The History of the Devil Part 27

1. Whether he did not think the _Devil_ had the chief Hand in such a Dream? he answer'd, it could certainly be no body else, it must be the _Devil_.

2. I then ask'd him what Reason the _Devil_ could have for it, if his Consent to the Fact in Sleep had not been criminal? _That's true indeed_, says he, _I am answer'd_: But then he ask'd another Question, which, I confess, is not so easy to answer, namely, How he should prevent being serv'd so again.

Nor could all my Divinity or his own keep the _Devil_ from attacking him again; on the other Hand, as I have said, he worried him to that Degree, that he injur'd his Health, bringing naked Women to him, sometimes one, sometimes another, sometimes in one Posture of Lewdness, sometimes in another, sometimes into his very Arms, sometimes with such Additions as I am not merry enough, and sometimes such as I am not wicked enough to put into your Heads; the Man, indeed, could not help it, and so the _Devil_ was more Faulty than he; but as I hinted to him, he might bring his Mind to such a stated Habit of Virtue, as to prevent its a.s.senting to any wicked Motion, even in Sleep, and that would be the Way to put an End to the Attempt; and this Advice he relish'd very well, and practised, I believe, with Success.

By this same Method, the same _Devil_ injects powerful Incentives to other Crimes, provokes Avarice, by laying a great Quant.i.ty of Gold in your View, and no body present, giving you an Opportunity to steal it, or some of it, at the same time, perhaps, knowing your Circ.u.mstances to be such as that you are at that Time in a great want of the Money.

I knew another, who being a Tradesman, and in great Distress for Money in his Business, dream'd that he was walking all alone in a great Wood, and that he met a little Child with a Bag of Gold in its Hand, and a fine Necklace of Diamonds on its Neck, upon the Sight, his Wants presently dictated to him to rob the Child; the little innocent Creature, (just so he dream'd) not being able to resist; or to tell who it was, accordingly he consented to take the Money from the Child, and then to take the Diamond Necklace from it too, and did so.

But the _Devil_, (a full Testimony, as I told him, that it was the _Devil_, not contented with that, hinted to him, that perhaps the Child might some time or other know him, and single him out, by crying or pointing, or some such Thing, especially if he was suspected and shew'd to it, and therefore it would be better for him to kill the Child, prompting him to kill it for his own Safety, and that he need do no more but twist the Neck of it a little, or crush it with his Knee; He told me he stood debating with himself, whether he should do so or not; but that in that Instant his Heart struck him with the Word Murther, and he entertain'd a Horror of it, refus'd to do it, and immediately waked.

He told me, that when he wak'd, he found himself in so violent a Sweat as he never had known the like; that his Pulse beat with that Heat and Rage, that it was like a Palpitation of the Heart to him, and that the Agitation of his Spirits was such, that he was not fully composed in some Hours; tho' the Satisfaction and Joy that attended him, when he found it was but a Dream, a.s.sisted much to return his Spirits to their due Temperament.

It is neither my Business or Inclination to turn Divine here, nor is the Age I write to sufficiently Grave to relish a Sermon, if I was disposed to preach, though they must allow the Subject would very well bear it; but I shall only ask them, if they think this is not the _Devil_, what they think it is? If they believe it is the _Devil_, they will act accordingly I hope, or let it alone, as Satan and they can agree about it.

I should not oblige the _Devil_ over much, whatever I might do to those that read it; if I should enter here upon a Debate of Interests, (_viz._) to enquire whether the _Devil_ has not a vast Advantage upon Mankind this Way, and whether it is not much his Interest to preserve it; and if I prove the Affirmative, I leave it to you to enquire whose Interest it is to disappoint and supplant him.

In short, I take Dreams to be the second Best of the Advantages the _Devil_ has over Mankind; the first, I suppose, you all know (_viz._) the Treachery of the Garrison within; by Dreams he may be said to get into the Inside of us without Opposition; here he opens and locks without a Key, and like an Enemy laying siege to a fortified City, Reason and Nature, the Governor of the City, keep him out by Day, and keep the Garrison true to their Duty; but in the Dark he gets in and parlees with the Garrison (the Affections and Pa.s.sions) Debauches their Loyalty, stirring up them to Disloyalty and Rebellion, so they betray their Trust, Revolt, Mutiny, and go over to the Besieger.

Thus he manages his Interest, I say, and insinuates himself into the Inside of us, without our Consent, nay, without our Knowledge; for whatever Speculation may do, 'tis evident Demonstration does not a.s.sist us to discover which Way he gets Access to the Soul, while the Organ tied up, and dozed with Sleep has lock'd it up from Action; that it is so is clear, but how he does it is a Secret which I do not find the Antients or Moderns have yet made a Discovery of.

That Devil of a Creature, Mother _Lakland_, whose Story I mention'd above, acknowledg'd that the first Time the _Devil_ attempted to draw her in to be a Witch was in a Dream, and even when she consented, she said, she was between sleeping and waking; that is, she did not know whether she was awake or asleep, and the cunning Devil it seems was satisfied with her a.s.sent given so, when she was asleep, or neither asleep or awake, so taking the Advantage of her Incapacity to act rationally.

The Stories of her bewitching several People, and the manner in which they died, are so formidable and extravagant, that I care not to put any one's Faith to the stretch about them, tho' publish'd by Authority, and testified by Abundance of Witnesses; but this is recorded in particular, and to my Purpose, whether from her own Mouth or not, I do not say, namely, the Description of a Witch, and the Difference between Witches, and those other of Satan's Acquaintance who act in his Name.

1. They have consulted and covenanted with a Spirit or _Devil_.

2. They have a Deputy _Devil_, sometimes several to serve and a.s.sist them.

3. These they employ as they please, call them by Name, and command their Appearance in whatever Shape they think fit.

4. They send them abroad to or into the Persons who they design to bewitch, who they always torment, and often murther them, as Mother _Lakland_ did several.

As to the Difference between the several Devils that appear, it relates to the Office of the Persons who employ them; as Conjurers, who seem to command the particular _Devil_ that waits upon them with more Authority, and raise them and lay them at Pleasure, drawing Circles, casting Figures, and the like; but the Witch, in a more familiar manner, whispers with the Devil, keeps the _Devil_ in a Bag or a Sack, sometimes in her Pocket, and the like, and like Mr. _Faux_ shews Tricks with him.

But all these Kinds deal much in Dreams, talk with the Devil in their Sleep, and make other People talk with him in their Sleep too; and 'tis on this Occasion I mention it here; in short, the Devil may well take this Opportunity with Mankind, for not half the World that came into his Measures would comply, if they were awake; but of that hereafter.

And yet his thus insinuating himself by Dream, does not seem sufficient, in my Opinion, to answer the _Devil_'s End, and to carry on his Business; and therefore we must be forc'd to allow him a Kind of actual Possession, in particular Cases, and that in the Souls of some People, by different Methods from others; _Luther_ is of the Opinion that the _Devil_ gets a Familiarity with some Souls just at, or rather before their being embodied; as to the Manner and Method how he gets in, that is another Question, and may be spoken of by it self; besides, why may not he, that at Satan's Request to enter into the Herd of Swine, said _go_, give the same Commission to possess a sort of Creatures so many Degrees below the Dignity of the _Gaderenian_ Swine, and open the Door too? but as for that, when our Lord said _go_, the _Devil_ never enquir'd which Way he should get in.

When then I see Nations, or indeed Herds of Nations set on Fire of h.e.l.l, and as I may say, enflam'd by the _Devil_; when I see Towns, Parties, Factions and Rabbles of People visibly possess'd; 'tis enough to me that the great Master of the Devils has said to him, GO; there's no need to enquire which Way he finds open, or at what postern Gate he gets in; as to his appearing, 'tis plain he often gets in without appearing, and therefore the Question about his appearing still remains a Doubt, and is not very easy to be resolv'd.

In the Scripture we have some Light into it, and that is all the Help I find from Antiquity, and it goes a great Way to solve the Phaenomena of Satan's appearing; what I mean by the Scripture giving some Light to it, is this; 'tis said in several Places, and of several Persons, G.o.d came to them in a Dream, _Gen._ xx. 3. _G.o.d came to_ Abimelech _in a Dream by Night_, Gen. x.x.xi. 24. _And G.o.d came to_ Laban _the_ Syrian _in a Dream_, Matt. ii. 13. _The Angel of the Lord appear'd to_ Joseph _in a Dream_; short Comments are sufficient to plain Texts, applying this to my Friend when he wanted to be satisfied about the How, relating to his Dream (_viz._) how he should come to Dream such wicked Things? I told him, in short, the Case was plain, _the Devil came to him in a Dream by Night_: How and in what manner he form'd the wicked Representations, and spread debauch'd Appearances before his Fancy, by real Whispers and Voice, according to _Milton_, or by what other Methods, the Learned are not arriv'd to any Certainty about it.

This leads me necessarily to enquire whether the _Devil_ or some of his Agents are not always in our Company, whether they make any visible Appearances or no? For my Part I make no Question of it, how else could he come at the Knowledge of what we do; for as I can allow him no Prescience at all, as for many Reasons I have observ'd already, he must be able to see and know us, and what we are about when we know nothing of him, or else he could know nothing of us and our Affairs, which yet we find otherwise; and this gives him infinite Advantage to Influence our Actions, to judge of our Inclinations, and to bring our Pa.s.sions to clash with our Reason, as they often do, and get the better of it too.

All this he obtains by his being able to walk about invisible, and see when he is not seen, of which I have spoken already; hence that most wise and solid Suggestion, that when the Candles burn blue the _Devil_ is in the Room, which great Secret in Nature, that you may more fully be convinc'd of its imaginary Reality, I must tell you the following Story which I saw in a Letter directed to a particular Friend, take it Word for Word as in the Letter; because I do not make my self accountable for the Facts, but take them _ad referendum_.

SIR,

We had one Day, very early in the Morning, and for the most Part of the Day a great deal of Rain with a high Wind, and the Clouds very thick and dark all Day.

In the Evening the cloudy thick Weather continued, tho' not the Rain, when being at a Friend's House in ---- Lane _London_, and several Ladies and some Gentlemen in the Room, besides two or three Servants (for we had been eating) the following Interlude happen'd for our Entertainment: When the Cloth was taken away, two large Candles were brought upon the Table and plac'd there with some Bottles and Gla.s.ses for the Gentlemen, who, it seems, were intending to drink and be very merry; two large Wax-Candles were also set on another Table, the Ladies being going to Cards, also there were two large Candles in Sconces over or near the Chimney, and one more in a Looking-Gla.s.s Sconce, on a Peer by the Window.

With all this _Apparatus_, the Company separating sat down, the Gentlemen at their Table, and the Ladies at theirs, to play _as above_; when after some time the Gentleman of the House said hastily to a Servant, _what a P---- ails the Candles_? and turning to the Servant raps out an Oath or two, and bids him snuff the Candles, for they burnt as if the Devil was in the Room.

The Fellow going to snuff one of the Candles, snuffs it out, at which his Master being in a Pa.s.sion the Fellow lights it again immediately at the other Candle, and then being in a little hurry, going to snuff the other Candle snuffed that out too.

The first Candle that was relighted (as is usual in such Cases) burn'd dim and dull for a good while, and the other being out, the Room was much darker than before, and a Wench that stood by the Ladies Table, bawls out to her Mistress, _Law Madam!_ the Candles _burn blue_; an old Lady that sat by says, _ay Betty!_ so they do; upon this one of the Ladies starts up, _Mercy upon us_, says she, _what is the Matter!_ In this unlucky Moment another Servant, without Orders, went to the great Peer Sconce, and because, _as he thought_, he would be sure to snuff the Candle well, he offers to take it down, but very unhappily, I say, the Hook came out and down falls the Sconce Candle and all, and the Looking-Gla.s.s broke all to pieces, with a horrible Noise; however, the Candle falling out of the Sconce did not go out, but lay on the Floor burning dully, and as it is usual on such Cases, all on one Side, _Betty_ cries out again, _Law Madam_, that Candle burns blue too; the very Moment she said this, the Footman that had thrown down the Sconce, says to his fellow Servant, that came to his a.s.sistance, I _think_ the Devil _is in the Candles to Night_, and away he run out of the Room, for fear of his Master.

The old Lady, who, upon the Maid _Betty_'s Notion of the Candles burning blue, had her Head just full of that old _Chimney-Corner Story_, the Candles _burn blue when the Spirits are in the Room_, heard the Footman Say the Word _Devil_, but heard nothing else of what he said; upon this she rises up in a terrible Fright, and cries out that the Footman said the _Devil was in the Room_; as she was, indeed, frighted out of her Wits, she frighted the Ladies most terribly, and they all starting up together, down goes the Card Table, and put the Wax-Candles out.

Mrs. _Betty_, that had frighted them all, runs to the Sconce next the Chimney, but that having a long Snuff, she cried out it burnt blue too, and she durst not touch it; in short, tho' there were three Candles left still burning in the Room, yet the Ladies we're all so frighted, that they and the Maids too run out of the Parlour screaming like mad Folks.

The Master in a Rage kick'd his first Man out of the Room, and the second Man was run out to avoid, as I said before, the like, so that no Servant was to be had, but all was in Confusion.

The two other Gentlemen, who were sitting at the first Table, kept their Seats composed and easy enough, only concern'd to see all the House in such a fright; it was true, they said, the Candles burnt dim and very oddly, but they could not perceive they _burnt blue_, except one of those over the Chimney, and that on the Table, which was relighted after the Fellow had snufft it out.

However, the Maid, the old Lady and the Footman that pull'd down the Sconce, all insist that the Candles _burnt blue_, and all pretend that the Devil was certainly in the Room, and was the Occasion of it; and they now came to me with the Story, to desire my Opinion of it.

This put me upon Enquiry into the Notion of Candles _burning blue_ when Spirits are in a Room, which upon all the Search into Things, that I am able to make, amounts to no more than this; that upon any extraordinary Emission of sulphureous or of nitrous Particles, either in a close Room, or in any not very open Place, if the Quant.i.ty be great, a Candle or Lamp, or any such little Blaze of Fire will seem to be, or to _burn blue_; and if then they can prove that any such Effluvia attends or is emitted from a Spirit, then when SATAN is at Hand it may be so.

But then 'tis begging the Question grossly, because no Man can a.s.sure us that the Devil has any sulphureous Particles about him.

It is true, the Candles burn thus in Mines and Vaults, and damp Places; and 'tis as true that they will do so upon Occasion of very damp, stormy and moist Air, when an extraordinary Quant.i.ty of Vapours are supposed to be dispers'd abroad, as was the Case when this happen'd; and if there was any Thing of that in it on that _Monday_ Night, the Candles might, perhaps, burn blue upon that Occasion; but that the _Devil_ was abroad upon any extraordinary Business that Night, that I cannot grant, unless I have some better Testimony than the _old Lady_ that heard the Footman's out-cry but by halves, or than Mrs. _Betty_, who first fancied the Candles _burnt blue_; so I must suspend my Judgment till I hear farther.

This Story however may solve a great many of those Things which pa.s.s for Apparitions in the World, and which are laid to the Devil's Charge, tho'

he really may know nothing of the Matter; and this would bring me to defend _Satan_ in many Things, wherein he may truly be said to suffer wrongfully; and if I thought it would oblige him, I might say something to his Advantage this Way; however, I'll venture a Word or two for an injur'd _Devil_, take it as you will.

First, it is certain, that as this Invisibility of the _Devil_ is very much to our Prejudice, so the Doctrine of his Visibility is a great Prejudice to him, as we make Use of it.

By his Invisibility he is certainly vested with infinite Advantages against us; while he can be present with us, and we know nothing of the Matter, he informs himself of all our Measures, and arms himself in the best and most suitable manner to injure and a.s.sault us, as he can counteract all our secret concerted Designs, disappoint all our Schemes, and except when Heaven apparently concerns it self to over-rule him, can defeat all our Enterprizes, break all our Measures, and do us Mischief in almost every Part of our Life, and all this, because we are not privy to all his Motions, as he is to ours.

But now for his Visibility and his real Appearance in the World, and particularly among his Disciples and Emissaries, such as Witches and Wizards, Demonaists, and the like: Here, I think Satan has a great deal of Loss, suffers manifest Injury, and has great Injustice done him; and, that therefore I ought to clear this Matter up a little, if it be possible, to do Justice to Satan, and set Matters right in the World about him, according to that useful old Maxim of setting the Saddle upon the right Horse, or _giving the_ Devil _his due_.

First, _as I have said_, we are not to believe every idle Head, who pretends even to converse Face to Face with the _Devil_, and who tells us, they have thus seen him, and been acquainted with him every Day: Many of these Pretenders are manifest Cheats; and, however, they would have the Honour of a private Interest in him, and boast how they have him at their Beck, can call him this Way, and send him that, as they please, raise him and lay him when and how, and as often as they find for their Purpose; I say, whatever Boasts they make of this Kind, they really have nothing of Truth in them.

Now the Injuries and Injustice done to the _Devil_, in these Cases, are manifest; namely, that they ent.i.tle the _Devil_ to all the Mischief they are pleased to do in the World; and if they commit a Murther or a Robbery, fire a House, or do any Act of Violence in the World, they presently are said to do it by the Agency of the _Devil_, and the _Devil_ helps them; so Satan bears the Reproach, and they have all the Guilt; this is, (1.) a grand Cheat upon the World, and (2.) a notorious Slander upon the _Devil_; and it would be a public Benefit to Mankind, to have such would-be-Devils as these turn'd inside out, that we might know when the _Devil_ was really at work among us, and when not; what Mischiefs were of his doing, and which were not; and that these Fellows might not slip their Necks out of the Halter, by continually laying the Blame of their Wickedness upon the _Devil_.

Not that the _Devil_ is not very willing to have his Hand in any Mischief, or in all the Mischief that is done in the World; but there are some low priz'd Rogueries that are too little for him, beneath the Dignity of his Operation, and which 'tis really a Scandal to the _Devil_ to charge upon him. I remember the _Devil_ had such a Cheat put upon him in _East-Smithfield_ once, where a Person pretended to converse with the _Devil_ Face to Face, and that in open Day too, and to cause him to tell Fortunes, foretel Good and Evil, _&c._ discover stollen Goods, tell where they were who stole them, and how to find them again, nay, and even to find out the Thieves; but _Satan_ was really sandered in the Case, the Fellow had no more to do with the _Devil_ than other People, and perhaps not so much neither: This was one of those they call'd CUNNING-MEN, or at least he endeavour'd to pa.s.s for such a one, but 'twas all a Cheat.

Besides, what had the _Devil_ to do to detect Thieves, and restore stollen Goods? Thieving and Robbing, Trick and Cheat, are part of the Craft of his Agency, and of the Employments which it is his Business to encourage; they greatly mistake him, who think he will a.s.sist any Body in suppressing and detecting such laudable Arts and such diligent Servants.

I won't say, but the _Devil_, to draw these People we call _Cunning-Men_, into a Snare, and to push on his farther Designs, may encourage them privately, and in a manner that they themselves know nothing of, to make use of his Name, and abuse the World about him, till at last they may really believe they do deal with the _Devil_, when indeed 'tis only he deals with them, and they know nothing of the Matter.

In other Cases he may encourage them in these little Frauds and Cheats, and give them leave, as above, to make use of his Name to bring them afterwards, and by Degrees to have a real Acquaintance with him; so bringing the Jest of their Trade into Earnest, till at length prompting them to commit some great Villany, he secures them to be his own, by their very Fear of his leaving them to be exposed to the World; thus he puts a _Jonathan Wild_ upon them, and makes them be the very Wretches they only pretended to be before: So old _Parsons_ of _c.l.i.throe_, as Fame tells, was twenty five Years a _Cunning-man_, and twenty two Years a Witch; that is to say, for five and twenty Years, he was only pretending to deal with the _Devil_, when Satan and he had no manner of Acquaintance, and he only put his _Leger-de-main_ upon the People in the _Devil_'s Name, without his leave; but at length the _Devil_'s Patience being tir'd quite out, he told the old Counterfeit, that in short, he had been his stalking Horse long enough, and that now, if he thought fit to enter himself, and take a Commission, well and good; and he should have a Lease to carry on his Trade for so many Years more, to his Heart's content; but if not, he would expose his Knavery to the World, for that he should take away his Peoples Trade no longer; but that he (Satan) would set up another in his Room, that should make a meer Fool of him, and carry away all his Customers.

Upon this, the old Man consider'd of it, took the _Devil_'s Counsel, and listed in his Pay; so he, that had plaid his Pranks twenty five Years as a Conjurer, when he was no Conjurer, was then forc'd really to deal with the DEVIL, for fear the People should know he did not: Till now he had _ambo dexter_, cheated the Devil on one Hand, and the People on the other; but the _Devil_ gain'd his Point at last, and so he was a real Wizard ever after.