PART II.

CHAP. L
Introduction
CHAP. II.
Of Hellas it is reprefented to us, and how the De vil is to be under flood, as being perfonally in Hell, when at the fame Time we find him at Liberty ranging over the flTorld 2.06
CHAP. III.
Of the Manner of Satan's affing and carrying on his Affairs in this florid, and particularly of his ordinary Workings in the dark, by PofTeflion and Agitation 2,1 6
CHAP. IV.
Of Satan's Agents or Mijfionaries, and their Attings upon and in the Minds of Men in bis Name 2,2,6
CHAP. V.
Of the Devil'/ Management in the Pagan Hierarchy by Omens, Entrails, Augurs, Oracles, and fuch like Pageantry of Hell; and how they went off the Stage at laffi by the Introduction of true Religion
CHAP. VI.
Of the extraordinary Appearances of the Devil, and
particularly of the Clown-Foot 16$
i CHAP.
The C O N T E N T S.
CHAP. VII.
Whether is mofl hurtful to the World^ the Devil walking about 'without his Cloven-Foot^ or the Cloven-Foot walking about without the Devil ?
Page 282 CHAP. VIII.
Of the Cloven-Foot walking about the World with' out the Devil (viz.) of tr itches making Bargains with the Devil, and particularly of fellingthe Soul to the Devil 316
[CHAP. IX.
Of the fools the Devil works with (viz.) Witches^ Wizards or Warlocks , Conjurer Sj Magicians^ Di viner -s9 Aftrologers, Interpreters of Dreams^ fel lers of Fortunes 5 and above all the reft, his parti- cular modern Privy-Counfellors cal?d Wits and Fouls 339
CHAP. X.
Of the various Methods the Devil takes to converfe with Mankind
CHAP. XL
Of Divination, Sorcery^ the Black- Art^ Pawaw- ing, and fuch like Pretenders to Devilifms, and bow far the Devil is or is not concerned in them
The CONCLUSION.
Of the DevilV lafl Scene of Liberty, and what may be fuppofed to be his End 3 with what we are to underfland of his being tormented for ever and tyer 404
THE
THE
HISTORY
O F T H E
DEVIL, fyc.
CHAP. I. Being an Introduction to the whole Work.
1 Doubt not but the title of this book will amufe fome of my reading friends a little at firfl j they will make apaufe, perhaps, as they do at a witch's prayer, and be fome time a re- folving whether they had bed look into it or no, left they fhould really raife the Devil by reading his ftory.
Children and old women have told thcmfelves Co many frightful things oftheDevil^ and have form M ideas of him in their minds, in fo many horrible and monftrous fhapes, that really it were enough to fright the JDmVhimfelf, to meet himfelf in the dark, drefs'dup in the feveral figures which imagi nation has form'd for him in the minds of men 3 and as for themfelves, I cannot think by any means that the Devil would terrify them half B fo
2 The HISTORY
fo much, if they were to converfe face to face with him.
It mud certainly therefore be a moil ufeful un dertaking to give the truehiftory ofihisTyranfof the air, this God of the world, this terror and aver- fion of mankind, which we call Devil; to {hew what he is, and what he is NOT, where he is, and where he is NOT, when he is IN us, and when he is NOT j for I cannot doubt but that the Devil is really and bona fide in a great many of our ho ned weak-headed friends, when they themfelves know nothing of ^ie matter.
Nor is the work fo difficult as fome may ima gine. The Devil's hiftory is not fo hard to come at, as it feems to be ; His original and the firft rife of his family is- upon record, and as for his con duct, he has acted indeed in the dark, as to me thod in many things j but in general, as cunning as he is, he has been fool enough to expofe hitn- felf in fome of the moil coniiderable tranfa&ions of his Life, and has not {hewn himfelf a politi cian at all: Our old friend Mdtcbiavcl outdid him in many things, and I may in the procefs of this work give an account of feveral of the fons of jlclam) and fome focieties of 'em too, who have out-witted the Devil, nay, who have out-fin'd the Devil, and that I think may be call'd out- {hooting him in his own bow.
It may perhaps be expected of me in this hi- ftory, that imce I feem inclined to (peak favoura bly of Satan, to do him juflice, and to write his ilory impartially, J fliotild take fome pains to tell you what religion he is of 3 and even this part may not be fo much a jclt, as at firft fight you may take it to be 3 for Satan has fomething of reli gion in him, I aflure you j nor is he fuch an un profitable Devil that way, as fome may fuppofe him to be 3 for tho', in reverence to my brethren,
. i t will
of the DEVIL. f
1 will not reckon him among the Clergy 5 No not fo much as a gifted Brother, yet I cannot deny, but that he often preaches, and if it be not pro fitably to his hearers j 'tis as much their fault, as it is out of his defign>
It has indeed been fuggefled that he has taker! orders, and that a certain Pope, famous for being an extraordinary favourite of his, gave him both inftitution and induction 5 but as this is not up on record, and therefore we have no authentic document for the probation, I ihall not affirm it for a truth, for I would not {lander the Devil.
It is faid alfo, and I am apt to believe it, that he was very familiar with that holy father Pope Sifaef- ter II. and fome charge him with perfonating Pope Hildebrand on an extraordinary occafion, and him- felf fitting in the chair apoftolick, in a full con gregation j and you may hear rriore of this here after : But as I do not meet with Pope Diabolus among the lift 5 in all father PlatincCs lives of the Popes, fo I am willing to leave it as I find it.
But to fpeak to the point, and a nice point it is I acknowledge j namely , what religion the Devil is of j my anfwer will indeed be general, yet not at all ambiguous, for I love to fpeak pofitively and with undoubted evidence.
I . He is a leliever. And if in faying fo it fhould follow, that even the Devil has more religion than fome of our men of fame can at this time be charged with, I hope my Lord— — - and his Grace the — of •• and fome of the upper clafs in the red-hot club, will not wear the coat, however well it may fit to their fhapes, or challenge the Satyr, as if it were pointed at them, becaufe 'tis due to them : In a word, whatever their Lordfhips B a arc,
4 The H I S T O R Y
are, I can allure them that the Devil is no Infidel.
2. He fears God. We have fuch abundant evi dence of this in facred Hiftory, that if I were not at prefent, in common with a few others, talking to an infidel fort of Gentlemen, with whom thofe remote things call'd Scriptures are not allow'd in evidence, I might fay it was fufficiently prov'd \ but I doubt not in the procefs of this undertaking to {hew, that the Devil really fears God, and that after ano* ther manner than ever he fear'd Saint Prances or Saint Dunftan ; and if that be proved, as I take upon me to advance, I {hall leave it to judgment, who's the better Chriitian, the Devil who believes and trembles, or our mo dern gentry of—— who believe neither God mr DeviL
Having thus brought the Devil within the Pale, I {hall leave him among you for the prefent j not but that I may examine in its order who has the hefl claim to his brotherhood, the Papifts or the ProteftantS} and among the latter the Lutherans or theCalviniftsj and fodefcending to all thefeveral denominations of churches, fee who has lefs otthe Devil m them, and who morej and whether lefs or more the Devil has not a feat in every fyna- gogue, a pew in every church, a place in every pulpit, and a vote in every fynodj even from the Sanhedrim of the Jews, to our friends at the Bull and Mouth, &c. from the greateit to the leaft.
It will, I confefs, come very much within the compals of this part of my difcourfe, to give an ac count, or at leaft make an effay toward it, of the fliare the Devil has had in the fpreading religion in the world $ and efpecially of dividing and fubdi-
4 viding
tftfo DEVI L. 5
viding opinions in religion 3 perhaps, to eke it out and make it reach the farther > and alfo to fhew how far he is or has made himfelf a miffionary of the famous clan de propaganda fide -9 it is true, we find him heartily employed in almofr, every cor ner of the world ad pi opagandum err or em : But that may require a hiflory by it felf.
As to his propagating religion, 'tis a little hard indeed, at firit fight, to charge the Devil with propagating religion, that is to fay, if we take it literally, and in the grofs ; but if you take it as the Scots infilled to take the oath of fidelity, viz. with an explanation^ it is plain Satan Ms very often had a fhare in the method, if not in the defign of propagating the chriftian faith : For ex ample.
1 think I do no injury at all to the Devil, to fay that he had a great hand in the old holy war^ as it was ignorantly and enthufiailically called $ flirring up the chriflian princes and powers of Europe to run a madding after the Turks and Sara- cens^ and make war with thofe innocent people above a thoufand miles off, only becaufp they entred in to God's heritage when he Kad forfaken it> grazed upon his ground when he had fairly ttirn'd it into a common, and laid it open for the next corner^ fpending their nation's treafure, and embark ing their kings and people, (I fay) in a war above a thoufand miles off, filling their heads with that religious madnefs, call'd, in thofe days, holy zeal to recover the terra fancla^ the fepulchers of thrift and the Saints, and as they call'd it falily, \\\eholy city^ tho' true religion fays it was the accurfed city, and not worth fpending one drop of blood for.
This religious Bubble was certainly of Satan^
who, as he craftily drew them in, fo like a true
Devil he left them in the lurch when they came
there, fac'd about to the Saracens^ animated the
B 3 immor-
6 The HISTORY
immortal Saladln againft them, and manag'd fq dexteroufly that he left the bones of about thir teen or fourteen hundred thoufond Chriftians there as a trophy of his infernal politicks > and after the chriftian world had run a In fanta terra^ or in Englijh) a faunfring-jfobutz. hundred year, he dropt it to play another game lefs foolifh, but ten times •wickeder than that which went before it, namely^ turning the cruiadoes of the Chriftians one againit another} and, as Iludibras foid in another cafe,
" Made them fight like mad or drunk tt For dame religion as for punk.
Of this you have a compleat account in the hiftory of the Popes decrees againft the Count de I'houkufe^ and the Waldenfes and A.lbigenfes^ with the crufiidoes and maffacres which followed upon them, wherein to do the Devir$ politicks fome juftice, he met with all the fuccefs he could de- fire > the zealots of that day executed his in fernal orders moft punctually, and planted religi* on in thofe countries in a glorious and triumphant manner, upon the deftruction of an infinite num ber of innocent people, whole blood has £atten'd the foil for the growth of the Catholick faith, in a manner very particular, and to Satan's full fatis- tac~l:ion.
I might, to compleat this part of his hiftory, give you the detail of his progrefs in thefe firft iteps of his alliances with Rome; and add a long lift of mafllicres, wars, and expeditions in behalf of religion, which he has had the honour to have a vifible hand in ; fuch as the Pariftan maflacre, the Fkmijh war under the Duke d' Aha^ the Smitfy- pdd fires in the Marian days in England, and the maflacres in Ireland; all which would moft effec tually convince us that; the Devil has not been
idle.
of the DEVIL; 7
idle iti his bufinels j but I may meet with thefe again in my way, 'tis enough, while I am upon the generals only, to mention them thus in a fum- mary way j I fay, 'tis enough to prove that the Devil has really been as much concerned as any body, in the methods taken by fome people for propagating the chriftian religion in the world.
Some have rafhly, and I had almoil fatd mali- cioufly charg'd the Devil with the great triumphs of his friends the Spaniards in America , and would place the conqueit of Mexico and Pent to the cre dit of his account.
But I cannot join with them in this at all, I mufl (ay, I believe the Devil was innocent of that matter j my reafon is, becaufe, Satan was never fuch a fool as to fpend his time, or his politicks, or embark his allies to conquer nations who were already his ownj that would be Satan againit Beelzebub^ making war upon himfelf, and at lead doing nothing to the purpofe.
If they fhould charge him, indeed, with de luging Philip II. of Spain into that prcpofterous at tempt call'd the Armada^ (anglice^ the Spanijh Inva- fionj I fhould indeed more readily join with them j but whether he did it weakly, in hope, which was indeed not likely, that it fhould fucceed j or wick edly, to deflroy that great fleet ofthe Spaniards, and draw them within the reach of his own do minions, the elements j this being a queftion which authors differ exceedingly about, I fhall leave it to decide it felf.
But the greater! piece of management, which we find the Devilhzs concerned himielf in of late, in the matter of religion, fecms to be that ofthe mhTion into China j and here indeed Satan has afted his mailer-piece: It was, no doubt, much for his fer- vice, that the Chinefes fhould have no infight in to matters of religion, I mean, that we call chrifc B 4
S The HSITORY
tian j and therefore, tho' Popery and the Devil arc not at fo much variance as fome may imagine, yet he did not think it fafe to let the general fyilem of Chriftianity be heard of among them in China. Hence when the name of the chriftian religion had but been received with fome feeming appro bation in the country of Japan^ Satan imme diately, as if alarm'd at the thing, and dread ing what the confequence of it might be, arm'd the Japonefes again ft it with fuch fury, that they expelPd it at once.
It was much fafer to his defigns, when, if the flory be not a fiction, he put that Dutch witicifm. into the mouths of the States commanders, when they came to Japan j who having more wit than to own themfelves Chriftians in fuch a place as that, when theqncftionwasput to them, anfwer- ed negatively, nat they were not^ but that they were of another religion call' d Hollanders.
However, it feems the diligent Jefuits out-wit- ted the Devil in Cbina^ and, as I faid above, over- ihot him in his own Bow 5 for the million being in danger by the Devil and the Chinefe Emperor"?, joining together^ of being wholly expelFd there too, as they had been in Japan^ they cunningly fell in with the ecclefiafticks of the country, and joining the prieftcraft of both religions together, they brought Jefus Chrifl and Confucius to be fo reconcilable, that the Chinefe and the Roman ido latry appeared capable of a confederacy, of go ing on hand in hand together, and confequent- ]y of being very good friends.
This was a matter- piece indeed, and, as they fay^ almofl frighted Satan out of his wits; but he being a ready manager, and particularly fa mous for ferving himfelf of the rogueries of the priefts, fac'd about immediately to the miffion, and making a virtue of neceflity, clapt in, with
of the DEVIL 9
all poffible alacrity^ with the propofal * > fo the Jejuitszndi heform'd ^hotch-potch of religion made up of Popery and Paganifm^ and calculated to leave the latter rather worie than they found it, blind ing the faith of Chrift and the philofophy or mo rals of Confucius together, and formally chriften- ing them by the name qf religion j by which means the politick intereft of the mrflion was prefer- ved j and yet Satan loft not one inch of ground with the Chinefes, no, not by the planting the Gofpel it felf, fuch as it was, among them.
Nor has it been fuch difad vantage to him that this plan or fcheme of a new modelled religion would not go down at Rome , and that the Inqui- fition damn'd it with Bell, Book and Candle 5 dif- tance of place ferv'd his new allies, the mifliona- ries, in the Head of a protection from the Inqui- fition > and now and then a rich prefent well plac'd found them friends in the congregation it felf 5 and where anyNuncio with his impudent zeal pretended to take fuch a long voyage to oppofe them, Satan took care to get him fent back re infeffa, or in- fpir'd the million to move him off the premifles, by methods of their own (that is to fay, being interpreted) to murther him.
Thus the miffion has in it felf been truly devilifh^ and the Devil has interefted himfelf in the planting the chriftian religion in China.
The influence the Devil has in the Politicks of mankind, is another efpecial part of his hiftory, and would require, if it were poffible, a veryexad: defcription; but here we fhall neceflarily be obli ged to inquire fo nicely into the Arcana of circum- itances, and unlock the cabinets of ilate in fo many \
* N. B. He never refus'd fetting his hand to any opinion which he thought it for his intereft to acknowledged
courts,
10 T^fclSTORY
courts, canvafs the councils of miniftcrs and the conduct of princes fo fully, and expofe them fo much, that it may, perhaps, make a combuftion among the great politicians abroad 5 and in doing that we may come fo near home too, that tho' perfonal fafety and prudentials forbid our med- ling with our own country, we may be taken in a double entendre, and fall unpitied for being only fufpefted of touching truths that are fo tender, whether we are guilty or no 5 on thefc accounts I muft meddle the lefs with that parr, at leaftfor the prefent.
Be it that the Devil has had a fhare in fome of the late councils of Europe^ influencing them this way or that way, to his own advantage, what is it to us ? For example, What if he has had any concern in the late affair of ttorn ? What need we put it upon him, feeing his confederates the Jefuites with the Affefforial tribunal of Poland take it upon themfelves? I fhall leave that part to the ifTue of time. I wifh it were as eafy to perfuade the world that he had no hand in bring ing the injur'd Proteftants to leave the juflice due to the cries of proteftant blood to the arbitrament of a popiili power, who dare fay that the Devil tnuft be in it, if juftice fhould be obtained that way : I ihould rather fay, the Devil is in it, or elfe it would never be expe&ed.
It occurs next to enquire from the premises, whether the Devil has more influence or lefs in the affairs of the world now, than he had in former ages 5 and this will depend upon comparing, as we go along, his methods and way of working in paft times, and the modern politicks by which he acts in our days 5 with the differing reception which he has met with among th^e men of fuch dif- tant ages.
But
of the DEVIL. n
But there is fo much to enquire of about the before we can bring his (lory down to our modern times, that we muft for the pre- fent let them drop, and look a little back to the remoter parts of this hiftory > drawing his picture that people may know him when they meet him, and fee who and what he is, and whap he has been doing ever fince he got leave to a£b in -/'! the high ftation he now appears in.
In the mean time, if I might obtain leave tg# prefent an humble petition to Satan^ it fhould be", that he would according to modern ufage oblige us all, with writing the hiflory of bis own times j 'twould,, as well as one that is gone before it, be a Deviliih good one > for as to the fincerity of the performance, the authority of the particulars, the juftice of the characters, &V. if they were no bet ter vouch'd, no more confiftent with themfelves, with charity, with truth, and with the honour of an hiftorian, than the laft of that kind which came abroad among us, it mud be a reproach to the Devil himfelf to be the author of it.
Were Satan to be brought under the leaft ob ligation to write truth, and that the matters of fact, which he fhquld write, might be depended upon, he is certainly qualified by his knowledge of things to be a compleat hiftorian 5 nor could the Bimop himfelf, who, by the way, has given us already the Devil of a hiftory^ come up to him : Milton's Pandemonium^ tho' an excellent drama- tick performance, would appear a meer trifling iing-fong bufinefs, beneath the dignity of Chevy- chafe : The Devil could give us a true account cf all thje civil wars in Heaven j how and by whom, and in what manner he loft the day there, and was oblig'd to quit the field : The fiction of his refufing to acknowledge and fubmit to the upon his being, declared Generaliffimo of
the
13 The HISTORY
the Heavenly forces, which Satan expected him- lelf, as the elded officer -9 and his not being able to brook another to be put in over his head j I fay, that fine-fpun thought of Mr. Milton would, ap pear to be ftrain'd too far, and only ferve to con vince us that he (Milton) knew nothing of the mat ter. Satan knows very well, that the Mejffiah was not declared to be the Son of God with power till by and after the refarreftion from the dead^ and that all power was then given him in Heaven and, earth, and not before j io that Sat "an 's rebellion inuft derive from other caufes, and upon other .occafions, as he himfelf can doubtlefs give us an account, if he thinks fit, and of which we ihall fpeak further in this work.
What a fine Hifiory might this old Gentleman write of the Antediluvian world, and of all the weighty affairs, as well of flate as of religion* •which happen'd during the fifteen hundred years of the patriarchal adminiftration !
Who, like him, could give a full and compleat account of the Deluge, whether it was a meet vindictive, a blafl from Heaven, wrought by a fupernatural power in the way of miracle? or whether, according to Mr. Burners Theory^ it was a confequence following antecedent caufes by the meer neceffity of nature 5 feen in conftitution, natural pofition, and unavoidable working of things, as by the Theory publiih'd by that learned en thu frail it feems to be ?
Satan could eafily account for all the difficul ties of the Theory^ and tell us whether, as there was a natural neceffity of the Deluge, there is not the like neceffity and natural tendency to a Con flagration at laft.
Would the Devil exert himfelf as an Hiflorian, for our improvement and diverfion, how glorious an account could he give us of Noa/is Voyage
round
vfthe DEVIL. 13
routid the world, in the famous Ark! he could refolve all the difficulties about the building it, the furnifhing it, and the laying up provifionin it for all the collection of kinds that he had made j He could tell us whether all the creatures came voluntier to him to go into the ark, or whether he went a hunting for feveral years before, in or der to bring them together.
He could give us a true relation how he wheed led the people of the next world into the abfurd ridiculous undertaking of building a Babel > how far that ftupendous flair-cafe, which was in ima gination to reach up to Heaven, was carried, be fore it was interrupted and the builders confoun ded j how their fpeech was alter'd, now many Tongues it was divided into, or whether they were divided at all > and how many fubdivifions or dialects have been made fince that, by which means very few of God's creatures, except the Brutes, underftand one another, or care one far thing whether they do or no.
In all thefe things Satan^ who, no doubt, would make a very good chronologift, could fettle every Epocha, correct every Calendar, and bring all our accounts of time to a general agreement •, as well the Grecian Olympiads^ the lurkifb Hegbira^ the Chine fe fictitious account of the world's duration, as our blind Julian and Gregorian accounts, which have put the world, to this day, into fuch confu- fion, that we neither agree in our holy-days or working days, fafts or feafts, nor keep'the fame fabbaths in any part of the fame globe.
This great Antiquary could bring us to a certain ty in all the difficulties of ancient ilory, and tell us whether the tale of the {iege of fro}9 and the rape of Helen was a fable of Homer or a hi (lory > whether the fictions of the Poets are form'd from their own brain, or founded in facts 3 and whe-
thar
U the HISTORY
ther letters were invented by Cadmus the Ph&ni- dan^ or di&ated immediately from Heaven at mount Sinai.
Nay, he could tell us how aiid in what manner he wheedled Eve^ deluded Adam^ put Cain into a paffion, till he made him murther his own bro ther j and made Noah^ who was above f oo years a preacher of righteoufnefs, turn Sot in his old age, dishonour all his miniftry, debauch himfelf with wine, and by getting drunk and expofing himfelf, become the jefl and laughing- ft ock of his children, and of all his poilerity to this day.
And would Satan, according to the modern practice of the late right reverend Hiftorian, enter into the characters of the great men of his age, how fhould we be diverted with the juft hiftory of Adam$ in paradife and out ofitj his character, and how he behaved at and after h is expulfiorij how Cain wandered in the land of Nod, what the mark was which God fet upon him, whole daugh ter his wife was, and how big the city was he built there, according to a certain Poet of noble extraction,
How Cain in the land of Nod
When the rafcal was alone Like an owl in an ivy tod
Built a city as big as Roan.
Rocb.
He could have certainly drawn Eve's picture, told us every feature in her face, and every inch in her fhape, whether fhe was a perfect beauty or no, and whether with the fall Ihe did grow crook ed, ugly, ill-natur'd and a fcold j as the learned Valdemar fuggefts to be the effects of the curfe.
Defcending to the character of the Patriarchs in that age, he might, no doubt, give us in par*
ticwlar
E tj
ticular the characters of Belus, worfhip'd under the name of Baal j with Satan, and Jupiter, his iiiccefTors* who they were here, and how they be haved 5 with all the Pharaohs of Egypt, the Abi~ milechs of Canaan, and the great monarchs of Af- fyria arid Babylon.
Hence alfo he is able to write the lives of all the Heroes of the world, from Alexander of Ma* cedon to Lewis the XIV. and from Auguftus to the great King George j nor could the Bifhop himfelf go beyond him for flattery, any more than the Devil himfelf could go beyond the Bifhop for falfhood.
I could enlarge with a particular fatisfaction up on the many fine things which Satan, rummaging his inexhauflible ftorehoufe of flander, could fee down to blacken the characters of good men, and load the beft Princes of the world with infamy and reproach.
But we fhall never prevail with him, I doubr^ to do mankind fo much fervice> as refol ving all thofe difficulties would be ; for he has an indelible grudge againft us > as he believes, and perhaps is afliir'd that men were at fir ft created by his fovereign, to the intent that after a certain ftate of Probation in life, fuch of them as fliall be approved, arc appoin ted to fill up thofe vacancies in the Heavenly Ho ft, which were made by the abdication and expulfion of him (the Devil) and his Angels > fo that man is appointed to come in Satan's ftead^ to make good the breach, and enjoy all thofe ineffable Joys and Beatitudes which Satan enjoy'd before his fall j no wonder then, that the Devil fwells with envy and rage at mankind in general, and at the beft of them in particular 5 nay, the granting this point is giving an unanfwerable reafon, why the Devil prac- tifes with fuch unwearied and indefatigable applica tion upon the beft raenjif poflible,to dilappoint GOD
Almighty's
16 The HISTORY
Almighty's decree, and that he fhould not find enough among the whole Race, to be proper fub- }ec~bs of his clemency, and qualified to fucceed the ~Devil and his hoft, or fill up the places vacant by the Fall. It is true indeed, the Devil^ who we have reafon to fay is no fool, ought to know better than to fuppofe that if he Aiould feduce the whole race of mankind, and make them as bad as him- (elf, he could, by that fuccefs of his wickednefs, thwart or difappoint the determined purpofes of Heaven j but that thofe which are appointed to inherit the Thrones, which he and his fol lowers abdicated, and were depofed from, fhall certainly be preferv'd in fpite of his Devices for that inheritance, and {hall have the pofTeffion fe- cur'd to them, notwithftanding all that the Dtvil and all the Hoft of Hell can do to pre vent it.
But, however he knows the certainty of this, and that when he endeavours the feducing thecho- fen fervants of the moft High, he fights againft GOD himfelf, ftruggles with irrefiftible grace, and makes war with infinite power -y undermining the church pf God, and that faith in htm which is fortified witji the eternal promifes of Jefus Chrifr, that the gates of If ell j that is to fay, the Devil and all his power, fhall not prevail againft them 3 I fay, however he knows the impofilbility there is that he fhould obtain his ends, yet ib blind is his rage, fo infatuate his wifdom, that he cannot re frain breaking himfelf to pieces againft this moun tain, and fplitting againft the rock. qui Jupiter
But to leave this ferious part, which is a little too folemn, for the account of this rebel 5 feeing we are not to expect he will write his own Hi- flory for our information and diverfion, I fhall fee if I cannot write it for him : In order to this, I
fhall
of the D E VI L. 17
fhall extraft the fubftance of his whole (lory, from the beginning to our own times, which 1 iliall col let out of what is come to hand, whether by revelation or infpiration, that's nothing to him -y I fhall take care fo to improve my intelligence, as may make my account of him authentick, and, in a word, fuch as the Devil himfelf fhall not be able to contradict
In writing this uncouth (lory I {hall be freed from the cenfures of the Criticks, in a more than ordinary manner, upon one account efpeciallyj (viz. ) that my ftory fhall be fo juft and fo well grounded, and, after all the good things I fhall lay of Satan, will be fo little to his fatisfoclion, that the Devil himfelf will not be able to fay, I dealt with the Devil in writing it : I might, perhaps, give you fome account where I had my intelli-
fence,andhowall the Arcana of his management ave come to my hands 5 but pardon me, Gentle* men, this would be to betray converfation, and to difcovcr my agents, and you know ftatefmen are very careful to preferve the correfpondences they keep in the enemy's country, left they expoie their friends to the refencment of the Power whofe councils they betray.
Befides, the learned tell us, that minifters of ftate make an excellent pica of their not betraying their intelligence, againil all party inquiries into the great fums of money pretended to be paid for fe- cret fervice •> and whether the fecrct fervice was to bribe people to betray things abroad or at homej whether the money was paid to fome body or to no body, employed to eftablim correfpondences abroad, or to eftablifh families and amafs treafure at home> in a word, whether it was to ferve their country orfervethemfelves,it has been the fame thing, and the fame plea has been their protection: Like- wile in the important affair which I am upon, 'tis
C hoped
is The HISTORY
hoped you will not defire me to betray my Corre- fpondents 5 for you know Satan is naturally cruel and malicious, and who knows what he might do to fhew his refentment? at lead it might endanger a flop of our intelligence for the future.
And yet, before I have done, I {hall make it very plain, that however my information may be feciet and difficult, that yet I came very honeftly by it, and fhall make a very good ufe of it $ for 'tis a great miftake in thofe who think that an ac quaintance with the affairs of the Devil may not be made very ufeful to us all : They that know no evil can know no good > and, as the learned tell us, that a flone taken out of the head of a Toad is a good antidote againft poifonj fo a competent knowledge oftke Devil, and all his ways, may be the beft help to make us defie the Devil and all his works.
CHAP. II.
Of the word DEVIL, as it is a proper name to the 'Devil, and any or all his hoft> An- &c.
IT is a queftion,not yet determined by the learned, whether the word Z>m7bea/#£0/£r,thatisto iay,the name of a perfon ftanding by himfelf,or &noun of multitude ; if it be a fingular, and fo mull be ufed perfonally only as a proper name^ it confequently im plies one imperial Devil^ Monarch or King of the whole clan of Hell -y juftly difHnguifh'd by the term THE DEVIL, or as the Scots call him, the
muckte
of the DEVIL; i$>
fnuckle horrid Deil^ or as others in a wilder dialect, the Devil of Hell, that is to fay, the Devil of a Devil-, or (better ftill) as the Scripture exprefles it, by way of emphafis, the gredt red Dragon^ the Devil and Satan.
But if we take this Word to be, as above, a noun of multitude-) and fo to be u^dambo- dexter^ as occafion prefents, fingular or plural > then the Devil fignifies 'Satan by himfelf, or Satan with all his Legions at his heels, as you pleafe, more or lefs j and this way of understanding the word, as it may be very convenient for my purpofe, in the account I am now to give of the infernal Powers, fo it is not altogether improper in the nature of the thing : It is thus exprefs'd in Scripture, where the perfon poflefs'd Matt. iv. 24. is firft faid to be poflefs'd of the Devil (fingular) and our Saviour asks him, as fpcaking to a fingle perfon, 'what is thy name ? and is anfwer'd in the plural and fingular together, my name is LEGION^ for we aYe many.
Nor will it be any wrong to the Devil^ fuppofing him a fingle perfon, feeing entitling him to the con duit of all his inferior Agents, is what he will take rather for an addition to his infernal glory, than a diminution or leflening of him in the extent of his Fame.
Having thus articled with the Devil for liberty of fpeech, I {hall talk of hirn fomctimes in the fingular, as a perfon, and (bmetimes in the plural, as an hoft of Devils or of infernal Spirits, juft as occafion requires, and as the hiftory of his affairs makes neceflary.
But before I enter upon any part of his hiftory, the nature of the thing calls me back, and my Lord B • * of in his late famous orations in de fence of liberty, fummons me to prove that there is fuch a thing or fuch a perfon as the Devil j and in fliorc, unlefs I can give fome evidence of his C 2 exiftence,
20 Tfa HISTORY
exiftence, as my Lord (aid very well, I am
talking of nobody.
D- — m me. Sir, fays a gracelefs comrade of his to a great man, your Grace will go to the Devil.
D— m ye, Sir, fays the D , then I ihall go
no where -y I wonder where you intend to go ?
Nay, to the D / too I doubt, fays Gracelefs >
for I am almoft as wicked as my Lord Duke.