that made a visible League with the Devil, and upon whose body he suckt, and with whom he had carnal Copulation, something of that nature would doubtless have been recorded in the Scriptures, of which notwithstanding there is not the least tittle or mention. And Moses who was so perfect a Law-giver, as in a manner to omit no kind or sort of sin or evil that men possibly could commit, but to forbid it, and make a Law against it, could never have left out such an horrid, unnatural, and hellish wickedness as carnal Copulation with the fallen Angels, if there had been any such matter. For he saith, after he had forbidden all sorts of Fornications, Adulteries, and Incests: Thou shalt not lye with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. Neither shalt thou lye with any beast to defile thy self therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lye down thereto: it is confusion. Defile not your selves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled, which I cast out before you. Now it cannot be rationally imagined, that Moses having named and prohibited the less sins of bestial Copulation and Sodomy, would have left out that which is the most horrid and execrable of all others, to wit, carnal Copulation with Devils, if there had been any such thing either in possibility or act. And therefore we may conclude according to the rules of sound reason, that there is no such matter, and that the Scriptures are the most fit Medium to decide these Controversies.

5. The Scriptures and sound reason are the most fit Mediums to determine these things by, because there is nothing that any hath written upon this Subject (though the Authors be superfluously numerous) but if it agree not with the principles of right reason, and the rules of the Scriptures, they ought to be rejected. For what is not consonant to right reason, ought not to be received by any that truly are rational Creatures; and what agrees not with the Word of God, ought not to be entertained by any that are or would be accounted good or true Christians. And if all the gross fables, lyes, impossibilities, and nonsensical stories that Demonographers and Witchmongers have related and accumulated together, were brought to the test of the Scriptures and sound reason, they would soon be hissed off the Stage, and find few believers or embracers of them. But alas! all (nay few men) have the right use and exercise of their rational faculty, but men to see to are in themselves as beasts; and therefore we may all pray with the Apostle to be delivered from unreasonable men, or men without reason, or absurd men, that make no right use of reason, ἀτόπων ἀνθρώπων.

6. The Scriptures and right reason have declared all things concerning Spirits either good or bad, as also all sorts of Diviners (or Witches, if you will have them called so) and the nature, power, operations, and actions of them, more than any other Book that was written before the time of our Saviours Birth (the dreams and whimsies of the Platonists only excepted) or for the space of three hundred years after, and therefore are the most fit Medium and Authority to determine these things by. 1. For first it is manifest, that all things are ordered by the wisdom of the Almighty, who hath done whatsoever he would both in Heaven, and he doth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What dost thou? And these things God doth not by a naked prescience, but by his divine will, providence, and ordination, as a learned Divine hath taught us in these words: Est hoc inprimis necessarium & salutare Christiano nôsse, quòd Deus nihil præscit contingenter, sed quòd omnia incommutabili & æternâ, infallibilíq; voluntate & providet, & præponit, & facit. So it was only his will, decree, and determination, that Christ should not be born, or assume humane nature visibly, but at that precise time that he had appointed, according to the evidence of the Apostle. But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth his Son made of a woman, made under the law. And when that fulness of time was come that he sent him, then did the divine Wisdom and Providence ordain all means, objects and occasions, whereby the fulness of the Godhead that dwelt in him bodily, might be made manifest, by working of miracles, both by himself and his Apostles, therefore were there so many several sorts of Demoniacks, blind, lame, dumb, deaf, and diseased, not by chance, but by the providence of the Father, and only and chiefly that the work of God might be manifest in them, for the Evangelist tells us: And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his Disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. Upon which place Dr. Hammond doth give this clear Paraphrase: “And some of his followers asked him, saying, Sir, was it any sin of his own, when his soul was in another body, or was it some sin of his parents at the time of his conception, which caused this blindness in him? Neither his own, nor his parents sins were the cause of this blindness of his, but Gods secret wisdom, who meant by this means to shew forth in me his miraculous power among you.” And though the Doctor would bring in the opinion of Pythagoras of the Transmigration of Souls (of which vain traditional fancies he is almost every where guilty) as received and imbibed in by some of the Jews that then followed him: yet it appeareth plainly, that it was not interrogated by the Jews, but by his Disciples, ὁι Μαθηλαὶ, and therefore it is a wonder the Doctor should be so grosly mistaken; and Theophylact tells us thus much plainly: Neq; enim Apostoli Gentiles nugas receperunt, quo anima ante corpus in alio mundo versans peccet, ac deinde pœnam quandam recipiat in corpus descendens. Piscatores cùm essent, neq; audiverant tale quiddam, quia hæc Philosophorum dogmata erant. And so declareth, that the Disciples having seen Christ heal the man that had thirty eight years been impotent and lame, and had said unto him, Behold thou art made whole, sin no more lest a worse thing come unto thee, did conceive, that this man being born blind, it had been a punishment upon him, either for his own sins, or the sins of his parents, and so doubting asked the question. And so also do St. Austin and Chrysostome expound the place, which is both sound and rational. And of our Saviours responsion, That neither had this man sinned, nor his parents, the learned Father giveth a satisfactory answer, saying: Nunquid vel ipse sine originali peccato natus erat, vel vivendo nihil addiderat? Habebant ergo peccatum, & ipse & parentes ejus, sed non ipso peccato factum est ut cæcus nasceretur. Ipse autem causam dicit quare cæcus sit natus, cùm subdit: sed ut manifestentur opera Dei in illo. And to the same purpose Gregory hath this notable passage: Alia itaq; est percussio, quâ peccator percutitur, ut sine retractatione puniatur: Alia quâ peccator percutitur, ut corrigatur: Alia quâ quisq; percutitur, non ut præterita corrigat, sed ne ventura committat: Alia per quam nec præterita culpa corrigitur, nec futura prohibetur. Sed dum inopinata salus percussionem sequitur, salvantis virtus cognita ardentiùs amatur. From whence it is manifest, that as the Father in the fulness of time, by his Decree and Providence sent out the Son, in whom dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily, with a purpose to manifest the same by his great and wonderful Miracles: so in his divine Wisdom he had ordered fit subjects and objects upon whom that power might be made manifest. And therefore were there such strange diseases offered, especially in Demoniacks, that can hardly be parallel’d in any one Country of that small compass, and in so short a time, and all that the works of God might be manifest by that ever-blessed Saviour of Mankind, Jesus Christ. And though there were so many persons, so many several ways perplexed and afflicted both in their minds and bodies, as some made deaf and dumb, some torn and contorted in their members, some thrown on the ground, some into the fire, some driven to live amongst the graves and monuments, and yet all these cured by our blessed Saviour: Yet is there no mention made of any that had made a visible League with the Devil, nor upon whose bodies he suckt, nor with whom he had carnal Copulation, nor whom he had transubstantiated into Wolves, Dogs, Hares, Cats, or Squirrels; to have cured which would have been as great a miracle as any of the rest, but there were no such matters; and therefore we may safely conclude, there never were, are, or can be any such matters, whatsoever may be said to the contrary.

2. In the New Testament there is mention made of several sorts of deceiving Impostors, Diviners, or Witches, who were all discovered and conquered by that power that Christ had given unto the Apostles; as for instance: Simon, which before-time in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched μαγεύων κὶ ἐξισῶν the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one. To whom they gave heed from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God. And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries; τῶς μαγείαις ἐξεσακέναι αὐτὺς, seducebat populum suis magicis præstigiis, saith Tremellius; and Beza, Exercuerat artem magicam, & gentem Samariæ obstupefecerat; who when he would have bought the gift of the Holy Ghost with money, was rejected by Peter as an Impostor and Counterfeit, and declared, that he was in the gall of bitterness. Such another was Elymas the Sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) ὁ μάγος who was stricken blind by St. Paul. Such an one was the Damsel that was possessed with a Spirit of Divination, which St. Paul cast forth. And such were the Jewish Exorcists, that took upon them to call over them which had evil Spirits, the Name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. But the man in whom the evil spirit was, leapt on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. But amongst these several sorts of Diviners, Impostors, or Witches, there were none that had made a visible League with the Devil, nor upon whose bodies he suckt, nor that had carnal Copulation with him, nor were changed into Cats, Dogs, or Wolves: but if the Devil had had any such power, or had there been any such sort of Witches, the divine Wisdom and Providence would have ordained some of them then to have been made apparent, that his power by Christ and the Apostles, might have been shewed as well in the greater as in the less: and that for the more full manifestation of the Works of God, as for a more triumphant declaration of the power of Christ in conquering him and his Kingdom, and for a more ample warning and instruction to the Children of God to avoid the snares and wiles of the Devil; but there being no such, then we must rationally conclude, that there now is not, nor ever was, or can be any such matter, but the vain believing of such figments and forgeries, is only the cunning and delusion of Satan, who works by lying and deceiving wonders τέρασι ψεύδοις, of which St. Chrysostome saith thus: Hoc est, omnem ostentabit potentiam, sed nihil veri, verùm omnia ad seductionem. Et prodigiis, inquit, mendacii. Aut ementitis ac ludificantibus, aut ad mendacium inducentibus.

Having now sufficiently proved, that the Scriptures and sound Reason are the proper Mediums to decide these difficulties by, we shall in the next place shew the invalidity of some ways used by the most Authors, to prove and defend these Tenents, and ab uno disce omnes, take Mr. Glanvil for all, in his own words: “That this being matter of fact, is only capable of the evidence of authority and sense: and by both these, the being of Witches and Diabolical Contracts, is most abundantly confirmed.” To which we shall give this smart Reply. Not to make the Proposition universal, generally to deny the evidence of authority and sense; no, far be it from me to run into that wild and senseless absurdity, which were in a manner to destroy the credibility of all humane testimony: But we shall here speak of the evidence of authority and sense with this restriction and limitation, to these Particulars. 1. Those Authors that write of Apparitions and Spirits. 2. Those that treat of Diabolical Leagues and Contracts. 3. Those that mention the Devil sucking of the Witches body, carnal Copulation with them, their being changed into Hares, Dogs, Cats, and Wolves, and the like. These Authors we say are to be read with caution, and their relations not to be credited, except better proof be given to evidence the matters of fact, than hitherto hath been brought by any, and that for these especial reasons and necessary cautions.

1. The Authors that have recorded stories of this nature, are to be seriously considered, whether they have related the matter of fact by their own proper knowledge, as eye and ear-witnesses of it, or have taken it up by hear-say, common fame, or the relation of others: and if what they relate, were not of their own certain knowledge or αὐτοψία, then is it of little or no credit at all; for the other that relates it, might be guilty either of active or passive deception and delusion, or might have heard it from another, or by common report: of all which there is no certainty, but leaveth sufficient grounds for dubitation, and is sufficient to caution a prudent person altogether to suspend his assent, until better proof can be brought. There is a story related by Plinius Cæcilius to his friend Sura, of a House in Athens that was haunted by a Spirit in so terrible and frightful a manner, that it was left utterly forsaken, and none would inhabit in it, until that Athenodorus the Philosopher adventured upon it, and abode the coming of the Apparition or Phantasm, and upon its signs followed it to a place below, and then it vanished: he marked the place, and went to the Magistrate, and caused the place to be digged up, and found the bones of a person inchained or fettered, and caused the bones to be buried, and so the House remained free afterwards. It is a wonder to think how many Authors have swallowed this relation (nay even Philip Camerarius himself, who though a very Learned man, yet in things of this nature too extremely credulous) and urged it for proof, as a matter of great credit and authority, when we cannot discern that it affords any credible ground to a rational man to believe it, not only because the very matter it self, and the circumstances of it, do yield sufficient grounds of the suspicion of its verity; but chiefly because Pliny doth but relate it by hear-say, exponam ut accepi, and of it and the rest he desires the opinion of his Friend Sura, from whom we do not find any answer. The story taken from Plutarch (a grave Author, if he be considered as an Heathen and a Moralist) yet of no authority to decide such points as these are of the voice that called upon Thamus, and commanded him to declare when he came at Palodes, that the great God Pan was dead, which he performed, and that thereupon followed a great lamentation of many: the story at large is related by many, and urged as a matter of great weight and credibility, when indeed there is no ground sufficient to perswade any that it was true. For if it had been related by Plutarch as an ear-witness of it, yet was he but an Heathen, that we know believed many fond, lying, and impossible things, especially of their Gods; and therefore in this case to a considerate Christian could be of no great authority. And if his authority had been great, or of weight in such matters as these, yet was he but singularis testis, which is not sufficient in these things to be relied upon. And lastly (to our present purpose here) he doth not record it as a thing of his own certain knowledge, but of hear-say from Epitherses, who was but a single Relator, and a man of no certain veracity; and therefore we can have no rational ground to believe the truth of the story, but it may be rejected with more reason, than it can be affirmed by. Of no greater credit can his story be of Brutus his malus Genius appearing unto him, because he received this by meer Tradition and hear-say, neither could it have any other rise, but from the relation of Brutus himself, whose guilty confidence, and troubled brain, fancied such vain things; for those that were near Brutus neither saw nor heard any such matter, and therefore must have been a deception of Phansie, and no real Apparition ad extra.

2. And as evidence of the matter of fact recorded from the relation of others, is of no validity to a judicious person: so if the matter of fact be witnessed but by one single testimony (though an eye or an ear-witness) it is not sufficient, because one single person may be imperfect in some senses, or under some distemper, and so be no proper Judge of what it sees or hears; and the Word of Truth tells us, That in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established; and therefore we are not (especially in such abstruse matters as these) to trust the evidence of one single testimony. To make clear this Particular, we shall relate a story or two from the credit of the Reverend and Learned Bishop Hall, joyned with his judgment of such weak and feigned Tales, one of which runs thus: “Johannes à Jesu Maria, a modern Carmelite, writing the Life of Theresia (Sainted lately by Gregory XV.) tells us, that as she was a vigilant Overseer of her Votaries in her life, so in and after death she would not be drawn away from her care and attendance: For (saith he) if any of her Sisters did but talk in the set hours of their silence, she was wont by three knocks at the door of the Cell, to put them in mind of their enjoyned taciturnity. And on a time appearing (as she did often) in a lightsome brightness to a certain Carmelite, is said thus to bespeak him; Nos cœlestes, ac vos exules amore ac puritate fœderati esse debemus, &c. We Citizens of Heaven, and ye exiled Pilgrims on earth, ought to be linked in a League of love and purity, &c. Methinks the Reporter (saith the Bishop) should fear this to be too much good fellowship for a Saint; I am sure neither Divine nor Ancient story had wont to afford such familiarity: and many have misdoubted the agency of worse, where have appeared less causes of suspicion. That this was (if any thing) an ill Spirit under that face, I am justly confident; neither can any man doubt, that looking further into the relation, finds him to come with a lye in his mouth. For thus he goes on; [We Celestial ones behold the Deity, ye banished ones worship the Eucharist, which ye ought to worship with the same affection wherewith we adore the Deity] such perfume doth this holy Devil leave behind him. The like might be instanced in a thousand Apparitions of this kind, all worthy of the same entertainment.” This is a story from one single person, a lying Carmelite, one that for interest, and upholding of Superstition and Idolatry, had feigned and forged it; for in it self it appeareth to be a meer falsity and figment, as any rational man may easily discern, and so are a thousand stories of this kind worthy of the like entertainment, that is, to be condemned for most horrid lyes. Another he tells us: “Amongst such fastidious choice of whole dry-fats of voluminous relations, I cannot forbear to single out that one famous of Magdalen de la Croix, in the year of our Lord Christ 1545, &c.” The third from the mouth of another lying Fryar named Jacobus de Pozali, in his Sermon, “That St. Macarius once went about to make peace betwixt God and Satan, &c.” Now whatsoever credit this Learned man (who in things of this kind appeareth to be as vainly credulous as any) doth seem to give unto these, or what use soever he would make of them, it is undeniably manifest to all impartial judgments, that they were but absolute forgeries and knacks of Imposture and Knavery, and (according to his own opinion) may justly be ranked amongst those thousand Apparitions of this kind, all worthy of the same entertainment, that is, to be rejected for abominable lyes or forgeries, and that for these reasons. 1. Because they are not attested by any sincere and uncorrupt ear and eye-witnesses, but by reports and relations, and that of those that were corrupt and partial, or Accomplices to bring to pass the fraud and imposture. 2. If they be run up to their first Author or Venter of the Tale, he will but be found a single Witness, which is utterly insufficient in evidencing truly a matter of fact. 3. The Relaters of them did publish them for interest sake, and upon design to advance false Doctrine, Worship, Superstition, and Idolatry, and therefore are not of validity and credit. 4. In themselves (if strictly considered) they will appear to be lying, ridiculous, contradictory in themselves, and contrary to the authority of Divine Writ, and dissonant to sound and right reason, and therefore ought to have no other entertainment, but as abominable lyes and forgeries.

3. But if matters of fact be witnessed and attested by many or divers persons that were ear and eye-witnesses, yet may their testimony bear no weight in the balance of Justice or right Reason, because they may be corrupt in point of interest, and so have their judgments mis-guided and biassed by the corruption of their desires and affections, or relate things out of spleen, envy, and malice; and so may not in these mysterious matters be fit authority to rely upon, nor competent evidence in these particulars, as Dr. Casaubon is forced to confess in these words: “In the relation of strange things, whether natural or supernatural, to know the temper of the Relator, if it can be known: and what interest he had, or might probably be supposed to have had, in the relation, to have it believed. And again, whether he profess to have seen it himself, or taken it upon the credit of others. And whether a man by his profession in a capacity probable to judge of the truth of those things, to which he doth bear witness.” Every one of these particulars would require a particular consideration. For if there be interest in point of Religion, then all authorities, all colour of reason is drawn in to make good this interest, and verity is commonly stifled in this contest for selfness and interest, and the adverse parties stigmatized with all the filthy lyes and enormous crimes that can be invented, as is most manifest in these instances. The Popish party finding themselves hindred and opposed in point of the highest interest, have forged a thousand false stories and tales to make good the interest of their Party, and have left no dirt and dung unscraped up to throw in the faces of their Opponents; and so have each Party done against other, where religious interest was the quarrel, as Bishop Hall hath truly observed in this passage, where he is shewing the abominable corruptions of the Church of Rome: “A Religion that cares not by what wilful falshoods it maintains a part; as Wickliffs blasphemy, Luthers advice from the Devil, Tindals Community, Calvins feigned Miracle, and blasphemous death, Bucers neck broken, Beza’s Revolt, the blasting of Huguenots, Englands want of Churches, and Christendom, Queen Elizabeths unwomanliness, her Episcopal Jurisdiction, her secret fruitfulness, English Catholicks cast in Bears skins to Dogs, Plesses shameful overthrow, Garnats straw, the Lutherans obscene Night-Revels, Scories drunken Ordination in a Tavern, the Edict of our gracious King James (An. 87.) for the establishment of Popery, our casting the crusts of our Sacrament to Dogs, and ten thousand of this nature, maliciously raised against knowledge and conscience, for the disgrace of those whom they would have hated, e’re known.”

The rise of this opinion that we are disputing against, that the Devil makes a visible and corporeal League with the Witches, that he sucks upon their bodies, hath carnal Copulation with them, and that they are changed into Hares, Dogs, Cats, or Wolves, and the like, was soon after the thirteenth hundred year of Christ, when as Frederick the Second had made a Law temporal, for the burning of Hereticks. And not long after that, was the Inquisition set up in Rome and Spain, and then did the Inquisitors and their Adherents, draw in from the Heathen Poets, and all other Authors, whatsoever might carry any colour of authority or reason, the better to countenance their bloody and unjust proceedings, where they drew thousands of people into the snare of the Inquisition for pretended Witchcraft, which they made to be Heresie. And whatsoever these have written concerning these things, such as Delrio, Bodinus, Remigius, Springerus, Niderus, Spineus, Grillandus, and a whole rabble besides not necessary to be named, are nothing but lyes and forgeries, and deserve no credit at all for these reasons. 1. Because as many of them as either were Inquisitors themselves, or those that had any dependence upon them, or received benefit by their proceedings, are all unjust and corrupt Authors and Witnesses, as writing and bearing witness for their own ends, interest, and profit, having a share in the Goods and Estates of all that were convicted and condemned: and the Wolf and Raven will be sure to give judgment on the Serpents side, that he may devour the man, though never so innocent, because they hope to have a share of his flesh, or at least to pick the bones. 2. These Authors that were the first Broachers of these monstrous stories of Apparitions and Witches, and are so frequently quoted by others, (that ought to have been more wary, and might have seen reason enough to have rejected all their feigned lyes and delusions) were not only sharers in the spoil of the Goods of the condemned (who were judged per fas & nefas) but also had another base end and interest, to wit, to advance the opinion of Purgatory, praying for the dead, setting up the vain Superstitions of the virtue of the sign of the Cross, holy Water, and the like. And therefore they did forge so many stories of Apparitions, and Souls coming forth of Purgatory, and recorded so many false, lying, and impossible things from the forced, extorted, and pretended confessions of the Witches themselves, which were nothing else but an Hotch-potch of horrid and abominable lyes, not to be credited, because the Authors only invented them, to promote their own base ends and wretched interests.

Again, where Authors are engaged for interest sake, they fall into heat, passion, malice, and envy, and what they cannot make out by strength of arguments, they labour to make good by lyes and scandals, as is most apparent in this one Example we shall here give. Henricus Cornelius Agrippa, a person in his time well known to most of the Learned in Europe, and admired for his general and universal skill in all kind of Learning, having published a Piece which he styled, A Declaration of the incertitude and vanity of Sciences and Arts, and the excellency of the Word of God: wherein amongst other things he had sharply taxed the Monks and Fryars, and other Orders, of their ignorance, idleness, and many other crimes and misdemeanors, whereby certain Theologasters of Lovain (netled with their own guilt) did in bitter malice draw up certain Articles against him, therein accusing him of Errour, Impiety, and Heresie, and had so far incensed Charles the Fifth then Emperour against him, that he had commanded Agrippa unheard to make a Recantation. But he writing a strong, polite, and pithy Apology, gave them such a responsion, that afterwards they did never reply; by which, and the mediation of divers learned Friends, who gave Cæsar a right information of the end and drift of that Book, and of the things therein contained, He was pacified, and brought to a better understanding of the matter. Yet this could not protect Agrippa from the virulent malice of the Popish Witchmongers, but that they forged most abominable lyes and scandals against him, especially that wretched and ignorant Monk Paulus Jovius, that was not ashamed to record in his Book intituled, De Elogiis doctorum Virorum, that Agrippa carried a Cacodemon about with him, in the likeness of a black Dog, and that he died at Lyons, when it is certain he died at Gratianople. From all which horrid aspersions and lying scandals he is sufficiently acquitted by the famous Physician Johannes Wierus, one that was educated under him, and lived familiarly with him; and therefore was best able to testifie the whole truth of these particulars. But any that are so perversly and wilfully blinded as to have a sinister opinion of this person, (who ab ineunte ætate in literis educatus esset, quâ fuit ingenii fælicitate, in omni artium ac disciplinarum genere ita versatus est, ut excelluerit) may have most ample satisfaction from the modest and impartial Pen of Melchior Adams, who hath written his Life: as also from something that our Countryman, who called himself Eugenius Philalethes, hath clearly delivered: so that none can be ignorant of this particular, but such as wilfully refuse to be informed of the truth.

Nay where interest hath a share, truth can hardly be expected, though it be but in more trivial things, as even but for aery fame and vain-glory, as may be manifest in Hierome Cardan, who was a man of prodigious pride and vain-glory, which led him (as the learned Dr. Brown hath noted) into no small errours, being a great Amasser of strange and incredible stories, led to relate them by his meer ambition of hunting after fame and the reputation of an universal Scholar. And of no less pride and vain-glorious ambition was his Antagonist Julius Cæsar Scaliger guilty, of whom it may truly be said, that he was of the nature of those of the Ottoman Family, that do not think they can ever raign safely, unless they strangle all their Brethren; so he did not think that he could aspire to the Throne of being the Monarch of general Learning, without stifling the fame and reputation of Cardan and others, against whom he hath been most fell, and impetuously bitter. But when men fall out about professional interest, then the stories that through malice they invent and forge one against another, are incredible, as is manifest in many Examples; but we shall but give one for all, which is this. When Paracelsus, returning from his Peregrination of ten years and above, was called to be Physical Lecturer at Basil, where he continued three years, and more, having by his strange and wonderful Cures drawn the most part of Germany, and the adjacent Countries into admiration; so that he was, and might (notwithstanding the envy and ignorance of all his enemies) justly be styled, Totius Germaniæ decus & gloria: yet this was not sufficient to quiet the violent and virulent mind of Thomas Erastus, who coming to be setled at Basil, and finding that he could not outgo nor equal Paracelsus in point of Medicinal Practice, and being strongly grounded in the Aristotelian Philosophy, and the Galenical Physick, did with all poyson and bitterness labour to confute the Principles of Chymical Physick that Paracelsus had introduced; and lest his arguments might be too weak, he backt them with most horrible lyes and scandals, thinking that many and strong accusations (though never so false) would not be easily answered, nor totally washt off: which after were greedily swallowed down by Libanius, Conringius, Sennertus, and many others: so apt are men to invent, and suck in scandals against others, never considering how false and groundless they are, or may be: for that he wrongfully and falsely accused him in many things, will be manifest to any unbiassed person, that will but take pains to read his Life, written by that equitable Judge Melchior Adams, and that large Preface the learned Physician Fredericus Bitiskius hath prefixed to his Works printed at Geneva 1648.

4. But if the Authors that report matters of fact in reference to these four particulars that we have named, were ear and eye-witnesses, and not single, but a greater number, and were not swayed by any corrupt or self-interest whatsoever; yet all this is not sufficient to give evidence in these matters, except they be rightly qualified in other things, that are necessarily requisite to capacitate a person rightly to judge of these nice and difficult matters, some of the chief of which we shall here enumerate. 1. The persons that are fit to give a perfect judgment of these matters, ought to be perfect in the organs of their senses, otherwise they may easily be deceived, and think the things otherwise than indeed they are; so some defects or distempers in the ears, eyes, or the rest of the sensories, may hinder the true perception of things acted or done. 2. They ought to be of a sound judgment, and not of a vitiated or distempered Phantasie, nor of a melancholick Temper or Constitution; for such will be full of fears, and strange imaginations, taking things as acted and wrought without, when they are but only represented within. These will take a bush to be a Boggard, and a black sheep to be a Demon; the noise of the wild Swans flying high upon the nights, to be Spirits, or (as they call them here in the North) Gabriel Ratchets, the calling of a Daker-hen in the Meadow to be the Whistlers, the howling of the female Fox in a Gill, or a Clough for the male, when they are for copulation, to be the cry of young Children, or such Creatures, as the common people call Fayries, and many such like fancies and mistakes. 3. They ought to be clear and free from those imbibed notions of Spirits, Hobgoblins, and Witches, which have been instamped upon their Phantasies from their very young years, through ignorant and superstitious education, wherewith generally all mankind is infected, and but very few that get themselves extricated from those delusive Labyrinths, that parents and ignorance have instilled into them. From hence it is, that not only the stolid and stupid Vulgar, but even persons otherwise rational enough, do commonly attribute those sleights and tricks that our common Jugglers play, unto the Devil, when they are only performed by Leger-de-main, or sleight of hand, Boxes, and Instruments aptly fitted; and will not stick to believe, and strongly to affirm to others, that they have seen the Jugglers Familiar or Devil, when it was but a poor Squirrels skin stuffed with hair or moss, and nimbly agitated by the hands of the Juggler: which makes me call to mind a very lepid and pertinent Accident that once in my younger years happened in Burrow-bridge upon a great Fayr holden there upon St. Barnabas day: I being in Company with divers Gentlemen, whereof two were Masters of Arts, and walking in the Horse-Fayr, we espyed a great crowd and ring of people, and drawing near, there was a person commonly known through most of the Northern parts of Yorkshire by the name of John Gypsie, being as black as any of that Tribe, with a Feather in his Hat, a silk slasht Doublet, upon a fair Holland Half-shirt, counterfeiting himself half drunk, and reeling to and fro, with a fine Tape or Incle-string tyed fast together at the two ends, and throwing it, (as it were) carelesly two or three times about a smooth Rod, that another man held by both ends, and then putting the bout of the Tape upon the one end of the Rod, and then crying, It is now fast for five shillings; but no sooner reeling and looking aside, the man that held the Rod did put off the bout of the Tape again, and still John Gypsie, would cry and bet that it was fast, then would there come two or three, and bet with him, and win, and go away (as it were) laughing him to scorn, yet still he would continue, and pray the Fellow that held the stick not to deceive him, and plainly shew the people, that it would be fast when the bout was put on, then would the Fellow that held the stick, still put off the bout when John Gypsie looked away, whereby the people believed that he was in drink, and so deceived by him that held the Rod, and so many would come and bet with him, and lose: so that he used to win much money, though the bout was put off every time, and none could discern any alteration in the string. This strange Feat (which I confess, as he handled and acted it, was one of the neatest that ever I saw in all my life) did so surprize all my Companions, and in part himself, that some of them were of opinion, that he had some stone in the Ring upon his finger, by virtue of which he performed the Trick. But the most part concluded, that it could not be done but by the power and help of the Devil, and resolved to come no more near John Gypsie, as a man that was a Witch, and had familiarity with the Devil. But I that then was much guilty of curiosity, and loth to be imposed upon in a thing of that nature, then also knowing the way and manner how all the common Jugglers about Cambridge and London (who make a Trade of it) did perform their Tricks, I slipt away from my Company, and went to the place again where I found him still playing; and thrusting in, I desired to hold the stick, which he refused not; and so in a short time I perceived how it was done, and so returned to my Company, and shewed them the sleight and mystery of it, which made them very much ashamed of their folly and ignorance. They may deride this story that list, and yet it may serve for instruction to the wisest, and there are hundreds yet living that knew this person, and where he was born, which was at Bolton-bridge near Skipton in Craven, and have seen him play this trick of fast and loose, as I have related it: so that if a man meet with a crafty cunning Fellow, he commonly by way of Proverb calls him John Gypsie. 4. They ought to be free in their judgments as in æquilibrio, and not to be radicated nor habituated in the belief of those things; for then they will hardly be disswaded from their opinions, but pertinaciously adhere unto them, though never so absurd, and will be apt to ascribe all effects, that they understand not, unto Devils and Witches, as is manifest in the Jesuit Roberti Foster, Sennertus, and many others, who attributed the effects of the Hoplocrism or Weapon-salve, and the Sympathetick Powder unto the operation of the Devil and Witchcraft, when they are but meerly natural. Which makes me call to mind a pretty story that happened when I was but a young Boy. For where I once learned at the School, there was one who was Rector of the Church, who was a very godly man, a good and constant Preacher, accounted very learned, and Bachelor of Divinity: this person being informed, that I and some other Boys could play some odd Feats of sleight of hand, especially to put a Ring upon our Cheek, and to throw it unto a staff holden fast by both the ends; this he by no means did believe could be done but by Diabolical means, and did advise and threaten us to desist from such practices, as devillish and damnable. So ready even the otherwise Learned may be, when once setled in these fond and absurd opinions of the too great power of Demons and Witches, to ascribe that unto them, which is performed by Nature and lawful Art.

CHAP. V.

That these things now in question are but barely supposed, and were yet never rationally nor sufficiently proved: And that the Allegations brought to prove them by are weak, frivolous, and absolutely invalid. With a full Confutation of all the four Particulars.