or the like So that perhaps there never was an Instance of any innocent Person Condemned in any Court of Judicature on Earth only through Satans deluding and imposing on the Imaginations of Men when nevertheless the Witnesses Juries and Judges were all to be excused from blame Arg. 4. It is certain both from Scripture and History that Magicians by their Inchantments and Hellish Conjurations may cause a false Representation of Persons and Things An inchanted eye shall see such things as others cannot discern it is a thing too well known to be denied that some by rubbing their eyes with a bewitched Water have immediately thereupon seen that which others could not discern and there are Persons in the World who have a strange Spectral sight Mr. Glanvil speaks of a Dutch-man that could see Ghosts which others could perceive nothing of There are in Spain a sort of men whom they call Zahurs these can see into the Bowels of the Earth they are able to discover Minerals and hidden Treasures nevertheless they have their extraordinary sight only on Tuesdays and Fridays and not on the other days of the Week Delrio saith that when he was at Madrid Anno Dom. 1575. he saw some of these strange sighted Creatures Mr. George Sinclare in his Book Entituled Satans Invisible World discovered has these Words I am undoubtedly informed that men and women in the High-lands can discern Fatality approaching others by seeing them in the Waters or with Winding Sheets about them And that others can lecture in a Sheeps shoulder-bone a Death within the Parish seven or eight Days before it come It is not improbable but that such Preternatural Knowledge comes first by a Compact with the Devil and is derived downward by Succession to their Posterity Many such I suppose are Innocent and have this sight against their Will and Inclination Thus Mr. Sinclare I concur with his supposal that such Knowledge is originally from Satan and perhaps the Effect of some old Inchantment There are some at this day in the World that if they come into a House where one of the Family will die within a Fortnight the smell of a dead Corpse offends them to such a degree as that they cannot stay in that House It is reported that near unto the Abby of St. Maurice in Burgundy there is a Fish-pond in which are Fishes put according to the number of the Monks of that place if any one of them happen to be sick there is a Fish seen to Float and Swim above Water half dead and if the Monk shall die the Fish a few days before dieth In some parts in Wales Death-lights or Corps Candles as they call them are seen in the night time going from the House where somebody will shortly die and passing in to the Church-yard Of this my Honoured and never to be forgotten Friend Mr. Richard Baxter has given an Account in his Book about Witchcrafts lately Published what to make of such things except they be the effects of some old Inchantment I know not nor what Natural Reason to assign for that which I find amongst the Observations of the Imperial Academy for the Year 1687 viz. That in an Orchard where are choice Damascen Plumbs the Master of the Family being sick of a Quartan Ague whilst he continued very ill four of his Plumb-trees instead of Damascens brought forth a vile sort of yellow Plumbs but recovering Health the next Year the Tree did as formerly bear Damascens again but when after that he fell into a fatal Dropsie on those Trees were seen not Damascens but another sort of Fruit. The same Author gives Instances of which he had the certain knowledge concerning Apple-trees and Pear-trees that the Fruit of them would on a sudden wither as if they had been baked in an Oven when the owners of them were mortally sick It is no less strange that in the Illustrious Electoral House of Brandenburg before the Death of some one of the Family Feminine Spectres appeared and often in the Houses of Great men Voices and Visions from the Invisible World have been the Harbingers of Death When any Heir in the Worshipful Family of the Breertons in Cheshire is near his Death there are seen in a Pool adjoyning Bodies of Trees swimming for certain days together on which Learned Cambden has this Note These and such like things are done either by the Holy Tutelar Angels of Men or else by the Devils who by Gods Permission mightily shew their Power in this Inferiour World As for Mr. Sinclare's Notion that some Persons may have a second Sight as 't is termed and yet be themselves Innocent I am satisfied that he judgeth right for this is common amongst the Laplanders who are horribly addicted to Magical Incantations They bequeath their Daemons to their Children as a Legacy by whom they are often assisted like Bewitched Persons as they are to see and do things beyond the Power of Nature An Historian who deserves Credit relates that a certain Laplander gave him a true and particular Account of what had happened to him in his Journey to Lapland and further complained to him with Tears that things at great distance were represented to him and how much he desired to be Delivered from that Diabolical Sight but could not this doubtless was caused by some Inchantment But to proceed to what I intend the Eyes of Persons by reason of Inchanting Charms may not only see what others do not but be under such power of Fascination as that things which are not shall appear to them as real The Apostle speaks of Bewitched Eyes Gal. 3. 1. and we know from Scripture that the Imaginations of men have by Inchantments been imposed upon and Histories abound with very strange Instances of this Nature The old Witch Circe by an Inchanted Cup caused Ulysses his Companions to imagine themselves to be turned into Swine and how many Witches have been themselves so bewitched by the Devil as really to believe that they were transformed into Wolves or Dogs or Cats It is reported of Simon Magus that by his Sorceries he would so impose on the Imaginations of People as that they thought he had really changed himself into another sort of Creature Opollonius of Tyana could out do Simon with his Magick The great Bohemian Conjurer Zyto by his Inchantments caused certain Persons whom he had a mind to try his Art upon to imagine that their Hands were turned into the Feet of an Ox or into the Hoofs of a Horse so that they could not reach to the Dishes before them to take any thing thence he sold Wisps of Straw to a Butcher who bought them for Swine that many such prestigious Pranks were played by the unhappy Faustus is attested by Camerarius Wyerus Voetius Lavater and Lonicer There is newly Published a Book mentioned in the Acta Eruditorum wherein the Author Wiechard Valvassor relates that a Venetian Jew
So did he appear to Mr. Earl of Colchester in the likeness of Mr. Liddal an Holy Man of God and to the Turkish Chaous Baptized at London Anno 1658. pretending to be Mr. Dury an Excellent Minister of Christ And how often has he pretended to be the Apostle Paul or Peter or some other celebrated Saint Ecclesiastical Histories abound with Instances of this nature Yea sometimes he has transfigured himself into the Form of Christ It is reported that he appeared to St. Martin Gloriously arrayed as if he had been Christ So likewise to Secundellus and to another Saint who suspecting it was Satan transforming himself into an Angel of Light had this expression If I may see Christ in Heaven it is enough I desire not to see him in this World whereupon the Spectre vanished It has been related of Luther that after he had been Fasting and Praying in his Study the Devil come pretending to be Christ but Luther saying away thou confounded Devil I acknowledge no Christ but what is in my Bible nothing more was seen Thus then the Devil is able by Divine Permission to Change himself into what form or figure he pleaseth Omnia transformat sese in miracula rerum A Third Scripture to our purpose is that in Rev. 12. 10. where the Devil is called the Accuser of the Brethren Such is the malice and impudence of the Devil as that he does accuse good Men and that before God and that not only of such Faults as they really are guilty of he accused Joshua with his filthy Garments when through his Indulgence some of his Family had transgressed by unlawful Marriages Zach. 3. 23. with Ezra 10. 18. but also with such Crimes as they are altogether free from He represented the Primitive Christians as the vilest of men and as if at their Meetings they did commit the most nefandous Villanies that ever were known and that not only Innocent but Eminently Pious Persons should thro' the Malice of the Devil be accused with the Crime of Witchcraft is no new thing Such an Affliction did the Lord see meet to exercise the great Athanasius with only the Divine Providence did wonderfully vindicate him from that as well as from some other soul Aspersions The Waldenses altho' the Scriptures call them Saints Rev. 13. 7. have been traduccd by Satan and by the World as horrible Witches so have others in other places only because they have done extraordinary things by their Prayers It is by many Authors related that a City in France was molested with a Diabolical Spectre which the People were wont to call Hugon near that place a number of Protestants were wont to meet to serve God whence the Professors of the true reformed Religion were nic named Hugonots by the Papists who designed to render them before the World as the Servants and Worshippers of that Daemon that went under the name of Hugon And how often have I read in Books written by Jesuits that Luther was a Wizard and that he did himself confess that he had familiarity with Satan Most impudent Untruths nor are these things to be wondered at since the Holy Son of God himself was reputed a Magician and one that had Familiarity with the greatest of Devils The Blaspheming Pharisees said he casts out the Devils thro' the Prince of Devils Matth. 9. 34. There is then not the best Saint on Earth Man or Woman that can assure themselves that the Devil shall not cast such an Imputation upon them It is enough for the Disciple that he be as his Master and the Servant as his Lord If they have called the Master of the House Reelzebub how much more them of his Houshold Matth. 10. 25. It is not for men to determine how far the holy God may permit the wicked one to proceed in his Accusations The sacred story of Job giveth us to understand that the Lord whose ways art past finding out does for wise and holy Ends suffer Satan by immediate Operation and consequently by Witchcraft greatly to afflict innocent Persons as in their Bodies and Estates so in their Reputations I shall mention but one Scripture more to confirm the Truth in hand It is that in Eccles 9. 2 3. where it is said All things come alike to all there is one event to the Righteous and to the Wicked as is the Good so is the Sinner this is an evil amongst all things under the Sun that there is one Event happeneth to all And in Eccles 7. 15. 't is said There is a just man that perisheth in his Righteousness From hence we infer that there is no outward Affliction whatsoever but may befal a good Man now to be represented by Satan as a Tormentor of Bewitched or Possessed Persons is a sore Affliction to a good Man To be tormented by Satan is a sore Affliction yet nothing but what befel Job and a Daughter of Abraham whom we read of in the Gospel To be represented by Satan as tormenting others is an Affliction like the former the Lord may bring such extraordinary Temptations on his own Children to afflict and humble them for some Sin they have been guilty of before him A most wicked Person in St. Ives got a Knife and went with it to a Ministers House designing to stab him but was disappointed afterwards Conscience being awakened the Devil appears to this Person in the Shape of that Minister with a Knife in his hand exhorting to Self-murder Was not here a Punishment suitable to the Sin which that Person had been guilty of Perhaps some of those whom Satan has represented as committing Witchcrafts have been tampering with some foolish and wicked Sorceries tho' not to that degree which is Criminal and Capital by the Laws both of God and Men for this Satan may be permitted so to scourge them or it may be they have misrepresented and abused others for which cause the Holy God may justly give Satan leave falsely to represent them Have we not known some that have bitterly censured all that have been complained of by bewitched Persons saying it was impossible they should not be guilty soon upon which themselves or some near Relations of theirs have been to the lasting Infamy of their Families been accused after the same manner and Personated by the Devil Such tremendous Rebukes on a few should make all men to be careful how they joyn with Satan in Condemning the Innocent Arg. 2. Because it is possible for the Devil in the Shape of an innocent Person to do other mischiefs As for those who acknowledge that Satan may personate a pious Person but not to do mischief their Opinion has been confuted by more than a few unhappy Instances Mr. Clark speaks of a Man that had been an Atheist or a Sadduce not believing that there are any Devils or any to us invisible World this Man was converted but as a Punishment of his Infidelity evil Angels did often appear to him in
calls for the utmost help of all Persons in their several Capacities II. We cannot but with all Thankfulness acknowledge the Success which the merciful God has given unto the sedulous and assiduous Endeavors of our honourable Rulers to detect the abominable Witchcrafts which have been committed in the Country humbly praying that the discovery of these mysterious and mischievous Wickednesses may be perfected III. We judge that in the prosecution of these and all such Witchcrafts there is need of a very critical and exquisite Caution lest by too much Credulity for things received only upon the Devil's Authority there be a Door opened for a long Train of miserable Consequences and Satan get an Advantage over us for we should not be ignorant of his Devices IV. As in Complaints upon Witchcrafts there may be Matters of Enquiry which do not amount unto Matters of Presumption and there may be Matters of Presumption which yet may not be reckoned Matters of Conviction so 't is necessary that all Proceedings thereabout be managed with an exceeding tenderness towards those that may be complained of especially if they have been Persons formerly of an unblemished Reputation V. When the first Enquiry is made into the Circumstances of such as may lie under any just Suspicion of Witchcrafts we could wish that there may be admitted as little as is possible of such Noise Company and Openness as may too bastily expose them that are examined and that there may nothing be used as a Test for the Trial of the suspected the Lawfulness whereof may be doubted among the People of God but that the Directions given by such Judicious Writers as Perkins and Bernard be consulted in such a Case VI. Presumptions whereupon Persons may be committed and much more Convictions whereupon Persons may be condemned as guilty of Witchcrafts ought certainly to be more considerable than barely the accused Persons being represented by a Spectre unto the Afflicted inasmuch as 't is an undoubted and a notorious thing that a Daemon may by God's Permission appear even to ill purposes in the Shape of an innocent yea and a vertuous Man Nor can we esteem Alterations made in the Sufferers by a Look or Touch of the Accused to be an infallible Evidence of Guilt but frequently liable to be abused by the Devil 's Legerdemains VII We know not whether some remarkable Affronts given to the Devils by our disbelieving of those Testimonies whose whole force and strength is from them alone may not put a Period unto the Progress of the dreadful Calamity begun upon us in the Accusation of so many Persons whereof we hope some are yet clear from the great Transgression laid unto their Charge VIII Nevertheless We cannot but humbly-recommend unto the Government the speedy and vigorous Prosecution of such as have rendred themselves obnoxious according to the Direction given in the Laws of God and the wholesome Statutes of the English Nation for the Detection of Witchcrafts FINIS Books now in the Press and going to it Printed for John Dunton at the Raven in the Poultry MEmoirs of the Right Honourable Arthur Earl of Anglesey late Lord Privy-Seal intermixt with Moral â—olitical and Historical Observations and many Secret Passages not before made publick To which is added A Letter written by his Lordship containing the Reasons of his retiring from Court in the late King's Reign Published by Sir Peter Pet Knight according to his Lordship's Request upon his Death bed The Genuine Remains of that Learned Prelate Dr. Thomas Barlâ—w late Lord Bishop of Lincoln containing various Points Theological Philosophical Historical c in Letters to several Persons of Honour and Quality with some Remarkable Passages in his Lordship's Life written with his own Hand To which is added the Resolution of many abstruse Points in Divinity with great Variety of other Subjects written by his Lordship and Published by Sir Peter Pet Knight A Directory for Young Communicants Wherein the Nature of the Haly Sacrament is Explain'd the most weighty Cases of Conscience about it are resolv'd and all those Scruples alledg'd for the Omission of it are consider'd By a Divine of the Church of England To which is added Mensalia Sacra or Meditations suited to all the parts of that Solemn Ordinance The History of the Famous Edicts of Nants Containing the most Remarkable things that have happened in France both before and since its Publication upon Occasion of the Diversity of Religions and especially a full Account of all the Contraventioâ—s Non-Executions Elusions Artifices Violences and other Injustices which the Protestants reasonably Pretend and Complain they have Suffered contrary to the Tenour of the said Edict called and held Sacred and Irrevocable to the time of its most Perfidious Revocation in October 1685. with all the Remarkable Occurrences that have followed since the said New Edict In Four Volumes This French Book of Martyrs which the World has been so long expecting is Licensed and Entered in the Hall-Book and will be Translated with all the Accuracy so great a Work requires A Peaceable Enquiry into the Nature of the present Controversie among the Vnited Brethren about Justification By a Reverend Divine A New and Comprehensive Book of Trade by William Leybourn Author if the late book entituled Eursus Mathematicus The Third Edition of the first Account of the Tryals of the New-England Witches The Compleat Library for June will be publisht in a few days containing an Historical Account of the Choicest Books newly printed in England and in the Forreign Journals as also the State of Learning in the World A Directory for Youth through all the Difficulties attending that State of Life By the Reverend Mr. Pomphret May the 16th 1693. New Proposals for the Printing of a Book of William Leybourn's Author of the Late Cursus Mathematicus and of divers other Mathematical Tractates Who hath now by him a Miscellanious Manuscript ready for the Press which he Intends to entitle Pleasure with Profit It consisting of Recreations of divers Kinds Viz. Numerical Geometrical Mechanical Optical Astronomical Horometrical Cryptographical Statical Magnetical Automatical Chymical Historical Published for Ingenious Spirits to make farther Scrutiny into these and the like Sublime Sciences and to divert them from following such Vices as Youth in this Age are too much inclin'd to This Book when Printed of a good Letter will contain above One Hundred Sheets with near Two Hundred Cutts And as he hath already Published his Two last Treatises viz. Dialling Plain Concave Convex Projective Reflective Refractive c. And Cursus Mathematicus by way of Subscription he now again offers this to all Lovers of Laudable Pleasant and Profitable Recreations And to the end that This may come to Publick View in his Life time he presents the following Overture for the promotion of it to all Masters Heads Provosts Fellows Scholars c. of both Universities To all Publick and Private Schoolmasters Ushers and Scholars under them To all Gentlemen of