observ'd to do Mantimanes being hiss'd off the Stage they rais'd their expectations of some wonderful matters from Exorcista though they had little reason for he did only counterfeit a Conjurer and was something more gravely mad then Mantimanes He unwilling to lose such a fit opportunity began his part thus It is no wonder Good people that yon Fellow carried himself so ridiculously I have seen many enraged after the same manner with a Propheticall worm crept into their distemper'd Braines and some have believed themselves to be Christ and some the Holy Ghost and some the Man in the Moon and some the Bush upon his back and that the Man in the Moon was going to set it on fire to burn the Earth of which some no fooles neither were much afraid But leaving these idle Dreames I will show you a Rarity which you will say is a strange truth a Woman possess'd with a Devil call'd Engastrimuthus the Woman's name is Hysterica Now the truth is the Woman had possess'd her self if one may say so and the Devil was only a Mormo represented by a cunning queane instructed how to act both the Devils part and her own and having that disease which disturbs women by reason of strange suffocations she made use of the mad noise of Vapours and Wind in her body to perswade people to think that the Devil was in her and that she had very great Conflicts all the while the Fit lasted with an Evil Spirit The disease with which she was troubled call'd the Hystericall Passion was very applicable to his design both as having Periodical Fits and because the noble parts being affected with the distemper it was accompanied with disastrous symptoms dangerous to the sick person and frightful to the Beholders For the Heart being fill'd with too great a plenty of thin bloud which it cannot discharge by oft-repeated pulses and the Lungs overcharg'd with flatulent Spirits by which they are disabled as to their proper motion and thereby deprived of the benefit of fresh aire there must needs follow a suffocation of the Vital Spirits which will soon reveal it self in dreadful effects throughout the whole body as Difficulty of breathing Palpitation of the Heart Intermission of the Pulse Invasion of the Brain by turbulent spirits Elevation of the Hypochondries which are forc'd to rise against the Diaphragma which by endeavouring to make way for the streightned Lungs doth uncivilly press upon its neighbours and breeds an inward disturbance attended with a great noise of windy vapours in the bowels wild appearances of the whites of the eyes deep groans foaming at the mouth and Convulsive fits appearing dismally in several parts of the body by such distorted contractions of the Fibres that endanger'd Nature seems to sollicite all her powers to writhe her self out of her Oppressors hands Whilst these things happen'd to Hysterica the Conjurer knowing what would presently follow said nothing only seem'd to be amaz'd at the Devils Operations The Ignorant people were amaz'd indeed and concluding Engastrimuthus to be a cruel Spirit most of them especially the Women curs'd him in their hearts But at last the flatulent spirits being diffipated by the power of Natural heat and the oppressive quantity of bloud lessen'd by the transpiration of the more subtile particles the Woman return'd to her self and began to act her part which she had well learn'd after this manner I am said she by Profession a Witch and have at this time the Apocalyptical Beast in my belly and I perceive by his suggestions that he is an Heretical spirit for he saith That the Pope is Antichrist and that Antichrist was begot by an Incubus and that the synagogue of Witches was his Mother and that any may perceive him to be Antichrist by his great mouth rough haire and crooked tallons and that he is an Enemy to Christian Religion and a blasphemer of Christ whom though he doth professe in publick yet he adores Lucifer privately and that he doth meet sometimes in their Conventicles and worship him in the form of a Goate for which reason Beelzebub had lent him divers of his Imps to seduce the nations from true Piety and to destroy Charity from amongst men intending by that means to pull up Christian Religion by the Rootes and for this he was immediately assisted by the Spirit of Lucifer These things quoth she I know to be true for I was often at that Conventicle of Devils and have the marks of the Beast in my hand and forehead and other parts of my body I my self by the help of Asmodeus made a Powder of the ashes of burnt Goates which would tempt the very Nuns to Lust and inflict such a melancholick impatience upon the Monks that they would repent of their Vowes and swear that they were ill made and worse kept It had a faculty to make such as smelt it to despair and to confesse their sins by halves and which is worse to doubt that their Confessor had not authority to absolve them It forc'd them also to believe themselves holy though they committed all the sins of the diabolical Synagogue and made them dtspise the pleasures of Paradise for a voluptuous life and made them conceive Hell to be only such meetings as she had been at which did so content her that she often wish'd her self transported into a She-Devil She said further that to affront Antichrist they took his Triple Crown and the Exorcists Cowle and put one upon the head of Beelzebub and the other upon Asmodeus and said You are worthy of this Honour She told them besides this that in their frolicks Asmodeus feign'd himself sick and Leviathan play'd the Physitian and made an oyntment which she administred that they might make a sport of Extreme Unction And one Night I remember But when she was come so far Exorcista began to be in a sacred rage and commanded her silence with such a shril voice that it frighted the Devil Having a Bason of water by him he took out of his pocket a great paper of Salt made up in the form of a Crosse and baptiz'd it three times in the Water which he affirm'd to be thenceforth of that soveraign virtue that it was an Universal medicine for Soul and Body and had this particular quality that it would cast out any Devil 〈◊〉 he was adjured by it in regard that it did cleanse the Soul so that the Devil could not abide the Body and said it was mortal Poison to any Apostate spirit Having besprinkl'd her and the Company so plentifully that they were all pretty well 〈◊〉 he cryed out with an astonishing noise Come out thou barking Dog cease this hellish noise In despight of Lucifer Beelzebub Astaroth Leviathan and all the combination of Devils I command thee to leave this holy Mansion which is consecrated with the Benediction of baptiz'd Salt and then he cross'd himself come out 〈◊〉 leave grinning thou false Cur I conjure thee O Dog of Hell
value Knowledg is in respect of Love we may perceive also by the Divine permissions which have given us leave to bestow it upon the meanest Creatures but Love is a hallow'd Faculty which he hath consecrated by reserving it for himself and is ever jealous lest any Idolatrous corrival should share with him in that facred Affection We have leave to know and use other things but not to love them except in such minute degrees that they may well think that we would rather make them believe that we do counterfeit an affection then love indeed Wherein God doth not only secure his own right but also expresses a great care of us because Love conteining the Virtue of Union if we should bestow it upon Creatures we should debase our selves by a conjunction with many things worse then our selves and so make our selves unmeet to be exalted into Union with God We have prophaned the Affection which was due to God by uniting it with every contemptible Object As by that which I said before concerning the Subserviency which Knowledg performs to Affection Love appear'd to be the Exaltation of Knowledg from which if it were separated it would be discarded by Mankind as a thing of no use or else mischievously applicable so lest any should think that Love is beholden to Knowledg for this service I will prevent that mistake for she is not only well rewarded for her labour but it doth so redound to the encrease of her own Interest that in the very way wherein she serves she is requited It s true a bare Knowledg doth give some small directions to the Love of God but the Divine Beauty of the Godhead is not clearly visible till Love have kindled a fire in the inamor'd heart The Light which shines from the flames of Love is like the noon-day beams Bright and Hot. This heavenly Fire doth shine with Vital light and with a potent heat doth dry up those fumes of Lust which would cast a cloud upon the eyes of the Soul Whosoever sees by any other light hath only some cold reflexion of wan Moon-beams upon glistring Snow Though he may brag of Knowledg he sees only with Owls eyes and if he talk must needs speak at random of that which he never saw but in the twilight He may make some Fancies proportionable to what he hath heard others say but is so devoid of the grounds of certain Knowledg for want of Experience that he doth but guesse at Heavenly things as blind men do at Colours By this Argument it is manifest that the Soul through Love ascends not higher into the ineffable Joyes of Heaven then into the Serenities of the Beatifick Vision and is as far from being in debt to Knowledg here below as he which payes his Creditor with Gold for Silver and that in greater weight then he receiv'd But why do I weary your Patience whilst I ballance Love with this Rival who is but its Harbinger and so though it goes before to the same place is but sent to provide Entertainment for another The Glory of this Vertue is better reveal'd if we consider the Noblenesse of its Descent accompanied with a correspondent Deportment Love is the Natural Child of Celestial Goodness and to produce it the God of Love vouchsafes to condescend to appear in the world not only cloth'd with the Essential Lustres of his Natural Beauty but also to superadd those adventitious Attractives of Bounty and Mercy proportion'd to the Wants and Miseries of our Condition The Divine Goodness designing our promotion chose this as the best Means to make us Happy and Good both at once For as God's Love brings his Goodness into view to produce our Love so when our Love is brought forth it becoms our Goodness As we must of necessity have continued miserable if God had not loved us so he permits us not to be happy but in loving him That God will be loved by such as we are is his great Condescension but that we love the Divine Goodness is the highest Exaltation of our Affections So that Heavenly Love being the Flower of the Reasonable Soul full blown and confirm'd in holy vigour by the same Goodness that produc'd it we may well think it the chief Faculty for which we should please our selves that we have receiv'd Souls Love is the Correspondent of Goodnesse for which God is pleas'd with himself Whilst the Best Good is the Parent and Object of our Love our Affections are made Divine and we led to Blessedness by a most pleasant way since in the Constitution of our Happiness Love is so great an Ingredient Thus Love is become that holy Ladder by which the Spirits of good men go and come between Heaven and Earth with reciprocal Motions Nothing comes from above that will rest long below The participations of this Spirit are like waters of Life deriv'd through invisible Channels from the great Sea filling the Hearts of men as so many little Springs but never forgetting the way home nor unmindful whence they came the overflowing Stream makes little Rivolets which never rest till they return into the bosome of the beloved Ocean I have often admired the noble Spirit of Love whilst I have seen how all that are possess'd with it it make way to God with an irresistible Vigour through all hindrances both carefully performing all services which are acceptable to him and for his Love despising all the glistring allurements of the flattering World and making use of a rare advantage which it hath in its own Nature for in Love all the Passions are seated as in their common Root it doth with it self offer up all the Affections of the Soul to God Taking constant Motives from the Generousness of its own Temper it doth that which none but Lovers can perform Where languid Souls enfeebled by the want of this assistance find impossibilities complain of impotency and make a stop it goes on and conquers with an invincible power It so passionately desires to please whom it loves that it doth not only such things as are required by Explicite Commands but never staying till it be bidden by words complies with the most secret notices of the Beloved's pleasure and doth whatsoever it thinks may please when it is perform'd whether it was commanded or no and having done all that it can counts nothing too hard to suffer and yet hath so poor an estimation of its own Merits that it doth not rate all that it hath done or can suffer at the value of one Smile from God As a Holy Lover sees that nothing can be added to the Greatness of the Divine Goodness which needs not what he can wish because it hath that already and infinitely more he is much pleas'd with the contemplation of such Perfections and makes proportionable Adorations and is conformably thankful since that Supreme Goodnesse would love or be loved by Him And whilst the Lover perceives that the Divine Goodness is only worthy of
never think it capable of better improvement then by conversing with you and since the Subject is Noble pray do not wrong it by omitting any thing which if it were not for your courteous regard of our Patience you would say concerning it I do not know replied Bentivolio how far your Civility may occasion your trouble but respecting your Commands I will go on That which I have ever look'd upon since I could distinguish one thing from another as the most admirable Work of knowing Nature is the most perfect of all living Creatures a Man whom as God hath made a rare Instrument of his own Happiness so I cannot but think that he design'd him for an unanswerable Proof of the Divine Skill and intended that he should alwayes have as near him as he is to himself a lively Demonstration of the God whom he is to adore Here I know not which to admire most the orderly Progress of his Wisdom in forming the Parts or the rare Contexture of the Whole when it is finish'd How would it transport you Eugenius if you could perceive the successive Methods of Generation by which the Embryo is fram'd in the Womb as plainly as you can see the regular endeavours of prudent Bees when they raise their waxen Cells through Glasse-windows made in the sides of their Hives Would it not astonish you to discern busie Nature laying the first Designs of a Foetus in its warm Receptacle impregnated with the Prolifick Virtue of both Sexes and having fill'd the Cell with a Crystalline Liquor as a proper material to work upon in the midst whereof the early bud of young Life first appears in a salient Motion then for the inclosing thereof in a fit Mansion see her invelop it with a thin Membrane and afterward observe how she draws from this Centre the various lines of Life which complete the whole Circumference whilst she carefully stretcheth some small Fibres from one side of this narrow Work-house to another not much unlike the manner of the subtle Spider when she fastens the slight Beams of her pendulous House to the walls of the Room where she dwells and when this rude Draught is to be brought towards a more perfect Form to see how judiciously she selects one of the longest Threds which being appointed for the back-bone she extends like the Keel of a Bark raising from each side proportionable Ribs and making them to meet in the middle at some small distance above it frames the Hull of this little Vessel and having prepar'd so much room to see with what care she begins to furnish it with agreeable Utensils as the Heart Lungs Liver and many others which to keep safe she covers with the Thorax and Abdomen like the upper Decks Designing a Head to these and having provided a small Mass of pulpous substance for the Brain she forms it into a round Tower for the principal Residence of the Soul and afterwards walls the Acropolis with a Skull having appointed the Inferiour parts for considerable services she proportionably strengthens the Members with hard Bones and that they might not be wearied with the burthen which they are to carry makes them insensible and tiesthem together with Muscles entred into the bone upon both sides of every joynt which are intended for Pullies of rare Motion not yet experimented and that as occasion requires there may be a communication of Sense through all the parts she unites the whole frame with Nerves which take their Original from the Brain Having bestow'd a small quantity of spirituous bloud upon the Heart as a stock to begin the Trade of life she also gives it Ventricles to receive it and convenient Doors through which it passes for the relief of its indigent Neighbours and by a perpetual Motion through Arteries and Veins both preserves and increases it self and walking its daily Rounds about the Body bestows upon every part the same food by which it self is nourish'd warming them all with a vital dew Whilst these things are doing and one that warily observes stands by and perceives how many dissimilar parts arise out of a little soft Glue and sees them put together with an accurate symmetry without any visible Artist attending to perform these excellent Operations what can he imagin but that a God is near who says Grow there a Bone here a Vein Let this be an Head and that an Heart It is also an evident testimony of the Divine Wisdom when after a few Months the just configuration of all the Parts being finish'd and they fenc'd with Skin the Medal of a little Man appears swimming in watry Milk that is encompass'd with Nourishment which now he needs to preserve his young life and to augment the Body to a just proportion where it also learns to suck before-hand and to prepare it self betimes for the Course of its after-life which is to suck still the same sort of Nourishmentbeing provided in the Breasts of the Mother that when the nine Months stock is spent or grown unfit for use it may not want something to live upon when it comes into the World When the Plastick virtue of the Soul hath discharg'd its duty and the Embryo out-grows his lodging Time having so matur'd its life that it is ready to fall from the Tree like ripe fruit that which was destin'd to live is born but that so feeble a thing as an Infant should so easily break its prison or open so many Doors can be resolv'd into nothing but the never-failing Skill which ever attends upon all Divine Operations Since Eternal Wisdom does take so much pains in forming of a Creature you will expect that when it appears we should see something correspondent to the Divine care and really we may For if we consider the Organs of Sense which beautifie it externally and the Faculties of the Soul with which it is accomplish'd within we must confess that the vigorous spirit of warm bloud or the Plastick power of a Rational Soul which have been imploy'd in this Work were only instruments to some nobler Agent and that it is infinitely above the Ability of our nature to produce such an excellent effect of it self is manifest in this that by the repetition of most watchful observations we are not able to understand how it is done When we consider the external Instruments of Sense we find them put by an ineffable skill in most useful places and just numbers and contriv'd with Accuracy of Proportion to their different Uses which is that they might be Avenues by which the Soul may sally forth of its close Cittadel into the open Campania of the great World by which means the Soul is completely fitted for a correspondence with all sensible Objects and so is both enabled to administer to its own necessities and made a rare Engine of Pleasure to it self being accomplish'd for many excellent Operations By the Eye our Mind grows acquainted with Light and beauty and through transparent Tunicles