Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	wonder_n	wonderful_a	world_n	53	3	4.5815	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A70179	A blow at modern Sadducism in some philosophical considerations about witchcraft. To which is added, the relation of the fam'd disturbance by the drummer, in the house of Mr. John Mompesson, with some reflections on drollery and atheisme. / By a member of the Royal Society..	Glanvill, Joseph, 1636-1680.	1668 (1668)	Wing G799; Wing G818; ESTC R23395	62,297	178

cast out Devils by Beelzebub in his return to which he denies not the supposition or possibility of the thing in general but clears himself by an appeal to the actions of their own children whom they would not task so severely And I cannot very well understand why those times should be priviledg'd from VVITCHCRAFT and Diabolical compacts more than they were from Possessions which we know were then more frequent for ought appears to the contrary than ever they were before or since But besides this There are intimations plain enough in the Apostles Writings of the being of Sorcery and VVITCHCRAFT St. Paul reckons Witchcraft next Idolatry in his Catalogue of the work● of the flesh Gal. V. xx and the Sorcerers are again joyn'd with Idolaters in that sad Denunciation Rev. XXI viii and a little after Rev. XXII xv They are reckon'd again among Idolaters Murderers and those others that are without And methinks the story of Simon Magus and his Diabolical Oppositions of the Gospel in its beginnings should afford clear conviction To all which I adde this more general consideration 3. That though the New Testament had mention'd nothing of this matter yet its silence in such cases is not argumentative Our Saviour spake as he had occasion and the thousandth part of what he did and said is not recorded as one of his Historians intimates He said nothing of those large unknown Tracts of America nor gave he any intimations of as much as the ●●●●…nce of that numerous people much 〈◊〉 did he leave instructions about their conversion He gives no account of the aff●●●s and state of the other world but only 〈◊〉 general one of the happiness of some and the misery of others He made no discovery of the magnalia of Art or Nature no not of those whereby the propagation of the Gospel might have been much advanced viz. the Mystery of Printing and the Magnet and yet no one useth his silence in these instances as an argument against the being of things which are evident objects of sense I confess the omission of some of these particulars is pretty strange and unaccountable and concludes our ignorance of the reasons and menages of Providence but I suppose nothing else Thus Sir to the FIRST But the other pretence also must be examined 2 Miracles are ceast therefore the presumed actions of Witchcraft are tales and illusions To make a due return to this we must consider a great and difficult Problem which is what is a real Miracle And for answer to this weighty Question I think 1. That it is not the strangeness or unaccountableness of the thing done simply from whence we are to conclude a Miracle For then we are so to account of all the Magnalia of Nature and all the mysteries of those honest Arts which we do not understand Nor 2 is this the Criterion of a Miracle that 't is concluded beyond all natural powers for we are ignorant of the extent and bounds of Natures sphere and possibilities And if this were the character and essential mark of a Miracle we could not know what was so except we could determine the extent of natural causalities and fix their bounds and be able to say to Nature Hitherto canst Thou go and no further And he that makes this his measure whereby to judge a Miracle is himself the greatest Miracle of knowledge or immodesty Besides though an effect may transcend really all the powers of meer nature yet there is a world of spirits that must be taken into our account And as to them also I say 3 Every thing is not a Miracle that is done by Agents supernatural There is no doubt but that Evil spirits can make wonderful combinations of natural causes and perhaps perform many things immediately which are prodigious and beyond the longest line of Nature But yet These are not therefore to be called Miracles for They are SACRED WONDERS and suppose the POWER to be DIVINE But how shall the power be known to be so when we so little understand the capacities and extent of the abilities of lower Agents The Answer to this Question will discover the Criterion of Miracles which must be supposed to have all the former particulars They are unaccountable beyond the powers of meer nature and done by Agents supernatural and to these must be superadded 4. That they have peculiar circumstances that speak them of a Divine original Their mediate Authors declare them to be so and they are alwayes persons of Simplicity Truth and Holiness void of Ambition and all secular Designs They seldom use Ceremonies or natural Applications and yet surmount all the activities of known nature They work those wonders not to raise admiration or out of the vanity to be talk't of but to seal and confirm some divine Doctrine or Commission in which the good and happiness of the world is concern'd I say by such circumstances as these wonderful actions are known to be from a Divine cause and that makes and distinguisheth a Miracle And thus I am prepared for an answer to the Objection to which I make this brief return That though WITCHES by their Confederate Spirit do those odde and astonishing things we believe of them yet are they no Miracles there being evidence enough from the badness of their lives and the ridiculous ceremonies of their performances from their malice and mischievous designs that the POWER that works and the end for which those things are done is not Divine but Diabolical And by singular providence they are not ordinarily permitted as much as to pretend to any new sacred Discoveries in matters of Religion or to act any thing for confirmation of Doctrinal Impostures So that whether Miracles are ceased or not these are none And that such Miracles as are only strange and unaccountable performances above the common methods of art or nature are not ceas'd we have a late great evidence in the famous GREATRAK concerning whom it will not be impertinent to adde the following account which I had in a Letter from the Reverend Dr. R. Dean of C. a person of great veracity and a Philosopher This learned Gentleman then is pleased thus to write The great discourse now at the Coffee-Houses and every where is about Mr. G. the famous Irish Stroker concerning whom it is like you expect an account from me He undergoes various censures here some take him to be a Conjurer and some an Impostor but others again adore him as an Apostle I confess I think the man is free from all design of a very agreeable conversation not addicted to any Vice nor to any Sect or Party but is I believe a sincere Protestant I was three weeks together with him at my Lord Conwayes and saw him I think lay his hands upon a thousand persons and really there is some thing in it more then ordinary but I am convinc'd it is not miraculous I have seen pains strangely fly before his hand till he hath chased

and is so far from making any advantage by the Disturbance that it hath done him very material prejudice in his Fortunes and Affairs And those strangers that come to see the Prodigy use to leave nothing behinde them except thanks for the Civility of their Entertainments 'T is true 3. as others say that the House is boarded without at least a great part of it But there are no Cellars as the objection adds save only under the Parlour and the Disturbance was most inother rooms And whereas 4 't is objected that a Knight that offer'd to go down could not be permitted 'T is answer'd me that the Gentleman might have gone down had he pleas'd and his Servant did who made a careful search but could finde nothing that might be a cause of the noise which he affirmed to be above and that it proceeded not from the Cellar And to disable what other Objectors say viz. 5 That there was no Drumming in the midst of any Room but only a striking on the Boards as it were with a Hammer in a corner of the outsides of the House I say to null this pretence Mr. Mompesson and others assured me that the noise was oft in the midst of the Room and oft overhead and he saith that there is scarce a Man or Childe in the Village but hath heard and can witness it And after the first moneth it was almost alwayes within Thus Sir to the Objections of others which you have gather'd And to your own Quaeries I make this return Whereas you inquire 1. What part of the Childrens Bed did the Daemon beat and what noise did it make 'T is answered that it beat against the Head and Posts of the Bed and that when hands were laid on each side of them at those times they would shake as if they would fall in pieces but nothing else could be perceived or felt The noise was like to that of striking with a Hammer And then 2. To that whether the Drummers Drum was ever looked on while it beat or was it only in the Dark I am assured that it was seen while the noise was made upon it both by the light of Fire and Candle 3 To the Quaery What were the Boards that moved by what light was their motion seen and by whom Mr. Mompesson answers They were seen move forwards and backwards in the light of clear day before the Sun was set and by a whole house full of people And whereas 4. you ask In what clearness of light were the Chairs seen walk about and by what Witnesses 'T is answered That they were seen to do so by Candle-light and by divers persons As to what I was a witness of my self I adde these circumstances for the satisfaction of your Quaeries The Children were in Bed when the Scratching and panting was but I am sure did not contribute to those noises I saw their hands above the Cloathes during the Scraping and searched the place whence the noise came To which I might adde That they were little harmless modest Girles that could not well have been suspected guilty of the confidence of such a juggle had it been possible they could have acted in it For the panting I am certain there was no dog in the Bed for I graspt it with my hand and felt it in all parts especially there where the original motion was The Bed also was searcht under but no Dog nor any creature else could be found there The Floor I said shook with the panting sensibly and yet it was as strong and substantial an one as ordinarily is seen But the Children indeed did not seem to be much concern'd having been us'd to those and ruder noises and there was company in the room to assure them THUS Sir I have briefly answer'd others OBJECTIONS and your QUAERIES And because I have an humour to say little more I 'le consider what you know as well as any man alive the Reasons men are so apt to cavil at this kinde of Relations and are rather willing to believe any thing than the truth of such a Narrative They are chiefly I think an affected humour of Drollery and Scoffing and a worse cause ATHEISM FOR the First the Subject of Witches and Apparitions is an apt and ample occasion And the cheats of Impostors the conceits of Melancholly the credulity of ignorance the tricks of Waggery the more solemn vanities of Superstition and the tales of old Women these are excellent topicks for a frolick and wanton fancy And the desire the Humourist hath to be some body and to have a name above those of common apprehension will be sure to actuate the scoffing vein in the exercise of which if he have quibled luckily and made folks laugh he is encouraged to take all such occasions to prove himself a WIT and to shew he had a pretty way to play the Fool. And when he hath wanton'd a while and frolickly toy'd in his affected merriments his reason becomes an obedient servant to his fancy He makes himself believe by those arguments that at first were intended only to make him laugh and in the end concludes in earnest that there is neither Witch nor Apparition and 't is well if he stop there Now these Sir are the WITS if we will believe them and their admirers take every jest for an argument and a loud laugh upon an idle tale of a Devil or a Witch for a demonstration of the non-existence of such beings And thus the humour propagates and SADDUCISM is the Fashion Nor is this all but by the same method every thing that is sacred or serious hath been exposed and both Government and Religion made the objects of idle and phantastick buffoonry And must we call this WIT Sir I confess there are few things that urge me to more indignation than to hear that name which deserves to signifie better to be so injuriously apply'd Certainly WIT is not an odde metaphor or a lucky simile a wilde fetch or unexpected inference a mimick action or a pretty knack in telling of a tale But It is a faculty to profound into the depth of things to finde out their Causes and Relatives Consonances and Disagreements and to make fit useful and unobvious applications of their respective Relations and Dependances for which great and noble exercises of the minde the Droll is the most unfit and incompetent person in the World and those that on this account assume the prerogative of being the only WITS are of all men the most incapable of being so For that trivial and pedling way of Fancy and Humour to which they are addicted emasculates their mindes and makes them superficial flashy and phantastical by imploying them upon effaemancies and little apish fooleries And by these darling entertainments of a too fondly indulged fancy the minde is made incapable of serious and deep reflections which give it the noblest and most valuable improvements so that I have observ'd that the Drolling Humorists are

of brain that are very different and such as seldom meet in great degrees but in some very few extraordinary tempers But generally I believe the Droll is very unfit for matters of sublimity and substance and therefore as I intimated indeavours by his scoffs and injuries to make them appear as much below his serious notice as they are indeed above his reach and in this design he hath many great advantages for his abuses For the pedantry of Disputers that make a loud claim to knowledge the vanity of the extravagant sort of Chymists the fond boasts of some hold pretenders to Philosophy and experiment the strangeness of things that soberer Inquisitors declare practicable but have not yet succeeded the meanness and seeming contemptibleness of many Subjects the experimenter is often obliged to deal in These afford plausible arguments for Drolling Harangues and those advantages are taken to make the most useful Theories and endeavours appear ridiculous and vain And for the incouragement of the phantastick in his insolent humour of injustice and abuse there is a certain envy in mankinde against those that attempt any thing extraordinary which makes men willing to embrace and applaud that which exposeth what themselves cannot act nor comprehend by reason of which ill nature in the generality yea even of those that pretend to something This kinde of Wit becomes the most pestilent enemy to knowledge and its improvements especially to philosophick wisdom For Philosophy can shame and disable all the reasons that can be urged against it but jests and loud laughter are not to be confuted and yet these are of more force to degrade a thing in the esteem of some sort of Spirits than the most potent demonstrations and the mischief of it is that these Quibblers and Buffoons that have some little scraps of Learning matcht with a great proportion of Confidence have commonly the luck to be celebrated among the vulgar for men of great parts and knowledge and that opinion of them gains credit to their insolencies and abuses But Sir I perceive my zeal against those pedlars of Wit hath transported me to your trouble I therefore make an abrupt return to my other reason mention'd of mens disbelief of the being of Witches and Apparitions and that is 2. ATHEISM the Folly of which accursed madness you Sir have so fully discovered to the world in your incomparable Works and so throughly understand the mysteries of that black conspiracy against heaven that 't would be fond for me to think to suggest any notion on the Subject which you could not teach But Sir I have a Relation about this matter to make you which I believe you will not be unwilling to hear And you shall have it when I have said something to the purpose of the particular I have mention'd Concerning which 't is too sadly certain that there is a latent Atheism at the root of the SADDUCEAN principle for too many deny Witches because they believe there are no Spirits and they are so perswaded because they own no being in the world but matter and the results of motion and consequently can acknowledge nothing of a God It hath indeed been a question whether 't is possible there should be such a prodigy as a speculative Atheist in nature and I could wish it were so still But alas our Age and Experience hath ended the Dispute and we need not search the dark and barbarous corners of America nor seek the Monster among the wilde Men of the Desart we have found him in Times of Light in a witty and civiliz'd Region and in an Age of the greatest knowledge and improvements he sculps not among the thickest of the Woods nor seeks Caverns for concealment but braves the Sun and appears in the clearest day And the Fool is not so modest as he was in the dayes of the Royal Prophet to say only in his heart There is no God we know a bolder sort of Infidels and I can say Sir from a particular experience That there are who deny the existence of a Deity I met with one such some years since in London who confidently and without mincing denyed that there was any such being and bid me prove it I wondered at the boldness as well as the impiety of his saying and because I had a great compassion for one in so deplorable a state I resolved not to exasperate him by passion hard words or damning Sentences but calmly and without seeming emotion discoursed the business with him I granted him all I safely or reasonably could and all that might serve my design for his conviction before we began the close ingagement that so he might have less prejudice against what was said by one whom he might see not to be of a narrow confined judgment and that I might not have the disadvantage of being put upon the impugning of principles which are plausible by the great names or reasons of any eminent Philosophers and that were not absolutely necessary for the defence of the Proposition for which I undertook such were the Platonick Anima Mundi the eternity and immensity of the world which Sir though I should not affirm yet I would not at that time deny but quietly granted them as Hypotheseis being willing to permit his belief of these in order to the convincing and abusing him in his main and deadly conclusion And by these concessions I gain'd the advantages I expected for hereby he was disappointed of all those plausibilities which I perceived he was wont to urge for those Doctrines And I saw that when he was prest with the necessity of a cause of all things and a First his refuge was that old Epicurean one of an eternal infinite matter which when his unwary opposites would attempt to disprove by endeavouring to demonstrate the beginning and Finiteness of the world They gave him the opportunity of a colourable Defence and diverted from the main Thesis which might be evinced though the Immensity and Eternity of the universe were granted And so they let him go from an assertion that is most impious and absurd to another which is tollerably accountable and specious And the Conclusion would be at last that since the undertaker could not prove the world was not infinite and eternal he could not make it appear There was a God By which procedure the arguer falls from a Proposition which is the most demonstrative one in nature to an other which cannot be cleared but by supposing the main thing in Question But besides this shift which my concession made insignificant when my Atheist was urged with the Order Harmony Contrivance and Wisdom that is visible in the Creatures he would betake him to his Anima Mundi the existence of which when those other Antagonists he had dealt with would endeavour to overthrow they undertook a thing of harder profusion than the main conclusion I say therefore Sir I permitted him to assume these Principles and then proved That though the