Part 12

2. But as for the grave, learned, and wise Judges, and understanding and honest Juries within His Majesties Dominions, we affirm they are clear and innocent from these imputations, and that for divers and sundry sound reasons. 1. Our Judges and Juries have no such sinister and corrupt ends, to wrest the Laws, or wring forth and extort feigned and false Confessions, because they have no such ends as to uphold and maintain idolatrous and superstitious Tenents, as praying to Saints, magnifying of Holy water, or setting up of Purgatory, as had the Popish Inquisitors, and the Demonographers, and Witchmongers that writ for those ends. And therefore it is no absurdity to say or think, that they dealt unjustly in their proceedings, which our learned and pious Judges are not, nor can be guilty of. 2. The Inquisitors and their Agents had benefit by the death of Witches, having a share in their Goods, and therefore no absurdity to conclude, that their proceedings were unjust, partial, and corrupt, of which our judges and Juries are clear, as having no profit at all by the death of these wretched and deluded people. 3. Our Judges are but sworn to the due execution of the Laws made, and the Juries sworn to bring in their Verdicts according to their best evidence: now if the Witnesses forth of malice, envy, ignorance, or mistake swear to matters of fact, for which death or other punishments are allotted by the Law, both the Judges and the Jury are absolutely excusable; and if there be any guilt in the Witnesses, or falsity in their Evidences, it lyes at their own doors, and upon their own consciences, and the Judges and Jurors are clear, and not to be blamed, for no humane prudence can altogether prevent, that Witnesses may not erre or swear falsely.

[Sidenote: _Reas. 3._]

3. Have there not been many thousands of true and faithful Martyrs, that have suffered and been condemned in many Ages, in many and several Countries, at many different and distinct times? And some of these have been condemned by such as were called and accounted General Councils, Parliaments, High-Courts of Justice, and other places of great Judicature, before Judges that were accounted wise, grave, and learned, and by Juries of honesty and understanding: were there therefore no true Martyrs, and were they all justly condemned and put to death? or is it absurd to be guilty of such incredulity, as to think and hold, that so many grave and wise Judges, and knowing Juries were deceived, and did unjustly? Let Mr. _Glanvil_ or any other solve this Argument; and carry the cause; or else we must necessarily conclude, that _opinio quæ à se non propellit absurda, per absurda non premit adversarium_.

Now having given a full and satisfactory Answer to their main and strongest Objections, and defeated the whole force of their first and most furious Charge, we shall proceed to overthrow their main Battel, in proving the four Particulars mentioned in the beginning of the Chapter, to be false and impossible. And in doing of this, we shall handle the three first promiscuously and all together, and the fourth about Transubstantiations or Change of Witches into Cats, Hares, Dogs, Wolves, or the like, we shall handle by it self.

[Sidenote: Eph. 2. 2.]

[Sidenote: 2 Thess. 2. 4.]

[Sidenote: Luk. 22. 2.]

[Sidenote: _Chrys. in Luc._ 22. 3.]

[Sidenote: Joh. 13. 2.]

1. And first we acknowledge an internal, mental, and spiritual League or Covenant betwixt the Devil and all wicked persons, such as are Thieves, Robbers, Murtherers, Impostors, and the like, whereby the temptations, suggestions, and allurements of Satan, spiritually darted, and cast into the mind, the persons so wrought upon, and prevailed withal, do assent and consent unto the motions and counsels of the evil Spirit, and so do make a League and Covenant with the said evil Spirit, as saith the Text: _According to the Prince of the power of the air, that now worketh in the children of disobedience_. He doth not only rule over them, but also worketh in them; for men are either the Temples of God, or the Temples of Satan and Antichrist, _who sitteth in the Temple of God, and opposeth and exalteth himself above all that it called God or worshipped_. Such a spiritual League or Covenant as this did _Judas_ make with the Devil, whereby he agreed to betray his Master Christ. _Then entred Satan into Judas_: not that essentially or personally he entred into _Judas_, but that he put it into his heart, βεβληκότος, to betray him: which wrought so effectively in him in a spiritual manner, that he took up that Diabolical resolution to betray his innocent Master: and this was entring into a spiritual League with the Devil. For as _Theophylact_ saith upon the place. _Hoc enim significat, spospondit, hoc est, perfectam promissionem & pactum fecit._ And another saith: _In Judam Satanas intravit, non impellens, sed patulum inveniens ostium: nam oblitus omnium quæ viderat, ad solam avaritiam dirigebat intuitum_. And again: _Missio ista spiritualis suggestio est, & non fit per aurem, sed per cogitationem: diabolicæ enim suggestiones immittuntur, & humanis cogitationibus immiscentur_.

2. We acknowledge that this spiritual League in some respects and in some persons may be, and is an explicit League, that is, the persons that enter into it, are or may be conscious of it, and know it to be so; for when a person resolves to murther, he cannot but know that he then maketh a League with the Devil, who was a Murtherer from the beginning. And it is manifest, that in this League, and in no other, were all the Priests that belonged to the Oracles, who knew well enough that the Idols or false Gods they worshipped, did give no answers at all, but the responsions given were only of their own devising and framing, to uphold their credit; and more colourably to cozen and deceive the people, they did pretend that they had answers from their Gods or Idols, and thus far the Devil was in all their impostures and jugglings. And so all the several sorts of the Diviners or Witches mentioned in the Old Testament, were under a spiritual League with the Devil, and did very well know, that what they did, was not by the finger of God, but either by the help of Art, Nature, Leger-de-main, Confederacy, or such like impostures and cheats: and yet they pretended, as did _Simon Magus_, and gave out that they were some great men, thereby to deceive others, when explicitly they plainly knew that themselves were but dissemblers and lyars, and that for gain, credit, and vain-glory they pretended to do those things, which they could never truly perform. And under this spiritual League, explicitly considered, are all our Figure-flingers contained, who take upon them (far beyond the Rules of the true Art) to declare where stollen Goods are, and to cause them to be brought back again, and many other such vain and lying matters, which they well know they have no power to perform, but that they willingly and knowingly take upon them to pretend to do these things for vain-glory and filthy lucre sake. And of this sort are all our pretending Conjurers, Diviners, Wizards, and those that take upon them to reveal things by looking in Crystals, Beryls, and the like, (of which we may perhaps speak more largely hereafter) that indeed know well enough they do but deceive and cheat others: of all which we could recite very lepid and apposite stories, certainly known unto us, or discovered by us; but Mr. _Glanvil_ would account them but silly Legends and old Wives Fables, and therefore we shall supersede here, and leave them to a fitter place.

[Sidenote: Isa. 8. 19, 20.]

[Sidenote: _Calvin in loc._]

3. There are others that are under this spiritual League, though implicitly, as are all those that we have granted to be passively deluded Witches, those that by ignorant and irreligious education, joyned with a melancholy temper and disposition, to which they have added Charms, Pictures, and other superstitious Ceremonies, which they learned by Tradition. By all which they become so deluded and besotted in their Phantasies, that they believe the Devil doth visibly appear unto them, suck upon them, have carnal copulation with them, that they are carried in the Air to feastings, dancings, and such like Night-revellings; and that they can raise tempests, kill men or beasts, and an hundred such like fopperies and impossibilities, when they do nor suffer any thing at all, but in their depraved and deceived imaginations. And so do blindly and implicitly believe that the Devil doth perform all these things for them, when indeed and truth he doth nothing but dart and cast in these filthy and fond cogitations into their minds agreeable to their wicked wills and corrupted desires, and so are fast bound in this spiritual and implicit League. And under this spiritual implicit League are also comprehended all those that are Witchmongers, and believe the verity and performance of these things, and think that the Devil can both hurt and also help, and that there is a bad and a good Witch, or with Mr. _Perkins_, a black and a white one, by which wicked opinion, the seeking unto Witches, Wizards, Mutterers, Murmurers, Charmers, South-sayers, Conjurers, Cunning-men and women (as we speak here in the North) and such like, is still upholden by the Authors and Favourers of this opinion, contrary to the direct counsel of the Holy Ghost, who saith: _And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar Spirits, and unto Wizards that peep and that mutter; should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead. To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them._ And therefore saith one: _Admonet etiam, nos adversus impios cultus & superstitiones tutos fore, si in lege Domini acquiescamus_. The League or Covenant betwixt the Devil and the Witch, is that which is visible and corporeal, where he is supposed to appear in some bodily shape unto the Witch, and to have oral and audible conference with him or her, and so to make a League or Covenant; and this is the thing that we deny, and the consequents thereof, that he doth not suck upon their bodies, nor hath carnal copulation with them, nor carries them in the Air, nor for them, nor by them doth destroy or kill man or beast, raise tempests, or change them into Cats, Hares, Wolves, Dogs, or the like; and this we oppose with these following Reasons.

[Sidenote: _Reas. 1._]

[Sidenote: 2 Pet. 5. 8, 9.]

[Sidenote: Rev. 12. 9.]

[Sidenote: 2 Cor. 2. 11.]

[Sidenote: Eph. 6. 11.]

[Sidenote: Mat. 24. 24.]

[Sidenote: 2 Tim. 2. 25, 26.]

1. Whatsoever the Devil worketh, it is to bring advantage to his own Kingdom, or otherwise he should act in vain. But whatsoever he worketh by a visible Covenant, is not for the advantage of his own Kingdom: and therefore it is in vain. The major is plain from the Text: _Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour, whom resist stedfast in the faith_. The minor is manifest in these two particulars. 1. _Satan is that old Serpent, that was, and is more subtile than any beast of the field, which the Lord God hath created_: which notwithstanding the vain Cavils, and seeming Arguments of _Pererius_, must be understood of Satan the Adversary of Mankind, and not of the natural Serpent, which is not the most subtile beast that God hath created, there being many others more subtile than the Serpent; and the Scripture tells us of his cunning and wiliness: for the Apostle saith, _We are not ignorant of his wiles or devices_ νοήματα. And the Apostle in another place calls them μεθοδείας, _his wiles_, which are so great, _that if it were possible, they might deceive the very elect_. So that he wants no cunning nor subtilty to know how to bring a sinner into his snare, and to hold him fast, and when he is fast, he knows he need do no more, and therefore acts not in vain. 2. Before he need attempt a visible apparition to the Witch (if any such thing could be) he knows that the Witch is sure and fast in his snare by a spiritual Covenant already entred into, and therefore knows he need do no more, and he is too cunning to act to no purpose, and therefore doth St. _Paul_ warn _Timothy_, _That a Bishop must have a good report, lest he fall into the snare of the devil_, all sins being the snares of the Devil, and when men are fast taken in them, they are in Satans fetters, and he labours no more but to keep them there. And so the same Apostle speaketh of those that oppose the Gospel, _that they must be instructed in meekness, that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will_. So that sins keep men in the spiritual snare of the Devil, and so are all those that are accounted Witches, in that spiritual snare, holden fast enough by their own consents and corrupt wills, and need no bodily apparition to make them surer: and so this visible League falls to the ground, as having no ground nor end why it should be made. And for the Devil to appear like a Dog or a Cat, and speak, would sure not only fright and startle an old Witch, but even the boldest and most stout-hearted person.

[Sidenote: _Reas. 2._]

2. The Witches by visible apparitions of the Devil (if any such thing could be) in any shape, could have no more assurance of Satans performances, than they have already, by mental perswasion, and the dominion of him in their hearts, _who is the Prince of the air, and worketh in the children of disobedience_, because by that visible appearance there is not brought any Hostages or Witnesses, which are absolutely necessary to confirm such a League or Covenant. And these representations being made in their imaginations and fancies, wherein they think they see, do, and suffer these delusive Visions, they are most firmly and pertinaciously confirmed in the belief of them, that any Apparition externally must needs be vain and superfluous.

[Sidenote: _Reas. 3._]

3. If the Witches be not superlatively mad (and if so, then so to be judged of, and all that in this point is believed of them either in doing, suffering, or otherwise, must be judged extreme folly and madness) they will not make a League with the Devil, knowing him to be the Devil, because they cannot but know that he was and is a Lyar and a Murtherer from the beginning, and hath deceived many before them, that were of the same way and profession. And a visible appearance can afford them no certain security, but that he may and will deceive them still, and that he continueth a lyar and a deceiver. But while the delusion is internal, and the imagination depraved, and led by the suggestions and motions of Satan, they then are so blinded, that they see not, nor understand the danger they run into, nor the certainty of the deceit they lye under, which a visible Apparition would sooner shake and overthrow, than any way confirm, and therefore is false and needless.

[Sidenote: _Reas. 4._]

4. But how come the Witches certainly to know that the Devil can perform such things as they would have done? Surely by no means, but either by traditional hear-say or inward delusion; the one they know not, but that it is a lye, and the other concludeth their passive delusion, to neither of which a visible Apparition like a Cat or a Dog, and speaking unto them, can bring any confirmation, except the Devil should bring them good store of gold or silver, or work some strange feat before their eyes, as to kill some men or beasts, or the like; but none of these things are ever proved to be performed. And therefore it is not rational to believe that Witches do make a visible and corporeal League with the Devil, because by it they can have no certain knowledge, that he either can or will accomplish such things for them, as they desire.

[Sidenote: _Reas. 5._]

[Sidenote: 1 Sam. 16. 14.]

[Sidenote: Mat. 8. 31, 32.]

[Sidenote: Job 1. 10, 11.]

[Sidenote: 1 Pet. 5. 8.]

[Sidenote: 2 Pet. 2. 4.]

[Sidenote: Jude 6.]

[Sidenote: _Aug. super Psal._]

[Sidenote: Of evil _Aug._ _sect._ 3. _pag._ 279, 280.]

5. The Devil cannot by his own power or will, either appear visibly in what shape he please, neither can he when he will, nor as he will, perform these strange tricks, because he is under restraint, and can act nothing but as the will of God orders and determines: so God sent an evil Spirit upon _Saul_, otherwise he could not have troubled him; and the Devils could not enter into the herd of Swine, until leave was given them by our Saviour; neither could he afflict _Job_, until that Gods hand was laid upon him, and God ordered him to be an instrument in that affliction. And though the Devil be said _to walk about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour_, yet must that walking about be only understood (and is so taken by all sound Expositors) of the evil and wicked intention of his will, according to which he is always ready seeking whom he may devour, if he be so ordered or permitted of God (ordering and permission in this point, being but all one act of the divine Will and Providence) and not in regard of his power or liberty to act or execute what he please, and when and as he lift; for the same Apostle and also St. _Jude_ telleth us, _that he is kept in chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment_, and by those chains he is kept, that he cannot hurt or destroy, when and where he list, but as he is sent and appointed of God, either to tempt or afflict the godly, or to punish the wicked; and therefore the sentence of St. _Austin_ is much to be weighed and considered, who saith: _Diabolus plerumq; vult nocere, & non potest, quia potestas ista est sub potestate: nam si tantum posset nocere Diabolus quantum vult, aliquis justorum non remaneret_. And therefore I cannot but transcribe here the opinion of that pious and learned person Bishop _Hall_ upon this very particular, which is this: “Could _Samson_ have been firmly bound hand and foot by the Philistine cords, so as he could not have stirred those mighty limbs of his, what Boy or Girl of _Gath_ or _Ascalon_ would have feared to draw near and spurn that awed Champion? No other is the condition of our dreadful enemies, they are fast bound up with the adamantine chains of Gods most merciful and inviolable Decree, and forcibly restrained from their desired mischief. Who can be afraid of a muzled and tyed up Mastive? what woman or child cannot make faces at a fierce Lyon, or a bloody _Bajazet_ lockt up fast in an Iron Grate? Were it not for this strong and strait curb of divine Providence, what good man could breathe one minute upon earth? The Demoniack in the Gospel could break his iron fetters in pieces, through the help of his Legion; those Devils that possessed him could not break theirs; they are fain to sue for leave to enter into Swine, neither had obtained it (in all likelihood) but for a just punishment to those _Gaderene_ owners: How sure may we then be, that this just hand of Omnipotence will not suffer these evil ones to tyrannize over his chosen Vessels for their hurt? How safe are we, since their power is limited, our protection infinite?” So that if the Devil be thus chained and restrained by the omnipotent Decree and Providence, that he cannot execute any evil, but as he is ordered of God, and that God doth not let him loose but for just causes and reasons; then can it not be that the Devil doth visibly appear and make Leagues with Witches, nor work such strange things for them, because there is no just or reasonable end that can be assigned, why God should order him to do these things; and therefore a visible League with Witches is meerly false and fraudulent.

[Sidenote: _Reas. 6._]

6. This pretended League must needs be a lye and a figment, because of the effects that are feigned to follow, as to have carnal copulation with the Devil, to raise storms and tempests, to flye in the air, and to kill men and beasts. For if these things be done, they are either performed by the Witches own natural power, or by the Devils. If by the Witches natural power, or the force of her resuscitated imagination and strength of will to work _ad nutum_ (as _Van Helmont_ seems to hold) then the Devil operateth nothing, but in playing the Impostor, and deceiving the Witch, and that he may easily do by internal and mental delusion, and needs no visible League to bring it to pass. And if the Witch kill men or beasts, or perform any of the fore-cited Feats by natural means or Agents, then where is the Devils power, or wherein is the Witchcraft or Fascination, or where is the effect of the League? And if the Witch kill by natural means, then the natural Agent is not simply evil, but in the use and application. As a Sword is a natural and lawful instrument for an honest man to use, to defend his life withal, in using of it with his natural power and skill; but if a Thief or a Robber, with his natural power and skill, use a Sword to kill and murther an honest man withal, it is wickedness in the use and end, but not in the agency of the Thief, nor in the effect of the Sword. So if the Witch by any natural means (though never so secret) do kill a man or child, it is murther; but wherein lyes the Witchcraft? Is it any thing else but _Veneficium_ (as both the Greek and Latine words do import) to kill by some secret way of poysoning? Shew what Witchcraft there is in it besides. If the Devil by his own power kill a man, or perform the Witches carrying in the air, and the like, let us know how, or by what means he performeth the same? If what the Devil performeth in natural and corporeal matter, be (as the Fathers, Schoolmen, and Divines most generally hold) by applying natural Agents, to fit passives, then the effect is natural, and so in killing any person, it is only wicked and diabolical, in regard of the end, which is murther, but what Witchcraft is there in the means and operation? And therefore _Guiterrius_ strongly concludeth thus. “If there be no natural Fascination, there can be no diabolical; but there is no natural Fascination (as he thinketh he hath sufficiently proved) therefore he concludeth there is no diabolical Fascination at all.” There is no way to solve this Argument, but either in denying that the Devil worketh these things by natural means, and then it crosseth the opinion of all the Learned in general, ancient, middle, and modern, or by proving that there is natural Fascination, and then diabolical is but in vain and needless.

[Sidenote: _Reas 7._]

7. How can the Witches (if not maniacal in the highest degree) believe, that the Devil who is a Lyar, and the Father of lyes, and whom they cannot but know hath in the like cases deceived many, that have (in their opinion) made contracts with him, will prove true in the performance of his promise? Or that he who is the enemy of all truth and goodness, and laboureth to deceive all Mankind, will be faithful to perform his promise, or to do them any good, either real or apparent? Or (if the Witches be not incredibly mad) can they believe that he will perform without Hostages, Bonds-men, or Sureties? when we find that the weakest and maddest of Mortals, if he make a Covenant with another of known loosness and deceit, though for a thing of a far less value, than either soul or body, will he not require sufficient Bonds-men and Security? Now what Bonds-men or Security can the Witches have?

[Sidenote: _Reas. 8._]