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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A07467	The admirable history of the posession and conuersion of a penitent woman Seduced by a magician that made her to become a witch, and the princesse of sorcerers in the country of Prouince, who was brought to S. Baume to bee exorcised, in the yeare 1610, in the moneth of Nouember, by the authority of the reuerend father, and frier, Sebastian Michaëlis, priour of the couent royall of S. Magdalene at Saint Maximin, and also of the said place of Saint Baume. Who appointed the reuerend father, Frier Francis Domptius, Doctor of Diuinity, in the Vniuersity of Louaine, ... for the exorcismes and recollection of the acts. All faithfully set down, and fully verified. Wherunto is annexed a pneumology, or discourse of spirits made by the said father Michaëlis, ... Translated into English by W.B.	Michaelis, Sébastien, 1543?-1618.; W. B., fl. 1613-1617.	1613 (1613)	STC 17854; ESTC S107052	483,998	666

into that from whence they were exhaled and drawne faith Tertullian Eadem ratione species illa intercepta est qua edita fuerat si non fuit initium visibile nec finis By which it appeareth that the Doue that descended from heauen and lighted vpon Christ Iesus was fashioned of aire and not of earth for it is said Descendit spiritus sanctus corporali specie sicut columba in ipsum The like may be said of the firy tongues that sate vpon the Apostles at the feast of Whitsontide Factus est repente de coelo sonus tanquam aduenientis spiritus vehementis So that it is cleere that these apparances are framed of aire as the cloud out of which God the Father spake to his Sonne in his transfiguration which vanished into aire as did Moyses also whose body in that apparition was composed of the same element and whiles the Apostles eyes were fixed on these obiects it vanished and they saw none but Christ Iesus alone So when the Angell appeared to Manoah the father of Samson he mounted vp into heauen in a flame of fire and in his ascent was visibly seene of him but by little and little Manoah and his wife lost the sight of him because his body began to dissolue into the first matter whereof it was framed Thus did the Angell that accompanied Tobias in his iourney It is now time said hee for me to returne to him that sent me and presently hee vanished from them And for addition vnto the truth hereof some alleage experience saying that if a man should cut such airie bodies it would fare with them as it doth with the Sun-beame which doth runne together and presently vnite it selfe without any signe of such separation which very well agreeth with the nature of aire and is fit to confute the error of Psellus who in the seuenth chapter of his booke maintaineth that they haue a naturall body yet in the 23. chapter he granteth that such bodies being smit asunder doe ioyne againe as doth the aire when it is diuided whence he might easily haue collected that these bodies must bee made of aire and not proper vnto Angels For touching the reason which he bringeth that if they had not bodies they could not be tormented with fire it is certaine that the diuine prouidence may easily bring to passe that a body may really worke vpon a spirit and likewise the contrary which no Christian can deny to bee by diuine prouidence wrought in the Sacrament of Baptisme where the water as the instrument of the diuine bountie doth really and truly wash and purge the soule that is a spirit and experience teacheth vs this truth in nature for imaginations which are corporall things doe depresse the soule and make it heauie euen vnto death as Christ Iesus himselfe said Besides by this reason we should say that the soules of the damned being departed from this world are not cast into hell-fire because they haue no bodies and must therefore bee impassible And so wee shal fall into their heresie that maintaine that the soules lie sleeping till the day of iudgement which doth directly oppose the holy Scriptures which shew vnto vs that the soules of good men returne vnto God who hath created them to be at quiet in his hands and vnder his protection as S. Stephen saith Domine suscipe spiritum meum and S Paul wished for death to no other end but to be with Christ Cupio inquit dissolui esse cum Christo which is confirmed by S. Iohn in the Reuelation saying Henceforth doe the soules rest from their labours for their good workes follow them and death saith S. Paul shall be a gaine vnto me on the other side they teach that the soules of the reprobate are tormented in the flames of hell as appeareth in the Gospell by the rich Glutton and by the saying of Saint Iohn Baptist who told the Pharisies that the axe was alreadie applied vnto the roote of the tree and euery tree that brought not foorth good fruite should bee hewen downe and cast into the fire This S. Iude affirmeth is already happened to the Sodomites as also to Chorah Dathan and Abiron with their complices and that they went quicke downe to hell But here may an obiection be made how Spirits are able to frame vnto themselues such bodies at their own pleasure S. Augustine answereth that Spirits by a certaine agilitie and naturall power can bring to passe whatsoeuer may be done in nature for they doe perfectly know not onely the effects of nature but the causes also which proceedeth from the refinednesse and subtilitie of spirit wherewith they are indowed which they so well know how to manage and applie that whatsoeuer nature maketh successiuely and at leisure they doe the same in an instant We see the aire diuers times being disposed thereunto by certaine causes is variously depainted with colours and diuers semblances and in the sommer wee sometimes see toades and frogs fall with the raine which proceedeth frō the corruption of the aire from whence also butter-flyes and catterpillers and the like vermine are ingendred all which is produced from the successiue operations of nature The like effects may bee produced by Spirits by vniting of causes whereupon the effects doe necessarily follow Thus we reade that the Diuell tooke vpon him the forme of a Serpent which cannot be denied as also that Pharaohs Magicians by the assistance of Satan did make serpents and frogs appeare before the people and surely they may in the like manner shape and counterfeit any other figure yea of a man himselfe as is cleere by the apparitions recited in the book of Genesis From whence we must draw this necessarie conclusion that it is contrary both to naturall reason and to Scrip that Spirits should haue bodies but that they are incorporeall and inuisible The resolution of all this discourse may bee had in the booke intituled De Ecclesiastic is dog matibus which is amongst the workes of S. Augustine where in the 11. chapter he saith We beleeue that God is inuisible and incorporeall because hee is euery where and is present in all places yet not bounded in by any place but we beleeue that intellectuall substances are corporeall because they are circumscribed in a place as the soule within the body and hence it is that they are called corporeall because they are limited in their substances It remaineth that wee endeuour to know when they were created since Moyses maketh no mention of it and from whence it proceedeth that there is a difference betwixt Spirits so that some are good and some bad CHAP. III. Of the Creation goodnesse or maliciousnesse of Angels SAint Athanasius when he was to giue his full resolution and opinion concerning Spirits vnto Prince Antiochus demandeth in the first place whether Angels were created or no for Moses maketh no mention thereof in the first chap. of Genesis

the most part it is tyed to the production of one manner of effects either from the property of the efficient cause or from the impotency or vnaptnesse of the matter which hath no capacity but to bring forth one thing as the Sunne and all the heauens cannot in the sapp of a vine shape vp or bring forth any other thing but grapes nor from an apple tree any thing but apples Whereupon it must bee granted that there are many effects which are against and aboue the power of nature as Oracles which were nothing else but statues that did speake and giue resolution vnto those doubts that were propounded vnto them and did vnfold many things that were absent hidden and to come as also that some men haue suddenly and without any study or paines taking therein spoken Hebrew Greeke and Latine Syriac Chaldey and all other languages citing sentences of Poets and Orators although they neuer were conuersant in them or in any other kinde of literature that Oxen and Asses should speake and other prodigious accidents should happen against the power and course of nature that a vestall Virgin being suspected of light behauiour and wantonnes should in witnesse of her chastitie cary vp and downe before the Romansa sure full of water Claudia also vpon the same occasion did draw a great ship after her with her girdle and Actius Naeuius did with a rasor cut a whet-stone in peeces It hath been found true by experience and mention is made of the fame in the lawes of the 12. Tables that a certaine Island did fleet vp and downe from one place to another It is also knowen by obseruation that they who practise such things as these do vse certaine words characters prayers protestations and other manners of behauiour which cannot without folly and vanity be presented vnto any but vnto substances that haue vnderstanding and reason From whence hee draweth this conclusion that it is euident that al these prodigies doe proceed from Spirits and therefore there are Spirits And if the authority of the Scripture may heere take place which they may admit of at the least as any other History it is impossible to conceiue that the course of the Sunne should be stayed and that the heauen should goe backward in the time of Iosua and Es●chias by any naturall force or power For Aristotle himselfe faith that this is impossible euen for Intelligences themselues to wheele back the heauen as it is impossible for the soule to yssue forth of the body at pleasure or not to enlifen and actuate the body whiles it remaineth in it because there is a necessity in nature that compelleth the same Therefore it is plaine that those euents proceed from some thing else then from the motion of the heauens and it must necessarily be granted that prodigies ought not to be appropriated to the motion of the heauens but to some other secret causes which stand involued with much ambiguity and mistinesse Mercurius Trismegistus would indeed haue answered that argument touching Oracles in saying that it was true that God did create as many Spirits as are in nature yet it was the art of men to make the Oracles to speake by sitting thereunto certaine influences of the heauens for saith hee such statues might be so aptly accomodated to certaine aspects of the heauens as that they might speake diuine and foretell and might strike men with diseases and heale them againe and might in breefe worke miracles But it fareth heere with him as it doth with Plutarch who endeuouring to giue a reason why Oracles did cease to doe those wonders which they were wont letting slippe the true reason which was the comming of Christ Iesus in the flesh by whom the kingdome of Satan was vtterly ruined he maketh a booke exprespresly to shew the reason of their cessation and silence but hee falleth so short in his discourse that hee alleageth no reasons but such whose insufficiency and weaknesse may bee easily confuted nay which is more the most of them are ridiculous and vnworthy of so great a Philosopher in so much as he is driuen to say that they were nourished by exhalations drawne vp from the earth which when they ceased and were exhausted those Oracles were famished and dyed for want of their accustomed sustenance In the same maze wandereth Trismegistus when hee would yeeld a reason of their ouerthrow for it may be easily demanded of him first why men in these times may not doe the like as those of former ages haue done by the same obseruations of the heauens since now they are more skilled in their motions then formerly they haue beene and whē now our modern Astrologers haue conuicted both Aristotle and Ptolomy of many errours Againe how may it bee possible that the cause should be of lesse excellency then the effect and if a man as hee affirmeth can by his indust●y make such oracles it will in sound Philosophy bee necessarily inferred that hee may also produce and worke the same thinges in another man And if it be replyed that there must bee a concurrence of the heauens influence vnto such a worke I answere Why may not the like influence as well happen vnto a man as vnto a statue of wood Nay why should it not rather agree vnto him as being more capable of reason speech and all other actions then a statue Since then it was neuer knowen that a man was an oracle we may conclude that this reason is most insufficient for it is certaine that in all ages there haue beene some who would not haue desired a better purchase then by this meanes to bee esteemed Gods wherein they retaine a remnant of that poyson wherewith the Serpentinfected our first parents telling them Erit is sicut Dij and Gregory Nazianzene allegeth a number of examples as of Arist●ur Empedo●●mus and Trophonias who hid themselues vnder ground that they might be esteemed Gods Empedocles also cast himselfe head-long into the sulphurous mountaine of Sicily which perpetually vomited 〈◊〉 ●lakes of fire and Iulian the Apostate was incited with the same 〈…〉 and did so burne with the cogitation of the same that hee would haue drowned himselfe in a great riuer Aristotle himselfe who laboured to giue a reason in nature for all things could not comprehend the 〈◊〉 and satisfying cause of the ebbe and flow of the Sea Eurip●● now called Negrepont where with hee was so vexed that hee threw himselfe violently into the same crying Because Aristotle cannot containe this Sea this Sea shall conteine Aristotle as Iustin Martyr writeth of him Hence it is that hee studied to render a naturall reason for those memorably strange accidents in man which cannot be attributed to any cause but either to God or Spirits and therefore he affirmed that the Sibills and those excellent Emperors and great Philosophers were dis-affected by a melancholick humour through which they spake and did many strange things In

Being commanded to shew the adoration vsed by Thrones hee cast himselfe with incredible swiftnes flat vpon the ground and stretched out his armes as wide as possibly he could The Acts of the 23. of Aprill being Saturday VPon this day the Masses which were celebrated thorow the whole citie of Aix for the conuersion of the Magician were ended for Monsieur Pelicot Prouost and Vicar generall aforesaid had commanded thorow all the Parish Churches Priories and other like places of Religion in the citie of Aix that vpon the Thursday all the Priests should sing the Holy Ghost vpon the Friday halfe the Priests should sing the Conuersion of S. Paul and the other halfe the Conuersion of S. Magdalene vpon the Saturday all should sing the Hymne of our Ladie by the power and efficacie of all which and through Gods assistance Lewes Gaufridy the Magician was found in better case touching his conuersion The Monday following being the 25. of Aprill father Michaelis departed from Aix with the rest of his companions hauing receiued directions from the most reuerend the Generall of his Order to be present at the publike Synod held at Paris the feast of Pentecost then next ensuing Whither being come hee receiued aduertisement that the said prisoner was burned at Aix the last day of Aprill by vertue of the Arrest which was pronounced against him The tenour whereof heere ensueth THE ARREST OF THE COVRT OF PARLIAment of Prouence giuing sentence of death against Master Lewes Gaufridy IT hath pleased the Court to examine and search into the criminall processe and other proceedings made by the authoritie of the said Court at the instance and procurement of the Kings Attorney Generall Complainant in the case crime of Rape Seducement Blasphemie Magick Witchcraft and the like abominations against Master Lewe● Gaufridy originally descended from Beau vezer lez Colmats Priest and beneficed in the Church of Acoules in the Citie of Marseille defendant and prisoner in the prison that belongeth vnto the Palace The verball processe of the proofes and arguments is that Magdalene of Demandoulz otherwise of Pallud one of the Sisters of the Companie of S Vrsula was possessed and held to be really possessed by wicked spirits that were knowne and obserued to haue remained within her at S. Baume from the first of Ianuary last past till the fifth of February by Frier Sebastian Michaelis Doctor of Diuinitie Vicar generall of the reformed Congregation of preaching Friers and Prior of the Couent Royal at S Maximin which attestation was formallie and dulie confirmed by diuers other Fathers bearing date the 20. of the said moneth The decree of the Court containing the granting out of a Commission to Master Anthony Seguiran Counsellor in the said Court to take informations which might concerne the fact of the said Accusation and to attach the said Gaufridy and commit him to the prison of the Palace vpon the 19. of the said moneth The Informations and Inq●isitions taken by the said Commissarie and the verball Processe of the apprehension and commitment of the said Gaufridy Another decree of the said Court which containeth a Commission granted foorth vnto Master Anthonie Thoron a Counsellor likewise in the said Court to heare the said Magdalene of Pallud and to take particular information of the proofes and principall allegations giuen in by the Atturney generall and himselfe together with Monsieur Garandeau Vicar vnto the Archbishop of Aix to indite the said Gaufridy vpon the 28. of the said moneth The hearing deposition and confessions of the said Magdalene touching the said rape seducement and subornation of her to practise those impieties which belong to Magicke as also touching the contract and promises made vnto the wicked Spirits besides many other abominations mentioned in the verball Inditement of the 21 of the said moneth Another Libell of Informations taken by the said Commissarie the 23. of the said moneth The attestation of Master Anthonie Merindol Doctor of Physicke and the Kings Professor in the Vniuersitie of the citie of Aix touching the strange and extraordinarie gestures and passages that happened vnto the person of the said Magdalene of Pallud during the time that he had her in cure and before the manifestation of her possession vpon the 24. of the said moneth The report made by the appointment of the said Commissaries and giuen into the Court b● Maste● Iames Fonteine Lewes Grassy and the said Merindol Doctors and pro●esso●s of P●ysicke and Peter Bontemps Surgeon and profest Anatomist in the said Vniuersitie touching the qualitie and nature of those extraordinary motions which at set times and pauses did affect the head and braine of the said Magdalene of Pallud and what might be the cause of them as also touching the nature causes and reasons of those markes in her bodie which made the place deuoid of the sense of feeling where they were and which were also shewed by her as also touching her virginitie and her being defloured vpon the 26. and 27. of the said moueth and the 5. of March last past The Interrogatories and Answers of the said Gaufridy vpon the 26. of February and the 4. of March last Another decree of the said Court that the said Master Anthony Thoron who was formerly deputed to be Commissarie should take the full view and information of the said Inditement vpon the 4. of March The verball Processe of the confronting and personall contestation betweene the said Magdalene of Pallud and Gaufridy aboue named vpon the 5. of the said moneth The report of the markes found vpon the body of the said Gaufridy following the instructions and directions of the said Magdalene vpon the 8 of the said moneth of March. The publication of the said report with the confronting of him with the said Physitians and Surgeons deputed and commanded thereunto by the said Commissioners There re-examination and confronting of other witnesses vpon the 8. of March Another Libell of Informations taken in the citie of Marseille vpon the fifth sixth and seuenth of Aprill last past The hearing of Mistris Victoire de Courbier said and pretended to haue been bewitched by the said Gaufridy by reason of the crasinesse and indisposition of her vnderstanding as also because of her disordinate and scandalous affection to the said Gaufridy vpon the sixth of Aprill The second Interrogatories made vnto the said Gaufridy touching the truth of the said Information which contained his confession that hee had bewitched the said Victoire by breathing vpon her the twelfth and sixteenth of the said moneth of Aprill The verball Processe of the voluntarie confessions made by the said Gaufridy touching other facts and crimes laid vnto his charge the 14. and 15. of the said moneth The retractations of the said Gaufridy the fifteenth day of Aprill aforesaid in the afternoone The letters of the Bishop of Marseille to Master Ioseph Pellicot Prouost of the Metropolitane Church of the citie of Aix and also Vicar vnto the Arch-bishop of Aix

I did apprehend that there was yet left vntraced another way a great deale more safe and lawfull and more apt for the course and scope of my studies who for the glory of God and releefe of the Church against the opposition of heresies haue for the space of 40. yeares giuen ouer the reading of all sorts of bookes but the holy Scriptures and the fathers of the Church to wit that this discourse should be drawne from the Scriptures and from the reading of auncient fathers vpon which we are to ground the principall foundation although other authors bee alleaged on the By to adde strength and illustration therevnto For touching the first they doe ●akedly report the fact but produce no proofes of the same The second doe propound their scholesticall resolutions of this point but the nicenesse of these times will not digest such fare As for those of the third sort wee will oppose against them by way of admonition that which Tertullian faith Daemonem soli nouerunt Christiani vel quaecunque apud Dominum secta And in another place he rendreth a reason of this saying Cui veritas comperta sine Deo cui Deus cognitus sine Christo cui Christus exploratus sine Spiritu Sancto cui Spiritus Sanctus accommodatus sine fidei Sacramento By which Gradation hee pointeth out vnto vs that no man could euer exactly and without grosse errour know what belongeth vnto the soule or vnto good and bad spirits for hee speaketh of such in these aboue-cited passages vnlesse he haue dranke of the water of Christ Iesus Philosophers saith he haue sometimes chanced vpon the truth yet was it neuer without some mingle of errour or else they did draw and borrow it from the Scripture or it fared with them as with one that hath lost himselfe in a maze or labyrinth who if after many crookings and distractions he chance to light vpon the right way out it is to be attributed to hap and not to election for they haue no assurance and certainty in whatsoeuer they say or inuent and therefore the Academicks doe rather freely confesse that they haue no certaine knowledge of any thing S. Augustine is iust of Tertullians opinion if Mercurius Trismegistus saith hee or any other doe deliuer any thing that is good it is not of authority sufficient to teach vs a wholesome doctrine but it is onely able to conuince and disprooue the Infidels And as concerinng their sayings that they are agreeable vnto truth there is no lesse discrepancy and distance between their authority and the authority of the Prophets then there is between Diuels and Angels For the Diuels haue sometimes spoken truth yet are we not presently to build a conclusion of Catholick doctrine vpon the same The question then in hand is to be debated by that which is conformable to the holy Scriptures and which hath been taught by the auncient fathers of the Church which is the onely scope vnto which I aime in this worke where we will also alleage when there shall be a conueniency thereof certaine Philosophers which for the most part are already cited by S. Thomas as farre as we shall finde them in conformity and league with Scriptures and the fathers And if any shall oppose against them tdey shall find themselues repelled and confuted by the ponderous and waighty allegations of naturall reason to content and gaine in or confound the Atheists whose number is farre greater then it should be although much inferiour vnto those to my great greefe I speake it that doe symbolize and comply themselues to Sorcerers and adhere vnto them by an infinite number of superstitions in which foule crimes men of the best ranke do sundry times inbarke themselues So that I may well say with Chrysostome that if it were as easie to execute iustice vpon the great ones as it is vpon the baser sort all the prisons would be presently stuffed with Magicians and Sorcerers And else-where doth this good father with large effusion of teares deplore the blindnesse of such people where he saith Lachrymis gemitibus digna vaticinia obseruationes genesis signa ligaturae diuinationes incantationes caetera huiusmodi Quae omnia magno profecto scelere praesumuntur denique iram prouocare consueuerunt atque eò magis quo post ingentis be●euolentiae insignis miserationis indicia postquam ille filium suum pro redimendis hominibus misit haec nesario aufu admittimus To this purpose doth S. Augustine prettily teach vs that this is a thing which God permitteth thereby to occasion vs to fly into the close embracements of Christ Iesus our Mediatour when we shal vnderstand how shamelesly and brutishly the Diuell doth dragge vs vnto him and worrieth vs as a famished Wolfe doth the harmeles sheepe Quantò quippe in haec ima inquit potestatem daemonum maiorem videmus tantò tenacius mediatori est inhaerendum per quem de imo ad summa contendimus It remaineth that I should also handle whether those things which are spoken of Sorcerers doe proceed from dreames and illusions or whether they are reall and true But fearing a glut of words in this long Epistle which may perhaps seeme vnto some more wearisome then delightfull I haue remitted and fitted that discourse to the conclusion of this booke hauing euer before me that which S. Augustine wittily obserueth that a reader when hee seeth the end of a booke or a chapter is as glad as a passenger to see the signe of his Inne where hee is to repose himselfe A DISCOVRSE OF SPIRITS CONTAINING WHATSOEVER IS NECESsary for the more full vnderstanding and resolution of the difficult Argument of Sorcerers CHAP. I. Whither there be Spirits or no There are foure points to be obserued touching Spirits that there are Spirits what their nature is from whence they came and the end why they are TOuching the first point it is an ordinarie method in all things which men are desirous to comprehend first to search into their causes otherwise they shall not want occasions to remaine vnresolued and doubtfull and their spirits will not cease to be full of discontentment and perplexitie For this is the nature of man especially when hee seeth vnusuall and extraordinary effects as is cleere by the example of countrie people set downe and expressed by Aristotle who when they see an eclipse of the Sunne or Moone they are presently stricken with admiration like vnto the Children of Israel who wondred at the new foode of Manna and demanded what it was And such kindes of admiration saith Aristotle haue been the seed-plot and head of all Philosophie for those spirits that had a touch of generousnes and industrie did presently endeuour to comprehend the cause of those vnusuall euents The like course of proceeding is here to bee obserued and the rather because it seemeth so much the more admirable and incredible by how much the more distant the knowledge

and experience thereof is from the best and soundest part of men We are therefore to diue into the causes which when we once shall steddily comprehend it will easily bow and incline our vnderstandings to the beleefe of those things and make vs conceiue them not only to be possible but of a more ordinarie frequencie then hath hitherto bin beleeued And in regard that Spirits are the cause of these euents wee are first to know whither there are Spirits or no. There are three sorts of men that haue denied Spirits the first are Philosophers the second are the Sadduces and the third are Atheists Touching Aristotle the prince of Philosophers hee is of opinion that there is one supreme cause not tyed to the pressure and incumbrance of a bodie And he sets downe 47. Spirits subordinate to that supreme cause according to the number of motions which he obserued in the celestiall Orbes of heauen thinking with himselfe that those heauenly bodies could not so ordinately moue vnlesse they were animated and quickened thereunto by some Spirits of life Now whither hee had stolne this out of the holie Scripture or at the least had borrowed it from his Master Plato who might take it from thence because it is said in Ezekiel speaking of the celestiall bodies which are there called wheeles Spiritus vitae erat in rotis or whether hee had inuented the same by the collections which his experience had made from his frequent obseruing of them I cannot tell but surely he said truth except where hee seemeth by exclusion to shut out the rest as if there were no more then those that he recited Wherein he might consider that if those Spirits were necessarie for the vniforme and vncessant motions of the Spheares and by a consequent for the seruice of man Qui est quodammodo finis omnium much more is it conuenient that this first and supreme cause whom hee calleth the alone Prince of all things should be waited on with an infinite number of them for his owne vse and seruice Whereunto agreeth that of Daniel who teacheth vs that Millia millium ministrabant ei decies centena millia assistebant ei Thousand thousands ministred vnto him and tenne thousand times tenne thousand stood before him Whereof Dauid giueth the naturall reason saying Ministrieius vt faciant voluntatem eius and this doth tacitely agree with the saying of Ezechiel Spiritus vitae erat in rotis Mercurius Trismegistus as S. Thomas recites him doth determinately denie that there are good Spirits except those who wheele about the heauens And in this he agreeth with Aristotle although hee was a better Diuine then the other because he yeeldeth that God did make and create them which Aristotle seemed to deny who frameth to himselfe an eternitie euen of thistles and butter-flyes but touching the number of Spirits they are both of one opinion Aristotle doth deny that there are wicked Spirits whose authoritie Physitians did follow and adhere vnto as Psellus witnesseth intending those that were not Christians or which had apostated from the true Religion This sort of men doth ordinarily fall into two grosse errors the one against the immortalitie of the soule as it is recited in the 2. of Wisedome saying that the soule doth altogether resemble the flame that is nourished from the lampe the other is against Spirits for when they are shewed the effects wrought really by the Diuell in the bodies of those hee doth possesse they do adiudge of it more meanely then Aristotle did and affirme that these incongruities doe happen through the indisposition and depraued temper of humours and vitall spirits And thus as they doe by the immortalitie of the soule so heere also they change an immortall and incorruptible spirit into a spirit more earthly and which they would haue to bee quintessented from the temperament of naturall qualities which indeed is nothing else but a blast or smoake Hence it is that S. Augustine doth to this purpose fitly alleage the historie of a Physitian who saith hee was constrained to confesse the immortalitie of soules by a vision which hee had when he lay asleepe wherein hee saw although the casements of his eyes were shut vp and heard although his sense of hearing was tied vp and possessed by sleepe his good Angell speaking vnto him and making him to consider that his soule of it selfe without the aide or seruice of the bodie or any of the organs thereof did see and heare And this is the reason why such kinde of people doe relie and leane too much vpon Philosophie and causes in nature The Sadduces also may be ranked with them because they also denie Spirits as it is recited in the Acts of the Apostles from thence they fall into another inconuenience and that is to deny the immortality of the soule whereupon it followeth of necessitie that they must deny the resurrection of the body which three points are common vnto Atheists and all those that deny Spirits Others there are that are not so frontlesse and grosse in their opinions as the former but grant that as there are good Spirits for the motion of the heauen doth force from them that confession in that so good and necessarie a worke cannot proceed but from a good agent so there are also bad Spirits and that from them many actiōs of villany and naughtinesse doe proceed Of these Porphiry maketh mention in Epistola ad Anebuntem cited by S. Thomas saying that these are the Masters of Sorcerers and of all that vse witchcraft and that they neuer direct any man in a course of goodnesse but giue all passage and furtherance vnto those who haue any propension to doe mischiefe Plato also and his sect doe grant that there is a great number of Spirits whose residence is in the highest region of the aire as birds haue their abiding place in the low and middle region and fishes in the water but they doe heere intermingle many absurdities as wee will declare heereafter To conclude none haue euer perfectly knowen the nature of Spirits but those that haue receiued and vnderstood the holy Scripture Now against Philosophers and Painims wee haue experience against the Saduces who are hereticks amongst the Iewes as Tertullian saith wee haue the fiue bookes of Moses which they themselues admit and for Catholicks and Christians wee haue the consent of all the holy Scriptures both of the old and new Testament S. Thomas in his third booke against the Gentiles doth solidly and learnedly dispute against all the arguments of the Philosophers who affirmed that when any prodigie in nature did happen it was to be attributed to the influence of celestiall bodies which are able to bring forth many things that are hidden and buried from our knowledge It is true saith hee that nature is able to doe much yet notwithstanding it is bounded in and limited so strongly that for

which words hee seemeth to preuent the argument which might be obiected against this his assertion touching Demoniaks and possessed which is a cleare and vnresistable experience against all the Philosophers of the world for it is infallible that before Aristotles time there was possession since Salomon himselfe did teach men exorcismes to cast out Dinels from mens bodies as Iosophus and others doe wituesse How then can all this be attributed to a melancholick humour But will Aristotle dare to auow that this grosse and earthy humour is more excellent in a man then his vnderstanding and reason Now if reason can by no meanes whatsoeuer discouer those things which it hath neuer learned nor speake any other language then that which for a long time it hath been vsed vnto nor diuine of future euents nor alleage or interprete sentences which it hath neuer conceiued how is it possible that this muddy and grosse humour should bee so cleared as to doe all these thinges especially when they are the proper effects that flow from reason And if a man should require from them the cause why such an humour should comprehend that which is farre remote from vs both by distance of place and time rather then reason they could make no answere thereunto To which may be added that they are things which doe as vsually happen vnto those that are of a different complexion as vnto melancholick men For it is probable that the Corinthian fornicatour who was possessed with a Diuell was of no melancholick and lupmish constitution but rather of a more pleasant and iouiall behauiour which is not barely coniecturall because S. Paul reprooueth the Corinthians for that they laughed and were merry with him before he was possessed which may make vs to conceiue that he was witty and pleasant as also all the Epicures were who were wont to say Comedamus bibamus cras enim moriemur post mortem nulla volupt as In like manner were Alexander and Hymen●us possessed who were much like vnto the former Moreouer it were a ridiculous thing to say that when the Diuels were cast out of an humane body and entered into the swine the melancholy of the man did descend into the hogs so that it doth fully appeare that these experiēces aforesaid are sufficiently powerfull to confute all Philosophers that there are Spirits who doe secretly conuerse with men and doe many times visibly appeare vnto them which Aristotle could not deny to haue happened vnto Socrates Platoes master who from his infancy had a Spirit that did at times appeare vnto him as Tertullian hath obserued lib. de anima in these words Socratem Puerum adhuc Spiritus demoniclus inuenit Let vs now come to the Saduces of the which sect there is yet a great multitude of Iewes in Constantinople and in the kingdome of Persia where almost all the Iewes doe adhere to their opinion It is strange in them that they should deny Spirits whē in the fiue bookes of Moses which they onely admit of as the sacred writ there is nothing more common then the mention of Spirits and there is more spoken of that argument in those bookes then in the whole Scripture besides Wee will anone yeeld the reason why Moses did not mention their creation or fall although in the beginning as it were of his booke hee bringeth in the Serpent speaking and discoursing with such craftinesse and cunning as that hee made a conquest vpon the vnderstanding and perswades the will both of the woman and the man Now there is nothing more discerneable then that this was no vnreasonable beast that spake from his owne braine and apprehension because nothing is more disproportionable and auerse from beastes then speach and reason Heereupon it is that Orators doe properly tearme them Animalia muta because speech is the expresser and interpreter of inward reason and can proceed from no cause but from thence But put the case they should bee so stupide as to say that in those times beastes could speake as Plutarch seemeth to intimate in his booke which is intituled That beasts are not deuoide of reason and as some grosse capacities conceiue of Aesops fables and the like being it may be drawne to beleeue it from S. Basils opinion who holdeth that before the temptation the Serpent had feete and did goe vpon his legs as other foure footed beastes vse to doe and that as soone as it was told him supra a pectus tuum gradieris the vse of feete was taken away from him and all his kinde because that curse did descend downe to all posterity and succession as it is said Inter semen tuum semen illius But where doe wee finde I pray that God saith vnto the Serpent thou shalt speake no more but shalt bee mute and vtterly depriued of discourse and reason which hee might in reason haue said since it was not the outward forme and shape of the Serpent that beguiled our first fathers but the reasons that he alleaged the promises which he made vnto them But touching this the Scripture speaketh nothing for besides the ridiculousnesse of such a conceite it would breed a manifest repugnancy in the Scripture which saith that God created liuing creatures but hee afterwards made man after his owne image and likenesse which similitude lyeth onely in this pointe that hee framed him with the indowment and vse of reason whereby hee might direct himselfe and euery other thing as God doth guide and gouerne all things by his wisedome and prouidence And this is it as S. Augustine hath notably obserued which is presently there added vt praesit piscibus maris volatilibus coeli uniuersis animantibus quae mouentur super terram It must needs therefore be an intellectuall substance that made the Serpent to speake for it was neither man nor woman because there were none but Adam and Eue as the text saith Erunt autem ambo nudi Moreouer there is mention made of a Cherubin who was appointed to keepe the doore of Paradise for feare least man should returne back againe and should eate of the fruit of life and in his hand he held a bright flaming sword to strike a terrour into man if hee should be so presumptuous This could not be a man as we haue declared and must therefore be a Spirit There is also frequent mention made of the Angels of God who appeared vnto men as vnto Abraham Lot Iacob and others foretelling them of things which was beyond the compasse of mans knowledge as that an olde barren woman should conceiue that Sodome and Gomorra should be destroied and the like As also that the people of Israel should be led through the wildernesse by a cloud and by a pillar of fire there could no other reason be giuen heereof but that they were Spirits sent as guides by God vnto them Praesedet te said God to Moses Angelus meus and

were truly that which they seemed to bee It also declareth that what the Diuell wrought against Iob was not seemingly done but really acted with a great deale of malice witnesse the death of his children and seruants and the downefall of the house vpon them This rule we are to practise in the charmes of Witches and to see if there be any reality in that which they giue out they haue done which falling out so frequently true we are no longer to question the verity of the same There is a reality in their murthering of Infants for it is confirmed by the report of their parents that the children which they said they had strangled were found strangled indeed as they had themselues deposed In like manner the dis interring of their bodies was a truth because their bones were not found lying in their graues There is a reality in the mark which they beare in their bodies the which of all other parts is leprous and deuoid of sense and which can bee found vpon none but vpon such as are said to be Witches There is also a reality in the peece of their garment which in signe of homage they present vnto the Diuell and wee haue seene with our eyes that such a like peece was wanting in their garment as they themselues had reported There is a manifest reality in the charmes which they cast vpon man and beast making them dull and almost dead and by their words reuiuing and setting them in as good plight as they were before not saith Lactantius that they can heale diseases for this is not in the compasse of the Diuels power although it be in their naturall power to infuse an infirmity into any part of a liuing body as appeareth in the history of the Demoniaek that was both dumbe and deafe and of the woman that was crooked so that shee could not lift vp her eyes to heauen and therefore by taking away this impediment they doe not really cure a disease but withdraw the stop that hindered those operations of nature God somtimes permitting him by his iust though hidden iudgement to doe this although further then this hee cannot passe as S. Augustine often inserreth So that it is apparant by the first rule that the confessions made by Sorcerers are not alwaies dreames but doe oftentimes containe facts that haue been really practised The second rule drawne both from S. Augustine and from S. Thomas is to obserue whether all that is spoken in this argument doth lie in the naturall power of the Diuell This S. Augustine obscurely noteth when in the history of Diomedes hee saith that this transmutation was by a secret substraction and conueying away of their bodies because it doth transcend the naturall power of Diuels to change one body into another according to their substance and therefore it must needs bee that this collusion was by transporting and placing one body into the roome of another S. Augustine would not yeeld vnto the first because as hee had already declared it was aboue the naturall power of the Diuell but he granteth the second in regard that it is within the compasse of his force and working Neque enim saith he daemonibus iudicio dei permissis huiusmodi praestigia difficilia esse possunt And as hee expresseth it else where the Diuell can do this when he will how he will if so be that God doth expresly command him or doth leaue him to his owne nature Quando volunt quomodo volunt Deo vel iubente vel sinente S. Thomas betaketh himselfe to this rule when he saith that if the Diuell should busie himselfe in the resurrection of the dead or in any other supernaturall workings wee must be strong that all these things are meere illusions for although God by his vniuersal prouidence doth imploy wicked Spirits vpon many occasions yet doth hee neuer vse them in working of miracles which he reserueth vnto himselfe and to his because Diuels haue no capacity to receiue such supernaturall endowments This rule did distinguish the magicall workes of Simon Magus from those of S. Peter and the other Apostles as S. Clement and S. Ireneu● doe witnesse and this rule shall make the workes of Antichrist to bee discerned from those of the Christians And this rule gaue Saint Augustine occasion to say that not onely the admirable workes of the Diuell comprehended in the old and new Testament were to bee beleeued but also many other things were to be credited which prophane histories and Poets themselues doe mention of them and which were in former ages accounted fables although S. Augustine out of the great subtility of his spirit and his deepe knowledge in holy Writ would not venture to say that they were fables hee rather sheweth that this might bee true either really or in outward apparance For as Tertullian said Daemones soli nouere Christiani From whence could the Christians better know this then from the Scriptures Whereupon it followeth that none can truly and iudicially determine this point vnlesse he bee conuersant in the holy Scriptures and in the ancient Fathers from whence the true resolution hereof may be drawne To conclude this point touching the extent of the Diuels naturall power and how farre it teacheth it is not my intendment to enlarge my discourse thereof to the full I will onely say with Saint Thomas who had the soule of S. Augustine as a mā may say doubled vpon him that it is in the Diuels naturall power to doe as much as the vtmost strength of nature can reach vnto for he is able to vse those meanes which nature accustometh to serue her selfe withall and applieth one thing vnto another iust as nature doth as when a man by applying a torch vnto char-coale doth presently fire the same which nature would also produce but at more leisure and this appeareth in the causes of lightning which are longer ere they produce their effect whereas wee shoot off our Artillery suddenly and without premeditation And this we are taught by experience for the Angels who wheele about the heauens by the application of their motions vnto these i●feriour elements doe cause naturall things to bee produced euer presupposing a matter and forme whereupon to worke which were immediately created by God himselfe Hence it is that they are called both in the Psalmes and in the Gospel Virtutes Coelorum for without them the heauens would haue no more efficacie or power in the production of things then the body hath to worke without a soule which S. Augustine wel glanceth at in the third Booke against Maximin the Arrian the seuenteenth chapter So that those things which Sorcerers depose are within the natural power of Satā as may be seene in the whole frame of this Booke especially in the Annotations vpon the ensuing Sentence Therefore it is plaine that the second rule doth positiuely conclude that all these workings are not

meerely dreames and this is not repugnant to Scripture Fathers or Histories much lesse vnto reason and for further verification of this second rule obserue that which is written in the booke of Exodus where mention is made of Pharaohs Magicians and also that which is set downe in the first three Chapters of the booke of Iob. The third rule is grounded vpon generall causes and occurrences S. Augustine dared not to call these things fables but amasseth and heapeth together whatsoeuer had been formerly practised or remained in vse in his time in all the quarters of the world Some of those whom he questioned with did tell him what they had heard related vnto them by very credible persons others what they had seene and found by their owne experience See S. Augustine in the 16. 17. and 18. chapters of the eighteenth booke of the City of God This generality gaue occasion vnto Hippocrates to speake diuinely of those vniuersall and nationall diseases saying that a generall plague cannot proceed from ordinarie causes in nature but must bee attributed to come from God and from inuisible causes The same may be said in this theame of Witches which is no lesse important It is a wondrous thing that the Witches of France and of our times should depose no more nor no lesse then those of Germany 60. or 80. yeeres agoe And And whereas it may be said that they haue been traded in the bookes which haue been written either in Latine or in the vulgar tongue by learned men that haue set downe their behauiours agreeable vnto the truth of their owne depositions yet wee shall find them to bee mechanicall persons so deuoid of all shew of learning that through the earthinesse of their vnderstandings they rather seeme to be beasts then men Hence we may inferre that this generality and conformity of the facts doth make a full declaration of the truth thereof if wee will yeeld vnto probabilities and reason which is another ground that wee will propound to those that say that there is a repugnancy in reason against these things For how can that which happeneth vpon a set day as vpon a Thursday or the like bee said to bee a dreame if it were so why might it not as well fall out vpon some other day yet is it agreed vpon at all hands that these assemblies of Witches are neuer held but vpon Thursdaies whereupon we demand why rather on this day then vpon any other Againe if it were but a dreame how chanceth it that so many people in such diuersity of places and dwelling in countries so remote one from another should in one and the selfe same time haue all one kind of dreame Physitians hold that the diuersities of meates and their seuerall quantities doe breed and cause the variety we haue in dreames and is it likely that all those persons doe at the same time vse the same kinds of meates and in the selfe same quantity that they thus iumpe and concurre in dreames of the same chance and nature They further affirme that the seuerall complexions of men doe also beget a diuersity in dreames so that the sanguine man dreameth of pleasant things the melancholicke of sad accidents the martialist of warre in like manner the dreames of young men are ordinarily different from the dreames of old men and the dreames of men doe vary from those of women wherein I appeale to Aristotle Artemidorus and others who haue made set Treatises of this argument Since then for the most part these kind of Witches are different in complexion age sex and sect how happeneth it that they should all dreame or if they doe dreame whence ariseth it that they should all dreame the selfe same thing without variation in any circumstance one from another and which is more in the same day and houre It will bee said that the Diuell is assuredly the cause hereof Be it so now you come neere vnto the truth since you grant that this doth transcend the forces of man and that it must be attributed to the working of the Diuell Thereupon I demand since that it is by them decreed vpon that this is a true dreame because it is in the Diuels power to effect such a thing why are they so precise to acknowledge a reality in the fact when it is also in the compasse of the Diuels power to accomplish the same Besides experience confirmeth it neither is it against Scriptures Fathers or Histories nay it is foreshowen vnto vs that at the end of the world these things should bee more frequent then euer they were before as we will afterward proue But it is not probable that such a generality and conformity should bee a dreame foysted in by the Diuell For first one Diuell can worke but in one place at one time as Iustin Martyr Didymus and S. Thomas do declare So that it cannot be one Diuell alone that is to labour this businesse but they must bee many and their number must equall the number of the Sorcerers and Witches that are to dreame and then must they labour and runne in and out yea and tye themselues vnto a set day and houre which is as strange as the reality of the fact For why should the Diuell denie to doe such a thing but at a set time and should tye himselfe vnto this day and houre rather then to any other It may happen that the Diuels aduantage shall at that very time lie another way and there may some great occasion offer it selfe to tempt others in matters of a far more execrable nature then these dreames are so that they cannot attend this and then it must needs follow that many of these Sorcerers cannot dreame because their Diuels are imployed in more diabolicall negotiations and vse therein both their art and apprehension Besides the Diuell may stirre the phantasie of a man as appeareth by the temptations which he presenteth before vs and as he practised vpon Iudas Anaenias and Saphira but he cannot vse our phantasies at his pleasure and present vnto them whatsoeuer he will because it is in our power to diuert his working from them For as S. Thomas saith he cannot make an impression of colours into the phantasie of one that is borne blind neither can he make the sound of a voyce in one that is naturally deafe which is beyond the power of nature her selfe yet is he able to moue the phantasie and to offer vnto it those obiects which it hath formerly receiued Now the phantasies of all these kinds of people are not in euery respect alike neither are they at all times and vpon all occasions equally disposed so that it will bee very improbable to attribute this cōfluence of phantasies vnto dreames yea it will bee more incredible then to affirme that these things are palpablie and really practised considering what wee haue already alleaged for confirmation of the same For there is no absurdity that can