in sucking the warm Bloud of Men or Beasts as a chearful and healthy constitution in drawing in the refreshing gales of pure and sincere Air. CHAP. VIII Inferences drawn from the foregoing Treatise HAving now dispatched the most material Objections against the opinion of Witchcraft I now come to the last part of my design which is to draw some Practical Conclusions from this whole Discourse in reference to the conduct of mens lives and manners And First since we have so clear a discovery of the Powers of Darkness whose united and combined Forces are so potent and terrible in opposing the growth of sincere Piety and Religion we should be strong in God and couragiously resist them being stedfast in the Faith Divine Providence having placed us in this lower World where we are surrounded with Enemies designs not by this our ruine and undoing but that our contest should end in Victory and our warfare crowned at last with Immortal Glory and Felicity Wherefore though our Enemies are tall and mighty Gyants and from the reason of their Natures have many advantages over frail Flesh and Bloud yet such is the Constitution of things and such the Arms we are furnished withal for the Combate that as David through a great Faith and Confidence in the Divine Assistance prevailed over the mighty Champion of the Philistines with a Sling and a Stone so by a firm Trust reposed in the same Aid we may overthrow and become Victorious over all the Infernal Powers that desie the Armies of the God of Israel Here therefore lies the Field of Gallantry and Honour here are the Olympia of the Soul wherein she strives and wrestles not with Flesh and Bloud but with the strong and subtle Forces of Hell and Darkness not for a Garland of Flowers but for Wreaths of Immarcessible Glory Take heart then O Man and like an invincible Champion of the Holy Iesus fight the good fight of Faith Be true and sincere to thy best Hopes and Interests by a perfect Eradication of all thy Exorbitant lusts and corruptions and by a strong Faith and profound Humility form the living Image of God within thee Then shall thy Soul with joy and triumph be lifted up above the perplexed Fate of this Inferior World and be able to repress and extinguish the Incantations and Allurements of the Mundane Spirit through the might and power of a Divine Principle Nor shall the subtle Plots and Machinations of the Powers of Darkness and the Conspiracies of Hell be able to defeat those watchful Armies of Light with which thou art guarded Act generously and becoming not only the nature of a man but a faithful Disciple of the Son of God and behold those numerous Troops of Angels which though invisible to our weak and bodily eyes perpetually surround and encompass the servants of the living God The Blessed Iesus who in the days of his flesh by his Soveraign Command ejected Legions of Infernal Spirits out of their usurped Holds in the Bodies of men and by his glorious Resurrection cast down the Prince of Darkness from his unjust Empire and Dominion in the World maintains the same Righteous Cause still and carries on a successful War against those Apostate Spirits in which whosoever will persevere with courage and resolution shall at the last reap the joyous Fruits of his Victory and Patience and receive from the hands of the glorious King of Righteousness a Beautiful and Immortal Crown of life and blessedness Secondly We learn not to speak evil of Angels For he who is now the Head and Prince of the Dark Kingdom is supposed by most Divines to have been once the highest in Dignity and Power of the whole Angelick Order and though reflecting upon his State and Grandeur and finding himself the chiefest of the works of Gods hands in the haughty pride of his heart he aspired to an equality with God and was thereby cast down into these Aereal Regions yet is he still a very formidable and tremendous Power not to be blasphemed or spoke evil of but to be resisted by all those ways and means which God in his holy Word hath propounded to us It is S. Austin his opinion that what is spoken of the King of Babylon by the Prophet Esay may prefigure or allude to this mighty Prince of the Dark Legions How art thou fallen from Heaven O Lucifer son of the morning For thou hast said in thineheart I will ascend into Heaven I will exalt my Throne above the Stars of God I will sit also upon the Mount of the Congregation in the sides of the North I will ascend above the heights of the Clouds I will be like the most High And hitherto he refers the description of the Prince of Tyrus by Ezekiel Thou hast been in Eden the Garden of God every precious stone was thy covering the Sardius Topaz and the Diamond the Beryl the Onyx and the Iasper the Saphire the Emerald and the Carbuncle and Gold the workmanship of thy Tabrets and of thy Pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created Thou art the anointed Cherub that covereth and I have set thee so thou wast upon the Holy Mountain of God thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created till Iniquity was found in thee And if this so high and majestick a description in its first and primary sence belong to that mighty Angel of Darkness he is not foolishly and idly to be scoffed at or blasphemed but according to the sober advice of the Author of the Golden Verses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. to be feared as a very powerful and implacable Enemy of mankind by doing good and justifiable actions and by persevering in a course of Virtue which only through the assistance of Divine Goodness can deliver us from his Rage and Malice There is a place of Scripture which though not much taken notice of by later Divines yet is very full to this purpose 2 Pet. 2.10 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tremble not when they rail at Glories or as our Translation renders it they are not afraid to speak evil of Dignities whereas Angels which are greater in power and might bring not a railing Accusation or a contumelious Indictment 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 against them before the Lord. Parallel to which is that of S. Iude ver 8 9. speak evil of Dignities or rail at Glories yet Michael the Archangel when contending with the Devil he disputed about the Body of Moses durst not bring against him a railing Accusation but said The Lord rebuke thee That by dignities here are understood Angels is clear 1. From the manner of expression calling them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Glories a word frequently used in the Old Testament to express the appearance of Angels The only difficulty will be why evil Angels should be called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
Automaton that is any kind of Machine that moves of it self wound up having of it self the corporeal principle of those Motions for which it was instituted with all things requisite for its action and the same Watch or other Engine when it is broken and the principle of its Motion ceases to act From hence it will appear that there is no impossibility in the thing nor any such inextricable difficulty in conceiving how the Soul may actually separate from the Body for some time without ensuing Death For the further clearing of which there are these two things required 1. To shew how the necessary Functions of life may be conserved and kept up while the Soul is separate from the Body 2. To consider what those things are which may cause a Temporaneous disunion and disjunction of the Soul from the Body First then it will not seem at all strange that the principal Functions of life should be performed for some time without the presence of the Soul to them who will admit of the principles of the Cartesian Philosophy which supposes that the Soul contributes nothing to any of those Motions in the Body which depond not upon actual Will and Cogitation And if withal we suppose Brutes to be but Machines or Automata it will be very clear that all those Motions which we call Vital in the Body may be performed without the actual presence of the Soul But if this seem harsh and irrational to them who imagine bare Mechanism to be an incompetent cause for the production of such effects and that the Systole and Diastole of the Heart which later Anatomists have found to be a Muscular Constriction and Relaxation and the Circulation of the Bloud through all parts of the Body must proceed not from a Mechanical but Vital principle They may be pleased to consider that in Nature there is a certain Vis Plastica or rather Nature it self is it a Plastick Power or Inconscious Incorporeal life which passing through the Universe governs all the Motions of Matter every where according to such laws fatally imprest upon it and reconciles the enmities and contrarieties of particular things bringing them into one general Harmony in the whole and strikes the first and Rudimental lineaments in the formation of the Bodies of Animals and lastly may be particular Souls or Spirits be so far rapt and drawn into consent as to work strange effects not only upon their own but upon separate and distant Bodies Now by this Hylarchical principle or Plastick nature so many of the vital motions of the Body may be kept in play as shall render it as fit and convenient for the Inhabitation of the Soul at its return as it was when she dislodged and separated from it In answer to the second particular it may be said that it is possible the Soul may be rapt from this Terrestrial Body and carried to remote and distant places from whence she may make a Postliminiar return by either of these two ways 1. From a vehement affection or deep imagination piercing into the very lowest of her Powers 2. By the assistance and activity of a more potent Spirit While a House is standing whole and entire the occupier of it may go out and in and still keep the possession but when it is either thrown down and broken by an external violence or falls to pieces through the rottenness and consumption of its parts he must lye in the streets if he cannot get another dwelling Such is the condition of the Soul in respect of the Body whose principal parts in which consist the safety of the whole being corrupted she hastes away never to return till it be rebuilt But while they remain firm and safe she may be carried out by strong and powerful affections and re-enter and dwell there as before Nor is any Desire or Velleity whereby many will say they would fain go out of their Bodies to some distant place though without any more potent affection than to try the experiment enough to cause a separation but it must be so strong and vehement and so far imprint it self upon the imagination as to reach that Plastick Faculty by which the Soul is connected to the Body and these cords being loosened and untied she may without any difficulty pass into the open Air. And he that considers the strange and wonderful effects of Imagination even upon these our Earthly Tenements will have no reason to doubt but the same Power may extend to a Temporary disjunction of the Soul from the Body Common experience shows how the Pica or longing of a pregnant Woman will by a keen Fancy stamp and impress the character of the thing so passionately desired upon the Child in her womb I will not take upon me to maintain the truth of all those strange effects attributed to the strength of Imagination by Fienus Cornelius Agrippa and others though I must confess so much is said by them as to matter of Fact as may satisfie a free and unprejudicated mind that the power of Imagination even upon these gross and unwieldy Bodies is much greater and more notable than is by many supposed But if any one shall so far distrust the truth of such stories as to rank them among Legendary Fables let him consider what other could be Iacobs intent in that device of his in placing pilled and straked Rods before the flocks at the watring-places but only to heighten and invigorate the Imaginative Faculty of the Ews at the time of Conception Now that this hath actually hapned namely that the Soul hath been carried from the Body and after some time returned again the relations of disinterested persons would induce us to believe And it is very probable that upon a due search into the Causes and Natures of things it may not seem incredible what Cardan relates of himself that he could when he pleased fall into this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Disjunction or Abreption of his Soul from his Body A thing which is credibly reported of the Lappians who lying as it were in a Trance for some hours will give a perfect account of affairs at three hundred miles distance and by some evident token give assurance of their being in such places To which if we should add the story of Phaereus Pamphylius recorded by Plato of Hermotimus Clazomenius by Pliny and of Soleus by Plutarch it will at least assure us that grave and wise Persons did not think such an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as is here contended for to be altogether a thing so monstrous and incredible The other way whereby a Soul may be withdrawn from the Body and brought back again is by the efficiency and activity of a more powerful Spirit And hitherto some learned men refer that of Ezek. 37.1 The hand of the Lord was upon me and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the midst of the valley And though S. Paul deliver it doubtfully as
is called the Prince of the Power of the Air yet is not this Power infinite and unlimited but restrained and curbed by the Kingdom of Light that is by those Holy Angels who never revolted from the Government of Heaven and whom God has made to preside over those Apostate Legions Now though the malice of these accursed Spirits be infinite and their thirst and desire to deface and spoil the fair and irreprehensible beauty of the works of Gods hands unlimited yet are they perpetually under the inspection of higher and nobler Beings who carefully preserve those severe Laws and restraints Divine Providence hath put upon them at which though their untamed hearts swell with disdain and rage yet can they not flye from And so much was confessed by the Oracle of Apollo that the Daemons who with an unwearied diligence range over Earth and Sea 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are subdued and conquered by a Divine scourge But when men either through a fond curiosity or to gratifie their wicked Lusts and Passions shall hanker after a more intimate Familiarity and begin to tamper with these Daemons they willingly and readily offer themselves for no other end but to beguile and ensnare and at last ruine and destroy those who deserting Divine Providence had their recourse to them 2. That this Providence secures mankind from general outrages and devastations by evil Spirits So that it is not in the power of the Kingdom of Darkness to depopulate the Earth by offering violence to the inhabitants of it nor can they deluge the world thereby to destroy Man and Beast they cannot alter the fixed and established Laws of the Universe nor invert the seasons of the year For there is a chain of Government that runs down from God the Supreme Monarch whose bright and piercing eyes look through all that he has made to the lowest degree of the Creation and there are Presidential Angels of Empires and Kingdoms and such as under them have the Tutelage of private Families and lastly every mans particular Guardian Genius Nor is the inanimate or material world left to blind Chance or Fortune but there are likewise mighty and potent Spirits to whom is committed the guidance and care of the fluctuating and uncertain motions of it and by their ministry Fire and Vapour Storms and Tempests Snow and Hail Heat and Cold are all kept within such bounds and limits as are most serviceable to the ends of Providence They take care of the variety of seasons and superintend the Tillage and Fruits of the Earth upon which account Origen calls them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 invisible Husbandmen So that all affairs and things being under the inspection and government of these Incorporeal Beings the power of the Dark Kingdom and its Agents is under a strict confinement and restraint and they cannot bring a general mischief upon the world without a special permission of a superior Providence 3. That the exploits of wicked Spirits upon particular persons may be permitted for diverse good causes and reasons As 1. To humble them for some sin as in the case of those grievous and notorious sinners in the Apostolical time who were delivered up to Satan it is said they were vexed and tormented by bodily pains and diseases inflicted by those evil Spirits and that to bring them to a sincere repentance and reformation of their Errors But without any such judicial proceeding this envious Explorator or searcher for faults when in his walk or ranging to and fro upon the Earth he meets with a Christian professor or pious person fallen into sin then he is said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as in the case of S. Peter Luke 22. 31. to require him of God demands to have him delivered up to him for every sin gives the Devil a more or less right and claim as to a Lictor or Executioner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to sift and shake him terribly sometimes by real possessions or otherwise bodily infestations and the crafty Spirit may at the same time gratifie the impotent revenge of an accursed Hag. To this purpose it is observable what Doctor Hammond recites out of the Hierusalem Targum on Gen. 2.14 supposed to be said to the Serpent by God Cùm silii mulieris praecepta legis deserverint nec mandata observaverint tu i.e. the Serpent firmus cris percutiens eos in calcaneo eorum aegritudine afficies When the children of the woman shall for sake the commandments of the law thou shalt be strong and shalt strike them on the heel and inflict sickness upon them 2. To try their faith and patience as in the case of Iob upon whom the envious Tempter laid fore afflictions to battle if he could his faith in the Divine Goodness And Lactantius notes that these impure Daemons insinuant se corporibus hominum occultè in visceribus operti valetudinem vitiant morbos citant somniis animos terrent mentes furoribus quatiunt ut homines his malis cogant ad eorum auxilia decurrere i. e. insinuate themselves into the bodies of men and lying hid in their bowels annoy their health raise diseases terrifie their minds with dreams and shake them with madness that they may compel them by these mischiefs to flye to them for help But Origen says expresly that there are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 certain Daemons which may be called the publick Lictors or Officers which have at certain times a power committed to them to inflict Famines Droughts and Pestilences either for the conversion of men from sin and vice or for the trial of their Faith Patience and Constancy And how consistent it is with Divine Providence and agreeable with the wisdom and goodness of God to suffer these fallacious Spirits to vex and disquiet mankind is elegantly pursued by the forecited Lactantius viz. That this diversity contains the Grand secret of the world For this is it that makes Virtue which without this would be so far from being that it would not so much as appear forasmuch as Virtue cannot be unless there be some Rival in the overcoming of whom it may exert and shew its strength For as victory cannot be gained without a fight neither can Virtue consist without an Enemy Since then God has given Virtue to man he hath likewise on the contrary appointed him an Enemy lest Virtue languishing in idleness should lose its Nature Whose very Reason lies in this That it may be confirmed and strengthened by being shaken and enfeebled nor can it any other way arrive to the highest pitch unless being always tost by a detruding hand it found its safety in a constant course of contending For God would not have man attain Immortal Blessedness by easiness and softness He therefore being about to give Virtue gave an Enemy first who should instil Lusts and Vices into the minds of men who should be the Author of errors and the contriver of all mischiefs that where as God