Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	david_n	king_n	saul_n	1,839	5	10.0881	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A05303	A treatise of specters or straunge sights, visions and apparitions appearing sensibly vnto men Wherein is delivered, the nature of spirites, angels, and divels: their power and properties: as also of witches, sorcerers, enchanters, and such like. With a table of the contents of the several chapters annexed in the end of the booke. Newly done out of French into English.; Discours des spectres, ou visions et apparitions d'esprits, comme anges, demons, at ames, se monstrans visibles aux hommes. English	Loyer, Pierre le, 1550-1634.; Jones, Zachary.	1605 (1605)	STC 15448; ESTC S108473	230,994	324

reasons which he afterwardes yeeldeth in shewing That the divell doth serve himselfe of the humours or braine in men corrupted so seizing on the same doth enter into the bodies of such distempered persons in the tiem of their fittes that from the braine troubled and offended doth proceede this disease of the Epilepsie or the Falling-evill But I say according to the resolution of Saint Thomas Aquine that the divell may possesse the humours being corrupted or the braine being so troubled and offended of the pa●tie so diseased and that this is a thing that doth happen vsually and commonly And I wot wel that the antient Magitians to call vp their divells or spirits and to know of them such things as were to come did helpe themselves with the bodies of Epileptiques and persons troubled with that disease Into the which the divells did easily enter at such time as the evill or fit tooke them and did speake by their mouthes vnto the Magitians or by some other externall signes did declare vnto them what was to come And I remember that I have read in Apuleius that he was accused before the Proconsull of Affricke Apologia 1. Apuleius servum suum Thallum rem●tis arbitris secreto loco arula lucerna paucis consciis carmin● cantatum corruere fecit deinde nescium sui excit●vit Obiection touching strange languages and prophecies c. vttered by persons distempered that it should be by nature corrupted how that he aided himselfe with his servant Thallus being surprized with the Falling-sicknesse at such time as he performed his magicke sacrifices And hee defended or excused himselfe of this crime so coldely that he seemeth to consent therevnto And it is well knowne that next to Apollonius Thianeus he was one of the greatest Magitians that can be remembred But saith yet Levinus those medecines that doe purge Melancholie Madnesse Burning-fevers the Epilepsie and such like do cause all those thinges to cease which we affirm to be caused in such bodies by the divels namely to speake strange languages to prophecie and fore-tell things to come to tell wonders of things past and to doe that which is not possible for man to doe by nature Therefore it may be concluded that it is not the divell but rather Nature corrupted which so moves the humors and stirres vp troubles the soule in that maner But I doe vtterly deny that the divells by medecines can be driven or cast out of such bodies neither can hee proove it vnto me by any example I am not ignorant that Pomponatius writeth Answer to the former Obiection that the divel cannot be cast out of bodies possest by medecines De precantat But it appears not that those purges did ex pell the divell In oratio de laudibus medecinae that the antient Exorcists or Coniurers did purge with helleborus the bodies of such as were beset with divells before they made their coniurations howbeit he cannot alleadge or bring me any good and sound historie to proove his saying And though he affirme that the wife of Frauncis Maigret Savetier of Mantua who spake divers languages was healed by Calceran a famous Phisitian of his time who did minister vnto her a potion of helleborus And that Erasmus agreeing with him doth write how hee himselfe saw a man of Spoleta in Italie that spake the Almaine tong very well albeit hee had never beene in Almaine and that after a medecine had beene given vnto him hee did avoid by the fundament a great number of wormes and so was healed and did never after speake the Almaine tongue any more yet doe I hold the truth of this very suspitious It might bee rather that the divels left these presently vpon the medecines given them onely because he would have men beleeve and wickedly attribute this power to bee in phisicke rather then to any worke of God though it were not indeed by any vertue of the phisicke Lib. 2. cap. 16. de abdit rer causis and do rather give credite to Fernelius one of the greatest Phisitians of our age who doth vtterly denie that there is any such power in phisicke And he reciteth a historie of a young Gentleman the sonne of a Knight of the Order who being possessed by the divell could not in any sorte be healed by any potions medicines or diet ministred vnto him Nor by that neither You may assoone beleeve the one as the other for all phisicke all superstitions and Coniurations are of like efficacie in this case Opinion of the Astrologers confuted That the speaking of strange languages c. by persons distempered in their bodies proceedeth of the influence of the Starres but onely by Coniurations and Exorcismes And even in our time there was better triall made heereof in that woman or Demoniaqne of Vervin who for all the medicaments that were given vnto her by those of the pretended reformed religion could never be healed but onely by the vertue and efficacie of the holy Sacrament of the Altare But to come to other matters of this kinde As little reason also have the Astrologers to attribute vnto their Starres such force and influence as to say That they doe infuse and instill into humane bodies certaine admirable faculties and so doe cause them to speake divers and straunge languages for their opinion is as farre from the trueth and to be abhorred as that of the Phisitians neither can they finde any reasons whereby they are able or ought to perswade that the Starres are the cause of any such myracle chauncing in the bodies of men And howsoever for proofe of their Assertion they doe vrge That the Moone according to the encreasing and decreasing thereof dooth produce very terrible effectes in the bodies of Lunatique persons and that according to certaine constellations of the Starres the corporall matter is disposed more or lesse to receive the celestiall Impressions yet dooth it not followe for all that That the Lunatiques in speaking and vttering diverse languages are not surprised and possessed by the Divell but that the same their diversity of tongues should proceed from the Starres For what should I say more But that the auntient Paynims themselves were not ignorant but did acknowledge that both Melancholique persons Mad-men and Lunatiques speaking diverse and sundry languages and prophecyings were men possessed with Divelles And therefore they did vse to call them Fanaticos and sometimes Ceritos Ceritus quasi Cereristus gracis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pl●utu● in Poe nulo neque nos populus pro Ceritis insectabit lapidibus De sacro morbo 1. Reg. as if they shoulde say Persons stricken by Ceres sometimes Demetrioleptous and Numpholeptons and Daimonountas as Lucian witnesseth and sometimes persons possessed by Hecate which was an infernall divell or by Heros as saieth Hippocrates And in the Bible in the bookes of Kings wee see that Saul being in a melancholique passion was assailed and vexed with an evill spirite and

had no other remedie to drive away this evill but the Harpe of David To make short Levinus himselfe is constrained to confesse That the humours are the principall cause of all maladies partaking of melancholy Lib. 2. cap. 1. de occult nat miraculis or of any fever But that the Divells the Starres the Qualitie of the ayre adioyning and other things externall do accompany them as accidents And therefore away with all these reasons of the Naturalists who because they will deny that there be any Divells doe attribute and yeelde more power vnto humane nature and to the Starres than to the Spirits that are supernaturall and above nature the which they can not comprehend to be by any means in essence because they doe too too much ground themselves vpon nature and do not acknowledge any thing above or beyond it Opinion of those that doe attribute all charmes and enchantments vnto the virtue of hearbs c. But some of them there be who passe yet further on and doe affirme that the charmes and enchauntments wherewith they do enchaunt and constraine men be it either to the loving of some woman or to hate her so as they cannot endure to dwell and abide with her do proceede from the vertue of hearbes or the starres or from the imagination troubled and corrupted rather than of any working or power of the Divell And they doe alleadge for their authoritie the Physitian Avicen Opinion of Avicen touching enchauntments who saith that Enchantments have not any effect or force in nature nor any vertue or power to change the health of any man or the state of his welfare into sickenes or infirmities And that they which are of opinion that there bee any enchaunted doe enchaunt themselves by the vehemencie of their imagination And these men doe alleadge that also which he afterwardes reciteth vaunting of himselfe For my part saith hee I make no account of any Sorcerer whatsoever neither doe I knowe any Enchaunter be hee never so cunning and expert in his Arte that can constraine me against my will to lift vp or to moove so much as my little finger And more than so I never knewe any that hath himselfe to be enchaunted but I have healed and delivered him from that imagination that hee hath beene enchaunted Vpon this authoritie do they relie vtterly reiecting and disallowing any Enchauntments to be wrought by meanes of Divells and consequently denying their essence and being Avicen his opinion confuted Neverthelesse for any thing saide by Avicen there are so many experiences to the contrary of such as have been inchaunted and bewitched that it were a poynt of too too great incredulitie to doubt of it And as touching that they say That charmes and enchantments doe not proceede of the vertne of hearbes c. That if there be any charmes and enchauntments in Nature the same proceedeth of the force of hearbes and of the influence of the starres rather than of any spirits Therein is no great apparance of any truth or veritie For if it were so it must needes followe that the wordes and speeches which Enchaunters and Sorcerers doe vtter shoulde not have any force nor efficacie But it hath beene a thing approoved by all Antiquitie that divers have beene enchaunted by wordes and speeches vttered which Lucan a very learned Poet and great Philosopher dooth testifie saying Mens hausti nulla sanie polluta veneni Excantata perit A man inchaunted runneth madde That never any poyson had I confes indeede that God hath given many properties vnto hearbes and vnto simples yea and those so admirable that they have the power and vertue not onely to preserve our humane bodies in health but also vtterly to overthrow and to bring it to confusion in such sort as if the same were enchanted Nevertheles that they should so worke vpon the body that the soule inwardly should feele the force and effect thereof it is not possible not to be beleeved except that together with the hearbes there be intermingled some charmes or wordes of enchantment And of this was not Ovid ignorant as appeareth by that which her speaketh of Medea saying Protinus horrendis infamia pabula succis Lib. 9. M●tamory Conterit tritis Hecaetei a carmina miscet Then horride herbs hateful drugs together she doth bruse And in the bruising damned spels hellish charms doth vse And that of the learned Poet Virgil Miscueruntque herbas non innoxia verba Lib. 3. Georgic which is And therewithall they mingle sundria hearbs Ever and among vsing not harmelesse words But more plainely and manifestly doth Propertius recount how the Sorcerers doe give a force and power vnto their hearbs thereby to enchant and charme persons did vse to stirre and moove them in some ditch into the which they made some floud of raine or water to come Quippe Collinas ad fossam moverit herbas Stantia currenti diluerentur aqua Lib. 5. Elegiarum Within some ditch she stirs her hearbs which she had placed There with the running water to be washed Now Apuleius and other antient Authors have written that Sorcerers did vse to worke do their charmes in some ditch or pit And therefore Propertius in those verses bringing in a Sorceresse mooving and stirring her hearbes in a ditch what other thing doth he intend to shew but that together with the hearbs there were mingled also certaine charmes the which did give a force and vigour to the hearbs to worke wonders by the cooperation of the divell Furthermore Virgil doth recite yet other ceremonies which the Sorcerers vsed in gathering of their hearbes Lib. 4. Aeneid Falcibus lunae ad lumen quaeruntur adhenis Pubentes herbae nigri cum lacte veneni all which were nothing else but damnable superstitious and divelish inventions as to cut them in the night time by the light of the Moone-shine with a hooke of brasse which maketh me also to remember certaine observations of the Magitians and Sorcerers in times past in cutting of their hearb Elleborus Mandragoras and the herbe Panaceum whereof Theophrastus speaketh and derideth it as a foolish and vaine superstition Lib. 9. de historia herbarum cap. 9 and those also of the Druides amongest the antient Gaules who vsed without any knife or yron to plucke the hearbe which they called Selago and in gathering thereof they went alwayes clothed or apparrelled with a kinde of white surplisse with their feete bare and naked verie cleane and well washed and before that they gathered it their fashion was to consecrate bread and wine and after they had gathered it Lib. 24. cap. 11. to put the same into a faire white napkin as Plinie writeth of them That neither the vertue of hearbes nor the influence of the starres can worke or rule the affections of men to love or hatred Moreover it is a most grosse absurditie to affirme that the hearbes being