the crafte and subtiltie of the Diuel by this meanes Saincte Paule to the Ephesians the 6. chapter and Peter in hys firste Epistle and fifthe chapter saythe Be ye sober and watche for your aduersarie the Diuel as a roaring Lyon walketh about séeking whome he may deuoure whom resiste stedfast in faith c. When men are secure and negligente wholly giuen vnto pleasures and as it were drowned in drunkennesse in surfettyng couetousnesse adulterie and suche other wickednesse then hathe the Diuell place to shewe him selfe Wherefore we ought to giue our selues to watching praying fasting and godly liuyng we must heare the worde of God often and gladly we must desire too reade and talke of hym contynually that wée may thereby put from vs those diuelishe illusions and sightes If thou haue any publike office or charge do it faithfully restore thy goodes euill gotten either vnto their true owners or else imploy them to some good and godly ende If men care neither for God nor his worde it is no maruell if vayne sightes appeare vnto them For God suffereth such things to happen vnto them to humble them and to make them knowe themselues It is an horrible thing that there are some which giue ouer themselues to the diuel bicause he shold not tormeÌ„t them they ought rather to waigh with them selues that if they so do they shall be perpetually tormented of euil spirits except they truely repent and turne agayn vnto God. CHAP. VII That spirits vvhich vse to appeare ought to be iustly suspected and that vve maye not talke vvith them nor enquire any thing of them WE ought not without greate cause to suspecte all Spirites and other apparitions For albeit God dothe vse the helpe and seruice of good Angels for the preseruation of his electe yet notwithstanding in these our dayes they appeare vnto vs very seldome For things are nowe farre otherwyse since Christes comming into the worlde than they were before in auncient tyme Although perchaunce thou thinke thou haste séene a good aungell yet doo not easily and vnaduisedly giue him credite If the euent of the matter declare afterwarde that it was a good aungell whiche gaue thée notable warning of some matter or deliuered thée oute of some greate daungers giue God thankes that he hath delte so fatherly and mercyfully with thée and hathe suche care ouer thée and endeuour to frame thy selfe to his good will and pleasure But if thou sée an angell whiche flattereth and speaketh thée faire suche a one as thâ—se are whiche craue thy helpe as thou hast heard before in no wise credite their words Men which blaunche and flatter with vs are always suspicious why then shoulde not suche spirites be suspected Enter into no communication with suche spirites neither aske them what thou must giue or what thou must doo or what shal happen hereafter Aske them not who they are or why they haue presented them selues to bée séene or hearde For if they be good they will lyke it well that thou wilte heare nothing but the woorde of God but yf they be wicked they wyll endeuour to deceyue thée with lying When the Angell in the first chapter of Matthew instructed Ioseph in a dreame he by and by alleaged testimonie out of the Prophet If it be so that we must not beléeue an angell comming from Heauen who can iustly blame vs if we giue no credite to spirites and suspitious dreames Althoughe Chryste and his Apostles had the full power to shewe miracles yet did they establishe and confirme their doctrine by the holy Scriptures When Almightie God himselfe had enquired of Adam in Paradyse touching the breaking of his commaundement and that he had layd the fault vppon his wyfe Eua and she had put it ouer to the Serpente whiche caused hir to eate of the forbidden fruite God woulde not demaund of the Serpente that is of the Dyuell whiche had vsed him as instrument why he had so doone for he knew right well that he was a lyer Except Eue had talked with the Serpent she had neuer transgressed Gods commaundement If Spirites of their owne accorde woulde gladly tell vs many thinges yet wée must not giue eare vnto them muche lesse ought we to coniure them to tell vs the truth God commaunded in his lawe as we haue oftentymes sayde before that no man shoulde enquire any thing of the dead God himselfe sent his faithfull seruants the Prophets Apostles Euangelists and especially his only begotten sonne Christ Iesu our Lord and sauioure into the worlde by whome he truly plentifully taught his faithfull seruants what they ought to beleue to do to leaue vndone what kind of worshipping did best please him with many other suche things By them he enformed vs concerning great and weightie affaires whiche should happen in his Churche and in kingdomes euen vnto that blessed day wherin Christ shall iudge the world and shall call togither hys generall councell and shall pronounce finall sentence vppon them who haue done well or yll and wherein he shall make a diuision and separation betwene the good and euill Christe himselfe after his Resurrection did not immediatly ascende into heauen but aboade a whyâ—e in earth appearyng vnto his Disciples and others least we should at any tyme say Who euer came agayne to tell vs what estate is to be looked for in the other worlde Moreouer God among suche greate and long persecutions wherin many profytable bookes haue perished hath miraculously preserued the holy Scriptures for oure profite euen vnto this day and hereafter will preserue them in despite of all impious and wicked men He hath also ordeyned the ministerie of the worde that vnto the ende of the worlde there shoulde be some men whiche bothe by lyuely voyce and also by their writings shoulde interprete his woorde and enfourme others of his will and pleasure His woorde is a shining lanterne whiche shineth in this darke worlde whiche is full of errours as we reade Psalm 119. And our sauiour sayth in the eyght chapter of saint Iohn that he is the light of the worlde whome if any man follow he walketh not in darknesse This standeth as a sure grounde wherfore no other reuelations are to be looked for neyther by miracles from heauen nor by wandring spirites or soules as the common people mysterme them But lette vs imagine that they are the wandring spirites of deade bodies then is it necessarie that they be the soules eyther of faithful men or of infidels If they be the soules of the faithful they will say with God the father concerning his sonne Christe Iesus Heare him But if they be the soules of Infidels and of wicked men who I pray you will vouchsafe to heare them or beléeue any thing they say Morâ—ouer those things whiche these counterfayte soules doo speake eyther agrée with the holy Scriptures or else are contrary vnto them If they are agréeable then are they to be receyued not bicause
chosen into their order who séemed to be very fitte for their purpose They tried him by throwing stones into his chamber in the night tyme making a great noise and faining them selues to be Spirits The matter séemed vnto them euen from the beginning that it woulde take good successe â–ª On a certeine day béeing Fryday the supprior shrouding himself in a shéete together with other Spirites whom he had coniured vp for this purpose brake into the Friers cel with great force and noyse faining with many teares that he desired his ayde help Now had they priuely conueyed Holy water and the Reliques of Saints into his Cell before The poore Frier half dead with feare denied that he coulde by any meanes helpe him recommending himselfe to Christ our sauior and to his holy mother The Spirite aunswered that it was in his and his brethrens power to deliuer him out of this miserie if he would suffer hymself for the space of .viij. days euery day to be whipped vntil the bloud folowed and moreouer cause .viij. Masses to be soong for his sake in S. Iohns chappell himselfe while they were soong lying in the floore with his armes spread abroade After he tolde him that the next Fryday before midnight he wold come again with greater noyse willing him in any wise not to be afrayd for the Diuels could nothing hurt him bicause he was an holy man The next day this foolish Frier openeth al the matter to the ringleaders of this deuise beséeching theÌ„ to assist him that the miserable soule might be deliuered The matter was out of hand rumored aboute the citie The Monkes preached openly hereof in the pulpit coÌ„meÌ„ding highly the holinesse of their order which euen hereby might be séene for that the spirite craued helpe of them and not of the wicked dronken Franciscans â–ª At the tyme appoynted the spirite accompanied with other euil spirits came again with greate noyse to the Friers cell who adiuring and coniuring him questioned with him touching certain points The spirite shewed him who he was and for what cause he was so miserably vexed and withal gaue great thanks both vnto him and also to his fathers for being touched with remorse of him adding that in case there were yet .xxx. Masses soong and â—our Uigiles obserued that he wold yet once ageyn whip himself vntil he bled then he shoulde be cleane deliuered out of most cruell torments which he had continually endured a hundred and sixtie yeares He had confereÌ„ce with him also of other maruellous matters whiche we néed not here to rehearse Afterwards the same spirit appeared againe vnto the Frier and preferred the order of preachers before al others bearing him in hand that many of them which had bin aduersaries vnto this order suffered most horrible torment in purgatory that the citie of Berna should be vtterly ouerthrowne except they banished the Franciscans refused the yearly stipends which they receyued at the french kings hands He also talked of sundry things which had hapned to the Friar which thing they had learned before of him by meanes of auricular confession Moreouer he hartely thanketh the Frier for the great benefite of his deliueraÌ„ce giuing him to vnderstande that he was nowe admitted into the .vij. degrée of Angels and that he should say Masse there for his benefactors After these things thus done an other night one comming vnto him in the apparell of a woman sayde he was S. Barbara whome he deuoutly serued and tolde him that the blessed virgin would shortly appeare vnto him and make full answere vnto those questions which one of the Monks had written in a paper for him This paper Barbara promised that she hir selfe wold deliuer vnto our Lady which they shoulde shortly after finde in a hollie place sealed and signed miraculously The Frier vppon this reuealeth the whole matter vnto his fathers desiring to bée confessed of his sinnes wherby he might be found worthy the apparition or séeing of our Lady He willed them to serche in the halowed place for the scroule which at the last they found in the Fratry as they term it where they had laide it before Then they caried it with great reuerence vnto the high alter affirming that it was sealed with christes bloud and that the tapers lightned of their owne accord In y morning the virgine Mary appeared vnto him agayne rehersing many things whiche hir sonne Iesus commaunded hir to tell vnto him to wit that Pope Iulius was that holie man which shoulde reconcile the two orders in frendship againe and institute ordayne the feast of the defiled conception of our Lady for she woulde sende vnto the Pope a crosse marked with foure droppes of hir sonnes bloud in signe that she was conceiued in originall sinne and that they shoulde finde an other crosse marked with fiue droppes of bloud in their fratrie which they must conuey to Rome â–ª for the Pope would allowe and confirme it with large indulgences and after returne it to Berna agayne other things likewise she sayde whereof many things were both reported and written to and fro But in witnesse of the foresayde things the same Mary droue an yron nayle through the hand of the poore Frier saying this wounde shal be renewed in the day wherein my sonne was crucified and in the feast of my sonnes bodie After they toke a burning water made by Necromancie by the which they taking away his senses made foure other woundes in his body And after that he came againe vnto him selfe they bare him in hand that there was a certeine holie thing I wote not what which appeared aboute him And when they sawe that many men came flocking about him to sée this newe Christ they taught him for hée was of rude condicions howe to behaue hym selfe And when they had giuen him a drinke beréeâ—ing him of hys senses and causing him to some at the mouth then he saide be striued and wrestled with death euen as Christ dyd in the mount Oliuet After al this another of them appeared vnto him telling him many things but the Frier knowing him by his voice began to suspecte and mislike the whole matter and with violence thrust him from him The next night the Frier himself appeared vnto him saying that he was Mary of whom he had ben in doubt and to the ende he shoulde bée out of all suspicion she had brought him the host of hir sonnes body for he brought him an host stiped in poyson to the ende he shoulde no more thinke he sawe an euil spirite he also affirmed that he had brought a vessel of glasse full of hir sonnes bloud which he would giue vnto him and to his Monasterie But the Frier who also had this vision in suspition answered If sayde he thou be not an euil spirit reherse thy Pater noster and thy Aue Maria with me The Priour sayde the Pater noster and afterward sayd in the person of our Lady Hayled am I
one and they were always read of the auncient people For albéeit they neuer wente aboute to approue any doctrine by them yet were they of great authoritie amongst them CHAP. XIX To vvhome vvhen vvhere and after vvhat sort spirits do appeare and vvhat they do vvorke BY all these examples we may plainly perceiue that many straunge things are obiected to mens senses that sometimes spirits are séene and heard not only as some haue thought as Plutarke witnesseth in the life of Dion of children women sicke folkes dottards otherwise very plaine and simple creatures but also to mē of good corage and such as haue bin perfectly in their wits Yet it may not bée denied but that there appeare many more vnto some that vnto other some as vnto trauellers watchemen hunters carters and marriners who leade all their life not only in the day time but also in night in iorneying in the water woods hills and vallies You shal mete with some one who neuer sawe nor heard any of this geare in all his life time and contrariwise there be other some whyche haue séene and hearde very man suche things So there are some which very seldom chaunce vpō serpents agayne many there are which oftentimes méets with them in their iorney The common people say that those whose natiuities chaunce vppon the Auguries for so they terme the foure seasons of the yeare do sée more store of Spirites than those whiche are borne at other tymes but these are méere trifles Those whiche are stedfaste in true faithe see or heare suche thiyngs more seldome than superstitiouse people as in all other things Hée that is superstitiouse vseth some blessing as they call it to heale hys horses disease and it taketh good effecte he inchaunteth a Serpente and it can not once moue out of the place He applyeth a blessyng to straunge bleedyng and it stoppeth presentely He taketh a hollie rod or twisted wand inchāted it wil moue where a mettle mine is but he that is of a sounde fayth and doth despise these things for he knoweth well they are contrary to the word of god also to the Popes decrées albeit perchaunce he practise such things yet notwithstanding he can bring nothing to passe And so also it chaunceth that he séeth spirites and vaine visions a great deale more seldome than superstitious men do for hée knoweth wel what hée ought to déeme and iudge of them There are some kinde of men who thinke it a gay thing if many suche straunge sightes appeare vnto them There were farre many more of these kindes of apparitions and myracles séene amongest vs at suche tyme as we were giuen vnto blindnesse and superstition than since that the Gospell was purely preached amongest vs the cause whereof I will shewe heareafter And moreouer it commeth often times to passe that some one man doth heare or sée some thing most plainly when an other which standeth by him or walketh wyth him neyther séeth nor heareth any such matter We reade in the Historie of Heliseus that he saw chariottes of fire and many horsemen vpon the toppe of the Mountaine and yet hys seruaunt sawe nothing vntil the Prophet prayed vnto the Lord that he woulde voutsafe for hys confirmation and consolation to open hys eyes that he might also beholde this notable miracle So likewise we reade in the 9. chapter of the Actes of the Apostles that Christ ouerthew Paule before Damascus and that he spake vnto hym and his companions also hearde the voyce Afterwardes in the 22. chapter Paule himselfe shewing vnto the people in the presence of Lycias in the Castle at Hierusalem what had hapened vnto them sayth that they heard not the voice of him that talked with him which two places are not repugnant for the meaning is that they heard a voyce or sounde in deede but they vnderstood not what the Lord had sayd vnto him Plato writeth in his Dialogue called Theages that Socrates had a familiar spirit who was woonte to put him in mynde to cease from labouring when that whiche he attempted shuld haue no happie successe This spirit he himselfe sawe not and other men hearde not They say that sometimes Children doe sée certaine things whiche other men sée not and by a certain peculiar operation of nature some men behold that which others in no wise can perceiue As touching the tyme when spirits appeare we reade in hystories that it shall be after a thousand yeares which God hath appoynted in the whiche tyme Sainte Iohn prophesied in the Apocalips that Sathan shoulde be lette loose that is to saye errours and supersticion and al kynd of mischéefe should abound many spirits appeare euery where for men gaue them more creditte than the Scriptures If a spirit apeared or was heard to say in case these or those things be decréed to wit vowed Pilgrimage and erecting Chappelles and that this shall be an acceptable kynde of worship vnto God the Bishoppes and paryshe Priestes weighed not whither those things were agréeable to the word of God or no. c. Spirits appeared in old time and do appeare still in these dayes both day night but especially in the night and before midnighte in our first sléep Moreouer on the frydayes saterdayes fasting daies to confirme superstition Neither may we maruel that they are heard more in the night thā in the day time For he who is the author of these things is called in the holie Scriptures the Prince of darkenesse and therefore hée shunneth the light of Gods worde And albeit these are heard or séene in al places yet are they most especially conuersant in the fieldes where battels haue ben fought or in places where slaughters haue ben made in places of execution in woods into the which they haue coniured deuils being cast out of men in Churches Monasteries and about Sepulchers in the boundes of countries buts of lands in prysons houses towers and somtime also in the ruines and rubbish of Castles God thretneth the Babilonians in the 13. chap. of Esaie that spirits and Satyrs shal daunce where their magnificent houses Pallaces were where they were wont to lead their daūces And in his 34. chap. wher he threatneth destruction vnto al nations enimies of God he saith In the ruinous tottering Pallaces Castles houses horrible spirits shal apeare with terrible cries and the Satyre shal cal vnto hir mate yea the night hags shal take their rest there For by the sufferance of God wicked Deuils worke strange things in those places where men haue exercised pride and crueltie The maner of apearing of spirits is diuers manyfold as it apereth by those things which I haue aleaged before For they shew themselues in sundry sorte sometymes in the shape of a man whome we know who is yet alyue or lately departed otherwhile in the likenesse of one whom we knowe not I heard of a
to deliuer vs from euill to strengthen our fayth and to giue vs pacience and other necessarie things Neither should we be touched with compassion of other mennes miserie which are vexed with spirits but we woulde rather say that they can not tell what they speake and that they imagine many vayne feares Moreouer if other vnderstande that godly men are for their exercise vexed by spirits they become more pacient when soeuer they are sicke or otherwise troubled acknowledging theyr owne harmes to be but small in comparison of other mens For nothing is more greuouse than when a manne is tormented by the Diuel Nowe as touching infidells they are constrayned will they or nill they to confesse that there are diuels for there are many which would neuer be persuaded there are good or euill Angels or spirits except sometimes they had experience therof in déede God suffreth these things to chasten them For so muche as they will giue no place vnto truth but are wilfully deceyued it is good reason they be taught by diuelishe illusions what they must do or leaue vndone and that they be illuded by euill spirits after some other meanes Thus we reade in the .13 chapter of Deuteronomie if there arise among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreames and giue thée a signe and wonder and that signe or wonder that he hath saide come to passe and then say let vs go after straunge Gods which thou hast not knowne and lette vs serue them hearkeÌ„ not thou vnto the words of that prophet or dreamer of dreames For the Lorde thy God proueth you to wit whether ye loue the Lord your God with all your soule Ye shall walke after the Lorde your God and feare him kepe his commandements and hearken vnto his voice serue him and cleaue vnto him And he addeth further that the same Prophete or dreamer shall dye the death By these words we do not only sée that God doth suffer suche leude fellowes to worke maruellous things but also to what ende and purpose he permitteth it that is to trye his faithfull how constant they be and how faithfully they would beleue in him if at any time spirits do come and foretell things to happen hereafter Our sauioure Christ saith in the thirde chapter of Saincte Iohn This is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men loued darknesse more than light bicause their déedes were euill for euery one that doth euill hateth the light neyther commeth he to the light least his déedes shoulde be reproued c. By the which woordes our Sauiour sheweth the cause why the worlde is condemned whiche is bycause they receyue not the lyght of the woorde of God or Christe himselfe who is the light of the worlde sette foorth vnto vs in his woorde but rather shut their eyes agaynst the cleare light preferring darkenesse that is errours superstition and wickednesse before the woord of god If God then condemne and reiecte the vnthankfull worlde what maruell is it if he vexe them with spirites and vayne apparitions Chryst sayth in the fyfth of Iohn I come in my Fathers name and you receyue me not yf an other come in his owne name you receyue him Christe laboured for their health and saluation this they woulde not acknowledge but refused him therfore was it the iust iudgement of God that they shold receyue others that hunted after their owne coÌ„moditie and profite suche as were Theudas Iudas of Galilee and many other false doctours and seditious seducers Wherefore if any refuse to giue eare to Christe and his ministers it is by the iust iudgemente of God that they hearken vnto Spirites and suche like things Saincte Paule in the seconde to the Thessalonians and seconde chapter writeth of Antichrist that he shoulde exercise greate tyrannie in the Churche of God and sheweth agaynst whome and for what cause God will suffer him so to do saying Among them that perishe bicause they recyued not the loue of the truth that they might be saued And therefore God shall sende them strong delusions that they shoulde beléeue lyes that all they myght be damned whiche beléeue not the truth but had pleasure in vnrighteousnesse And in the fourth chapter of his seconde Epistle to Timothe he earnestly beséecheth his scholer to be diligent in preaching dayly He giueth this reason for the tyme will come when they shall not suffer holsome doctrine but after their owne lustes shall they whose eares itche get them an heape of teachers and shall withdraw their eares from the truth and shal be turned vnto fables Now we sée the cause why god dothe suffer seducers false teachers and wicked spirites to deceyue men in the place of true doctours which is for that eyther they vtterly despise his woorde or little esteme it and can not abide godly and constant preachers Touching which matter wée will alleage a fewe examples Pharao contemned God and his seruants Moyses and Aaron wherfore God blynded his eyes that he gaue himself to be ruled by his Magi or wyse men and at the last perished miserably in the red Sea. Saule woulde not giue eare vnto Samuell who bare a ryght hart and good affection towardes his king he loued him not as by reason he shoulde haue done but haâ—ed him and all other that loued him right wel for he contemned the woord of god Wherfore it came to passe that being in extreme daunger he sought help of a witch to reare Samuel froÌ„ the dead that he might now vse his aduise whoÌ„ he despised béeing aliue disdayned to heare him This woman reareth one who is no otherwise called Samuel than when false gods are called gods when in very déede they are not gods but wood and stones or rather as Paul sayth .1 Corin. 10. very diuels This counterfait Samuel giueth him neither comforte nor counsell but driueth him to vtter desperation The same hapned vnto Saul whiche chaunceth vnto those stubborne children whiche despise their pareÌ„ts contemne their counsel wold gladly wishe their death at the last grow vnto y point that they wold willingly take in haÌ„d a great iourney on coÌ„dition it might be graunted them to heare them giue their last counsell An other example herof Achab king of Israel Iezabel his wife had many godly prophets amoÌ„gst whoÌ„ Elias was a man indued with the gifâ—e of shewing working miracles But they did not only conteÌ„ne those prophets but also cruelly murdered so many of them as they could catche Yet amongst the rest they especially laboured to intrap Elias who was exceading zelouse The Baalamites were in greate fauoure with the king but especially with the Quéene as hir chief dearlings And when the time approched that Achab shoulde suffer due and worthye punishement for his Idolatrie and wickednesse wherein he had long time liued he entred councell with his kinsman Iosaphat that they ioyning their powers togither might recouer agayne the
For wryting of Alexander the great in his booke De vitis he saythe that there happened certaine prognostications before his death which sometimes Alexander â—ared not for but contemned them and contrariwise somtimes hée tooke smal and tryfling things as signes of euil lucke He addeth further howe daungerous a thing it is to dispise tokens and signes sente from God vnto men and on the other side howe pernitious and hurtfull it is to be afrayde of euery trifle for as in all other things so is ther a measure to be obserued herein The same opinion is he of touching other wonders and miracles For ye maye read in the life of Camillus that when he being Captaine had taken and destroyed the Veians he made a solemne vowe to translate the Image of Iuno vnto Rome And therefore hée commaunded certayne men to take vppe the Image he offred sacrifice vnto the Goddesse and besought hir that shée would voutsafe to followe him and to be fauorable vnto the Romaines as other Goddes were which nowe dwelt at Rome The Image made hym answere that she would go with him He also wryteth that those men which noted and recorded these things reporte other such straunge matters as that Images dyd sweat that they gaue great groanes that they turned away their faces or hanged downe their heades he sayth that men which lyued before his time gathered many suche examples togyther and that he himselfe hath heard many maruellous things of men lyuing in his time which were not by and by to be neglected and contemned and yet mannes infirmitie is suche that it cannot attribute eyther too muche or to little vnto those things without great daunger for men obserue no mesure but are either too supersticious and attribute ouer much to suche matters or else do vtterly reiect and contemne them And therefore the safest waye is to be aduised and to kéepe a meane in suche affaires Valerius Maximus confesseth in his firste booke that the verie Gentiles themselues hadde many miracles and wonders happening among them in great suspition and that not without iust cause True wonders ought to stirre vs vp from sléepe A couragious horsse goeth well inoughe of his owne accorde and yet if you doe but make signe vnto him with a wande or put spurre vnto him hée wil be more redyer quicker Euen so must we go in the way that leadeth vnto Heauen so long as we liue but in case we sée any foretokens or some great alteration sâ—eme to hang ouer vs we ought to be the more stirred vppe to giue our selues to prayer and to exercise godlynesse The Gentiles if at any tyme such forewarnings were shewed vnto them from Heauen dyd institute certayne solemne prayers and processions to pacifie their Gods howe much rather oughte all Christian Princes and Magistrates Doctoures and Preachers of our tyme to bende themselues wholly herein when so euer plagues hang ouer our heades that all men generally and particularly shew forth true repentance Hitherto I truste we haue sufficiently shewed what we maye thinke concerning visions and appearing of spirites and other straunge things which haue greate affinitie and likenesse vnto them And that in tymes past Doctours wrote and taught farre otherwise concerning them than the verie truth it selfe was we haue also shewed the causes thereof It might be also declared in many words that the like hath happened in other poyntes of Christian doctrine yea and many excellent learned and godly men haue at large opened the same in their bookes whiche are nowe extant concerning such matters And that I maye conclude this my booke I shall beséeche all those for the glorie of God that shall happen to reade it that in case they thinke I haue strayed from the rule of the worde of God they woulde fréely and friendly admonishe me thereof but if they knowe it be agreeable to the worde of God as I trust it is that then they suffer not themselues to be ruled and mocked of iugling Monkes and Priestes but rather gyue God thankes for that greate and vnspeakable benefite whereby he dothe dayly delyuer them out of greate errours and feares and dothe continually more and more bring his truthe to lyght leâ— them not so lose the raignes to their affections that they reiect the truth which they haue once acknowledged The Senate and people of Rome as stories witnesse graunted libertie to the people of Cappadocia when the stocke and issue of their Kings was vtterly extincte to be frée and Lordes of themselues for euer after But the Nobilitie consulting on the matter refusing libertie whiche they coulde in no wise disgest desired to haue a king The Romaines wondering heereat gaue them leaue to choose whome they would to be their king Let not vs bée suche fooles but rather let vs embrace the libertie of our soules whych God doth dayly offer vnto vs by hys worde Many Noble nations fighting couragiously haue put themselues in present daunger of life to obtayne and kéepe this sweete externall libertie Howe muche more ought we Christians to fight agaynst the suttletie and deceyt of the Deuill least the libertie of our soules whyche is muche more precious than the other shoulde be oppressed by diuers errours and supersticions Men setting in darkenesse desire the light verie earnestly Let not vs therefore cast away light fréely offered vnto vs by God in his Scriptures We haue nothing here in earth more deare vnto vs than the libertie of our soules and consciences Let vs not then as Paule sayth with holâ—â— truth in vnrighteousnesse lette euery man of what age soeuer he be weigh with hymselfe howe fraile and brittle this lyfe is which God hath giuen vnto vs and that we muste depart from hence sooner then wée thinke for and render an account to the iust Iudge of our fayth wâ—rdes and déedes Glorie and prayse be vnto Almightie God for euer and euer and I beséech him to voutsafe to stretche forthe hys hande to deliuer all suche as are still entangled in superstition and errours and to graunt those whome he hath delyuered hys Heauenly grace that they be always thankful for so great a benefite least they be wrapped againe in the same mischiefe FINIS The diuision or partes of this booke â–ª The dedicaâ—â—on Spectrum Visum Visio Terriculamenta Phantasma Matth. 24. Mark. 6. Phasma Pneuma Luk. 24. Lares Praestites Hostilij Genius Penates Vmbrâ—â— Lemures Laruae Ceriti Maneâ— Maniae Mormo Lamiae Lameâ— â–ª of Hieremie â–ª chap. 4. Striges Gorgones Incubi Succubi Empusa â–ª Dicelon Hecataea Acco Alphito Telchinnes Pan. Faunuâ— Satyri Sileni Onocentaurus Onosceli Hyppocentaurus Sphinx Scilla Harpyae Triton Nereides Syrenes Portentum Ostentum Prodigium Monstrum Some men denie there are Spirits Acts. 3â— Sundrie imaginations of malancholicke persons TheatruÌ„ a place to behold plaies and paâ—â—imes in Ioannes Sertorius * See Ludouiâ— Caeliu li. 17. câ— â— antiquitat Galen de lociâ— affectis Libro de Simtomatum diff chap.
desired the Magistrates of certaine Countries to cal togither their Papistes and Protestantes for he was readie he sayde to shewe this miracle and in case he dyd it not openly before them all he refused not to susteine any kind of punishment The lyke reason is also of other men whiche are besides them selues for they take on them maruelous things eyther bycause they haue mused long time on some matter conceiued in their minds as cunning Artificers often times do or bycause they haue ben long weried with sicknesse or else bycause they loue extremelie You shal find some that imagine them self as it were armed with horns of an Oxe other apéere to them selues to be erthen vessells and therefore they will shun euerie thing for feare they be broken Of such an one writeth Galene De lo is affectis lib. 3 ca 6. and also lib â–ª 4 ca. 1 â–ª Other suppose them selues deade other thinke them selues great Princes other to be learned men other to be Prophets Apostles therfore they wil foretel things to come The same he writeth of them that are taken with frensie and namely of one Theophilus a Phisitian who in other things was wyse and coulde dispute wel and perfectly knowe euery man yet notwithstanding he thought there were certein Minstrels did haunte that corner of his house where he vsed to lye and that they tuned theyr pypes and played on them euery daye And hée verily thoughte that he sawe them some sittting and some standing and in suche sorte continually pyping without intermission that they ceassed at no tyme neither in the day nor in the night And therfore he neuer ceassed to crie and to commaunde his seruantes to driue them out of his dores When he was throughly recouered of his sicknesse then he tolde all other things which euery one of them had sayd or done and also he called to mynd the imaginations which he conceyued of the tediousnesse of the minstrels Paulus Aegineta writeth in his thirde booke and .xv. chap. that those that are taken with Lycanthropia â–ª whiche is a kynde of madnesse leape oute of their houses in the night in all things imitating the nature of wolues and that vntill it waxâ— day they kéep about the graues of dead men Moreouer somtimes the Diuel enimie to mankind so deceiueth men that they séeme vnto them selues to bée beastes Wherof Augustin writeth In Genesin ad literam lib 7 â–ª cap. 11. they which are bitten with madde Dogges are afrayde of water This disease they call Hydrophobiam out of which Aegineta lib. 5. ca. 3 reporteth that they which are troubled wyth this disease looking on the water and béeing broughte vnto it flée from them soone other vtterly refuse all kynd of moysture and that there are some whiche barke like Doggs and bite them that come vnto them Rufus shewing the cause of their feare sayeth that they suppose they sée in the water the shadowe of the Dog whiche bitte them Ephialtes which the Phisitions call the Maare is a disease of the stomacke concerning which reade Paulus Aegineta â–ª li. 3. cap. 16. Many which are taken with this disease â–ª imagine that a man of monstrous stature sitteth on them which with his handes violentlye stoppeth their mouthe that they can by no meanes crye out and they striue with their armes and hands to driue him away but al in vaine Some led with vayne fantasie thinke him who oppresâ—eth them to créepe vp by little and little on the bed as it were to deceyue them and anon to runne downe agayne They séeme also to themselues to heâ—re him This disease is called by an other name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Madde men which haue vtterly loste the vse of reason or are vexed by Gods permission with a Diuell whome the Gospel calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doo maruellous thinges talke of many visions and diuers other matters Theyr sight deceiueth them in somuche as they mistake one man for an other which thing we sée by experience in Bedleme houses where mad and frantike men are kepte We read that Aiax tâ—ke the matter so greuously when Achilles armour was adiudged vnto Vlisses that becomming madde through griefe and drawing out his sworde he set vppon herds of swyne supposing that he fought with the whole army of the Grecians Afterwards hanging vp two of the greatest of them on postes with rayling words he whipped them thincking one of them to be Agamemnon the other Vlisses of whom with the first he was angry as an euil iudge with the other bicause he was by him vanquished in iudgement But afterwards when he came agayn to him selfe for very shame he flewe him selfe It hathe many times chaunced in battaile that the souldiors falling into greate furie their captaineâ— haue ben forced to take away theyr armour bicause by rage they toke their owne felowes for enimies and began to set on them violently Tertullianus sayth thus Those whiche are mad sée one man in an other as Orestes sawe his mother in his sister Aiax beheld Vlisses in an heard of swine Athamas and Agaue wild beastes in their owne children c. CHAP. III. Fearefull men imagine that they see and heare straunge things THat whiche we haue hytherto spoken concerning melancholicke men and men out of their witts may also be vnderstood of timorous and fearefull men For if any man bée timorous by nature or subiect to feare through great daungers or by some other wayes he also imagineth straunge things whiche in déede are not so especially if he haue in him any store of melancholie Wemen which for the most parte are naturally geuen to feare more than men for which cause S. Peter in his first epistle speaking of the duety of married folks calleth them the weaker veâ—sell do more often suppose they sée or heare this or that thing than men do And so do yong wemen bicause commonly they are afrayde If when men sit at the table mention be made of Spirits and elues many times wemen and children are so afrayde that they dare scarce go out of dores alone least they shoulde méete wyth some euyl thing and if they chaunce to heare any kinde of noise by and by they thinke there are some spirits behynde them suche vaine persuasions haue they A cowardly souldior iudgeth his enimies to be more in number than they are the noyse of a leafe béeing moued so affrighteth hym which thing God in his lawe threatneth his people of Israell except they do their dueties that he betaketh him selfe to his héeles if he but heare a woodspecke with his â—ill beating on a Trée he straight thinketh the enemie readie to leape on his shoulders yea if â—e heare but a mouse moue by and by his harte is in his Hose These and suche lyke things neuer trouble a stoute and coragious Souldiour And yet somâ— times in the chase lustie souldiours flying away from their
Mary full of grace the Lord be with me c. The Frier knowing the Priors voyce caught a knyfe and wounded him therwith and when he defended himselfe the Fryer stoutly resisted and draue him backe These things thus done the Supprior béeing in good hope to restore all that they had lost appeared againe to the Frier saying that he was S. Catherin of Sena and therwith begun to chide him for that he so discurteously had intreated the holy Uirgin adding moreouer I am sent quod he to shewe thée that the wounds which thou hast in thy body are the very true woundes of Christ whiche neyther I nor yet S. Francis hath and that he enlarged with many wordes Yet notwithstanding the Frier so entertayned him that he was glad to saue himselfe with running away Nowe bicause the Fryer wold no longer be mocked at their hands they maruellously troubled and almost at their wits ende taking aduise among them selues brake the matter vnto him and tolde him that in very déede they fréely confessed many of those apparitions which he had séen to be fayned and that for no other cause but to the ende he should perseuere in his profession and Religion howbeit the very effect of the matter was most true and that he ought not to doubt but that he bare the wounds of Chryst in his body And forsomuch as the matter was nowe knowen abroad they ernestly besought him that he would not refuse to go on in the matter for otherwise their order should incurre open shame and bothe he and they fall into present daunger but in case he woulde persist in his enterprised purpose the thing woulde fall out to his and their great aduauntage And so with fairer wordes they persuaded him to make promise to be ruled by them hereafter After long instruction and teaching they placed him on the altar of our Lady knéeling on his knées within a chappell before the image of the holy virgine Where one of the Monkes standing behinde a cloath spake thorough a cane réede as if it were Christ talking with his mother in this wise Mother why dost thou wéep haue I not promised thée that whatsoeuer thou willest shal be done Wherto the image made answere Therfore I wéepe bicause this businesse findeth no end Then sayd the image of Christ Beléeue me mother this matter shall be made manyfest This doone the Monke priuely departing the chappell dores were shut As soone as these things were scattered about the citie by by ther was a great thronging of people Amongst whom also came foure monks dissembling and fayning that they knewe not what was there doone and therfore they commauÌ„ded the doores to be opened and after asked the Frier howe and after what sorte he came there He answered them that he was caried by a spirite And moreouer â—old them what woords the image had spoken and that he could by no means moue out of that place before that four of the chéefest Aldermen were come vnto him vnto whom he had certaine things to be declared he also desired to receyue the holy sacrameÌ„t The Aldermen were foorthwith called and then the Frier declared vnto them how the Uirgin Mary lamented and sorrowed for that the citie of Berna shold be shortly destroyed for receiuing yerely pensions of the French king Also for that thei droue not the Franciscans out of their citie who honoured her with the fayned title of vndefiled coÌ„ception Unto this his talke the Aldermen answered very little By and by the other Monkes gaue him the host infected with poyson which when he refused to receyue they brought him an other which he tooke then they led him with great pompe into the quire for so they call the vppermost parte of the churche The Frier the other foure Monkes were soone after called before the Aldermen to testifie the truth whether those things were so or not But the foure fearing excéedingly least he should bewray some thing bicause they knew he suspected them endeuored by al means to do him some priuie mischief by poyson giuen in his meat therfore they gaue him the sacrament dipped in poyson which he presently cast vp againe by vomite finally they so vexed and tormented him by so many wayes that in the end he left the Colledge and ran away and opened the whole matter to diuers and sundry men In the meane tyme the Monkes dispatched two legates or messangers to Rome to obteyne a confirmation of these thyngs of the Pope that hereafter it should be vtterly vnlawfull for any man to contrary or mislike the same And when these messengers were returned and as the Prouerbe is thoughte them selues in a safe hauen the noble Senate hadde commaunded the foure Monkes to be fast kept in prison for they had learned the whole circumstance of the matter before of the Frier whom they had committed to ward And sparing neither labour nor money sent also vnto Rome that they might perfectly knowe what they shoulde do in this matter In the ende both the Frier the foure Monks were all put to torments and there confessed all the matter And when they had bin openly conuicte of so many guiles and horrible déedes by the Popes permission they were firste putte from the orders which they commonly call degradation and afterwardes burned in the fâ—er It was commonly reported that in case the noble Senate of Berna hadde not prosecuted the matter with great constancie and courage the Cleargie woulde haue cloaked all the knauerie and haue sette the authours at libertie For they had greate cause to doubte as it after came to passe lest they should léese their credit and authoritie amongst many of the orders of Monkes that these things wheron the Popedome resteth as it were vppon pillers should now be had in great suspition with al men For it is most euident that after the impietie deceyt and wickednesse of these Monks began to be knowne abroade the opinion of the cleargie began to decay and to be suspected more and more euery day of good and godly men when as they sayd this or that soule required their helpe that tapers lighted of their owne accorde that this or that image spake wept or moued it selfe from place to place that this or that Sainct endowed their monasterie with precious reliques or that Crosses were sprinkeled with the bloud of Christ yea and although they had obteyned coÌ„firmation of these matters from the Pope yet notwithstanding many afterwards would in no wise belèeue it to be so Likewise they woulde not be persuaded that this holy father fallyng into a traunce sawe any miraculous thyngs or that Frauncis and Catherin of Sena bare the markes of Chrystes fyue woundes in their body Furthermore not without great cause men began to doubte of transubstantiation of bread into the bodye of Christ sith they had so often poysoned the sacrament and also of those things which they chaunted vpon with open mouth touching pardons vigilies orders purgatorie
only in the nighte as some precious stones doo the eyes of certaine beastes a Gloewoorme or gloebearde as also some kynd of rotten wood wherewith many times children so terrifie their playfellowes that they imagine with themselues to sée euil spirits or men al burning with fire Hector Boethius writeth that a certain king of Scots caused some of his men to be disguised in garments with brighte shyning scales hauing in their hands rotten wood in stede of sâ—aues and so to appeare to his nobilitie and lordes in the night exhorting them to fight couragiously with their enimies and promising them to obtein victorie Wherby the noble men supposing they had séene angels behaued themselues valiantly and atchieued the victorie Many tymes candles and small fiers appeare in the night and séeme to run vp and downe And as the yong men in Heluetia who with their firebrands whiche they light at the bonfires in Shroftide somtime gather them selues together and then scatter abrode and agayne méeting togither march in a long ranke euen so do those fâ—ers sometime séeme to come togither and by and by to be seuered run abroade and at the last to vanish clean away Somtime these fâ—ers go alone in the night season and put such as sée them as they trauel by night in great fear But these things and many suche lyke haue their natural causes and yet I will not denye but that many tymes Dyuels delude men in this manner Natural Phylosophers wryte that thicke exhalations aryse out of the earthe and are kyndled Mynes full of sulphur and brimstone if the ayre enter vnto it as it lyeth in the holes and veines of the earth will kindle on fier and striue to get out Sometimes fier bursteth out of the earth as high as a tall trée and is soddenly put out agayne Whiche thing is to be thought to procéede of fierie matter séeking a vent to gushe out at We reade of the mount Aetna in Cicilie that in times past it burnte continually day night casting forth flames of fier fiery stones and ashes in great abundaunce The like is read also at Vesunius a hill in Campaine about a Germaine mile from Naples The same hill in the time of Titus the Emperour as S. Hierom reporteth cast foorth of it so much fier that it burnt the countrie and cities and people rounde about it and filled the fieldes adioyning full of cinders and ashes These two hilles euen in our dayes boyling with greate heate haue very muche indamaged the people inhabiting thereabout In Iseland as Olaus Magnus witnesseth are found fiers which breake out of the earth And as whole hilles and mountaines may burne euen so may a little fier be kindled in the earth yet wander very large They whiche trauelling by the way or by some other meanes chaunce to sée these things and know not the naturall causes of them imagin by reason of feare that they haue sene men burning like fier or some other straunge thing which they haue heard other men talk of And by meanes of their great feare often times they fall into greate daungerous diseases The arte perspectiue doth also worke this wonderfull feate that diuers and sundrie shapes will appeare in glasses made and sette togither after a certeyne artificiall sorte some times they will séeme to go out of the dores and resemble menne of oure familiar acquayntaunce Many things in very déede are naturall althoughe wée can not fynde any naturall reason for them And yet by the way they shewe them selues too foolishe which labour to bring al things to natural causes Here I will say nothing of those men which can beare plain and rude people in hande that they or some other of their acquaintance haue séen strange things which they earnestly auouche to be true when as in déede there was no such â–ª thing Howe often I pray you do we heare things affirmed as true which afterwarde proue moste false as that one was caryed away body and soule that an other was put to death and an infinite number of suche like reports CHAP. XII A proofe out of the Gentiles histories that Spirits and ghosts do often times appeare ALbeit many melancholike mad fearefull and weake sensed men doo oftentimes imagine many things whiche in very déede are not and are lykewyse deceyued somtyme by men or by brute beasts and moreouer mistake things whiche procéede of naturall causes to bée bugs and spirits as I haue hitherto declared by many examples yet it is most certayne sure that all those things which appeare vnto men are not alwayes naturall things nor alwayes vayne terrors to affray men but that spirits do often appeare many straunge and maruellous things do sundry times chaunce For many suche things of thys sorte are to be red in diuers graue and auncient historiographers and many men of no small credite haue affirmed that they haue séene spirits both in the day and in the night also And here I will orderly declare a fewe histories out of diuers allowed authors touching spirits which haue appeared and shewed them selues Suetonius Tranquillus writeth that when Iulius Cesar marching out of Fraunce into Italie with his army and comming to the riuer Rubico which deuideth Italie from the hether Fraunce staying there a while and reuoluing with him selfe how great an enterprise he hadde taken in hand as he was wauering in mind whether he shold passe the water or not sodenly there appeared a man of excelling stature and shape sitting hard by piping on a reede Melancthon in his phisicks calleth him â—â—iton vnto whom when not only shepherds but also very many souldiors from the camp and amongst them diuers trumpetters had flocked to heare him he sodenly snatched a trumpet from one of them and leaped to the riuer and with a lustie breath blowing vp the alarum went to the farther side Then sayd Caesar good lucke mates let vs go whether the gods warnings leade vs and whether our enimies iniquitie calleth vs The dice are throwne And so he transported ouer Plutarke writeth in Theseus life that many whiche were in the battaile of Marathonia against the Medians did affirme that they sawe the soule of Theseus armed who long time before died of a fall before the vauntgard of the Grecians running and setting on the barbarous Medians For which cause the AtheniaÌ„s afterward were moued to honour him as a demigod Pausanias writeth in Atticis That in the field of Maratho 400. yeres after the battaile there foughten there was hard the neying of horses and the incountring of souldiours as it were fighting euery night And that they which of purpose came to heare these things could hear nothing but those that by chaunce came that way hearde it very sensibly The same Plutarke writeth in the life of Cimon that when the citizens of Cheronesus had by fayre words called home their captaine Damon who before for diuers murthers departed the citie afterwards
the name of that Lorde hymselfe that giueth those Armes We saye this is Iulius Cesar Nero Saint Peter Saint Paule or here thou mayest sée the Cities of Tigurine and Argentorat also the Duke of Saringe whereas in deed they are onely theyr Counterfeicts or Armes and Signes of Honor. In a Commedie or Tragedie wée call thys manne Saule that Samuel an other Dauid whereas they do but betoken and represent their Personages So saythe Vergill in his fyrst booke of Aeneidos They wonder at Aeneas gyftes and haue Iulius in admiration And yet was it not Iulius or Ascanius but Cupide feining himselfe to bée Iulius whereby hée myght the easâ—yer pearce the heart of the ignorant Quéene with hys Darte of Loue. Saynte Augustine in his seconde booke and nynth chap. De mirabâ—libus Scripturae sayth that holie Scripture dothe sometymes applye the verie names of things to the Images and similitudes of the same Hée alleageth there this example that the foule spirit is called Samuel bycause hée dyd falsely beare Saule in hande that hée was Samuell whyche fraude of the Deuill coulde no ways turne too Samuels reproch For who would say that it should bée a reproche for an honest manne if some knaue would terme hymselfe by his name as if hée were hée himselfe The false Prophetes sayde they were true Prophets and Goddes Seruauntes yea which is more they fained themselues too bée the verie Messias the Sonne of god And that Scripture doth not so muche as in one woorde make mention that this was verie Samuell in déede but rather some spirite we must think that it so came to passe for this cause that all men by the Lawe of God might vnderstand that Magike and enquirie of things at the dead dyd much displease god Saule himselfe before by the counsell and motion of Samuell slewe all the Magitians that he could any where finde And God is not accustomed in this wise to interprete Figuratiue speaches for many of them are soone descried by suche as giue diligent héed to them A vaine superfluous speach it were if a man wold say this is Peter this is that is the Image of Peter whiche by a figure is called by the name of Peter Furthermore holie Scripture dothe vse to speake of things rather according to the opinion and iudgement of men than accordyng to the substance and true béeing which they haue in déede So Iesus is called the Sonne of Ioseph and Iosephe named his father whereas notwithstanding our Sauiour Chryst Iesus was borne of a chast and vnspotted Uirgin without any helpe of man And yet neuerthelesse many of the Iewes imagined that he was the Sonne of Ioseph In the 1. Cor. 1. the Gospel it selfe is named foolishnesse bicause that men did account the great wisdom of God but as méere foolishnesse So in the first epistle to the Corinthians .x. chap. the Scripture termeth them gods which be nothing lesse thaÌ„ so in dede And that for this cause onely for that the Heathen tooke them for Gods and so dyd worshippe them Euen so the Scripture doth terme the Deuil Samuel bycause Saule thought him to â—e Samuel in very déede An other reason they vse that Samuel forshewed vnto 〈◊〉 such things as afterwardes should come to passe as that the Philistians should in baâ—tayle ouerthrow hys 〈◊〉 and he and his sonnes together be slaine And all these thyngs comâ— to passe according to his Prophesie And say they the Deuil knoweth not neither can he foretell of things to come sith it is onely in Gods power so to do But as Christ in the eyght of Iohn saith he is a lyer the father of lyes Here vnto a man may easily answere The Diuell knewe howe things stode with the Iewes and the Philistines he vnderstode euen the very secrete consultations priuy practises and warlike preparation on both sides He sawe that the Israelits were slenderly addressed vnto battaile and vtterly daunted of courage Besides this Samuel had a little before thretned Saul with gods heauie wrath and vengeaunce and that Dauid shold be aduaunced to the kingly throne wherby he might easely gather what would ensue and that Saule must nedes giue place to Dauid And if the euent had bin otherwise yet he knewe that Saule with this prophesie woulde be quite dismayde and driuen to dispaire which thing muste néedes well content and please Sathan who layeth hys baits day and night to intrappe men The Diuell doth not presently vnderstande things to come and therefore he giueth doubtfull aunswers to such as séeke oracles of him As when he saide Croesus perdet Halin transgresâ—us plurima regna That is Cresus passing ouer the riuer Halis shal ouerturne many kingdomes And yet oftentimes he gathereth one thing no otherwise than by an other Hereof writeth Augustine in the 26.27 and 28. chapters of his booke De Anima The Diuell is one which hath bin long beaten in experience the which thing in all affaires and matters is of very great force For olde and practised souldiours 〈◊〉 by and by foresée to what issue things will come but yong men and suche as want experience do not forthwith espye out the euent of eche enterprise Moreouer the Diuels are very actiue and can soone dispatch their matters The marriners knowe when winds and stormes will arise Husbandmen also are not destitute of their prognostications The skilful astronomer can many yeares before exactly foretell when there will happen an Eclipse of the Sunne and Moone The Phisitian by the critical dayes pulse and vrine can lightly iudge whether his patient shal liue or no builders sée before hand when an house wil fal and a practised souldioure can straight wayes iudge who shall winne the victory And what maruaile then may it be if the Diuell an olde trained souldiour can sometimes foreshew some certain thing Shall we be of this minde that so many yeares experience hathe broughte them no knowledge at all Otherwhiles he telleth things which be true in déede and yet to no other ende but that he may therby purchase a certaine credite vnto his lying to seduce the ignoraunt For euen that counterfeit Samuell made wise as if he had taken it in very ill parte that Saule did so molest and disquiet him and that he shold be forced to talke with him he vseth farther the words as it were of Samuel him selfe And hereof it commeth that many gather he was the true Samuell in déede But what doth not Sathan deuise to deceyue men and to force them vnto desperacion Here I could alleage examples of suche as haue bin perswaded that they sawe and heard this and that man and moreouer knewe them perfectly by their spéeche whereas they haue afterwards had euident intelligence that they were at that time many miles distaunt from them So craftie is the Diuell and knoweth howe to worke these and many other feates There are farther diuers places alleaged out of the auncient fathers that séeme too