Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	witch_n	witchcraft_n	year_n	12	3	4.4346	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A19798	A dialogue of witches, in foretime named lot-tellers, and novv commonly called sorcerers VVherein is declared breefely and effectually, vvhat soueuer may be required, touching that argument. A treatise very profitable ... and right necessary for iudges to vnderstande, which sit vpon lyfe and death. Written in Latin by Lambertus Danæus. And now translated into English.; De venificis quos olim sortilegos, nunc autem vulgo sortarios vocant, dialogus. English	Daneau, Lambert, ca. 1530-1595?; Twyne, Thomas, 1543-1613, attributed name.	1575 (1575)	STC 6226; ESTC S109219	58,911	164

strange if in this place he ether did amisse or forgat himself But admit y Ierome were of y opinion notwithstāding other no lesse graue learned interpretours of the place doo write otherwise gather out of this place of S. Paul that there be sorcerers Of which opiniō was Chrisostome an approued writer with others also of later yeares As for August who in no respect is inferior to Ierōe what he hath written we haue shewed before Anthony These doo satisfie me Theoph. neither require I any moe mens testimonies but performe the whch you promised which is the seconde proofe of your opinion Teach me I say that it is founde out by experience that there are Sorcerers Theophil You require of me but y which is due you remēber euery thing in order wherefore I wil briefly comprise all in a worde or two Anthony Procéede then Theophil Now as cōcerning experiēce that most certen true thus much I say that in al ages it hath bin obserued founde y ther hath béen alwaies some which haue vsed this diuellish arte meanes to entoxicate men For els why should there haue béen lawes writtē against thē if there had neuer bin any such at al why should their punishmēts haue béen appointed For ther are no laws set forth to repres any crimes that are not there is one selfesame iudgemēt to be geuē by the ciuile law on thinges that are not as on thinges that appéere not as the lawiers doo teach When the question was demaūded of the most wisest lawmaker of the Atheniās Solon why he wrote no lawes against such as slewe their fathers answered that he thought that ther would neuer be any such So verely both before the birth of Christe also sithence hath this kinde of witches bin cōmonly abroade in the world And that they were before Christe sufficiētly most faithfully y most holy man of God Moyses witnesseth who by cōmaundment of God maketh mēcion of thē condēneth thē namely in Exod. the .22 chap .9 verse In Leuit. the 19. chap. .31 verse likewise in the .20 chap. .27 verse In the booke of Nūb. the .23 cha the .28 verse In Deu. the .18 cha .. .11 verse Some write y Zoroastes a man of the cūtry of Persia a great Magiciā expert in the iudiciarie Astrologie first of all men founde and practized witchcraft and afterwardes taught it to other who were al of thē Idolaters as he was Now that there were also some of the same sort since the incarnatiō of Christ infinite histories beare record and the sundry reportes of men in wryting touching the same the sentences also of Iudges geuen vpon them are witnesses lawes likewise and punishments published against thē doe beare record established aswell by the Ciuile lawe as the Canon being at this day both whole Titles Rubrikes foūde written against that kinde of crime like as appeareth in Gratianes Decree causa .xxvi. quest i. ii.iii.iiii v. Moreouer these sortes of witches haue alwayes been well knowne in our countrey of Fraunce which to be trew the innumerable actes of Parliament against thē dooe testifie which many learned m●n haue gathered together of the mat●er But cheefly a certen famous solemne cōdemnatiō of articles opiniōs made by a Sorbonist of Paris vnder Charles the .6 king of Fraunce in the yeare of our Lord .1398 maketh much to the proofe of our opiniō which opinions the schollars of the vniuersitie commonly professed in Paris Yea hath not this our age seene many witches condemned of witchcraft Anthony Can you shewe mée the cause Theophil why it should so be in our time Theophil Truely it is the terrible iudgement of God agaynst vs the cause whereof is vnknowne vnto vs For the iudgementes of God although they be hid from vs yet are they iust and holy as it appeareth in the xxv Psalme and x. verse most truely godly in the like argument and as S. Augustine sayeth in his worke of Deuinacion of Diuels Anthony How thē hath God any iuster cause to punish men in this our age thē he had in foretime thrée hūdred yéeres agoe ▪ Theophil Yea surely Anthony greater then heretofore how much the more the worlde at this present doth more shamefully and obstinately reiect the woord of God and the reuealed light thereof For how much the more men doe now a dayes shewe themselues vnthankfull towardes God the more iust cause God taketh to forsake them and geue them ouer vnto Satan to reuenge the contempt of his name So that in these dayes wherein is séene a most gréeuous pitiefull rebellion of men against Gods true doctrine Satan hath receyued the power frō God to allure thē vnto him and to sifte them and there is geuen vnto him the very effect and force of errour to deceiue intrappe and leade away many as the spirite of God hath long since witnessed it should bée in the seconde to the Thessalonians the second Chapter tenth verse and that God would geue him the power and gift to deceyue that men should geue credence to Satan and to lyes and such should bée damned as beléeued not the trueth but haue yéelded to vnrighteousnes bicause they haue not embraced the loue of the trueth that they might be saued Anthony But some there be that hold opinion that al these thinges which are reported of Sorcerers are but deuised feyned and if any such thing doe chance they come only by some sicknes of the mynd or by reason of some melancholicke humour these appearances fansies trouble them not being any tokens or signes of the iuste iudgement of God against men Theophil But truely they be very much deceiued frende Anthony no lesse then those which supposed that the madde men and possessed with diuels which liued in the time of our Lord and sauiour Iesus Christ and were by him healed were none other then men sick and troubled with melancholick chollerick diseases whose opiniō is altogither blasphemous for thei take away the certentie of the christian faith and deny the deuine nature of our Lord Iesus Christ repugning lying against the trueth of the thing for how could the diuels haue spoken with in their bodies or with so great force haue gone out of the possessed persons haue torne the members partes of their bodies if these thinges were but mere dreemes of troubled minds fansies only fits of melācholick diseases So are sorcerers plainly miserable slaues vnto Satan in subiection vnto him him doe they worship to him doo they cōmit themselues yea offer vnto him cādles of waxe in token of honour Yet some of thē doo séeme far more abiecte filthily seruisable For when Satan sheweth himself vnto them in the likenes of a man the which is to shamful to speak they kisse his buttocks which thīg certē of thē afterward haue frāckli cōfessed thēselues to haue don And

the Satan hath once talken with them whom he goeth about to win ouerthrow he then afterwarde openly confesseth that he is Satan the very Diuell of whom the scripture maketh mencion Wherefore he cōmaundeth them to forswere God theyr creator al his power promising perpetually to obey worship him who there stādeth in their presence that they shall acknowledge him for their god cal vpō him pray to him trust in him Then biddeth he thē that they fall down worship him after what maner and gesture of body he pleaseth and best liketh of Thus some of them fall downe at his knées some offre vnto him black burning cādles other kisse him in some part of his body where he appeareth visibly other after others fashiōs as he commaundeth to be done Anthony O how iustly deseruedly are these wretched detestable men thus punished of god whom they doe so wickedly fals●y and wittingly renounce being their creatour father and sauiour wherefore now I meruayle no more at it Theophil For this cause which I haue recited God geueth Satan so great power ouer them as I haue shewed First of the Kinges .22 chap. the .22 verse And vnlesse God did geue it surely Satan should haue no power at all Anthony In all this your discourse I haue perceaued nothing to be so far from trueth as some suppose And truly I much meruayle why they cannot persuade thēselues that there be witches and Sorcerers Theophil I wyll yet ad one thing that I may at length conclude this whol● matter namely howe men doe become such kynde of people vpon diuers and sundry causes Some through great distrust in the promises loue of God towardes them other moued with exceding horrible vanitie of mynde ouermuch curiositie doe fal into the same vice toto loftily despising the measure and degrée of humane nature This how true in déede it is you may behold for some are made sorcerers through hope of sufficiencie to sustaine their pouertie to whom Satan promiseth whole mountaynes of Gold as the prouerbe sayth Such of lykelihoode lacked mony to supply the ordinary charges of theyr housholde or els were farre in debt so that they gaue themselues vp willingly to the Diuell in hope of mony Others seing thēselues oppressed by some of more power not hauing abilitie to defende themselues not able to abide or put vp the iniuries doone vnto them haue desiered helpe of Satan who is very ready to reuenge doo murther and with willing myndes haue submitted themselues vnto him and become his slaues Which two sortes of men hau● fallen onely vnto suche wickednesse through great distrust the god doth not loue thē nor wil help them as though God had forsaken thē would not help thē in theyr aduersitie By these meanes many are caried away by satan specially coūtrey men ignorāt poore people such as are iniuried being willing to be made Sorcerers Other some there be who being borne away with fonde vanitie of a proude mynde whyle they are not able to containe themselues within the compas of mans vnderstanding capacitie doo yéelde themselues vassals to Satan being desierous to know thinges to come to foretel them to other or els ambitiously desiering easely with smal trauayle to dooe those thinges which other cannot By which meanes many both of the honourable and learned sorte are seduced by satan as certen noble men women of worship honour and many schollars Whom all God iustly hath punished for that they haue refused him and wittingly vowed thēselues to the Diuel Anthony Now verely Theophil I doo fully persuade my selfe that there are diuellish witches Sorcerers that there are certen intoxications by thē cōmitted ▪ But I beseche you resolue me also in this one thing In what kynd of things can they exercise powre forth their satanical poisōs Theophil I am willing so to doo but so farre no farther then I haue learned out of true histories For I lyke not of theyr trauayl who in handling of this argumēt falling into discourse of olde wyues tales haue painefully reported them in theyr great volumes ¶ The .iij. Chapter In vvhat kindes of thinges Sorcerers can cast their poysons to hurt them Anthony THat shal be sufficient for me for I am not delighted with those childish toyes How thē Theophilus can this kynde of people cast their diuellish poysons and intoxications vppon men or brute beastes What can they infect with their Sorceries the Ayre Water Herbes and make hauocke vpon all thinges as themselues doe playnely confesse that they haue corrupted the Ayre of certen cities and the whole soyle about by their Artes Theophil This may stande with good reason frende Anthony like as you sée that he that can cast down an huge Giant he may wel ouerthrow a young childe that is weake and feeble Euen so he that can hurt a man with poyson can much more hurt any other thing For man is a prudēt creature wise prouident foreséeing daungers created to the Image and likenesse of god He that can deceaue hurt him wyll confesse that he can much more easely intoxicate a brute beast without vnderstanding as is a Horse a Shéepe an Oxe a Cowe which cannot so diligently prouide looke to themselues in daungers as can a man And he the can infect a brute beast can much more bewitch an Hearbe a Trée Corne the bolt of a doore the scales of a ladder Wyne Water and the Ayre All which thinges we touch handle when we lyst And ouer all these things Sorcerers haue power so farre as it pleaseth God through them to reuenge the contempt of himselfe vpon men and to punish our offences Anthony Then haue they power ouer euery thing neither is there any thing so farre as I can perceaue that can escape their poysoning and witchcraft Theophil Forasmuch as these witches be diuellish very crafty truely they are able to infect with their poyson whatsoeuer is in the earth that is corruptible mortall vnlesse it be preserued by god And there is nothing in this inferior worlde which is not of that sort that is to wyt mortall corruptible Wherefore we must néedes confesse that their Arte hath power ouer all these inferiour thinges Anthony Shew me some examples of these thinges gentle Theophilus Theophil I wyll doo so And first it is most certen they haue power ouer men for that we dayly behold whilst some they kyll with their poysons some they make sicke and past recouery I haue séene them who with onely laying their handes vpon a nurses breastes haue drawne foorth all the milke and dryed them vp I haue séene that haue caused vnto some most greuous paine of the Cholick wringinges in the belly the Goute the Palsie the Apoplexie that haue also made men lame and feeble and caste them into other diseases whiche neither themselues afterwarde neither yet most excellent learned Phisitions could