very deed is your vnanswerable argument throughout your whole pamphlets almost as all men may plainely perceiue that shall exactly consider the same Wherein like a superexcellent Logitian you doe but blindly reason from a bare may-bee to the being of a thing in deed which concludeth as iustly as Germans lippes that stoode seuen miles distant asunder Howbeit if you will haue it in any case accompted an irrefragable reason then what say you to another of mine being cast in one and the selfe same mould with yours thus The skie may now fall and so shall we haue great store of Larkes therefore the skie is now falne and we haue great store of Larkes If your selfe were forciblie constrained to feed vpon the onely most admirable fruite of such a phantasticall sequell till you haue fully confirmed your cause in hand it is to be greatly feared that the very faintnesse of body would force you to desist from your labors before you had finisht your businesse Exorcistes Not so For there is as great cause the Lord should inflict this iudgement now as at any time heretofore Orthodoxus It is vtterly vntrue For the manifestation of Christ his Deitie and the confirmation of his glorious Gospell were the maine causes of possession in Christ his time those causes being ceased long since how should the effect it selfe be still continued So then the maine ends of possessions being long since determined who seeth not lesse cause of inflicting that temporarie iudgement especially now in these daies of the Gospell But be it supposed there were now as great causes of such a wonderfull iudgement as euer before what then Seeing the same as you lately confessed is onely but a conditionall or temporarie iudgement and therefore to be then and there inflicted when and where it seemeth good to the Lord from whence haue your selfe receiued this large Commission that you dare thus proudly presume to limitte forth the Lord his times and his seasons for the seasonable inflicting of this your supposed most wonderfull iudgement The onely wise God he standes in no neede of your counsell and direction concerning the timely inflicting of this one or any other of his temporarie iudgements For who euer taught him how to dispose of any his iudiciall proceedings with the sonnes of Adam So then we conclude this point with Master Darrell and say thus vnto you You take too much vpon you good brother in thus presuming to vnderstand aboue that which is written and meete for your selfe to vnderstand and doe not vnderstand according to sobrietie Know you not good brother that the things reuealed belong onely to vs and our children Why then dare your selfe thus insolently vndertake to limitte the Lord his times and his turnes for the timely inflicting of his temporarie iudgments and to auouch your own apocryphall conceipts as vnanswerable reasons of those your pretended essentiall possessions which the Lord hath no where reuealed vnto you but in truth the contrarie as appeareth plainely euen in all our precedent Dialogues Exorcistes Howsoeuer your selfe do restraine the essentiall possession of diuels to the only manifestation of Christ his Deitie confirmation of his glorious gospel verie certaine it is that the aforesaid essentiall possession was euermore a iudgment inflicted also vpon the vngodly for sinne But sinnes of euery kinde are now as rife in the world as in any age since the beginning and therefore the Lord hee may now as iustlie inflict that punishment vpon sinners as heretofore he hath done Orthodoxus I make none other restraint of that temporarie iudgement then the sacred Scriptures doe make thereof as in our sixt seauenth and tenth Dialogues appeareth Notwithstanding be it confessed that sinnes of euerie kind are as rife in this our age as euer before yet who made you of counsell with the Lord that you dare so peremptorilie and so precisely put downe the supposed essentiall possession of diuels it being but temporarie as a wonderfull iudgement of God inflicted especiallie vpon men for their sins Seeing it is certaine that euen those natural infirmities themselues which doe now remaine in the world are not alwaies inflicted vpon men for their sinnes yea and sith it is also vndoubtedly true if we speake properlie and according to the depth of Diuinitie that the afflictions which the Lord layeth ordinarilie vpon the Elect in this life cannot properly be called the punishments for sinne And therefore it must necessarilie follow that eyther the possession of diuels whatsoeuer it was not especiallie and purposelie inflicted vpon men for their sinnes but only for the two former respects or if so that then only the reprobate sort were fearefullie subiected to that speciall iudgement And so by consequence Tho. Darling he was not then possessed at all because the whole world and you also your selfe doe ioyntlie hold him an elected child of God Moreouer if some naturall infirmities were purposelie inflicted on men not for sinne as you say but for the onlie manifestation of the glorie of God without any regard of the partie his sinnes then why not much more a supernaturall maladie I meane the actual possession of diuels It being especiallie but a temporarie iudgement of God tending more especiallie to the glorie of God yea and which more is the admirable curing also thereof appropriated more especiallie and onlie to Christ himselfe as to that onlie sonne of Dauid who was actuallie to bruse the Serpents head and triumphantlie to suppresse the Lion and Dragon Besides all this if the possession of diuels whatsoeuer was a wonderfull iudgement inflicted vpon men for their sinne it is verie likely then that our Sauiour Christ in curing the same as in the rest of many other his miraculous cures would also haue put the possessed especiallie in mind of their sinnes and of sinning no more Howbeit hee neuer gaue those men whome he deliuered from Satans possession any such watchword at all concerning eyther their sinnes or their sinning no more and therefore it is verie probable that that temporarie iudgement was neuer purposelie inflicted for sinne but onelie for those the aforesaid respects Neyther can those your quoted Scriptures in any possibilitie conclude your former assertion concerning the inflicting of actual possessions vpon men for their sinnes those selfesame Scriptures hauing onelie a relation to some naturall infirmities and not to this your supposed supernaturall maladie I meane your essentiall possession of diuels Furthermore if possessions whatsoeuer be inflicted especiallie vpon men for their sinnes it is verie likelie the same being so extraordinarie a iudgement would haue beene more especiallie inflicted vpon extraordinarie sinners but that we may plainely perceiue to be otherwaies For not onelie the same was eftsoones inflicted vpon sillie poore persons vpon young children and infants but which more is that your pretended patient he did you say vndergoe that wonderfull iudgement not so much for any sinne of his owne as
A SVMMARIE ANSWERE TO AL THE MATERIAL POINTS IN ANY OF Master DAREL his bookes MORE ESPECIALLIE TO THAT ONE BOOKE OF HIS INTITVLED the Doctrine of the Possession and Dispossession of Demoniaks out of the word of God By IOHN DEACON IOHN WALKER Preachers And the Sorcerers or Charmers of Aegypt they did in like manner with their inchauntments For they cast downe euery man his rod and they were turned into Serpents but Aarons rod deuoured their rods and so Pharaohs heart was hardened Exdo. 7.11.12.13 Si de veritate scandalum sumitur vtilius permittitur nasci scandalum quà m veritas relinquatur Aug. de libro arbitrio Talis est conditio falsitatis vel erroris vt etiam nullo sibi adsistente consenescat talis autem è diuerso veritatis status vt etiam multis impugnantibus suscitetur crescat Chrys. de laudibus Pauli lib. 3. Eugubinus de perenni Philosoph lib. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heu Tripodes lugete perit praesagus Apollo Aye me alas Tripodes perisheth presager Apollo Propugnaculum vitae patientia LONDINI Impensis Geor. Bishop 1601. TO THE REVEREND FATHERS THE LEARNED PREACHERS AND GODLIE BREthren in this our English Church I. D. and I. W. doe hartily wish the abundance of Reuelation in Iesus Christ with an holy discerning spirit that they may be the better inabled thereby to discerne aright of the things that differ and to hold fast for euer the infallible truth for the glorie of God the Churches good and their owne euerlasting comfort in Iesus Christ. So be it REuerend Fathers and Brethren beloued and longed for in the Lord The blessed Apostle putting downe some certaine precepts or Canons concerning the sacred Schooles of prophesie obserueth in effect this following order First hee permitteth the Prophets to speake by two or by three appointing the other Prophets to determine vprightlie of that which they speake and then next hee decreeth that if any thing be reuealed to another which sitteth by the former should be silent a time and the other man speake because all being thereunto called may prophesie one by one that all may learne and all may haue comfort Howbeit least any the Prophets should happily presume vpon this his permission to speake at their pleasure the Apostle forthwith for auoyding disordered confusion subiecteth the spirits of the Prophets to which more is if wee found them able to mannage their matters to giue them the hand of fellowship concerning their doubtfull cause Or if happily vpon better deliberation they yeelded the question to vs wee protested further to conceale their secret being vntill some good course might forthwith be taken for informing authoritie as well of their present conformitie as also for procuring their speedie deliuerance from the Ecclesiasticall censures so farre foorth as possiblie might be effected Sixtly beholding the holie Religion of Christ verie shrewdly scandalized by reason of such falsely pretended miracles we knew in our conscience we might doe nothing at all against the truth but for the truth and therefore not possiblie conceale those truthes which the Lord hath discouered vnto vs. Seuenthly our holy established Religion being verie scornefully derided with Papists and Atheists as a Religion that needeth now at length to be presentlie supported by superfluous miracles we verely perswaded our selues that no good Christian heart could possiblie forbeare his best endeuour to stay their intemperate courses Eightly Master Darel and his fellowes very confidently persisting in the vnhappie support of those their newly broached opinions hath mightily moued our hearts to haue at the least a compassion of some by putting a difference and othersome again to saue with feare by pulling them violently forth of the fire Ninthly their deceitful and coloured kind of proceeding in that they not onely pretend an holie cause but which more is doe varnish the same with holy pretences with faire words and flattering speeches to intangle if possiblie they may the very hearts of the simple hath made vs the more carefully to discouer vnto all the world what lurking poyson lieth shrowded vnder those glorious pretences Lastlie who would not both speake and write whatsoeuer they conscionablie knowe concerning these causes if hee but respect as in conscience hee ought that shamefull reproch which Master Darell and his fauourits like disordered persons doe verie iniuriouslie impose vpon the whole land vpon Magitracie Ministery and people in these following words Wee doubt not say they but that other nations and kingdomes about vs will both giue credit to this matter of fact so soone as they shall heare thereof and see how the same hath been witnessed vpon the oathes of many and will also receiue the Doctrine of possession and dispossession which we so much haue gaine-saide Blush then oh England and be thou ashamed of this thy incredulitie which is such as the like thereof hath not bin read nor heard of before for others haue yet acknowledged the worke which hath been done in them but thou hast not gone so farre but rather denied the same Loe these in effect be the maine occasions themselues which moued vs especially to labour these matters Now next the principall ends which we propound to our selues in publishing our labours are these that follow Namely we haue first done it to testifie our hearts desire for the timely accomplishment of Ierusalems peace Secondly to make knowne to the world our prouident care for the speedie preuenting of euery such future disordered courses as happily might preiudice the whole or any part of Gods truth as heretofore the Brownists and Hackets haue too inconsideratlie effected by their vnruly and headie conceits Thirdly to insinuate vnto al the world our arnest endeuours to know the truth and to be better informed if happily we erre in these matters Fourthly to lay open our Christian care for the timely informing of such as are contrarie minded Fiftly to discouer our vndoubted detestation of all false waies in any how deare soeuer vnto vs. Sixtly to vnfold the preposterous giddines of such humorous spirits as dare in this our doting age so dangerouslie pester the Church with strange and vnwonted opinions very fitly consorting with their fauourits natures Lastly wee haue more especially published our labours to stand in steede of some prouident watch-word for yong students in Diuinitie and newly conuerted Christians that in any wise they beware how they doe either broach abroad or receiue any such phantasticall conceits of priuate persons as are not primarily examined according to the infallible rules of the word neither yet authentically approued by publike authoritie Loe these in effect were the maine occasions and ends for the now publishing of our labours in print The premisses therefore considered and the arguments on both sides rightly respected we beseech you reuerend Fathers and Brethren to consider diligentlie whether of vs both haue caused diuisions and offences contrarie to the
bitter exclamations I must necessarilie admonish you Readers of some particulars in either of both and therewithall must aduise them to beware they doe not either too rashlie approue of your spirit or too inconsideratelie affect your Cabalisticall conceits For first in one of the Epistles you apparantly discouer to all the world your grosse and intolerable pride by indighting arraigning adiudging and condemning of Passhur and the Prelates as it please you to terme them of the vnpardonable sinne against the holy Ghost Labouring the Lord Chiefe Iustice withall not onely to recouer himselfe with speede from that forenamed fearefull sinne whereunto it seemes by the purport of your speech you doe greatlie feare he is fearefullie falling but also to practise a fresh such a platforme of Iustice as your selfe doth more deliberatelie portrature to him for those his iudiciall proceedings more especiallie concerning your speciall matters Namely that he doe forthwith reuerse the precedent iudgement which passed against you and admit you a new plea to proceede in a fresh and the same at your pleasure to prosecute eftsoones before the iudgement seate Which motion of yours being freely admitted and the same once made but a meere matter of course tell me what one definitiue sentence against malefactors must at any time stand currantly sound without the speedie reuersing of some at the least For if offendors may once haue free passage to such a proceeding they can very subtlelie suggest and are cunning enough to pretend many colourable pretences and probable presumptions for the timely annihilating and for making a plaine nullitie in any definitiue sentence against themselues whatsoeuer Againe in the very title it selfe as also in the Epistle before your detection you doe to too dangerouslie detect a very vndutifull and disloyall heart to her Maiestie by branding her Maiesties iudiciall proceedings against you with the treacherous title of a sinfull shamefull lying and ridiculous discourse terming the dealers against you no better then English Inquisitours such as bewitch her Maiesties people with their crooked conueiances Instruments of Satan Impudent and shameles discoursers the publishers of shameles and malitious inuectiues yea such and so mightie aduersaries as you must necessarilie cracke and diminish their credits yea take all credit quite from them by detecting their filthinesse especiallie the Discoursers that so by making his name to rot and to stinke you may gaine among men the more credit to your sillie poore languishing cause With these and infinite other like vnchristian courses vndutifull termes and inhumane proceedings are those your two Epistles pestered full what say you Exorcistes vnto them Exorcistes I am so farre off from forethinking the same as I could heartilie wish they were doubled and trebled vpon their pates Orthodoxus Fie fie for shame these your vndutifull and disloyall reuilings of men endowed with her Maiesties lawfull authoritie doe euen make the very eares of all men to tingle Surelie howsoeuer we our selues in our former conferences were in very great hope of your happie conuersion yet now the naturall corruption of your proude and intemperate spirit so deepelie discouers it selfe all good men stand greatlie in doubt of doing you good by any their holy endeuours But tell me I beseech you what spirit you are of Tell me from whence you receiued so large a Commission as that you dare by vertue thereof thus insolentlie inthronize your selfe into the sacred throne of the eternall God for the arraigning adiudging and condemning of consciences What priuiledge haue you thus proudely to pull downe from the seate of iustice such approued Magistrates as her Maiestie hath authenticallie placed therein and then so proudely skippe vp into their places your selfe by countermaunding annihilating and reuersing definitiue sentences yea and which more is by aduising disposing and determining at your pleasure quite contrarie courses for iudiciall proceedings Where is your warrant so vnreuerently to rayle vpon reuile and speake euill of any in authoritie We know very well who hath giuen vs straightly in charge not to curse or reuile the rulers of the people but we vnderstand not as yet where or from whence your selfe should possiblie procure such a plenarie power to countermaund or controll that former charge of the Lord. You take much more vpon you herein then euer did Iehoshuah the high Priest or Michael the Archangeli when they stroue with the Diuel for they durst neuer giue rayling sentence to him but onely said thus The Lord reproue thee O Satan euen the Lord that hath chosen Ierusalem reproue and rebuke thee Whereas your selfe in most disloyall and vndutifull manner doe offer a most dispitefull disgrace to publike gouernment and doe very seditiouslie depraue and speake euill of persons in publike authoritie as though your tongue were your owne to prate what pleaseth your selfe But tell me good Exorcistes doe these the outragious outgoings of your vnrulie affections proceede from the spirit of God or the Diuell Exorcistes I reuerence the authoritie it selfe and doe only oppose my speech to shameles and graceles men in authoritie Orthodoxus Whatsoeuer you imagine the men to be the best is they doe stand or fall to their Lord and therefore there is no cause they should greatly feare the boysterous thumps of any your Cannon-like thunder cracks all the while the greatest matter of your charge is but winde and paper For it is an vndoubted truth I assure you that as these Rabshakeian reuilings and raylings against the persons of men doe bewray to the world the badnes of your cause and primarilie proceede from the very circumference it selfe of your circular conceits so are they all equallie and proportionably directed to one and the selfe same period viz. ad vertiginem cerebri I meane to the giddi-braines disease or the turne-about sicknes But be it the men were fully so bad as you beare vs in hand we hope you will neuer hold them to be halfe so bad as the Diuell and yet the Diuell receiuing notwithstanding his badnes a Commission from God to afflict the Church Iehoshuah and Michael they durst not as we told you before giue rayling sentence against the Diuell for feare of being found thereby to rayle against God himselfe whose Executioner or hang-man he was You are wise enough to make the application your selfe Besides al this we haue the exāple of Dauid of Stephen of our Sauiour himselfe of all the holy Martyrs of God yea and of the saued theefe on the Crosse who all prayed for their persecutors pursuing their deaths but we haue no one president of any that euer reuiled or railed on the persons of men saue onely that of cursed Shimei of rayling Rabshakeh and of the damned theefe on the Crosse whose number we hope you will neuer encrease by seconding such their vnchristian courses your selfe For if he who curseth the Ruler but only in the secret and hidden thought of his heart
and you your own selfe doe flatlie affirme such a sense of the place Eyther you are to too forgetfull what you affirme or els you are groslie impudent in auouching the thing you dare not beleeue nor receiue for infallible truth But what might be the reason of such your sodaine Apostasie concerning this point Exorcistes Surelie sir euen this and none other First when I but remember those wonderfull workes which the Apostles themselues did eftsoones effect and consider withall that absolute power of Christ whereby they effected the same I perceiue not how any infernall power could euer be able to resist or hold out against that diuine and absolute power of Christ. Orthodoxus It appeares by your speech that eyther you haue had your later cogitations concerning these matters or that els you haue filthilie forgot what you said but a little before and or euer it be long will be forced eftsoones to auouch it a fresh Howbeit this in the meane time wee doe flatlie confesse for an answere and Master Darel also auoucheth as much namelie that all the infernall powers of hell shall neuer be able to withstand that absolute power of Christ which must necessarily driue them from the possessed Although notwithstanding it followeth not but that the diuell might then be able enough to withstand the Apostles miraculous faith in the timely apprehending of that selfesame absolute power of Christ. And this also by their own carelesnes in stirring vp their said faith by earnest prayer to God for which their said carelesnesse they were then so sharpelie rebuked of Christ and for confirmation of which faith from thenceforth they eftsoones practised such feruent prayer about the powerful accomplishment of many their miraculous actions Exorcistes They sometimes prayed I confesse at their working of miracles howbeit they needed not so to haue done their faith being strong Orthodoxus Verie true But their faith being weake there was great cause they should doe it yea and euen then also our Sauiour Christ very sharpely rebukes them for not doing the same And which more is you your owne selfe doe affirme that at other times also they did earnestlie pray for the encrease of their faith which faith of theirs being then but weake M. Darel hee tels you that was the cause why they could not driue forth the diuell Exorcistes Nay sir the very words of our Sauiour himselfe are so directly against this interpretation as wee may by no meanes admit of the same For he tels his Disciples that nothing should be impossible to their miraculous faith and therefore not the casting out of any diuell how combersome or crabbed soeuer Vnlesse happilie you will make these wordes of Christ this kind goeth not forth but by fasting and prayer a particular exception from out of that generall power of the Apostles miraculous faith whereunto nothing should be impossible saue only the expelling of diuels of that kinde which is vtterly vnsound and flat opposite to the meaning of Christ himselfe Orthodoxus Yea but M. Darel he tels you a quite contrarie tale For hee very confidentlie affirmeth that the scope and purpose of Christ was to make knowen to his owne Disciples that the spirit possessing that child was one of the worst kind of spirits for as much as it was one that would not be remooued without the strong and chiefe of those meanes which were ordinarie and perpetual and that thence partly it was that the Disciples themselues did not cast him forth And for this cause M. Darel doth tell vs that our Sauiour Christ from out of those words this kind goeth not out noteth a certaine distinct sort order or degree of diuels some way differing and distinguished from others with one of which number hee implieth that the child was possessed whereby it came that they themselues had not cast him out Exorcistes Howsoeuer it pleaseth you to make your selfe sport with Master Darel his speeches M. Darel vpon better deliberation now telleth you plainely that so oft as hee considers the authoritie and power which Christ gaue his Disciples ouer al vncleane spirits and their mightie preuailing therewith as also when he remembers that this selfesame receiued power of theirs was not bounded or limited to this or that kind of diuel but stretched it selfe ouer all euill spirits whatsoeuer so that if he were but a diuell they had power to expell him so oft I say as M. Darel considers and remembers these matters hee dare boldlie conclude that no diuell how combersome or cruell soeuer was able to withstand the Apostles miraculous faith Orthodoxus If M. Darel be fraught with such variable and flitting considerations no maruell at all though the poore man be carried hither and thither with such variable and chaungeable opinions as are like to the chaungeable taffeta resembling all colours Howbeit such wauering weathercockes should make wise men beware how they credit any his vncertaine oracles concerning this new-found diuillitie howsoeuer the beake stands full in the winde More especiallie then it behooues them to haue their eyes in their head when Master Darel concludes so directlie against the plaine wordes of Christ who tels his Disciples that the very cause why they could not cast forth that spirit was their vnbeleefe and weakenesse of faith which they should haue stirred vp by fasting and prayer Exorcistes Sir by your patience you are quite from the purpose of Christ For he speakes there of the miraculous faith as appeares by the text it selfe which tels vs of such a faith no doubt as being effectuallie had is able to remoue mountaines out of their places Orthodoxus And we also vnderstand it of such a faith but what then Exorcistes Doe you aske me what then Why sir that kinde of faith it was giuen without meanes to certaine men And as the Lord appointed no meanes for the begetting of that selfe-same miraculous faith so neyther hath hee ordained anie meanes at all for the encrease thereof Orthodoxus A mad man might happily imagine that Exorcistes by this his immediate miraculous faith had striken the Popingay dead beholding him especially so crowslie to set vp the crest But sir how are you sure the miraculous faith was giuen the Apostles without any meanes or that the Lord hath appointed no meanes at all for the begetting thereof Very certaine it is that the miraculous faith how extraordinarie soeuer is giuen vnto men by the inspiration of God and therfore the spirit it selfe is a meanes whereby the Lord begetteth that selfesame miraculous faith in some certaine speciall persons foreordained by the foreknowledge of God to that speciall busines For to some saith the Apostle is giuen faith by the same spirit whereby you may plainly perceiue that euen the miraculous faith it selfe hath also a meanes for the timely begetting thereof Exorcistes These are but starting holes whereby to slip foorth when you feele your selfe hardly
vs whether it was an inward possession or an outward vexation Or whether it was neyther of both but some other straunge iudgement of God or whether it was the hand of God some one way or other vpon them but what way you know not And yet notwithstanding you dare proudlie determine these intricate matters as if they were certainelie reuealed vnto you by an Angell from heauen Exorcistes Whatsoeuer you say to the contrarie the parties we speak of they were euery of them essentiallie possessed of Satan and dispossessed also by meanes of our prayer and fasting yea and these things we hold very confidentlie without any doubting at all Neyther will wee be otherwaies perswaded though an Angell from heauen should come and tell vs the contrarie Orthodoxus It is very commendable to be confident in a good and commendable cause both when you are present and absent As for your present purpose in hand it were much better to acknowledge the ignorance of your soule and freelie to confesse that you hold a lie in your right hand then with such setled pertinacie to persist as you do in your peeuish opinions and thus blasphemouslie to prophane the Apostles speech concerning the infallible testimonie of an Angell from heauen For hereby you giue all good men a iust occasion not onely to suspect very shrewdlie the sinceritie of your spirit but also after twise or thrise admonition to shew themselues very carefull in fleeing from your person as from a man that sinneth and persisteth in sinning you know very well how In the meane time whatsoeuer you haue hitherto sayde for your purpose it moues not our mindes the breadth of one haire but maketh vs more confident concerning the goodnes of our owne cause And so wee meane still to continue vntill your selfe vpon further conference and sounder deliberation with your secret fauorites shall be found able to say more for the matter then hitherto you haue done And therefore now to conclude for the present and to inferre something of the premisses and so to proceed to some speciall vses concerning the same If it be vndoubtedlie true that men now in these last dayes are not essentiallie possessed with diuels nor dispossessed and that sole prayer and fasting they are no speciall meanes appointed purposelie by the Lord himselfe for their perpetuall dispossessing but that also the seauen in Lancashire and William Sommers with the other two namelie Darling and K. Wright were not in deed essentially possessed and being not so were not dispossessed at all by your pretended ordinarie meanes of prayer and fasting then let the good Christian Reader iudge whether those men doe not very groslie erre in the generall who so confidentlie hold that men now a dayes both may be and are also essentiallie possessed and those also who affirming fullie so much doe yet further very flatlie auouch that euen in these dayes of the Gospell men possiblie may be and are also essentially dispossessed by sole prayer and fasting as by a speciall ordinaunce established purposelie by our Sauiour Christ to that speciall purpose And whether those men likewise be not as faultie in the particular who cannot with any patience endure that the pretended possession and dispossession of those the forenamed persons how absurd soeuer should be impugned by any Yea and rather then any sound opposition of truth to those their palpable vntruthes should gaine a publike passage they will by all manner of meanes directlie or indirectlie contend for a most vaine and friuolous matter namelie that the said Sommers Darling and K. Wright were no counterfeits Notwithstanding howsoeuer some in the world for any thing that may possiblie be sayde to the contrary will neuer be brought to acknowledge the infallible truth which we teach nor disclaime those palpable vntruthes which your selfe so vndutifully haue broched abrode to the world and thereupon be moued to giue the Lord that glorie and praise which is iustlie due to his Maiestie for these his latelie reuealed counsels concerning these intricate questions and endeuour withall to make their right vse of euery point a thing rather to be wished then hoped for yet wisedome no doubt she shall and will be iustified freelie of all her children And thus much in effect for your two first distributions namelie the essentiall possessions and dispossessions of spirits and diuels which may serue to giue wise men a watchword till we heare your further determination concerning the same Exorcistes Well but what say you now to my third distribution I meane the seuerall vses which we are to make of the same Orthodoxus We will say no more concerning those matters then that which we haue spokeÌ„ before namelie that in manie of those your supposed vses there are some thinges to too vnsound and absurd as in some part of our answeres hath beene partly obserued Notwithstanding were they euerie of them so sound and so currant as you would haue vs imagine yet could they not gaine at our hands any entertainement or answere before the two precedent points be more substantiallie proued vnto vs. For what one sauorie vse may any man possiblie draw from matters vnsauorie or rather which more is from matters not now existing in nature Physiologus Verie true as you say And therefore Exorcistes eyther you must presentlie forsake your cause or more sufficientlie confirme the same then you haue hitherto done Otherwise the whole world will forthwith condemne you for a verie perâ—erse and contentious person very wilfullie bent to your idle conceits without eyther sway of reason or shew of sense Exorcistes Well sir sith you so careleslie reiect those holie and profitable vses which are drawen from this my Doctrine concerning essentiall possessions and dispossessions of diuels I pray you what one good vse may be made of that which you hold to the contrarie Orthodoxus I doe no further reiect your said vses then their proper vnsoundnes and want of sound matter to be grounded vpon doth necessarily require at my hands Howbeit because you shall not imagine that we haue broached such opposite points to yours as cannot possiblie afoorde any profitable vse to the Church or people of God we are therefore not vnwilling to put downe some few vses of many to make knowen to the world what true vses in deed may soundly be drawen from the soundnesse of our Doctrine Which being by vs very faithfully propounded are now authentically priuileged by publike authoritie Howbeit because we are almost all weary of this wearisome businesse let vs walke forth to refresh our selues for one hower or two and then proceed in our purpose Physiologus We all approue of your motion The end of the second Dialogue The third Dialogue THE ARGVMENT The holy and right vses which the Church and children of God are to make of this Doctrine concerning the finall determination of possessions and dispossessions of Spirits and Diuels The speakers names PHILOLOGVS LYCANTHROPVS PNEVMATOMACHVS PHYSIOLOGVS
continuall wrestlings with Principalities with Powers with worldly gouernours of the darkenesse of this world yea and with spirituall wickednesses in the high places themselues while he surprise their slumbring soules at vnwares with his spirituall assaults and â—irie temptations And therefore whensoeuer we behold hereafter an extraordinarie or vnwonted course vndertaken by any for the speciall supporting of this idle conceit let vs then vndoubtedly assure our selues that euen Satan himselfe is a principall partie and hath very cunningly his hand in the packe by being a lying spirit in the practisers mouthes of very purpose to circumuent and deceiue vnstable soules That thus holding their cogitations captiuated by a causelesse conceite of a matter which is not at all he might the more cunningly suggest his intestine poysons and spirituall temptations yea and the more couertly miscarrie mens mindes in a corrupt conuersation without any due regard of the glory of God or the good of their Soules Philologus The truth of this point is apparantly euident to all in their proper experience but proceede I beseech you Orthodoxus Furthermore inasmuch as this Doctrine of ours concerning the finall accomplishment of Sathan his power of actuall possession is so mightily maligned and so preposterouslie impugned by some certaine persons professing the holie religion of God it doth very liuely demonstrate to all the world the vnsuspected subtilties and wilie proceedings of that old Serpent the Diuell Who at his first beginning of mischiefes hauing purposely imployed the externall ministerie of the subtilest beast in the speedie subuersion of Adam and all his posteritie and perceiuing there was euer since by the predeterminate purpose of God such a perpetuall enmitie betweene them and their seede as he became vtterly without hope of vsing that selfesame meanes as before in any his mischieuous purposes against the persons and bodies of men doth practise now a quite contrarie course and the same also more dangerous then the other by many degrees Namely he endeuoureth eftsoones for the speedier and more effectuall corrupting of euery such sacred ordinance of God as concernes especially the seruice of Saints to stirre vp in the Church not cruell persecutors but some certaine professors of the selfesame societie Men I meane not only reputed precise in the world but such for the most part as will not sticke forsooth in the pritching heate of their holie pride to say with skornefull disdaine to all others besides themselues Stand apart and come not neere vnto me for I am holiâ—r then thou notwithstanding they be for the most part the smoking wrath of Iehouah and a fire that burneth all the day These men for their outward shewes of sinceritie being among many others in the least suspition of all concerning any sinister practises and so in very deede the fittest instruments for the timely accomplishment of Sathan his pestilent purposes therefore hee doth cunningly seduce their soules by one meanes or other and so makes them eftsoones very fearefullie to fall into and boldlie to broach some odde phantasticall conceipt of their owne proper braine to the fearefull infecting of many poore soules before they beware In this cunning course he began to worke first by our grandmother Euah who being her selfe before very groslie bewitched by his wilie perswasions and holie pretences and fobbed vp with a fond conceite of being like vnto God in the knowledge of good and euill became forthwith a very fit instrument to seduce and deceiue her owne husband and so brought him and all his into a miserable experience indeede not of good but of euill And this Connie-catching course the Diuell hath successiuely continued from age to age vnto this present time as the sacred scriptures themselues and the ecclesiasticall histories do plainely record if any desire to peruse the same Neither doth this cunning conueyance of these his inueterate mischiefes stay here or take vp themselues from any further proceeding but euen also in this last age of the world he goeth still forwards with his legerdemaines and iuggling sleights procuring among our owne selues some certaine persons to spring vp from time to time and to vtter many peruerse and pestilent points of very purpose to draw disciples after them That euen as Iacob and Esau being brethren by nature contended together in one and the selfesame wombe to the deadlie griefe of Rebecca their mother so surely the Diuell by these cunning deuises endeuoureth daylie to stirre vp among brethren by outward profession such an intestine strife in the true Church of Christ and to hatch vp in the same such a secret viperous broode as should like the fretting Gangrena deuoure and eate through the very bowels thereof before the danger it selfe be espied A most lamentable experience concerning the infallible truth of that which we teach we may haue from the Anabaptists in Europe from the Donatists in Affricke from the Iesuites in Germanie in Fraunce and elsewhere from the Familists and Barrowists in England from the fearefull seduction of Hacket of Coppinger of Arthington yea and euen now at this present from the seducing Exorcists of euery condition Euery of these howsoeuer they otherwaies pretend the good of the Church and the credit of christian Religion haue bred a more dangerous scandal and giuen a more deadlie wound to the happie proceeding of our holie Religion in deede then if they had bin the professed and open aduersaries to the holie profession thereof The dutifull consideration of these dangerous occurrents arising especially from Sathan his subtile proceedings should help to engraue in our hearts a deeper impression of that the Apostle his heauenly admonition concerning the due triall of Spirits before we do rashly beleeue their roauing reports Yea and the same doth further demonstrate to all the world that howsoeuer the phantasticall crew may haplie impute a great follie vnto vs for these our painefull proceedings yet notwithstanding the premisses dulie considered the wise will confesse that we haue very iust cause to cry out with the blessed Apostle and say Would to God you could suffer alittle our foolishnes yea and indeede do you suffer vs. Because we are iealous ouer you all with a godlie iealousie endeuouring to prepare you for one husband and to present you a pure virgin to Christ. Howbeit we stand greatly in feare least as the Serpent beguiled Euah through her subtiltie so your minds should be corrupt from the simplicitie that is in Christ. Physiologus This vse I assure you is worthie of consideration but proceed in the rest Orthodoxus Moreouer in that the holy exercise of prayer and fasting is so stoutlie pretended to be a sole and onlie ordinary meane establisht by Christ for the powerfull expelling of diuels without the help of any other besides and that the saide meanes so obserued the spirits they shall and will vndoublie depart from the partie possessed This serueth very fitlie to discouer vnto
aside from the way they shall not onlie saue a soule and couer the multitude of sinnes but which more is they may in hauing this learning and in knowing the deepnes of Satan concerning these mysticall matters very assuredly expect with patience their happie coronation with Christ in the celestiall throne And thus much in effect for the holie vses of this doctrine whether they concerne the Lord himselfe or his creatures Lycanthropus These vses they are euery way so pertinent and so consonant to the substance of the doctrine it selfe as none but the headie and obstinate who hauing with a setled pertinacie euen secretly and finally deuoted themselues to their selfe-conceit will any waies mislike or impugne the same But what saith Exorcistes vnto them Exorcistes I neither could nor would willingly be opposite to them especially if the Doctrine it selfe from whence they are drawne were so currantly sound as Master Orthodoxus and the rest would beare me in hand Howbeit notwithstanding any thing hitherto heard I am and must still be in the selfe same opinion I was in at the first For if none in these daies be essentially possessed of Satan do tel me I pray you how we are to esteeme of such extraordinarie actions or passions as do eftsoones befall to sundrie distressed persons Orthodoxus I will simplie tell you what my owne selfe suppose them to be and how also I would haue your selfe and all others accompt of such accidents First such extraordinarie and vnwonted occurrents may eftsoones appeare and be practised by meere cousoning collusions and craftie conueiances of legerdemaine Yea and these counterfeite actions or passions may also bee broached either by the only pretended Demoniake himselfe as did the dissembling caitife who cousoned that reuerend father Master Fox without the assistance of any other besides or else such extraordinarie actions they may be effected by the ioynt assistance helpe and direction of some craftie confederate conioyned with that the aforesaid pretended Demoniake in the couert dispatch of those his counterfeit prankes Of this kinde of Demoniakes the world hath been successiuely pestered in euery age since the Primitiue Church and therefore no wonder at all though now in these daies some certaine persons should likewise depart from the faith giuing heede to spirits of error and to doctrines of Diuels Sometimes againe the pretended Demoniake may in deed and in truth be easily drawen to beleeue that he is without doubt essentially possessed of Satan when there is no such matter at all he hauing onely at vnwares to himselfe and by some paltrie Priest or cunning Impostor beene before verie grosly abused partly by Patheticall and circumuenting perswasions and partly also by some intoxicated perfume some filthie confection or potion The which bewitching sorceries doe so strangely disorder the poore Patients body his minde it selfe with all the powers and faculties concerning them both as for the present the very beholders themselues are easily perswaded with the people of Samaria to beleeue that the partie in deed is essentially possessed Yea and which more is the very Exorcist himselfe who pretendeth and vndertaketh the supposed dispossession of this newly supposed Demoniake he may also very easily beare the beholders in hand that he is vndoubtedly some mightie Magnifico in this new-found trade of Diuillitie and make them thus to crie out frō the least to the most Doubtlesse this man is the great power of God Of this kind of Demoniakes as also of that the intoxicated potion it selfe the Iesuiticall Exorcists in their Exorcising pamphlets they affoord vs sundry examples Thirdly these extraordinarie and vnwonted occurrents they may and doe also eftsoones arise from meere naturall causes namely from Mania from Melancholy from Lunacy from Furie from the Phrensie from the Epilepsie from the Mother from Conuulsions obstructions and sundry such other vnnaturall accidents as we haue eftsoones declared in our former discourses By the vnwontednes and efficacie of which vnnaturall infirmities the minde it selfe being mightily disordered before by meanes of the Phantasie doth easily resolue that some extraordinarie operations of Satan doe mightilie distemper his natural constitution and strangely afflict the same in euery part Of this kind of extraordinarie actions or passions very many but lately departed this life and many yet liuing haue oftentimes had an experience yea and the best vse you may possibly make of all those your eight supposed Demoniakes more especially of your newly pretended Patients sprong vp in Cheshire of late is only this Namely that the excesse of melancholy or some other disordered humour did for the present disorder their bodies according to the approued iudgement of learned Physitions concerning especially the boye at Northwitch Lastly the Diuell being alwaies desirous to worke among the deare children of God the greatest disturbance that may be and finding withall some such lewd disposed person as is naturally enclined to all manner of knaueries he taketh the oportunitie of so fit a subiect and worketh so cunningly vpon the corruption of that lewd persons nature as the partie himselfe is easily brought to beleeue and to beare others also in hand that he is in deede and in truth essentially possessed of Satan Yea and which more is the said vngratious body partly for gaine partly for glory and partly also in an affected desire to be deemed terrible to others about him he doth from thence forth very willingly endeuour himselfe to speake and to act some such strange and vnwonted acts as the like were neuer espied in him before By which his villanous practises the silly beholders surprised before with an inueterate opinion of Demoniacall possessions are easily brought to intertaine for infallible truth that the partie is in deed essentiallie possessed with some Spirit or Diuell Of this kinde of Demoniakes we haue often experience in euery age and the cousoning of good Master Foxe doth plainely confirme By the premisses then you may plainely perceiue that the supposed strange actions or passions in any such falslie pretended Demoniakes they may and are also eftsoones effected without any supernaturall power of a Diuell and therefore you neede not so easilie be ledde to conceiue of those matters in such sort as you doe but ought rather to examine the causes themselues with the sundrie occasions and seuerall circumstances of persons of times and of places with other occurrents that thereby you may more soundly be able to determine thereof Lycanthropus Surely sir these Cautions and considerations being duely obserued there could not possibly be such contrarietie of opinions concerning these matters as now are rashly broached abroad to the intolerable disturbance of the Peace of the Church But what saith Exorcistes to all these matters Exorcistes I say and hold as before that there are essentiall possessions of Spirits and Diuels in these daies of the Gospell and that sole prayer and fasting is a perpetuall ordinance established by Christ for the powerfull expelling of Spirits
disease and sole prayer and fasting an ordinarie medicine to cure the same 50 Whether the essentiall possession of Diuels be a written or an vnwritten iudgement of God 53 Whether as great cause that the Lord should inflict the iudgement of possession vpon men now as at any time heretofore 55 Whether it be iudgement inflicted vpon men for sinne 56 Whether the consent of Churches Fathers Trauellers Papists and vaunts of Iesuits may suffice to proue the pretended possession 59 Whether essentiall possessions be as ordinarie now as are other diseases and haue also as ordinarie a remedie to cure them 61 Whether the continuance of like sinnes argueth the continuance of like supposed essentiall possessions 65 Whether our corporall senses may truly discerne of the essentiall possessions of Diuels 69 Whether it bee reasonable to put men to proue the now being of essentiall possessions 70 Whether the pretended passions in the Chesshire Demoniake may concludently proue essentiall possessions 71 Whether in any of his fits he was vtterly senselesse 74 Whether wagging of his head be a supernaturall action of Satan 71 Whether this boy be raised vp of God to proue the truth of these supposed essentiall possessions 77 Whether the supposed dispossession of those eight Demoniakes doe proue essentiall possessions 78 THE SECOND DIALOGVE pag. 81. THe pretended signes of dispossession in our supposed Demoniakes they are not the same with Scripture signes 82 Exorcistes his owne experimentall signes they are no true signes of the pretended dispossessions 83 Whether vomitting be a true signe of dispossession 84 The pretended proper termes and speciall ends of dispossessions 85 Whether Satan his supposed desire of repossession doth argue an vndoubted true signe of dispossession 87 The casting out of Diuels by an absolute or committed authoritie 90 The instance from the Queene and L. Keeper is fitly retorted 91 Whether sole prayer and fasting be any secret ordinance perpetually established by Christ for the powerfull expelling of Diuels 94 Whether the seuenteenth of Matthew and ninth of Marke doe implie any such a supposed ordinance 94 Whether Christ in those places putteth downe a distinction of Diuels 96 The instance from Phlebotomie very fitly retorted 97 Whether there be Scripture or sound reason to appropriate the vse of that supposed meanes vnto the primitiue age 98 Whether all other besides Christ and his Apostles did driue forth Diuels by that only supposed ordinance 100 Whether it be requisite to know the kind of spirit or euer the Exorcist vndertake the intended busines 101 Whether sole prayer may be made a practicall experiment for the discouering of Diuels ibid. Why Master Darel in dealing with Sommers did dissent from his owne established Canons 102 Master Darel his owne practise and Canons are different things 103 Master Darel and an old Heremits practise compared together 105 Master Darel he plaies at fast or loose in his speech 107 Christ neither expreslie nor secretly establisheth sole prayer and fasting as an ordinarie meanes for the perpetuall expelling of Diuels 108 Master Darel traiterous Stapleton and Thyraeus the Iesuite doe all iumpe together in this conceit 109 Whether there be some kinde of Diuels with whom the Apostles their miraculous faith could not possiblie deale without prayer and fasting annexed thereto 110 Whether the Apostles praying at their working of miracles did more therein then they needed to doe 111 Master Darel is at oddes with himselfe about the exposition of the seuenteenth of Matthew 111.112 Whether the Apostles enioyed the miraculous faith without any meanes at all 113 Whether the spirit and word were not meanes to worke in euery of them the miraculous faith 114 Whether the Lord hath sanctified any ordinarie meanes to the timely encrease of extraordinarie graces 115 Pretended reasons to proue the needlesnesse of prayer in any the Apostles concerning especially their miraculous faith 116 Whether the Apostles had any reuealed word to warrant their praying for an encrease of the miraculous faith 117 Whether the Apostles sinned not in doing more therein then they needed to doe 118 Reasons why the seuenth of Matthew vers 21. may not saith Master Darel be appropriated vnto the Apostles 119 Whether Christ did not directly answere the Disciples demaund 122 Master Darel endeuouring with tooth and naile to vphold his pretended ordinance of prayer and fasting falles flat into Iudaisme 123 Whether after the feast of Pentecost the Apostles needed to pray for any encrease of their faith 125 Whether the Apostles receiued the fulnesse of the spirit at the feast of Pentecost 127 If the Apostles faith failed at any time in doctrine where is the efficacie of Christ his promise Ioh. 16.13 129 Whether Peters faith after Christ prayed Luk. 22.32 did euer faile in doctrine or iudgement 130 Wherein when and how the Apostles faith is said to faile 132 Whether the Apostles faith euer failed in the working of miracles 135 Whether Christ did purposely put downe a distinct order or degree among Diuels Matth. 17.21 137 Master Darel and Dionysius that Seraphicall Doctor doe iumpe together in the distinction of Angels and Diuels 138 Whether difference of order among men on earth implieth a distinction of order among Diuels in hell 139 Whether the supposed different degrees among Angels in heauen implieth a distinction of Diuels in hell 141 Whether the diuersitie of names doe conclude a diuersitie of orders among Angels 142 The names giuen to Angels respect only their nature or office 144 Why such seuerall names were giuen to Angels if they implie no seuerall orders 145 What is meant by the seuerall names of Diuels Eph. 6.12 147. Whether the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ephes. 6.12 doth import any different degrees among Diuels 148 Why the power of Diuels is put downe sometimes singularly and sometimes plurally 149 Further distinction then that of Michael and his Angels and of the Diuell his Angels cannot be found in heauen or hell 151 Whether Diuels are distinguished in regard of their qualities 152 Whether the text Mat. 17.21 doth implicatiuely containe Master Darel his foure intimations 154 The impieties absurdities and dangers which doe necessarily succeede Master Darel his sense of Matth. 17.21 156 Whether Master Darel his cariage concludes not his great shame concerning his cause 158 Master Darel his directions concerning the vsage first of sole prayer alone and then of prayer and fasting together 159 Whether sole prayer and fasting did get Abimelechs women with child and ouerthrow the Beniamites 160 Prayer and fasting they are not the sole meanes it selfe but a spirituall exercise which sanctifieth some other meanes for the powerfull expelling of Diuels 161 Whether the curing of naturall diseases by meere naturall medicines doth proue the supernaturall expelling of Diuels by prayer and fasting as by the only ordinarie meanes thereto 162 Whether sole prayer and fasting bee an vnwritten ordinance of Christ for the expelling of Diuels 163 Master Darel and Bellarmine iumping pat in this point they ioyntly receiue