I. That Satan was not immediately, nor is

yet lock'd down into the Abyis of a local /&//, fiich as is fuppofed by fome, and fiich as he fhall be at lail $ or that,
2. If
78 The H I S T O R Y
z. If he was, he has certain liberties allowed him for excurfions into the Regions of this Air, and certain fpheres of action, in which he can, and does move, to do, like a very Devil as he is9 all the mifchief he can, and of which we fee fo many examples both about us and in us 5 in the inquiry after which, I fhall take occafi- on to examine whether the Devil is not in mod of us, fometimes, if not in all of us one time or other.
3. That Satan has no particular refidence in this Globe or Earth where we live} that he rambles about among us, and marches over and over our whole country, he and his Devils in Camps volant > but that he pitches his grand Army or chief Encampment in our Adjacencies or Frontiers, which the Philofo- phers call jftmofpbere •> and whence he is call'd the Prince of the Power of that Ele ment or part of the World we call Air ^ from whence he fends out his Spies, his Agents and EmifTaries, to get intelligence, and to carry his Commiflions to his trufty and well beloved Coufins and Counfellors on Earth, by which his bufinels is done, and his affairs carried on in the World.
Here, again, I meet Mr. Milton full in my face, who will have it, that the Devil^ immediately at his expulfion, roll'd down directly into a Hell proper and local -, nay, he meafures the very di- flancc, at leall gives the length of the journey by the time they were pafling or falling, which, he fays, was nine days 5 a good Poetical flight, but neither founded on Scripture or Philofophy> he might every jot as well have brought Hell up to the Walls of Heaven, advanced to receive them, or he ought to have confider'd the fpace which
is
of the DEVI L. 79
is to be allow'd to any locality, let him take what part of infinite diftance between Heaven and a created Hell he pleafes.
But let that be as Mr. Milton's extraordinary genius pleafes to place it 5 the paflage, it feems, is juft nine days betwixt Heaven and Hell j well might Z>/- ves then fee father Abraham, and talk to him too > but then the great Gulph which Abraham tells him was fix'd between them, does not feem to be fo large, as according to Sir Ifaac Newton^ Dr. Hal- ley, Mr. Whlfton^ and the reft of our Men of Sci ence, we take it to be.
But fuppofe the paflage to be nine Days, ac cording to Mr. Milton^ what folio w'd ? why Hell gap'd wide> open'd its frightful mouth, and re* ceived them all at once $ millions and thoufands of millions as they were, it received them all at a gulp, as we call 'it, they had no difficulty to go in, no, none at all.
Facilis defenfus averni^fed revocare gradum Hoc of us hie labor eft. •• Virg.
All this, as Poetical, we may receive, but not at all as Hiftorical j for then come difficulties infupe- rable in our way, fome of which may be as fol low : (i 0 Hell is here fuppofed to be a place j nay a place created for the puniihment of Angels ani Men, and likewife created long before thofe had fallen, or thefe had Being j this makes me fay, Mr, Milton was a good Poet, but a bad Hiftorian : 20- fhet was prepar'd of old, indeed, but it was for the King, that is to fay, it was prepar'd for thofe whofe lot it fhould be to come there j but this does not at all fuppofe it was prepar'd before it was refolv'd whether there ihould be fubje£bs for it, or no -y elfe we muft fuppofe both Men and An gels were made by the glorious and upright Ma ker
80 The HISTORY
kcr of all things, on purpofe for dcflrucciori, which would be incongruous and abfurd.
But there is worfe yet to come j in the next place he adds, that Hell having receiv'd them, clos'd upon them j that is to fay, took them in$ clos'd or {hut its Mouth j and in a word, they were lock'd in, as it was faid in another place, they were lock'd in, and the Key is carry'd up to Hea ven and kept there ; for ive know the Angel came down from Heaven, having the Key of the Bot- tomlefs-piti but firft, fee Mr. Milton.
4 Nine days they fell, confounded chaos roar'd c And felt ten-fold confufion in their fall:
c Hell at lad:
c Yawning receiv'd them all,and on them clos'd ; *• Down from the verge of Heaven, eternal wrath 4 Burnt after them » 4 Unquenchable.
This Scheme is certainly deficient, if not ab furd, and I think is more fo than any other he has laid} 'tis evident, neither Satan or his Hoft of Devils are, no not any of themy yet, even now, confin'd in the eternal Prifon, where the Scrip' ture fays, he {hall be referred in chains of darknefs. They muft have mean thoughts of Hell^ as a Pri fon, a local Confinement, that can fuppofe the Devil able to break Goal, knock off his Fetters, •and come abroad, if he had been once lock'd in there, as Mr. Milton fays he was : Now we know that he is abroad again^ he prefented himfelf be fore God, among his neighbours, when Job's cafe came to be difcours'd of -y and more than that, it's plain he was a prifoner at large, by his anfwer to God's queftion, which was, 'whence comeft thou ? to which he anfwer'd, from going to and fro thro"
the
of the DEVIL. Si
the Earth^ &c, this, I fay, is plain, and if it be as certain that Hell clofed upon them, I demand then, how got he out? and why was there not a Proclamation for apprehending him, as there uiual- ly is, after fuch Rogues as break prifon ?
In fhort, the true Account of the Devil's Cir- cumftances, fince his Fall from Heaven, is much more likely to be thus : That he is more of a Vagrant than aPrifoner, that he is a Wanderer in the wild unbounded Waft, where he and his Legions, like the Hoords of fartary, who, in the wild Coun tries of Karakathay, the Deferts of Barkan, Kaffan, and dftracan, live up and down where they find proper 5 fo Satan and his innumerable Legions rove about hie & ubique^ pitching their Camps (being Beafts of prey) where they find the mo ft Spoil j watching over this World, (and all the other Worlds for ought we know, and if there are any fuch,) I fay watching, and feeking who they may devour, that is, who they may deceive and delude, and fo deftroy, for devour they cannot.
Satan being thus confin'd to a vagabond, wan- dring, unfettl'd Condition, is without any certain Abode j Fortho1 he has, in confequence of his An gelic Nature, a kind of Empire in the liquid Waft or Air \ yet, this is certainly part of his punifhment, that he is continually hovering over this inhabited Globe of Earth j fwellingwith the Rage of Envy, at the Felicity of his Rival, Man 5 and ftudyingali the means poffible to injure and ruin him •> but ex tremely limited in Power, to his unfpeakable Mor tification : This is his prefent State, without any fix'd Abode, Place, or Space, allowed him to reft the Sole of his Foot upon.
From his Expulfion, I take his firft View of Horror to be that, of looking back towards the Heaven which he had loll -y there to fee the Chafrn or Opening made up, out at which, as at a
G Breach
S2, The HISTORY
Breach in the Wall of the holy Place, he Wf:$ thrall Head-long by the Power which expel'd him * I fay, to fee the Breach repair'd, the Mounds built up, the Walls garifon'd with millions of Angels, and am'd with Thunders 5 and, above all, made terrible by that Glory from whofe Prefence they were expel'd, as is Poetically hinted at before.
Upon this fight, 'tis no wonder (if there was fuch a Place) that they fled till the Darknefs might cover them, and tha-t they might be out of the View of fo hated a Sight.
Wherever they found it, you may be furc they pitch 'd their fir ft Camp, and began, after many a four Reflc6tion upon what was pafs'd, to confider and think a little, upon what was to come.
If I had as much perfonal Acquaintance with the Devil, as would admit it, and could depend upon the Truth of what Anfwer he would give me, the firft Queftion I would ask him, fhould be,, what Mealures they refolv'd on at their firft AfTem- bly ? and the next fhould be, how they were em ploy 'd in all that fpace of Time, between their fo flying the Face of their almighty Conqueror, and the Creation of Man ? as for the Length of the Time, which, according to the Learn'd, was twenty thoufand Years, and according to the more Learned, not half a Quarter fo much, I would not concern my Curioiky much about it $ 'tis molt certain, there was a con fiderablc time between, but of that immediately 3 firft let me enquire what they were doing all that time.
The Devil and hisHoft, being thn?, I fay, call out of Heaven, and not yet confin'd ftri&ly to 7iW/, 'tis plain they muft be (bme where : Satan and all his Legions did not lofe their Exiftcncc* no, nor the Exiftenee of D^/fr neither; GOD was ib r;ir from annihilating him, that he ftill preferv'd
his
of the DEVIL. «/•
his Being 5 and this not Mr. Milton only, but Gob himfelf has made known to us, having left: his Hi (lory fo far upon record > feverai expreffions in Scripture alfo make it evident, as particularly the ftory of Job, mentioned before 3 the like in our Saviour's time, and feverai others.
If Hell did not immediately ingulph them, as Milton fuggefts, 'tis certain, I fay, that they fled Some where, from the anger of Heaven,from the face of the Avenger j and his abfence, and their own guilt, wonder not at /V, would make Hell enough for them wherever they went.
Nor need we fly to the Dreams of our dflrorto* mers, who take a great deal of pains to fill up the vafr. Spaces of the fhirry Heavens with in numerable habitable Worlds > allowing as many folar Syftems as there are fix'd Stars, and that not only in the known Conitcllations, but even inGW- laxie it felf ; who, to every fuch Syftem allow a cer tain number of Planets, and to every one of thofe PlJnets fo many Satellites or Moons , and all thefe Planets and Moons to be Worlds > folid, dark, o- I paque Bodies, habitable, and (as they would have us believe) inhabited by the like Animals and rational I Creatures as on this Earth ; fo that they may, ac j this rate, find room enough for the Devil and all I his Angels, without making a Hell on purpofe j I nay they may, for ought I know, find a World | for every Devil in all the Devil's Hoft, and fo ; every one may be a Monarch or Mafter~Devil9 \ feparately in his own Sphere or World, and play ; the Devil there by himfelf.
And even if this were fo, it cannot be denied but that one Devil in a place would be enough for a whole fyftemary World, and be able, if not reftrained, to do mifchief enough there too, and ;even to ruin and overthrow the t whole body of People contain'd in it.
G z But,
*4 The H I ST O R Y
But, I fay, we need not fly to thefe fhifts, or contult the Aftronomers in the decifion of this point 5 for wherever Satan and his defeated Hoft went, at their expulfion from Heaven^ we think we are certain, none of all thefe Beautiful Worlds, or be they Worlds or no, I mean the fix'd Stars, Planets, &V. had then any exiftencej for the Be ginning, as the Scripture calls it, was not yet Begun.
But to fpeak a little by the rules of Philofophy, that is fo fay, fo as to be underflood by others, even when we fpeak of things we cannot fully underfland ourfelves: Tho' in the Beginning of Time all this glorious Creation was form'd, the Earth, the (tarry Heavens, and all the Furniture thereof, and there was a Time when they were not> yet we cannot fay fo of the Void, or that namelefs no-tubere^ as I calPd it before, which now appears to be zfome-where, in which thefe glorious Bodies are plac'd. That immenfe Space which thofe take up, and which they move in at this Time, mull: be fuppofed, before they had Being, to be plac'd there: As God himfelf was, and exiiled before all Being, Time, or Place, fo the Heaven of Heavens, or the Place, where the Thrones and Dominions of his Kingdom then ex- ifted, inconceivable and ineffable, had an exif- tence before the glorious Seraphs, the innume rable company of Angels which attended about the Throne of God exiiled j thefe all had a Being long before, as the Eternal Creator of them a3 had before them.
Into this void or abyfs of Nothing, however unmeafurable, infinite, and even to thofe Spirits, themfelves Inconceivable, they certainly launch'ct from the bright Precipice which they fell from, and here they fhifted as well as they could.
Here
of the D E VI L. 85
Here expanding thofe Wings which Fear, and Horror at their Defeat furnifh'd them, as I hint ed before, they hurried away to the utmoft Di- llance poflible, from the Face of GOD their Con queror, and then moll dreaded Enemy > formerly their Joy and Glory.
Be this utmoft remov'd Diftance where it will^ Here, certainly, Satan and all his Gang of Devils^ his numberlefs, tho' routed Armies retired. Here Milton might, with fome good Ground, have form'd his Pandemonium^ and have brought them in, confultihg what was next to be done, and whether there was any room left to renew the War, or to carry on the Rebellion ^ but had they been caft immediately into Hell, clofcdup there, the Bottomlefs-pit lock'd upon them, and the Key carried up to Heaven to be kept there, as Mr. Milton himfclf in part confefles, and the Scripture affirms ; I fay, had this been fo, the Devil him- felf could not have been fo ignorant as to think of any future Steps to be taken, to retrieve his Affairs, and therefore a Pandemonium or Divan in Hell, to confult of it, was ridiculous.
All Mr. Milton's Scheme of Satan's future Con duct, and all the Scripture Expreffions about the Devil and his numerous Attendants, and of his actings fince that time, make it not reafonable to fuggeft that the Devils were confin'd to their eter nal Prifon, at their Expulfion out of Heaven j But that they were in a State of Liberty to act, tho' limited in afting, of which I fhall alfo fpeak in its place.
G 5 CHAP.
86 The HISTORY
CHAP. VII.
Of the Number of Satan's Hoft $ how they came firfl to know of the new created Worlds •, now in being, and their Meafures with Mankind upon the ifcoivery.
SEVERAL things have been fuggefted to fetus a calculating the number of this frightful throng of Devil* 9 who with Satan, the Mafler- Devil, was thus call out of Heaven •, I cannot fay, I am fo much Mailer of Political Arithme- tick fls to call up the Number of the Beaft, no, nor the Number of the Beads or Devils, who inake up this Throng. St. Francis, they tell u«, or fome other Saint, they do not fay who, ask'd the Devil once, how llrong he was ? for St. Francis, you muft know, was very familiar with him > fhe Devil, it feems, did not tell him, but prefently railed a great Cloud of Dull, by the help, I fuppofe, of a Gull of Wind, and bid that Saint count itj He was, 1 fuppofe, a Calculator, that would be call'd grave, who dividing Satan's Troops into three Lines, caft up the Number of the Devils of all forts in each Battalia, at ten hundred times a hundred thoufand millions of the £dl: Line, fifty millions of times as many in the fecorid Line, and three hundred thoufand times as manv as both in the third Line.
The Impertinence of this account would hard ly have given it a place here, only to hint that it has always been the Opinion, that Satan's Name nray well be call'd a Noun of Multitude, and ;lup t*J2 Devil and hjs sfngch are certainly no in-
i confide-
if the DE VIL. 87
considerable Number : It was a fm art Repartee that a Venetian Nobleman made to a Pried who rallied him upon his refuting to give fomething to the Church, which the Pried demanded for the delivering him from Purgatory 5 when the Pried asking him, if he knew what an innumerable Num ber of Devils there were to take him ? he anfwer'd, yes, he knew how many Devils there were in all: How many ? {ays the Pried, his curiofity, I fuppofc, being rais'd by the novelty of the anfwcr. fPbj ten millions five hundred and eleven thoufand^ fix hundred and feventy five Devils and a half, fays the Nobleman : A half /fays thePricft,^nry what kind of a Devil is tbat? your f elf ^ fays the Noble man, for you are half a Devil already (and will be a whole one when you come there) for you are for deluding all you deal with^ and bringing us Soul and Body into your Hands ^ that you may be paid for letting us go again. So much for their Num ber.
Here alfo it would come in very aptly, to con- fider the date of that long interval between the Time of their Expulfion from Heaven^ and the Creation of the World ; and what the Poihirc of the Devil's Affairs might be, during that Time. The horror of their Condition can only be con- ceiv'd of at a Didance, and efpccially by us, who being embodied Creatures, cannot fully judge of what is, or is not a Punifhment to Seraphs and Spirits-, But 'tis jud to fuppofe they fuffer'd all that Spirits of a Seraphic Nature were capable to fuftain, confident with their Exiftencej notwith- ftanding which they retained dill the HeUiflmefs of their rebellious Principles 5 namely, their Ha tred and Rage againd God, and their Envy at the Felicity of his Creatures.
As to how long their time might be, I fhall leave that Search > no lights being given me that
G 4 arc
S8 The H I S T O R Y
are cither probable or rational, and we have fo little room to make a Judgment of it, that we
may as well believe Father M , who fuppofes
it to be a hundred thoufand Years, as thofe who judge it one thoufand Years ; 'tis enough that we are fure, it was before the Creation, how long be fore is not material to the Devil's Hiftory^ unlcfs we had fome Records of what happened to him, or was done by him in the Interval.
During the wand ring Condition the Devil was in at that Time, we mayfuppofe, he and his whole Clan to be employed in exerting their Hatred and Rage at the Almighty, and at the Happinefs of the remaining faithful Angels, by all the ways they had power to iliew it.
From this determin'd Hated Enmity of Satan and his Hofl again ft GW, and at every thing that brought Glory to his Name, Mr. Milton brings in Satan, (whenfirii hefaw Adam'vti Paradife^ and the Felicity of his Station there) fwelling with Rage and Envy, and taking up a dreadful Refo- lution to ruin Mam and all his Pofterity, meer- ly to difappoint his Maker of the Glory of his Creation 5 I lhall come to fpeak of that in its Place.
How Satan, in his remote Situation, got In telligence of the Place whereto find Adam out, or that any fuch thing as a Man was created, is Matter of juft Speculation, and there might be many rational Schemes laid for it: Mr. Milton does not undertake to tell us the Particulars, nor indeed could he find room for it ; perhaps, the Devil having, as I have fiud, a Liberty to range over the whole Void or Abyfs, which we want as well a Name. for, as indeed Powers to conceive of; might have difcovered that the Al- mjghty Creator had form'd a new and glorious Work, with infinite Beauty and Variety, filling
i up
of the DEVIL; S9
up the immenfe Waft of Space, in which he, (the Devil) and his Angels ^ had rov'd for fo long a time, without finding any thing to work on, or to exert their Apoftate Rage in againft their Maker.
That at length they found the infinite untrod den Space, on a Hidden fpread full with glori ous Bodies, fhining in felf-exifting Beauty, with a new, and to them unknown Luftre, cali'd Light : They found thefe luminous Bodies, tho' immenfe in Bulk, and infinite in Number, yet fixt in their wondrous Stations, regular and exact in their Motions, confin'd in their proper Orbits, tending to their particular Centers, and enjoying every one their peculiar Syftems, within which was contained innumerable Planets with their Satellites or Moons, in which (again) a reciprocal Influence, Motion and Revolution confpired to Form the mod admirable Uniformity of the whole.
Surprized, to be fure, with this fudden and yet glorious Work of the Almighty > for the Cre ation was enough, with its Luftre, even to fur- prize the Devils -, they might reafonably be fup- pofed to ftart out of their dark Retreat, and with a Curiofity not below the Seraphic Dignity 5 for thefe are fome of the things which the jfngels de- fire to look into, to take a flight thro' all the ama zing Syflcms of the fix'd Suns or Stars, which we fee now but at a Diflance, and only make Ailronomical Guefles at.
Here the Devil found not fubject of Wonder only, but matter to fwell his revolted Spirit with more Rage, and to revive the Malignity of his Mind againft his Maker, and efpecially againft this new encreafe of Glory, which to his infinite Regret was extended over the whole Waft, and which he look'd upon, as we fay in human Af fairs,
90 The HISTORY
fairs, as a Pays conquis^ or, if you will have it in the Language of the Devil, as an invafion up on his Kingdom.
Here it naturally occur'd to them, in their State of Envy and Rebellion, that tho' they could not aflault the impregnable Walls of Heaven^ and could no more pretend to raife War in the Place of BlefFednefs and Peace > yet that per haps they might find Room in this new, and however glorious, yet inferior Kingdom or Cre ation, to work fome defpite to their great Crea tor, or to affront his Majefty in the Pcrfon of fome of his new made Creatures * and upon this they may be jufHy fuppofed to double their Vi gilance, in the furvey they refolve to take of theie new Worlds, however ercat, numbeiiefs and won derful.
What Difcoverics they may have made in the other and greater Worlds, than this Earth, we have not yet had an account 5 poffibly they are converfant with other Parts or God's Creation, bcfidcs this little little Globe, which is but as a Point in comparifon of the Rell j and with other of God's Creatures befides Man, who may, according to the Opinion of our Philofophers, in habit thofe Worlds ; but as no body knows that Part but the Devil^ we {hall not trouble our felves with the Enquiry.
Rut 'tis very rcafonable, and indeed probable, that the Devils were more than ordinarily fur- priz'd at the Nature and Reafon of all this glo rious Creation, after they had, with the utmoft Curiofity, view'd all the parts of it 5 The Glories of the feveral Syftems; the immenfe fpaces iu which thofe glorious Bodies that were created and made part of it, were allow'd refpe&ively to move > the innumerable fix'd Stars, as fo many Suns in
: Center of fo many diftant Solar Syflems-, the
(likewife
of the DEVIL: 9I
(likewife innumerable) dark opaque Bodies recei ving light, and depending upon thofc Suns re- fpe£tively for fuch light, and then reflecting that light again upon and tor the Ufe of one another ; To fee the Beauty and Splendor of their Forms, the Regularity of their Pofition, the Order and Exactnefs, and yet inconcievable Velocity of their Motions, the certainty of their Revolutions, and the Variety and Virtue of their Influences > and then, which was even to the Devils themfelves moil aflonifhing, That after all the red of their Obfervations they fhould find this whole immenfe Work was adapted for, and made fubfervient to the Ufe, Delight and Blefling only of one poor Species, in iticlf fmall, and in Appearance con temptible -, the meaner! of all the Kinds fuppo- fcd to inhabit fomany glorious Worlds, as appear ed now to be form 'd -> I mean, that Moon call'd the Earth, and the Creature call'd Man 5 that all was made for him, upheld by the wife Creator, on his account only, and would necefTarily end an4 ceaie whenever that Species {hould end and be dctermin'd.
That this Creature was to be found no where but (as above) in one little individual Moon-,*. Spot leis than almofh any of the Moons, which were in fuch great Numbers to be found attendant upon, and prefcrib'd with in every Syftem of the whole created Heavens 5 This was aftontfhing even to the Devil himfelf, nay the whole Clan of Devils could fcarce entertain any juft Ideas of the thing j Till at laft Satan^ indefatigable in his Search or En quiry into the Nature and Reafon of this new Work, and particularly fearching into the Spe cies of Man, whom he found God had thus plac'd in the little Globe, call'd Earth; he foon came to an Eclairiciffement^ or a clear Underftand- ing of the whole. For Example^
Firft,
9z The HI ST O R Y
He found this Creature, call'd Man, was however mean and fmall in his Appea rance, a kind of a Seraphic Species j that he was made in the very Image of God, endow ed with reafonable Faculties to know Good and Evil, and poiTefs'd of a certain thing till then unknown and unheard of even in Hell it felf ; that is, in the Habitation of Devils, let that be where it would, (viz.) . That GOD had made him indeed of the low- eft and coarfeft Materials, but that he had breath'd into him the Breath of Life, and that he became a living thing call'd SOUL, being a kind of an extraordinary heavenly and divine Emanation 3 and confequently that Man, however mean and Terre final his Body might be, was yet, Heaven-born, in his fpirituous Part compleatly Seraphic j and after a Space of Life here, (determined to be a ftate of probation) he fhould be tranf- latcd thro' the Regions of Death into a Life purely and truly Heavenly, and which fhould remain fo for ever 5 being capable of knowing and enjoying God his Maker, and (landing in his Pretence, as the glorified Angels do. . That he had the moll fublime Faculties infu- fed into him 5 was capable not only of know ing and contemplating God, and which was ilill more, of enjoying him, as above , but (which the Devil now was not) capable of honouring and glorifying his Maker > who nlfo had condeicended to accept of Ho nour from him.
. And which was flill more, that being of an Angelic Nature, tho' mix'd with, and con- fin'd for the prefent in a Cafe of mortal Flefli j he was intended to be removed from
this
of the D E V I L. 9 j
this Earth after a certain time of Life here, to inhabit that Heaven, and enjoy that very Glory and Felicity, from which Satan and his Angels had been expell'd.
When he found all this, it prefently occur'd to him, that God had done it all as an aft of Triumph over him (Satan,) and that thefe Crea tures were only created to people Heaven, depo pulated or ftript of its inhabitants by his Expul- fion, and that thefe were all to be made Angels in the Devil's ftead.
If this thought encreas'd his Fury and Envy, as far jas Rage of Devils can be capable of being made greater > it doubtlefs fet him on work to give a Vent to that Rage and Envy, by fearching into the Nature and Conftitution of this Crea ture, calPd Man > and to find out whether he was invulnerable, and could by no means be hurt by the Power of Hell, or deluded by his Sub- tilty 3 or whether he might be begun" d and delu ded, and fo, inftead of being prelerv'd in Holi- nefs and Purity, wherein he was certainly crea ted, be brought to fall and rebell as he (Satan) had done before him > by which, inftead of be ing tranfplanted into a glorious State, after this Life in Heaven, as his Maker had defign'd him to be, to fill up the Angelic Choir, and fup- ply the Place from whence he (Satan) had fallen, he might be made to fall alfo like him, and in a Word, be made a Devil like himfelf.
This convinces us that the Devil has not loft his natural Powers by his Fall; and our learned Commentator Mr. Pool is of the fame Opinion j tho ' he grants that the Devil has loft his moral Power, or his Power of doing Good, which he can never recover. Tide Mr. Pool upon Afts xix. 17. where we may particularly obferve^
when
94 The H I S T O R Y
when the Man poflefs'd with an evil Spirit flew upon the feven Sons of Swua the Jew^ who would have Exorcis'd them in the Name of Jeftts, without the Authority of Jefus9 or without Faith in him > He flew on them and maf- ter'd them, fo that they fled out of the Houfe from the Devil conquered, naked and wounded : But of this Power of the Devil I fhall fpeak bv it felf.
In a Word, and to fum up all the Devil's Story from his firft Expulfion, it Hands thus : For fa many Years as were between his Fall and the Cre ation of Man, tho' we have no Memoirs of his par ticular Affairs, we have Reafon to believe he was without any Manner of Employment j but a cer tain tormenting Endeavour to be always expref- fing his Rage and Enmity again ft Heaven 3 1 call it tormenting, Becaufe ever difappointed $ every thought about it proving empty j every attempt towards it abortive j Leaving him only Light enough to lee ftill more and more Reafon to de- fpair of Succefs j and that this made his Condi tion ftill more and more a Hell than it was be fore.
After a Space of Duration in this Mifery, which we have no light given us to meafure or judge of, He at length difcover'd the new Creation of Man, as above, upon which he foon found Mat ter to fet himielf to work upon, and has been bufily em ploy 'd ever fincc.
And now indeed there may be room to fug- geft a Local /&//, and the Confinement of Souls (made corrupt and degenerate by him) to it, as a Place > tho' he himfelf, as is ftill apparent by his Aftings, is not yet confin'd to it -, of this Hell, its Locality, Extent, Dimenfions, Continuance and Nature, as it docs not belong to Satan's Hiftory, I have a good excufe for faying nothing,
and
of the DEVIL; $*
and.fo put off my meddling with that, which if I would meddle with, I could fay nothing of to the Purpofe.
CHAP. VIII.
Of the "Power of the 'Devil at the Time of the Creation of this World ; whether it has not been farther ftraitn'd and limited Jince that Time, and what Shifts and Stra tagems he is obliged to make ufe of to com- pafs his ^Dejigns ufon Mankind.
CUnning Men have fabled, and tho' it be without either Religion, Authority or phy- fical Foundation, it may be we may like it ne'er the worfefor that} that when God made the Stars and all the Heavenly Luminaries, the Devil, to mimick his Maker and infult his new Creation, made Comets, in Imitation of the fix'd Stars ; but that the Compofition of them being combufti- ble, when they came to wander in the Abyfs, rol ling by an irregular ill-grounded Motion, they took Fire, in their Approach tofome of thofe great Bodies of Flame, the fix'd Stars > and being thus kindled (like a Fire-work unskilfully let off) they then took wild and excentrick, as alfo different Motions of their own, out of Satan's Dire&ion, and beyond his Power to regulate ever after.
Let this Thought itand by it felf5it matters not to our purpofe whether we believe any thing of it, or no 5 'tis enough to our Cafe, that if Satan had any fuch Power then, he has no fuch Power now, and that leads me to enquire into his more recent Limitations,
I am
$6 The HI STORY
I am to fuppofe, he and all his Accomplices being confounded at the Difcovery of the new Creation, and racking their Wits to find out the meaning of it, had at lafl (no matter how) difco^ ver'd the whole Syftem, and concluded, as I have faid, that the Creature, caWd Man, was to be their SuccefTor in the Heavenly Manfions j upon which I fuggeft that the firft Motion of Hell was to deftroy this new Work, and, if poffible, to overwhelm it.
But when they came to make the Attempt, they found their Chains were not long enough, and that they could not reach to the Extremes of the Syftem : They had no Power either to break the Order, or ftop the Motion, diflocate the Parts, or confound the Situation of Things 5 they traverfed, no doubt, the whole Work, vifited every Star, landed upon every Solid, and fail'd upon every Fluid in the whole Scheme, to fee what Mifchief they could do.
Upon a long and full Survey, they came to this Point in their Enquiry, that in fhort they could do nothing by Force 3 that they could not dif- place any Part, annihilate any Atom, or deftroy any Life in the whole Creation ; but that as Om nipotence had created it, fo the fame Omnipotence had arm'd it at all Points againft the utmoft Power of Hell, had made the fmalleft Creature in it invul nerable, as to Satan ; fo that without the Permiffion of the fame Power which had made Heaven, and conquered the Devil, he could do nothing at all, as to deftroying any thing that God had made, no, not the little diminutive thing call'd Man, who Satan faw fo much reafon to hate, as being created to fucceed him in Happinefs in Heaven.
Satan found him placed out of his Power to hurt, or out of his Reach to touch 5 and here, by the way, appears the fecond Conqueft of Heaven over the Devil; that having pluc'd his Rival, as ic
were
of the D E V I L. 97
were, juft before his Face, and fhew'd the hate ful %ht to him, he faw written upon his Image, 'Touch him if you dare.
*It cannot be doubted, bur, had it not been thus, Man is fo fir from being a Match for the J)evil9 that one of Satan's leaft Imps or Angels could deftroy all the Race of them in the World, ay World and all in a moment j
As he is Prince of the Power of the Air, taking the Air for the Elementary World ', how eafily could he, atoneBlaft, fweep all the Surface of the Earth into the Sea, or drive weighty immenfe Surges of the Ocean over the whole Plane of the Earth, and deluge the Globe at once with a Storm ? Or how eafily could he, who, by the Situation of the Em pire, mull be fuppofed able to manage the Clouds, draw them up, in fuch Pofition as fhould natu rally produce Thunders and Lightnings, caufethofe Lightnings to blaft the Earth, dafli in Pieces all the Buildings, burn all the populous Towns and Ci ties, and lay wait the World 5
At the fame time he might command fuited Quantities of fublimated Air to burft out of the Bowels of the Earth, and overwhelm and fwailow up, in the opening Chafms, all the Inhabitants %L of the Globe?
In a Word, Satan left to himfelf as a Devil, and to the Power, which by virtue of his Sera phic Original he mult be veiled with, was able to have made Devilifli Work in the World, if by a fuperior Power he was not reftrain'd.
But there is no doubt, at haft to we, but that with his fall from Heaven, as he loft the Recti tude and Glory of his Angelic Nature, 1 mean his Innocence, fo he loft the Power too that he had before -y and that when he fir ft commenced Devil, he received the Chains of Reftraint too, as the Badge of his Apoftacy, viz. a general Pro- H hibition,
98 The HISTORY
hibition, to do any thing to the Prejudice of this Creation, or to aft any thing by Force or Violence without fpecial Permiffion.
This Prohibition was not fent him by a Mef- fenger, or by an Order in Writing, or proclaimed from Heaven by a Law ; but Satan^ by a ftrange, invifible and unaccountable Imprefiion felt the Reftraint within him ; and at the fame time that his moral Capacity was not taken away, yet his Power of exerting that Capacity felt the Rc- ftraint, and left him unable to do, even what he was able to do at the fame time.
I make no queftion, but the Devil is fenfiblc of this Reilraintj that is to fay, not as it is a reftraint only, or as an effeft of his Expulfion from Hea ven ; But as it prevents his Capital Defign againft Man, who, for the Reafon I have given already, he entertains a mortal Hatred of, and would de- ftroy with all his Heart, if he might ; and therefore, like a chain'd MaflifF, we find him oftentimes making a horrid hellifli Clamour and Noife, bark ing and howling, and frighting the People, letting them know, that if he was loofe he would tear them in pieces ; but at the fame time his very Fury {hakes his Chain, which lets them know, to their Satis faction, he can only Bark, but cannot Bite.
Some are of Opinion that the Devil is not re- ftrain'd fo much by the fuperior Power of his So vereign and Maker; but that all his milder Mea- fures with Man are the effeft of a political Scheme, and done upon mature Deliberation ; that it was
refolved to aft thus, in the great Council or P 1
of Devils, call'd upon this very Occafion, when they firft were informed of the Creation of Man; and efpecially when they confidered what kind of Creature he was, and what might probably be the Reafon of making him, (viz.) to fill up the Vacancies in Heavens I fay, that then the 4 Devils
of the DEVIL. 99
Devils refolv'd, that it was not for their Inte- reft to fall upon him with Fury and Rage, and fo deftroy the Species, for that this would be no Benefit at all to them, and would only caufe ano ther original Man to be created 5 for that they knew GOD could, by the fame Omnipotence, form as many new Species of Creatures as he pleafed 5 and, if he thought fit, create them in Heaven too, out of the Reach of Devils or evil Spirits, and that therefore, to deftroy Man would no way anfwer their End.
On the other hand, examining ftrictly the Mould of this new made Creature, and of what Materials he was form'd > how mixt up of a Nature convertible and pervertible, capable indeed of infinite Excellence, and confequently of eternal Felicity > but fubjecl: likewife to Corruption and Degeneracy, and confequently to eternal Miferyj That inftead of being fit to fupply the Places of Satan and hisrejefted Tribe (the expelPd Angels) in Heaven, and filling up the Thrones or Stalls in the Geleftial Choir, they might, if they could but be brought into Crime, become a Race of Re bels and Traytors like the reft > and fo come at laft to keep them Company, as well in the Place of eternal Mifery, as in the Merit of it, and in a Word, become Devils inftead of Angels.
Upon this Difcovery, I fay, they found it infi nitely more for the Intereft of Satan's infernal Kingdom, to go another way to work with Man kind, and fee if it were poffiWe, by the ftrength of all their infernal Wit and Counfels, to lay fome Snare for him, and by fome Stratagem to bring him to eternal Ruin and Milery.
This being then approved as their only Method,
(and the D*w7ihew'd he was no Fool in the Choice)
he next refolv'd that there was no time to be loft -9
that it was to be fet about immediately 3 before the
H 4 Race
ioo The HISTORY
Race was Multiplied, and by that means the Work be not made greater only, but perhaps the more difficult too ; accordingly the diligent Devil went inftantly about it, agreeably to all the Story of Eve and the ferpent, as before > the belief of which, whether historically or allegorically, is not at all obftru&ed by this Hypothecs.
I do not affirm that this was the Cafe at n*rn% becaufe being not prefent in that black Di-van^ at lead not that I know of, for 'who knows where be 'was or was not in his pre-exiftent State ? I can not be pofitive in the Refolve that pail there j but except for fome very little Contradiction, which we find in the facred Writings, I fhouLd, I confefs, incline to believe it Hiftorically j and I fhall fpeak of thofe things which I call Contra dictions to it more largely hereafter. >
In the mean time, be it one way or other, that is to fay> either that Satan had no Power to have proceeded with Man by Violence, and to have de- uroy'd him as foon as he was made > or that he had the Power, but chofe rather to proceed by other Methods to deceive and debauch himj / fay^ be it which you pleafe, I am ilill of the Opi nion that it really was not the Devil's Bufinefs to deftroy the Species 5 that it would have been nothing to the purpofe, and no Advantage at all to him, if he had done it j for that, as above, GOD could immediately have created another Spe cies to the fame end, whom he either could have made invulnerable, and not fubject to the Devil's Power, or remov'd him out of Satan's Reach, plac'd him out of the Devil's Ken, in Heaven or fome other Place, where the Devil could not come to hurt him ; and that therefore it is infi nitely more his Advantage, and more fuited to his real Defign of defeating the End of Man's Cre ation, to debauch hint and make a Devil of him,
that
of the DEVIL. 101
that he may be rejefted like himfelf, and increafe the infernal Kingdom and Company in the Lake of Mifery In sternum.
It may be true, for ought I know, that Satan ,-has not the Power of Definition put into his Hand, and that he cannot take away the Life of a Man : and it feems probable to be fo, from the Story of Satan and Job^ when Satan appeared among the Sons of GOD, as the Text fays, Job i. 6. Now when God gave fuch a Character of Job to him, and ask'd him if he bad confider'd bis Servant Job, f. 8. why did not the Devil ,go immedi ately and exert his Malice againft the good Man at once, to let his Maker fee what would become of his Servant Job in his Diftrefs? On the contrary, we fee he only anfwers by ihewing the Reafon of Job's good Behaviour j that it was but common Gratitude for the Bleffing and Prote&ion he enjoy'd, f 10. and pleading that if his Eftate was taken away, and he was exposed as he (Satan) was, to be a beggar and a Vagabond, going to and fro in the Earth, and 'walking up and down therein, he fhould be a very Devil too, like himfelf, and curfe God to his Face.
Upon this, the Text fays, that Godanfwered ir. 1 1 . Behold all that he hath is in thy Power •> now 'tis plain here, that God gave up Job's Wealth and Eftate, nay his Family, and the Lives of his Chil dren and Servants into the Devils Power 5 and accordingly, like a true mercilefs Devil, as he is, he deftroy'd them all ; he mov'd the Sabeans to fall upon the Oxen and the AfTes, and carry them off} he mov'd the Chaldeans to fall upon the Camels and the Servants, to carry off the firft, and murther the laft 5 he made Lightning flafh upon the poor Sheep, and kill them all -> and he blow'd his Houfe down upon his poor Children, and buried them all in the Ruins.
H 3 Now
102 The HISTORY
Now here is (i .) a Specimen of Satan's good Will to Mankind, and what Havock the Devil would make in the World, if he might-, and here is a Teftimony too, that he could not do this without leave , fo that I cannot but be of the Opi nion he has fome Limitations, fome Bounds fet to his natural Fury j a certain Number of Links in his Chain, which he cannot exceed, or, in a Word, that he cannot go a Foot beyond his fetter.
The fame kind of Evidence we have in the Gofpel, Matth. viii. 31. where Satan could not fo much as poflcfs the filthieft and meaneft of all Creatures, the Svjine^ till he had ask'd leave > and that ftill, to fliew his good Will, as foon as he had gotten leave, he hurried them all into the Sea and choak'd them > thefe, I fay, are fome of the Rcafons why I am not willing to fay, the Devil is not reftrain'd in Power $ but on the other fide, we are told of fo many mifchievous things the Devil has done in the World, by virtue of his Domini on over the Elements, and by other Teftimonies of his Power, that I don't know what to think of it 5 tho', upon the whole, the firft is the fafeft Opinion -y for if we fliould believe the la ft, we might, for ought I know, be brought, like the American Indians^ to worfhip him at laft> that he may do us no Harm.
And now I have nam'd thofe People in Ame- rica^ I confefs it would go a great way in favour of Satan's Generofity, as well as in Teftimony of his Power, if we might believe all the Accounts, which indeed Authors are pretty well agreed in the Truth of, namely, of the Mifchicfs the Devil does in thofe Countries, where his Dominion feems to be eftablifh'd j how he ufes them when they deny him the Homage he claims of them as his Due 3 what Havock and Combuftion he makes
among
of the DEVIL; 103
among them 3 and how Beneficent he is (or at lead negative in his Mifchiefs) when they Appeafe him by their hellith Sacrifices.
Likewife we fee a Teft of his wicked Subtilty in his Management of thofe dark Nations, when he was more immediately worfhip'd by them ; namely, the making them believe that all their good Weather, Rains, Dews, and kind Influences upon the Earth, to make it fruitful, was from Him 5 whereas they really were the common Bleflmgs of a higher Hand, and came not from him, theZVi;//, but from him that made the Devi/^ and made him a Devil or fallen Angel by his Curie.
But to go back to the Method the Devil took with the fir ft of Mankind 3 'tis plain the Policy of Hell was right, tho' the Execution of the Re- folves they took did not fully anfwer their End neither 3 For Satan fattening upon poor, proud, ri diculous Mother Eve, as I have faid before, made prefently a true Judgment of her Capacities, and of her Temper 3 took her by the right Handle, and foothing her Vanity (which is to this Day the fofteft Place in the Head of all the Sex) wheedl'd her out of her Senfes, by p railing her Beauty, and promiiing to make her a Goddefs.
The foolifh Woman yielded prefently, and that we are told is the Reafon why the fame Method fo flrangely takes with all her Pofterity (viz.) that you are fore to prevail with them, if you can but once perfuade them that you believe they are Witty and Handfome 3 for the Devil, you may obfervc, never quits any Hold he gets, and having once found a way into the Heart, always takes care to keep the Door open, that any of his Agents may en ter after him without any more Difficulty: Hence the fame Argument, efpecially the lair, has fo be- witching an Influence on the Sex, that they rarely deny you any thing, after they are but weak
H 4 enough
104 The H I ST O R Y
enough and vain enough to accept of the Praifcs you offeAhem on that Head; on the other hand you are fure they never forgive you the unpardonable Crime of faying they are Ugly or Difagreeable : It is fuggefled that the firfl: Method the Devil took to inunuate all thofe fine things into Eve's giddy Head, was by creeping dole to her one Night , \vhen fhe was afleep, and laying his Mouth to her Ear^ whilpcring all the fine things to her, which he knew would fet her Fancy a Tip-toe, and fo made her receive them involuntarily into her Mind > knowing well enough that when fhe had form'd fuch Ideas in her Soul, however they came there, fhe would never be quiet till fhe had work'd them up to fome extraordinary thing or other.
It was evident what the Devil zim'd at, namely, that fhe fhould break in upon the Command of GOD, and fo having corrupted her felf, bring the Curfe upon her felf and all her Race, as GOD had threatn'd > but why the Pride of Eve fnould be fo eafily tickled by the Motion of her exquifite Beauty, when there then was no profpect of the ufe or want of thofe Charms ? that indeed makes a kind of Difficulty here, which the Icarn'd have not determined. For,
I . If fhe had been as Ugly as the Devil, fhe had no body to rival her, fo that fhe need not fear Adam fhould leave her and ^et another "Miflrefs.
z. If fhe had been Bright and Beautiful as an Angel, flie had no other Admirer but poor Mam, and he could have no room to be jea lous of her, or afraid fhe fhould cuckold him 5 fo that in fhort, Eve had no fuch Oc- cafion for her Beauty, nor could fhe make any ufe of it either to a bad purpofeor to a good, and therefore I believe the Devi^ who is too
cunning
of the D JE V I L. 105
cunning to do any thing that fignifies No thing, rather tempted her by the Hope of encreafing her Wit, than her Beauty.
But to come back to the Method of Satan's tempting her, viz.by whifpering to her in her ileep j 'twas a cunning Trick, that's the Truth of it, and by that means he certainly fet her Head a madding alter Deifm, and to be made a Goddefs, and then back'd it by the fubtle talk he had with her af terward.
I am the more particular upon this Part, be- caufe, however the Devil may have been the firft that ever practifed it. yet I can aflure him the Experiment has been tried upon many a Woman fince, to the wheedling her out of her Modefty, as well as her Simplicity j and the Cunning Men tell us ftill, that if you can come at a Woman when fheis in a deep fleep, and Whifper to her clofe to her Ear, {he will certainly Dream of the Thing you fay to her, and fo will a Man too.
Well, be this fo to her Race or not, it was it feems fo to her; for {he wak'd with her Head fill'd with pleafing Ideas, and as fome will have it, un lawful Defires > fuch, as to be fure {he never had entertain'd before , Thefe are fuppofed to be fatally infufed in her Dream, and fuggeiled to her waking Soul, when the Organ Ear which convey'd them was doz'd and infenfible; flrange Fate of fleeping in Paradife ! that whereas we have Notice but of two Sleeps there, that in one a PFoman {hould go out of him, and in the other, the Devil {hould come into her.
Certainly, when Satan fir ft made the Attempt upon Eve, he did not think he fhould have fo ealily conquered her, or have brought his Bufinels about fo foon 5 the Devil himfelf could not have imagined {he {hould have been fo foon brought
to
io6 The HIS TORY
to forget the Command given, or at leaft who gave it, and have ventured to tranfgrcfs againil him, and made her forget that GOD had told her, it fhould be Death to her to touch it j and above all, that {he fhould afpirc to be as wife as him, who was fo ignorant before, as to believe it was for fear of her being like himfclf, that he had for bid it her.
Well might {he be faid to be the weaker Vei- fel, tho' Adam himfelf had little enough to fay for his being the ftronger of the two, when he was over-perfuaded (if it were doneby Perfuafion) by his Wife to do the fame thing.
And mark how wife they were after they had Eaten, and what Fools they both acted like, even to one another 5 nay, even all the Knowledge they attam'd toby it was, for ought I fee, only to know that they were Fools, and to be fenfible both of Sin and Shame j and fee how (imply they a6ted, I fay, upon their having committed the Crime, and being detected in it.
c View them to Day converfing with their God, c His Image both enjoy'd and underftood, c fo Morrow skulking with a fordid Flight, ^ c Among the Buflies from the Infinite^ (Sight 5 > c As if that Power was blind^ which gave them J c With fenfelefs Labour Tagging Fig- Leaf Veils, * To hide their Bodies from the fight of Beails.
c Hark ! how the Fool pleads faint, for forfeit Life* 4 Firft he reproaches Heaven, and then his Wife ; c The Woman 'which thoii gatfft) as if the Gift c Could rob him of the little Reafon left, c A weak Pretence to {hift his early Crime, £ As if accufing her would excufe him 3

of the DEVIL. 107
€ But thus encroaching Crime dethrones the Senfe,
* And intercepts the Heavenly Influence,
4 Debauches Reafon, makes the Man a Fool,
4 And turns his aftive Light to Ridicule.
It muftbe confefs'd that it was unaccountable De generacy, even of their common Reafoning, which Adam and Eve both fell into upon the fir 11 com mitting the Offence of taking the forbidden Fruit : If that was their being made as Gods, it made but a poor Appearance in its fidl coming, to hide their Nakednels when there was no body to fee them, and cover themfelves among the Bufhes from their Maker) but thus it was, and this the Devil had brought them to, and well might he, and all the Clan of Hell, as Mr. Mil ton brings them in, laugh and triumph over the Man after the Blow was given, as having fo egre- gioufly abufed and deluded them both.
But here, to be fure, began the Devil's new- Kingdom $ as he had now feduc'd the two firft Creatures, he was pretty fure of Succefs upon all the Race, and therefore prepared to attack them alfo, as foon as they came on 5 nor was their en- creafing Multitude any Difcouragcment to his At tempt, but juil the contrary j for he had Agents enough to employ, if every Man and Woman that fhould be born was to want a Devil to wait upon them, feparately and fingly to feduce them 5 whereas fome whole Nations have been fuch willing fubjects to him, that one of his Seraphic Imps may, for ought we know^ have been enough to guide a whole Country \ the People being en tirely fubje&ed to his Government for many Ages 5 as in America^ for example, where fome will have it, that he convey 'd the firil Inhabitants, at leaft
if
io8 The HI S T O R Y
if he did not, we don't well know who did, of how they got thither.
And how came all the Communication to be fo entirely cut off between the Nations of Europe and Africa, from whence America mull certainly have been peopl'd, or elfe the Devil muft have done it indeed ? I fay, how came the Communication to be fo entirely cut off between them, that except the time, whenever if was, that People did at firft reach from one to the other, none ever came back to give their Friends any account of their Succefs5or invite them to follow? Nor did they hear of one another afterwards, as we have Reafon to think: Did Satan politically keep them thusafun- der, left News from Heaven fhould reach them, and fo they fhould be recover'd out of his Govern ment ? We cannot tell how to give any other rational Account of it, that a Nation, nay a Quarter of the World, or as fome will have it be, half the Globe, fhould be peopled from Europe or Africa, or both, and no body ever go after them, or come back from them in above three thoufand years after.
Nay, that thofe Countries fhould be peopled when there was no Navigation in ufe in thefe Parts of the World, no Ships made that could carry Provifions enough to fupport the People that fail'd in them, but that they mud have been ilarved to death before they could reach the Shore o£ America; the Ferry from Europe or Africa, in any Part ( which we have known Navigation to be pradbifed in) being at leaft 1000 Miles, and in moft Places much more.
But as to the Americans, let the Devi? and they alone to account for their coming Thither, this we are certain of, that we knew nothing of them for many hundred Years $ and when we did, when the Difcovery was made, they that went from Hence found Satan in* faH and quiet PoiTeflion of them,
ruling
of the D EVIL. 109
ruling them with an arbitrary Government, parti cular to himfelf -y He had led them into a blind Sub- jedion to himfelf, nay, I might call it Devotion, for it was all of Religion that was to be found among them) worfhipping horrible Idols in his Name, to whom he directed human Sacrifices continually to be made, till he deluged the Country with Blood, and ripen'd them up for the Deftru&ion that fol- low'd, from the Invalion of the Spaniards, who he knew would hurry them all out of the World as faft as he (the Devil) himfelf could defire of them.
But to go back a little to the Original of Things, It is evident that Satan has made a much better Market of Mankind, by thus fubtilly attacking them, and bringing them to break with their Maker as he had done before them, than he could have done by fulminating upon them at firlr, and fending them all out of the World at once > for now he has peopled his own Dominions with them, and tho' a Remnant are fnatch'd as it were out of his Clutches, by the Agency of Invinci ble Grace, of which I am not to difcourfe in this Place ; yet this may be faid of the Devil, with out Offence, that he has in fome Senie carried his Point, and as it were forc'd his Maker to be fa- tisfied with a Part of Mankind, and the lead Part too, inftead of the great Glory he would have brought to himfelf by keeping them all in his Service.
Mr. Milton, as I have noted above, brings in the Devil and all Hell with him, making a Feu de Joye for the Viftory Satan obtain'd over one filly Woman > indeed it was a Piece of Succefs greater in its Confequence than in the immediate Appearance 5 nor was the Conqueft fo compleat as Satan himfelf imagin'd to make, fince the Pro- mife of a Redemption out of his Hands, which was immediately made to the Man, in behalf of
himfelf
no The HISTORY
himfelf and his believing Pofterity, was a great Difappointment to Satan, and as it were fnatch'd the beft Part of his Victory out of his Hands.
It is certain the Devils knew what the mean ing of that Promife was, and who was to be the Seed of the Woman^ namely, the incarnate Son of God) and that it was a fecond Blow to the whole infernal Body 3 but as if they had refolved to let that alone, Satan went on with his Bufi- nefs > and as he had introduc'd Crime into the common Parent of Mankind, and thereby fecu- red the Contamination of Blood, and the De- fcent or Propagation of the corrupt Seed, he had nothing to do but to affift Nature in time to come, to carry on its own Rebellion, and act it felf in the Breads of Eve's tainted Pofterity > and that in deed has been the Devil's Bufinefs ever iince his firft Victory upon the Kind, to this Day.
His Succefs in this Part has been fuch, that jye fee upon innumerable Occafions a general De- *" e£tion has followed > a kind of a Taint upon Na ture, call it what you will, a Blaft upon the Race of Mankind ; and were it not for one thing,he had ruin ed the whole Family;' I fay, were it not for one thing, 'namely, a felected Company or Number, which his Maker has refolv'd he fhall not be able to corrupt, or if he does, the fending the promised Seed ihall recover back again from him, by the Power of irrefiftible Grace 5 which Number thus feleftedor ele&ed, call it which we will, are ftill to fupply the Vacancies in Heaven, which Satan's Defe6tion left open > and what was before filPd up with crea ted Seraphs, is now to be reftor'd by recovered Saints, by whom infinite Glory is to accrue to the Kingdom of the Redeemer.
This glorious Eftabliihment has robb'd Satan of all the Joy of his Victory, and left him juft where he was, defeated and difappointed > nor
does
of the DEVIL. in
does the Pofleffion of all the Myriads of the Sons of Perdition, who yet fome are of the Opinion will be fnatch'd from him too at laftj I fay, the PolTeilion of all thefe makes no amends to him, for he is fuch a Devil in his Nature, that the Envy at thofe he cannot feduce, eats out all the Satis- fa&ion of the M ifchief he has done in feducing all the reft > but / mujl not preachy fo I return to things as much needful to know, tho' lefs folemn.
CHAP. IX.
Of the 'Progrefs of Satan in carrying on his Conqueft over Mankind, from the Fall of Eve to the 'Deluge.
I Doubt if the Devil was ask'd the Queftion plainly, he would confefs, that after he had con- quer'd Eve by his own wicked Contrivance, and then by her Afliftance had brought Adam too (like a Fool as he was) into the fame Gulph of Mifery, he thought he had done his Work, compared the whole Race, that they were now his own, and that he had put an End to the grand Defign of their Creation $ namely, of Peopling Heaven with a new Angelic Race of Souls, who when glori- fy'd, (hould make up the Defection of the Hod of Hell, that had been expung'd by their Crime j in a Word, that he had gotten a better Conqueft than if he had deftroy'd them all.
But in the midft of his Conqueft, he found a Check put to the Advantages he expected to reap from his Victory, by the immediate Promifo of Grace to a Part of the Pofterity of ddam^ who, notwithftanding the Fall, were to be purcha- fed by the MeJJiah^ and fnatch'd out of his (Satan's)
Hand?,
The HI ST O R Y
Hands, and over whom he could make no final Conqueft 3 fo that his Power met with a new Limitation, and that fuch, as indeed fully dif ap pointed him in the main thing he aim'd at, (viz.) preventing the Beatitudes of Mankind, which were thus fecur'dj (And what if the Numbers of Mankind were upon this account cncreated in fuch a manner, that the fele6ted Number iliould, by Length of Time, amount to juffc as many as the whole Race, had they not fallen, would have amounted to in all?) And thus, indeed, the World may be faid to be upheld and continued for the Sake of thofe few, fince till their Number can be compleated, the Creation cannot fall, any more than, that without them, or but for them it would not have flood.
But leaving this Speculation, and not having enquir'd of Satan what he has to fay on that Sub- "jecl:, let us go back to the Antediluvian World : The Devil to be furc, gain'd his Point upon Eve^ and in her upon all her Race : He drew her into Sin j got her turned out of Paradife, and the Man with her: The next Thing was to go to work with her Pofterity, and particularly with her two Sons Cain and dbel-
Adam having, not with ftand ing his Fall, repent ed very fincerely of his Sinj receiv'd the Promife of Redemption and Pardon, with an humble but believing Heart -, Charity bids us fuppofe that he led a very religious and fober Life ever after > and efpecially in the firit Part of his Time, That he brought up his Children very foberly, and gave them all the neccflary Advantages of a Religious Education,and a good Introduction into the World, that he was capable of > and that Eve likewife afllfted to both in her Place and Degree.
Their two elded Sons Cain and Abel-, The one
Heir apparent to the Patriarchal Empire, and the
4 other
oftheVEVl L. 113
other Heir prefumptive, I fuppofealfo, lived very lober and religious Lives > and as the Principles of natural Religion dictated a Homage and Subjecti on due to the Almighty Maker, as an Acknow ledgment of his Mercies, and a Recognition of their Obedience 5 ib thereceiv'd Ufage of Religi on dictating at that Time that this Homage was to be paid by a Sacrifice, they either of them brought a Free-will-offering to be dedicated to God re- fpectively for themfelves and Families,
How it was, and for what Reafon that God had refpect to the Offering of Abel^ which the Learn'd fay, was a, Lamb of the Fir filings of the Flock, and did not give any Teflimony of the like Refpect to Cain and his Offering, which was of the fir ft Fruits of the Earth, the Offerings being equal ly fuited to the refpective Employment of the Men, that is not my prefent Bufinefsj but this we find made Heart-burnings, and raifed Envy and Jealoufy in the Mind of Cain 5 and at that Door the Devil immediately entred> for he, who from the Beginning, was very diligent in his way, never flip'd any Opportunity, or mifs'd any Ad vantages that the Circum fiances of Mankind of fered him to do Mifchief.
What Shape or Appearance the Devil took up to enter into a Converfation with Cam upon the Subject, that Authors do not take upon them to determine > but 'tis generally fuppofed he perfo- nated fome of Cain's Sons or Grandfons to begin the Difcourfe, who attack'd their Father, or per haps Grandfather, upon this Occaflon, in the fol lowing manner, or to that Purpofe.