Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	witness_n	word_n	work_n	114	3	4.6461	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41303	The free-holders grand inquest touching our Sovereign Lord the King and his Parliament to which are added observations upon forms of government : together with directions for obedience to governours in dangerous and doubtful times / by the learned Sir Robert Filmer, Knight.	Filmer, Robert, Sir, d. 1653.	1679 (1679)	Wing F914; ESTC R36445	191,118	384

Perkins confesseth Some may say If these be the onely strong proofs for the Conviction of a Witch it will be then impossible to put any one to death because the League with Satan is closely made and the practices of Witch-craft are also very secret and hardly can a man be brought which upon his own knowledge can aver such things To this Mr. Perkins answer is a confession that howsoever the ground and practice be secret and be to many unknown yet there is a way to come to the knowledge thereof Satan endeavoreth the discovery and useth all means to disclose Witches This means he speaks of should be in the power of the Judge or else it is no help for the Discovery of a Witch but onely when the Devil pleaseth I do not find he proves that it is usual with Satan to endeavour any such Discovery neither do I see how it is practicable by the Devil for either he must do it by his own relation or report which as it cannot be proved he ever did so it is vain and to no purpose if he do it for Mr. Perkins hath discredited the testimony of the Devil as invalid and of no force for conviction or else the Devil must discover it by some second means and if there had been any such second means usual Mr. Perkins would have taught us what they are and not have left us onely to his two more sufficient proofs which he confesseth are not infallible King Iames tells us that the Devils first discovering of himself for the gaining of a Witch is either upon their walking solitarily in the Fields or else lying pausing in their bed but always without the company of any other and at the making of Circles and Conjurations none of that craft will permit any others to behold when the Devil and his Subjects are thus close and secret in their actions it cannot be imagined that he will use all means to discover his most special and trustiest Subjects and though Mr. Perkins tells us that by vertue of the Precontract the Devil is cock-sure of his instruments yet within a few lines he changeth his note and saith Though he have good hope of them yet he is not certain of their continuance because some by the mercy of God have been reclaimed and freed from his Covenant Besides he confesseth the Devil suffereth some to live long undisclosed that they may exercise the greater measure of his malice in the world It remains that if the two true proofs of Mr. Perkins which are the Witches Confession or sufficient witnesses fail we have not warrant as he saith in the word to put such an one to death I conclude this point in the words of Mr. Perkins I advise all Iurors that as they be diligent in the zeal of Gods glory so they would be careful what they do and not to condemn any party suspected upon bare presumptions without sound and sufficient proofs that they be not guilty through their own rashness of shedding innocent blood Of the Hebrew Witch IN Deut. 18. The Witch is named with divers other sorts of such as used the like unlawfull Arts as the Diviner the Observer of times an Inchanter a Charmer a Consulter with a familiar Spirit a Wisard or a Necromancer The Text addeth All that do these things are an abomination to the Lord and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them the Nations out from before thee If we desire to know what those abominations of the Nations were we are told in general in the 14. Verse of the same Chapter These Nations hearkened unto observers of times and unto Diviners There is no other crime in this Chapter laid to the charge of all or any of these practisers of such unlawful Arts but of lying Prophesies and therefore the Text addeth The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee of thy Brethren like unto me unto him shall ye hearken and not to the Diviners Wisards Charmers c. Setting aside the case of Iob wherein God gave a special and extraordinary Commission I do not finde in Scripture that the Devil or Witch or any other had power ordinarily permitted them either to kill or hurt any man or to meddle with the Goods of any for though for the trial of the hearts of men God doth permit the Devil ordinarily to tempt them yet he hath no Commission to destroy the Lives or Goods of men it is little less than blasphemy to say any such thing of the admirable providence of God whereby he preserves all his Creatures It was crime sufficient for all those practicers of unlawful Arts to delude the people with false and lying Prophesies thereby to make them forget to depend upon God and to have their Souls turn after such as have Familiar Spirits and after Wisards to go a whoring after them as the Lord saith Levit. 20. 6. This spiritual whoredome is flat Idolatry in the common phrase of the Old Testament and those that be enticers to it thereby endeavour to destroy the Souls of the People and are by many degrees more worthy of death than those that onely destroy the Bodies or Goods of men If there were a Law that every one should be put to Death or punished that should advisedly endeavour to perswade men that they are skilful in those forbidden Arts or in foretelling of things to come or that they have contracted with the Devil and can thereby murther or destroy mens Goods I should never deny such a Law to be most consonant and agreeing with the Law of Moses But because I may be thought by some a favourer of these forbidden Arts through want of understanding the Scripture about the quality of them I have made choice of a Man who is no friend to Witches and whose learning in this point will not be denied In his own words I shall set down what either out of the Hebrew Names of those prohibited Arts or out of the exposition of the Jewish Doctors can be gathered for the understanding of them A Diviner in Hebrew a Foreseer or Presager a Foreteller of things to come as doth a Prophet The Hebrews take a Diviner to be one that doth things whereby he may foretel things to come and say Such a thing shall be or not be or say It is good to do such a thing The means of Divining some doing it with Sand some with Stones some by lying down on the Ground some with Iron some with a Staff He that asked of a Diviner is chastised with stripes 2. An observer of times or Soothsayer an Observer of the Clouds a Planetary or an observer of the flying of Fowls an Augur As the Diviners were carried much by inward and Spiritual Motions so these by outward Observations in the Creatures The Hebrews say they were such as did set times for the doing of things saying Such a day is good and such a

by her secret voice to have made him believe that Samuel in another room had answered him for it appears that Saul was not in the place where she made a shew of raising Samuel for when she cryed out with a loud voice Saul comforted her and bid her not be afraid and asked her what she saw and what form is he of which questions need not have been if Saul had been in the Chamber with the Witch King Iames confesseth that Saul was in another chamber at the conjuration and it is likely the woman had told Saul she had seen some fearful sight which made him ask her what she saw and her answer was she saw gods ascending out of the Earth and it may be understood that Angels waited upon Samuel who was raised by God and not any Puppets or Devils that she conjured up otherwise the words may be Translated as Deodat in the Margent of his Italian Bible hath it She saw a Man of Majesty or Divine Authority ascend un ' huomo di Majesta è d' Authorita Divina which well answers the question of what form is he of which is in the singular not in the plural number We find it said in Esay 29. 4. Thou shalt be brought down and shalt speak out of the ground and thy speech shall be low out of the dust and thy voice shall be as one that hath a Fimiliar Spirit out of the ground and thy speech shall wisper out of the Earth which argues the voice of Ob was out of the Earth rather than out of the Belly and so the Hebrew Exposition which I cited before affirms Some learned have been of Opinion that a natural reason may be given why in some places certain exhalations out of the earth may give to some a prophetical spirit Add hereunto that some of the Heathen Oracles were said to speak out of the Earth and among those five sorts of Necromancy mentioned by Doctor Reynolds in his 76 Lecture of his censure of the Apocryphals not any of them is said to have any Spirit in their Belly The Romanists who are all great affirmers of the power of Witches agree that the soul of Samuel was sent by God to the Woman of Endor to this not onely Delrio but Bellarmine before him agrees That true Samuel did appear as sent by God as he sent Elias to Ochosias King of Israel who being sick sent to consult with Beelzebub the God of Echron may appear for that Samuel is so true and certain in his prediction to Saul which no Witch no Devil could ever have told for though the Wisdome and Experience of the Devil do enable him to conjecture probably of many events yet positively to say To morrow thou and thy Sons shall die is more than naturally the Devil could know Mr. Perkins confesseth the Devil could not foretel the exact time of Sauls death and therefore he answers that God revealed to the Devil as his Instrument Sauls overthrow by which means and no other the Devil was enabled to foretel the death of Saul Here Mr. Perkins proves not that Satan was appointed by God to work Sauls overthrow or that it was made known to him when it should be done As the rest of the Speech of Samuel is true so these words of his Why hast thou disquieted me to bring me up may be also true which cannot be if it be spoken by the Devil or why should the Devil tell truths in all other things else and lie onely in this I know no reason Doctor Reynolds presseth these words against the appearing of Samuel thus If Samuel had said them he had lied but Samuel could not lie for Samuel could not be disquieted nor raised by Saul It is true God onely raised Samuel effectually but occasionally Saul might raise him But saith Doctor Reynolds though Saul was the occasion yet Samuel could not truly say that Saul had disquieted him for blessed are they that die in the Lord saith the Spirit because they rest from their labours and Samuel was no more to be disquieted if he were sent by God than Moses and Elias were when they appeared to shew the Glory of Christ Mat. 17. Answer It did not displease Samuel to be employed in the Office of an Angel but he obeyed God gladly yet since the occasion of his appearing displeased God it might for that cause displease also Samuel Besides we need not understand the disquieting of Samuels mind but of his body by not suffering it to rest in peace after death according to the common and usual condition of Mankind this sense the Original will well bear Again it cannot be believed that the Devil would ever have preached so Divine and excellent a Sermon to Saul which was able to have converted and brought him to Repentance this was not the way for the devil to bring either Saul or the woman to renounce God Lastly the Text doth not say that the woman raised Samuel yet it calls him Samuel and saith that Saul perceived or understood that it was Samuel Mr. Perkins many others esteem Balaam to have been a Witch or Conjurer but I find no such thing in the Text when he was required to curse the people of Israel his answer was I will bring you word as the Lord shall speak unto me Numb 22. 8. and God came unto Balaam in v. 9. and in v. 13. Balaam saith The Lord refuseth to give me leave and when Balak sent a second time his answer was If Balak would give me his house full of silver and Gold I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God to do less or more In v. 20. God cometh to Balaam and said If the men come to call thee go but yet the words which I shall say unto thee that shalt thou do And when Balaam came before Balak he said v. 38. Lo I am come unto thee have I now any power at all to say any thing the word which God putteth into my mouth that shall I speak and in the 23. Chap. v. 18. Balaam saith How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed and in v. 12. he saith Must I not take heed to speak that which the Lord hath put into my mouth These places laid together prove Balaam to have been a true Prophet of the Lord and he prophesied nothing contrary to the Lords command therefore St. Peter calls him a Prophet Nevertheless it is true that Balaam sinned notoriously though not by being a Witch or Conjurer or a false Prophet his faults were that when God had told him he should not go to Balak yet in his covetous heart he desired to go being tempted with the rewards of Divination and promise of promotion so that upon a second Message from Balak he stayed the Messengers to see if God would suffer him to go wherefore the Lord in his anger sent Balaam Also when God had told Balaam that he would bless Israel yet Balaam did strive to tempt