I. Thofe who a<5t by immediate Direction of

the Devil, and in Confederacy with him) thefeare fuch as I mention'd in the beginning of this Chap ter, whole Arts are truly black, becaufe really infernal ) it will be very hard to decide the Dii- pute between thofe who really a6b thus in Con federacy with the Devi^ and thofe who only pretend to it) fo I fhall leave that Difpute where I find it> but that there are, or at leaft have been, a Set of People in the World, who really are of his Acquaintance, and very intimate with him > and tho', as I have faid, he has much alter'd his Schemes and chang'd Hands of late ) yet that there are fuch People, perhaps of all Sorts ) and that the Devil keeps up his Correfpondence with them> I mutt not venture to deny that Part, left I bring upon me the whole PofTe of the con juring and bewitching Crew, Male and Female, and they fhould mob me for pretending to deny them the Honour of dealing with the Devil^ which they are fo exceeding willing to have the Fame of.
Not that I am hereby oblig'd to believe all the ftrange Things the Witches and Wizards, who have been allow'd to be fuch, nay, who have been hang'd for it, have faid of themfelves) nay, that they have confefs'd of themfelves, even at the Gallows; and if I come to have an Occafion to
{peak
400 The Modern HISTORY
fpeak freely of the Matter, I may perhaps con* vince you that the Devil's pofleffing Power is much leflen'd of late, and that he either is limit ed, and his Fetter fliorten'd more than it has been, or that he does not find the old Way (as I faid before) fo fit for his Purpofe as he did for merly, and therefore takes other Meafures, but I mult adjourn that to a Time and Place by itfelf : But we are told that there are another Sort of Peo ple^ and, perhaps, a great many of them too, in whom and by whom the Devil really acts, and they know it not.
It would take up a great deal of Time and Room, too much for this Place, fo near the Clofe of this Work, to defcribe and mark out the in- Voluntary Devils which there are in the World ; of whom it may be truly faid, that really the Devil is in them, and they know it not : Now, tho' the Devil is cunning and managing, and can be very filent where he finds it for his In- tereit not to be known j yet it is very hard for him to conceal himfelf, and to give fo little Di- itiirbance in the Houfe, as that the Family fhould not know who lodg'd in it 5 yet, I fay, the De vil is fo fubtle and fo mifchicvous an Agent, that he ufes all manner of Methods and Craft to refide in fuch People as he finds for his Purpofe, whe ther they will or no, and which is more, whether they know it or no.
And let none of my Readers be angry or think themfelves ill tifed, wlien I tell them the Devil may be in them, and may act them, and by them, and they not know it , for I muft add, it may, perhaps, be one of the greater!: Pieces of human Wifdom in the World, for a Man to know when the Devil is in him, and when not j when he is a Tool and Agent of Hell, and when he is not 5 in a Word, when he is doing the Devil's Work, and under his Direction, and when not. It
DEVIL: 40I
It is true, this is a very weighty Point, and might deferve to be handled in a more ferious Way than I feem to be talking in all this Book* but give me leave to talk of Things my own way, and withall, to tell you, that there is no Part of this Work fo fcemingly ludicrous, but a grave and well weigh'd Mind may make a fe rious and folid Application of it, if they pleafe* nor is there any Part of this Work, in which a clear Sight and a good Senfe may not fee that the Author's Defign is, that they fhould do fo \ and as I am now fo near the End of my Book, I thought it was meet to tell you fo, and lead you to it as far as I can.
I fay, 'tis a great Part of human Wifdom to know when the Devil is afting in us and by us, and when not 5 the next and ftillgreateft Part would be to prevent him, put a Stop to hisProgrefs, bid him go about his Bufinefs, and let him know he fhould carry on his Defigns no farther in that manner 5 that we will be his Tools no longer; in fhort, to turn him out of Doors, and bring a ftronger Power to take PofTeffion j but this, in deed, is too folid a Subject, and too great to be gin with here.
But now, as to the bare knowing when he is at work with us, I fay this, tho' it is confiderable, may be done, nor is itfo very difficult > for Example, you have no more to do but look a little into the Microcofm of the Soul, and fee there how the Paflions which are the Blood, and the Affections which are the Spirit, move in their particular Vef- fcls; how they circulate, and in what Temper the Pulfe beats there, and you may eafily fee who turns the Wheel > if a perfect Calm pofTeflcs the Soul} if Peace and Temper prevail, and the Mind feels no Tcmpefts rifing j if the Affections are regular and exalted to vertuous and fublimc Ob-
D d
402 The
^e6ts, the Spirits cool, and the Mind fedate, the 'Man is in a general Re6Htude of Mind , he may be truly faid to be his own Man-, Heaven {bines upon his Soul with its benign Influences, and he is out of the Reach of the evil Spirit j for the divine Spirit is an Influence of Peace, all calm and bright, happy and fweet like it felf, and tending to every Thing that is good both pre- fent and future.
But on the other Hand, if at any Time the Mind is ruffled, if Vapours rife, Clouds gather, if Paffions fwell the Breaft, if Anger, Envy, Re venge, Hatred, Wrath, Strife j if thefe, or any of thefe hover over you, much more if you feel them within you $ if the Affections are poflefs'd, and the Soul hurried down the Stream to em brace low and bafe Objects j if thofe Spirits, which are the Life and enlivening Powers of the Soul, are drawn off to Parties, and to be engag'd in a vicious and corrupt manner, fhooting out wild and wicked Defires, and running the Man head long into Crime, the Cafe is eauly refolv'd, the Man is poffefs'd, the Devil is in him j and having taken the Fort, or at lead the Counterfcarp and Out- Works, is making his Lodgment to cover and fecure himfelf in his Hold, that he may not be difpoflefs'd.
Nor can he be eafily difpofiefs'd when he has got fuch hold as this j and 'tis no wonder, that being lodg'd thus upon the Out-Works of the Soul he continues to fap the Foundation of the reft, and by his inceflant and furious AiTaults, re duces the Man at laft to a Surrender.
If the Allegory be not as juft and appofite as you would have it be, you may, however, fee by it in a full View, the State of the Man, and how the Devil carries on his Defigns -y nothing is more common, and I believe there are few
thh&ing
if the DEVIL; 4o3
thinking Minds but may reflecT: upon it in their own Compafs, than for our Paffions and Affefti- ons to flow out of the ordinary Channel 5 the Spirits and Blood of the Soul to be ex tray afa ted, the Paffions grow violent and outragious, the Affections impetuous, corrupt and violently vi" cious: Whence does all this proceed ? from "Hea ven we can't pretend it comes j if we muft not fay 'tis the Devil, whofe Door muft it lie at? Pride fwells the Paffions j Avarice moves the Affedions} and what is Pride, and what is Ava rice, but the Devil m the Infidc of the Man Pay, as perfbnally and really as ever he was in the Herd of Swine.
Let not any Man then, who is a Slave to his Paffions, or who is chain'd down to his Covet- oufnefs, pretend to take it illj when I fay he has the Devil in him, or that he is a Devil : What elfe can it be, and how comes it to pals that Paffion and Revenge fo often difpoflels the Man of himfelf, as to lead him to commit Mur- ther, to lay Plots and Snares for the Life of his Enemies, and fo to third for Blood ? How comes this but by the Devil's putting thofe Spirits of the Soul into fo violent a Ferment, into a Fever? * that the Circulation is precipitated to that Degree, and that the Man too is precipitated into Mifcnief, and at laft into Ruin > 'tis all the Devily tho' the Man does not know it.
In like manner Avarice leads him to rob, plun* der and deftroy for Money, and to commit fome- times the word of Violences to obtain the wick ed Reward. How many have had their Throats cut for their Money, have been murther'd on the Highway, or in their Beds, for the Defire of what they had ? It is the fame Thing in other Articles, every Vice is the Devil in a Man j Luft of Rule is the Devil of great Men, and that Am- D d 2 bidon
404- The Modern HISTORY
bition 'is their Devil as much as whoring is Fa-
thcr *s Devil; one has a Devil of one
Clafs acting him, one another, and every Man's reigning Vice is a Devil to him.
Thus the Devil has his involuntary Inftruments, as well as thofe who act in Confederacy with him > he has a very great Share in many of us, and acts us, and in us, unknown to our felves tho* we know nothing of it, and indeed tho' we may not fufpeft it of our felves j like Hazael the jiffyrian^ who when the Prophet told him how he would act the Devil upon the poor Ifraelites^ anfwer'd with Deteftation, is thy Servant a Dog that he fhould do this Thing^ and yet he was that Dog, and did all thofe cruel Things for all that ; the Devil afting him, or a&ing. in him, to make him wickeder than ever he thought it was poffible for him to be.
The CONCLUSION.
Of the Dcvil'j laft Scene of Liberty, and what may be fnppofed to be his End, with what we are to underfland of his being tormented for ever and ever.
AS the Devil is a Prince of the Power of the Air, his Kingdom is mortal, and muffc have an End 5 and as he is call'd the God of this World, that is, the great Ufurper of the Homage and Reverence which Mankind ought of right to pay to their Maker, fo his Umrpation alfo, like the World it felf, mud have an End : Satan is call'd the God of the World, as Men
too
of the DEVIL:
too much proftrate and proftitute themfelves to him, yet he is not the Governor of this World • and ^ therefore the Homage and Worfhip he has from the World is an Ufurpation j and this will have an End, becaufe the World it felf will have an Endj and all Mankind, as they had a begin ning in Time, fo muft expire and be remov'd be fore the End of Time.
Since then the Devil's Empire is to expire and come to an End, and that the Devil himfelf and all his Hoft of Devils are immortal Seraphs, Spi rits that are not embodied and cannot die, but are to remain in being j the Queftion before us next will be, what is to become of him ? what is his State to be? whether is he to wander, and in what Condition is he to remain to that Eternity to which he is ftillto exift ?
I hope no Man will miftake me fo much in what I havefaid as to Spirits, which are all Flame, not being affe&ed with Fire, as if I fuppofed there was no Place of Punifhment for the Devil^ nor any Kind of Punifhment that could affecl: them $ and fo of our Spirits alfo when transformed into Flame.
I muft be allow'd to fpeak there of that mate rial Fire, by which, as by an Allegory, all the Ter rors of an eternal State are reprefented to us in Scripture, and in the Writings of the learned Commentators, and by which \he Pain of Senfe is defcrib'd > this, perhaps, I do not underftand as they feem to do, and therefore have faid,
When we're all Flame (that is all Spirit) we lhall all Fire (that is, all fuch Fire as this) defpife. And thus I claim to be underftood.
It does not follow from hence, neither do I fugged, or fo much as think that infinite Power cannot form a fomething (tho* inconceivable to us here) which ih.aU be as tormenting, and as in-
fupportablc
406 The Modern HISTORY
fupportable to a Devil, an apoftate Seraph, and to a Spirit, tho' exalted, unembodied and ra- rified into Flame , as Fire would be to other Bo dies > in which I think I am orthodox, and do not give the leaft Occafion to an Enemy to charge me with profane Speaking, in thofe Words, or to plead for thinking prophanely him- felf.
It muft be Atheiftical to the laft Degree to fug- geft, that whereas the Devil has been heaping up and amaffing Guilt ever fince the Creation of Man, cncreafing in hatred of God and Rebellion againfl him, and in all poffible endeavour to de throne and depofe the Majefly of Heaven j that yet Heaven had not prepared, or could not pre pare a juft Penalty for him 3 and that it fhould not all end in God's entire Victory over Hell, and in Satan's open Condemnation: Heaven could not be juft to its own Glory, if he fhould not avenge himfelf upon this Rebel, for all his fuper- lative Wickednefs in his modern as well as an- tient Station 5 for the Blood of fo many millions of his faithful Subjects and Saints whom he has deftroy'dj and if nothing elfe ofFer'd it felf to prove this Part, it would appear undoubted to me 5 but this, I confefs, does not belong to Satan's Hiflory, and therefore I have referv'd it to this Place, and fhall alfo be the {hotter in it.
That his Condition is to be a State of Punifh- jnent, and that by Torment, the Devil himfelf has own'd, and his calling out to our blefled Lord when he caft him out of the furious Man among the Tombs, is a Proof of it, What have we to do with tbee, and art thou come to torment us before the 3*ime? Luke viii. 28. where the Devil acknow-. ledges four Things, and three of them are dire ly to my prefent Purpofe, and if you won't believe the Word of God, I hope you will believe the
of the DEVIL: -407
Devil i efpccialiy when 'tis an open Confeffion againft himfelf.
1 . He confer* Chrift to be trie Son of God (that by the Way) and no Wanks to himy for that does not want the Devil's Evidence.
2. He acknowledges he may be tormented.
3. He acknowledges Chrift was able to tor- nient him.
4. He acknowledges that there is a Time ap pointed when he fhall be tormented.
As to bow, in what Manner , and by what Means^ this tormenting the Deviiis to be perform ed or executed, that 1 take to be as ncedlefs to us as 'tis impoffible to know, and being not at prefent inclined to fill your Heads and Thoughts with weak and imperfect Guefles, I leave it where I find it.
It is enough to us that this Torment of the De vil is reprefented to us by Fire, it being impoffible for our confin'd Thoughts to conceive of Tor ment by any Thing in the World more cxquifite $ whence I conclude, that Devils fhall at lad receive a Punifhmcnt fuitable to their fpirituous Nature, and as exquifitely Tormenting as a burning Fire would be to our Bodies.
Having thus fettFd my own Belief of this Matter, and flated it fo, as I think will let you fee 'tis rightly founded, the Matter ftands thus,
Satan having been let loofe to play his Game in this World, has improv'd his Time to the ut- mofl -y he has not fail'd on all Occasions to exert his Hatred, Rage, and Malice at his Conqueror and Enemy, namely ', his Maker $ he has nor fail'd, from Principles of meer Envy and Pride, to purfue Mankind with all poffible Rancour, in order to de prive him of the Honour and Felicity which he was created for, namely, to fucceed the Devil and his Angels in the State of Glory from which they fell. This
4os The Modern HIS TORY
This Hatred of God and Envy at Man, having broken out in fo many feveral Ways in the whole Series of Time from the Creation, muft necefTari- ly have greatly encreafed his Guilt 5 and as Hea ven is righteous to judge him, muft terminate in an encreafe of Piiniihment, adequate to his Crime, and fufficient to his Nature.
Some have fuggefted, that there is yet a Time to come, when the Devil {hall exert more Rage, and do more Mifchief than ever yet he has been permitted to do $ whether he {hall break his Chain, or be unchain' d for a Time, they cannot tell, nor I neither ; and 'tis happy for .my Work, that even this Part too does not belong to his Hi ftory ; if ever it (hall be given an Account of by Mankind, it muft be after it is come to pafs, for my Part is not Prophefy of foretelling what the Devil {hall do, but Hiftory of what he has done.
Thus, good People, I have brought the Hiftory of the Devil down to your own Times \ I have, a$ it" were, rats' d him for you, and fet him in your View, that you may know him and have a ' Care of him. Or -.*>:••
If any cunninger Men among you think they are able now to lay him again, and fo difpofe of him out of your Sight, thai you fhall be troubled no more with him, either here or hereafter, let them go to work with him their own Wayj you know Things future do not belong to an Hifto- rian, fo I leave him among you, wifhing you may be able to give no worfe an Account of him for the Time to come, than I have done for the Time pa ft.
FINIS.