adventurous beganne to rush vpon Monsieur the spirite saying vnto him Sir if you be the Divell I am his damme And therewithall he curried him so lustily with sound blowes of his cudgell that the spirite which was of no other substance than flesh and bone did so well feele his Bastanadoes as hee cryed out for pardon and saide hee was Maister Iohn At this worde his neece leapt out of hir bed and stayed herfriend from dealing with him any further And this shall suffice to speake of artificiall devises which doe in a sorte seeme very cunning and subtile and do passe withall so cunningly as the most crafty are overtaken and abvsed by them Wee will now proceede to speake of other artificiall prankes more grosse and not so fine and such as are played and vsed vpon sottish and simple witted persons Of iests wher by simple persons are deceved and deluded lib. 2. of the Courtier It is a thing very ordinary and vsuall with common Iesters to be alwayes deluding of simple and credulous folkes And you may well thinke how easie a matter it was to make that man beleeve any thing whatsoever of whome Balthasar Castilion speaketh who was easily perswaded and drawne to beleeve that hee was starke blinde The history is thus Two Bouffons or pleasant companions after they had long played and jested with a poore simple fellow made him in the end to lay him downe And within a while after they having put out the candle made a shew as if they had beene still playing at the cardes and did perswade him who was layde that there was light still burning in the chamber and that they did still holde on play Insomuch as at last this poore man began to cry out vnto them saying Oh sirs I am blinds The others replying vnto him and making shew as if they did come neere him with the candle said that he was deceived and that it was nothing but a fantasie that was come into his head for that his eyes were still very faire and goodly to looke vnto Ayme quoth he this is no fantasie nor I see no more than as if I never had had eyes in my head This poore sotte say I woulde have easely beene made beleeve all manner of false visions that any man could have presented vnto his sight And if his companions had withall made a noyse and rumbling in the Chamber it had beene enough to have scared and frayed him as if the Fairies and Spirites had already taken him by the shinnes Besides it is a common tricke of vnhappy boyes to make especiall choice of Churchyardes there to terrifie others Churchyards places most suspected for spirits to walk in because those are helde to be places most suspected for Ghostes and Spirites to haunt in and inhabite In those places they will sometimes set Crevises alive or Tortoyses and putte a burning candle on their backes and after will let them to go to the intent those that shall see them slowly marching or creeping neere about the sepulchres may suppose them to be the soules of dead men In himno Mercurii And truely Homer saith That the Tortoise is armed with deceipt and imposture or that I may vse his owne worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Meaning in my conceit That by her simple persons are deceived in the night season More than that there be of those Streete-walkers and idle companions which wil apparel themselves like warre-woolves and take vnto them the habite of some supposed spirite or Divell and so keeping neere vnto the sepulchres of the dead they will counterfeit themselves all the night to be ghosts and spirites Lavater recounteth how it happened one day in a Towne of Switzerland named Zurich Libr. 1. de Spectris that certaine yoong lusty Gallants and carelesse youths having changed their apparell did daunce all night long and within a certaine churchyard and it happened that one of them more pleasantly disposed than she rest taking vp the bone of a dead man did play therewithall vpon a beere of wood that was neere by and was vsed for the carriage of the dead corpes and hee made it to sound as if he had beene playing on a Tabor Some there were that happened to perceive it who as it seemeth being none of the wisest did presently spreade abroade throughout all the towne and reported that they had seene a daunce of dead men and that it was greatly to be doubted that some plague and mortalitie would follow after it Certaine it is that it is much the worse when as such fooles doe finde others as very fooles as themselves For else it might happen that their trumperies and deceiptfull illusions which they prepare to abuse others would fall vpon their owne heades and they might chaunce at some time or other to be so well marked for their labour as they would remember it all their lives after But if these maister fooles doe gaine little or nothing in playing the divelles towardes such as are more divelles than themselves So doe they as little advantage themselves when they thinke to terrifie and make afraide such men as are wise and of a minde settled and assured and who doe not easely or without good proofe and triall beleeve all things to be Spirites which doe appeere hideous and strange vnto them To this purpose there is a very notable Historic recited by Lucian of Democritus an excellent Philosopher in his time In Dialogo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Democritus being willing to withdrawe himselfe into a solitary place that hee might the more at his ease intend the study of Philosophy without being troubled by any body made choice of a sepulchre that was large and deepe in the ground and seated without the citie of Abdera within the which enclosing and shutting himselfe vp hee beganne to write and compose many things containing matter of notable and great learning The young youths of Abdera who esteemed him little better than a foole being advertised heereof apparelled themselves in the habite and shew of spirites and taking vnto them blackeroabes and certaine hideous visardes made like in shape vnto dead men having their sculles bare and naked they did environ the sepulchre round about dācing leaping fetching their gambolds in a round never ceasing still to intermingle straunge cries and voyces in their dauncing Democritus for all this mummery would not so much as lift vppe his eyes from his Booke but continued still writing of somthing all that time But in the end being weary of their cries and noyse he sayde vnto them Cease cease my friends to play the fooles thus as you doe and vse your fooleries to some others for I knowe you well enough Neverthelesse Guido Cavalcanti did in another forte aunswere certaine yoong Gentlemen of Florence that came to feare and terrifie him within a Churchyard where hee was verie busie and intentive in coutemplating certaine auntiént Toombes and Sepulchres For as Boccace affirmeth having
Night Spirits or as the Italians vse to terme them Gli Farfarrelis c. That is Spirits that vse to walke only in the night times Oâ—tâ—e Spirites called Genti De Demonio Oratisin Apologetico Those Spirits which the Latines call Genii are diuels also as both Apuleius and Tertullian do witnesse and the like affirmeth the Greeke Comick who saith That To euery man on earth a Demon is ordained The which his life to rule and gouerne is enioyned According to the tradition of the Church of Rome For certaine it is that these Genii and no other haue charge to keepe and protect euery man that is borne into the world And they are named Genii as Censorm saith because to them is committed the care of our generation or because they are borne with vs or for that they doe receiue and guard vs after we are engendred And these Genii haue not onely the ouersight and charge of euery particular person but euery kinde of people also haue their proper and peculiar Genius according as Symmachus a very famous Author hath written Saying Lib. 10. Epist That as the soules of men are giuen vnto them with which they are borne So are the Genii attributed vnto seuerall peoples and Nations So likewise euery particular Towne had his Genius to the which it offered Sacrifices And there haue beene found many Titles and Inscriptions in the olde ruines of auncient Townes in the which hath beene written Genio Ciuitatis To the Genius of the Citie So likewise there was not any troope of men at Armes amoÌ„gst the Romans nor the Senate of Rome but had their particular Genius But aboue all the Genius of the Romane Emperour was had in great honour and it was a common thing to sweare by it and to inuocate and call vpon it in testimony of that Obeysance and subiection which they ought vnto the Prince whome that Genius had in protection And this superstition did endure and continue euen to the time of Tertullian In Apologeticâ— who reproouing the same did will and enioyne the Christians not to inuocate or call vpon the Genius of their Prince and from him euen to the time of Iustinian at the least as is to bee seene by a Lawe of Vlpian which was neuer chaunged nor refined by Trebonian L. si due patroni § Gli. D. de lure lur as others were that had lesse superstition in them This law did defend and prohibit any to sweare falsly by the Genius of the Prince and enacted that those which did so offend should suffer the Bastonado wherby they might be admonished not to sweare againe so rashly and vnaduisedly And wee may not forget That these Genii were sometimes paynted by the Paynims in the forme and shape of men hauing a horne betokening plentie or aboundance in their hand as is yet to be seene in many olde and auncient stampes or coynes and sometimes in the forme of Serpents which may well serue to vnderstand that verse of Perseus where he writeth Pinge duos angues Satir. 1. pueri sacer est locus extra meïte And this did not Seruius forget In lib. 5. Eneiâ— dos in expiscaâ—ione versus Cum lubricus anguis ab â—mis septem ingens gyros speaking of that Serpent which Aeneas in his Anniuersaries or yearely sacrifices celebrated to the name of his father Anchises did see to creepe vpon his Tom be Touching the which as Virgill saith Aeneas was vncertaine whether it were the Genius of his father or of the place And this may also helpe to the interpretation of another place in Theocritus in his Booke of Characters which I haue also corrected from the vulgar and commoÌ„ reading where he saith That a superstitious person seeing by chaunce a Serpent in his house did consecrate vnto it a little chappell in the same place But my meaning is not here to speake of Serpents which as Plutarch saith were coÌ„secrated vnto Noble and Heroicall persons In vita Cleomedis and which after their deathes did appeare neere to their corpses for this is not any part of our matter albeit a man may very wel fit vnto the Genii that same which he hath deliuered touching this point Of the spirits called Manes Glossaer manes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To proceed therefore with our purposed Discourse let vs now â—nter to entreate of those Spirits which the Latines call Manes which also are no other then verie Diuels and are therefore of Festus called also by the former name of Laruae Also the manner was to paint them blacke and hideous as wee vse to paint Diuels and hellish Ghostes or shadowes And to this purpose there is a very pleasant and merrie History in Dion in the life of Domitian Xiphilin the Abbreâ—â—ator of Dion the which I thinke will not be vnpleasing if I discipher it here at large After the victory had gotten against the Gethes the Emperour Domitian caused many shewes and triumphes to bee made in signe and token of ioy and amongst others hee inuited publickly to dine with him all sorts of persons both noble and vnnoble but especially the Senators and knights of Rome to whom he made a feast in this fashion Hee had caused a certaine house of al sides to be painted black the pauemeÌ„t therof was black so likewise were the hangings or seelings the roofe and the wals also black and within it hee had prepared a very low roomth not vnlike a hollow vault or cell ful of emptie siedges or seats Into this place he caused the Senators knights his ghests to be broght without suffering any of their Pages or attend â—nts to enter in with them And first of all hee caused a little square piller to be set neere to euery one of them vpoÌ„ the which was written the parties name sitting next it by which there haÌ„ged also a lamp burning before each seat in such sort as is vsed in Sepulchers After this there comes into this melancholicke and dark place a number of yong Pages with great ioy and merriment starke naked and spotted or painted all ouer with a die or colour as black as Inke who resembling these Spirits called Manes and such like Idols did leape skip round about those Senators and Knightes who at this vnexpected accident were not a little frighted and afraid After which those Pages sate theÌ„ downe at their feete against each of them one and there stayed whilest certaine other persons ordayned there of purpose did execute with great solemnitie all those ceremonies that were vsually fit and requisit at the Funerals and exequies of the dead This done there came in others who brought and serued in in blacke dishes and platters diuers meats and viands all coloured blacke in such sort that there was not any one in the place but was in great doubt what would become of him and thought himselfe vtterly vndone supposing that he should haue his throate cut onely to giue
Idilio prime And it seemeth that Theocritus did esteeme him the diuell of the Mid-day saying That he was very terrible and to be feared when he presented himself that houre Theocritus doth place the choler in the ende of the nâ—stâ—ls So in the Heb we Ap doth expresse both the one and the other And hee bringeth in the sheepheards conferring and one of them speaking thus No t is not good nor safe to sing at Noone I le feare God Pan who then to wrath is prone Redoubted â—an whom cruell fiercenesse haunteth When that has choler at his nostrils hangeth And in very truth it is not without reason to thinke That Pan is the Diuel of the Mid-day because that all Deuils that are in any sort terrestriall and materiall as Pan doe loue the Sunne as Psellus affirmeth and the greatest force which the sunne hath is at Midday And this may very well serue to interprete that Fable which recounteth how Pan loued Eccho which Macrohuis interpreteth to be the Sunne which beeing as the harmonie of the world Pan loueth and followeth perpetually Of the deuil of Mid-day what it meaneth But seeing wee are now intreating of the Spirite or Diuel of the Mid-day It is to be vnderstood that the same is a certaine diabolicall and pestilentiall blast or puffe of winde the most dangerous that may bee I say a blast or Spirit that commeth from the Desert as is written in Iob and destroyeth ouerturneth Iob. 1.19 and breaketh downe all that it encountreth or meeteth withall Likewise Dauid nameth it Cetch Psal 9.5.6 Iashud tsahorim That is to say The Diuel that â—poilethand destroyeth at noone day For Iâ—shud signifieth the Diuel and is deriued of Shad hauing the same signification And it is to bee marked That Dauid there setteth downe three sorts of deuils very horrible and fearefull The Arrow that flyeth by day that is to wit the secret temptation of the Diuell made vnder some faire pretence which is so dangerous that it sooner striketh and hurteth then can be perceiued whence the blowe commeth Secondly the Plunge or trouble that is the Diuel For the Hebrew hath Deber which walketh in the darkenesse or during a darke and obscure tempest or storme for the word Ophe doth import both the one and the other And certaine it is that in the night and during any strong and violent tempest the Diuel hath great power and puissaunce either to tempt men or to afflict and torment them both visibly and vnuisibly as wee shall haue occasion to shew in another place The third and last is The Plague that destroyeth at Noone-day or the Diuel of the Mid-day In lib. Iob. which Origen writeth to bee more violent in his tempations at that houre then at any other time or houre of the day and if he doe then appeare hee is more furious and abounding in rage and furie This sort of Diuels the Hebrewes do name Meririm and Reshaphim That is Diuels raging in furie at Noone-tide Pestilentiall Diuels Burning Diuels that with their breath or touching onely do kill and destroy as appeareth by that Diuell of the mid-day the which as Procopius maketh mention shewed himselfe in his time Lib. 2. de bello Persico Of the Diuell or Spirit called Empusa the history we shal take occasion to recite in another place The Greeks gaue it the name of Empuse which both Suydas the Scholiast of Apollonius haue noted interpreting it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Aristophanes doth very pretily describe it where he bringeth in Dionysius his seruant Xanthias going downe into hell to bring Euripides from thence back again into the world where as they were arriued Xanthias crieth out vnto him in this maner X. Oh I perceiue a beast most horrible and strange D. What beast tel me X. I know not It doth change Her forme into a thousand shapes for sometime It s like an Oxe and straight it is a mountaine Sometimes it seemes a woman of great beautie D. Oh where is she where is she shew her to me I le go and giue her battel presently X. But O good Gods what strange sight do I see Euen in an instant she her shape hath altered And from a woman is to a dogge transformed D. Oh then t is an Empusa X. A sparkling flame Shines brightly glistring round about her face Her eye through piercing her looke is inhumane A logge of brasse supports her in her pase Of the Spirits called Familiars But this shall suffice touching the Diuel of the mid-day after which next commeth to be considered those Spirits which the Greeks cal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are those that the Magicians do vse to shut vp in a viall or boxe or in some character or cipher or in a ring which they carry about theÌ„ Lib. lection antiqua And it seemeth that Celius did not vnderstaÌ„d this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wheÌ„ he vndertook to interpret Eusebius whom he did rather make more dark and obscure then giue any light vnto him as it was euer his custome so to do with al good Authors But if we will rightly interpret it word for word it may be tearmed a Diuell giuing Counsell or a Familiar Diuell giuing his aduice vnto such as haue made a compact conuention with him Of Diuels that speake out of the bodies of persons De defect Oracul Next to these Spirits there are others not much differing from them are those that entring into bodies doe speake through the bellies of the parties possessed with them The Greeks called them Pythons Engastrimythes or Euriclees as Plutarch affirmeth And the Hebrewes named them O bim Of the Spirites called Incubi in English the Night-mare Thâ—â—lde 〈◊〉 â—â—xicoÌ„ 〈◊〉 way 〈…〉 the 〈…〉 incubus 〈◊〉 Lab 15. de Ciâ—â—â—ate Dei. There be also a kind of Diuels or Spirits in the sorme of men whose delight is in lasciuiousnes are as wanton lecherous as Goats of whoÌ„ as I suppose amoÌ„gst the Greeks Pan was esteemed the chiefe commaunder howbeit the Latines do tearme him Incubus I haue read in some Hebrew Doctours that the Prince of these Diuels is called Haza wee in Fraunce doe call them Coquemarres and Folletts and the auncient Gaules as S. Augustine affirmeth named them â—râ—sâ—es or Diuels of the Forrests And their nature is as the same Doctour sayth to desire to rauish and force women Lib. eodem 4. quaest in Genesim in the night time to go into their beds to oppresse theÌ„ striuing to haue carnall companie with theÌ„ O the spirits called Succubi The like doe those Spirits which are called Succubi which are diuels passiue as the former actiue taking the forme of women doe seeke to enioy their pleasure of men Of which Succubi the chief Princesse or Commandresse is called by the Rabbins Liluh That is to say An Appâ—rition of the Night The Iâ—wes in theâ—r prayeâ—s at â—â—â—â—ing
a perpetuall daunce vpon the waters and that in dauncing and leaping they approach and come neere to Marriners or Sea passengers and so to guide and conduct them to their desired Hauen Now daunses or leaping and vawting in measures haue neede of nothing as saith Aristotle but onely of Number measure and true cadence Finally the Nymphes of the Land haue the Voyce Of the land-Nymphes and that the Voyce is proper to them Fatum or Fate whence deriued That the Nymphes are no other then Diuels proper vnto them And for the most part they are fayned to be Diuiners Prophets and Poets as Egeria Hersilia Carmenta the Camenae and the Goddesse Fatua the wife of Faunus of whome I may deriue the name of Phataa that is to say Destinye and where of is come the Latine word Fatum Now for a conclusion of al this Discourse certainely if all these Nymphes of which I haue spoken haue at any time appeared vnto men It can not be imagined but that they must needes be Spirits and Diuels And the truth is that euen at this day it is thought that in some of the Northerne Regions they do yet appeare to diuers persons And the report is that they haue a care and doe diligently attend about little Infantes lying in the cradle that they doe dresse and vndresse them in their swathling clothes and do performe all that which carefull Nurses can do vnto their Nurse children And surely the Auncients had the same opinion of them For the Poets say that Iupiter was kept in his Infancy of the Nymph or Fairie Melissa and that Bacchus as soone as hee was borne was carried away by the Nymphes or Fayries Nysa was saide to be nurse of Bacchus and of her he is cal led Nyseus to bee nourished by them in the Denne or Caue of Nysa and that by them Hylas a yong lad was rauished and carried away Antinous taken and Adonis pulled away from the Barke of the Myrrhe tree which was his mother transformed and Metamorphosed To be short if I should recite all the Fables which are written of them I should neuer make an ende Onely this I will adde that those Fairies or Nymphes which I said did attend about little Infants to dresse them as Nurses may well bee those Diuels or auncient Goddesses which were said to haue the charge of the birth of Children and for that cause were named 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But I would gladly knowe and learne who did put it in the heades of olde folkes and other simple persons and Idiots that the Arcades the Theaters the olde Fountaines or Water Conduits the Bathes and Great stones pitched vp aloft Of diuers olde famous works and buildings supposed to be the works and dwellings of the Nymphes were the workes of the Nymphes or Fayries Was it trow ye because it hath beene continually held and commonly thought that the Spirits and Nymphes or Fayries haue loued ruinous places and that for this cause the olde ruines of great proud admirable buildings decayed haue bene said to be the houses dwelling places or the workes of the Nymphes Surely as touching their inhabiting in ruinous places Esay witnesseth it where he saith Esay 13. That the Syrens or Nymphes shall possesse their houses and there make their retrait abiding The dwellings of the Nymphes described in Homer and Virgil are sufficiently well knowne that they were in dennes or caues farre remoued and concealed from the sight company of men builded wrought by themselues in the naturall rocks hard stone And Homer for his part hath so well and perfectly described the Caue of Ithaca where these Fayries did abide that Porphyrius hath taken the paines to interpret and explane at large the ingenious order of their building and Arctitecture At this day is to be seene the Caue of Sibylla Cumana neere to Naples of which also Iustin Martyre doth partly make mention and sayeth that the report went how in that Cell she wrote her Prophecies Besides the Temples of the Nymphes called by the Greekes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and of the Latines Lymphaea were alwayes situated without the Citties and Townes in solitarie places and farre remoued from any dwellinges as appeareth by the Lymphaeum of Rome which was on the other side of Tyber and stoode alone and aside fró the Suburbes And so did the other Téples caues of the Nymphes whereof Strabo and other Authors haue written But seeing wee haue sufficiently discoursed of the names of Angels Spirits and Diuels It is requisite that we now set downe the reasons and arguments of those men that deny their Apparition to the ende we may to the vtmost of our power confute and refell them CAP. III. Of the Opinions and Arguments of the Saduces and Epicures by which they would proue that the Angels and Diuels do not appeare vnto men MAny there haue bene at all times and in all ages which haue impugned stiffely denied the Apparitions of Diuels Angels and Spirits But some haue done it in one sort and some in another For there be some who to ridde themselues altogether from the question and disputation that might be made concerning particular and special matters which are often alledged in regard of the Apparition of Specters doe bend themselues against them all in generall That so by cutting of the roote and vndermining the foundation of a Principle well grounded they may the more easily cause the ouerthrow and downefall of all that which dependeth vpon the same They deny therefore Of the severall opinions of sundry sorts of persons thâ—t de nvâ—d the being of spâ—tus c. their Apparitions that there are any Angels or Diuels at all or any Spirites seuered and abstracted from a corporall substance or bodie to the ende that by consequence they may inferre and conclude that there are not likewise any Specters nor Apparitions of Spirites Such were the Saduces as we may read in the Actes of the Apostles and the Epicures Actes 23. The first opini on of the Saduces Epicures other Atheists and the greatest part of the Peripatetickes and all sortes of Atheistes whatsoeuer Of which last there are at this day more huge numbers abounding within this our Realme of France then would be tollerated These men would not sticke to affirme if they durst and were it not for feare of the Magistrate that it is free for men to abandon themselues to all kinde of iniquitie impiety and dissolute liuing for so doe they murmure and mumble when they are alone and by themselues that there is not either God or any Spirits at all good or euill nor yet any hel where the souls of men shuld suffer any paines or punishment but that they dye together with the body And that all whatsoeuer is saide or alledged touching hel torments is nothing but a vaine and superstitious toy and fable onely to make babes and children afraid and to wrappe
and tye the greatest persons of the world in certaine bonds of a religious superstition for so are the wordes of Lucrece in this behalfe And I doe beleeue that they do often say in their harts that which Pithagoras the Samian is alledged in Ouid to haue saide to the inhabitants of Crotona in Italie Why stand you thus in feare of Styx and such vaine dreamings Of Manes and of Spirits which are nought else but leasings Certainely hee that should take vpon him to instruct these Athiests should but loose his time because they will admit of no reasons no not of those that are meerely natural For seeing they do not beleeue him which hath the commaund and rule of nature how can they yeeld any credit or beleese vnto those reasons that are drawne from nature it selfe Other persons there are who The second opinion beeing more religious and honester men then those former yet haue no lesse denyed the essence of Angels Diuels and Spirites Howbeit they haue beene of this opinion that by reason both of the distance betweene them and vs and of the difficultie of appearing in a humane body they cannot possibly present themselues vnto vs Others also there haue beene who haue referred all that which is spoken of the vision of Spirites The third opinion or the Sceptickes and other followers of the Philosopher Pirrhon vnto the naturall and perpetuall deprauation of the humane senses Such were the Sceptikes and the Aporreticks who were the followers of the Philosopher Pirrhon as also the second and third Academie who held That the senses were they neuer so sound could not imagine any thing but falsely and vntruly Againe The fourth opinion some others with more apparance of reason then the Scepticks haue affirmed that aboundance of MelÌ„acholy Choler adust frensie feuers the debilitie or corruptió of the senses be it naturally or by accidét in any body may make thé to imagine many things which are not And they do infer that such as happen to be attainted with these maladies do think that they haue seene Diuels and other such like Specters They adde moreouer that the feare superstition and credulitie of many is such that they will most commonly suffer themselues to be drawne into a beliefe and perswasion of that which is quite contrary to truth To make short The fist opinion of Lucian and others Others there be wise enough and fine conceited yet neuerthelesse being great mockers and incredulous because they themselues did neuer happen to see any vision nor haue euer heard or touched any supernaturall thing they haue beene of this opinion that nothing could appeare vnto men that exceeded or went beyonde the course of nature Lucian an Infidell Atheist and Scoffer And of this number Lucian was one who being also as great an Infidell as any could be saide I beleeue no part of all these Apparitions because I onely amongst you all did neuer see any of them And if I had seene of them assure yourselues I would beleeue them as you doe NotwithstÌ„ading for all this he opposed himself against al the famous and renowned Philosophers of his time and held argument against them though as himselfe confessed they were the chiefest and most excellent in all kinde of knowledge and learning And hee was not ashamed to stand onely vpon his own bare conceit and opinion impudently maintaining without any reason at all against them that were as wise if not more wise then himselfe and more in number that forsooth nothing at all whatsoeuer was said or alledged touching Specters ought to be admitted or beleeued But what reasons I pray you doth he bring to confirme his saying Truely none all but that onely of his owne absolute and vncontrowled authoritie hee will drawe to his incredulitie all others whome hee seeth to bee assured and settled in their opinion Notwithstanding that they are certainely resolued of the truth by the exteriour senses with which they haue perceiued and knowne that to be true which so constantly they doe maintaine and defend But how can it possibly bee that a man should thinke without any shew of reason by incredulitie and mockery onely to confute and ouerthrowe that which hath beene euer of all men and in all ages receiued and admitted Certainely this is the fashion and guise of mockers and scorners that that which they cannot deny nor yet haue a wil to confesse they will finde the meanes to put it off with a â—est and laughter and so thinke secretly to insinuate themselues into the mindes and conceites of their hearers especially such as looke not nor haue a regarde to the truth and substance of a thing but onely to the outwarde shadowe and grace of wordes and glorious speeches Such a scorner needeth not any great knowledge because it is sufficient for him to bee superficially skilfull in any thing so that hee can with a kinde of graue smiling grace shift off the reasons and arguments of those whose knowledge and learning is so exceeding farre beyonde his as during his whole life he will neuer attaine vnto the like Thus did Machiauel carrie himselfe who amongst the learned Machiauel a Scoffer and an Atheist and men of skill and iudgement knewe well how to make his profit of his scoffes and pleasant grace in iesting whereby he would many times strike them out of countenance in the sight of them that heard him whereas if he had come to dispute with them by liuely reasons and solid Arguments hee would at the very first blowe haue beene ouerthrowne and confounded But in the ende hee discouered himselfe sufficiently and was reputed of all men no other then a Scoffer and an Atheist In Musas as Paulus Iouius testifieth of him But wee will cease to speake any further of him of Lucian and of those of their humor and will returne to our matter touching Specters the which that wee may the better explane now that wee haue briefly declared the diuersitie of opinions of those that insist vpon the contrarie wee will aunswere vnto each of them in order as they haue beene propounded And first as touching the Sadduces the Epicures the Peripatetickes wee will seuerally answere their Arguments which they obiect against vs Next wee will remoue those difficulties which are obiected and shew how the Angels and Diuels may take vpon them a bodie Afterwardes wee will shewe and discouer vnto the Sceptickes that the humane senses are not so faultie and vncertaine as they would make men beleeue And last of all to the intent we may leaue nothing behind wee will not forget to shew by what maladies and infirmities the senses may be hurt and troubled and the Imaginatiue power of man wounded and chaunged so as all that which is supposed to be seene is meerely false and vntrue To come first of all to the Sadduces It is most certaine The opinion of the Sadduces that of all men they were the most
and tender yeares they do continually exercise themselves in such leapings and vawtings The report is that the Turkish Tumblers are farre more subtile and artificiall therein then the Italians For be it either to tumble to daunce vpon a corde or by force and strength of the armes to beare and lift vp things of huge weight such as the Italians are not able so much as to lift from the ground they are held to be most expert and excellent And I have read that in Turkie there are Tumblers which will enclose and burie themselves in the ground and have nothing but a little tunnell or pipe of wood by which they will breathe and speak out of the earth Assuredly these men may verie well by this devise deceive many persons and especially if they should be heard speak in the night time from vnder the ground For what other thing coulde any man coniecture of them but that they should be spirits It is a thing sufficiently knowne that the antient Greekes and after them the Romans had amongst them such kinde of Tumblers and especially the rich men of Greece did vse seldome or never to make any solemne banquet but they had of these Tumblers who after their feasts might recreate their guests with their vawting and tumbling And this doth Xenophon testifie and after him Atheneus In Simpâ—sio In Dypnosoph who maketh speciall recitall of many such Vawters that were so excellent in that Art that men were of opinion they vsed Ligierdemaine or Art Magicke And that those of that age were more excellent then ours it appeareth in this that by their vawtes and devises in leaping they would expresse even the veric passions of men as is most largely recounted by Lucian Sometimes they will leape like Hercules when he was furious sometimes as an Orestes as an Alemeon an Athamas a Poliphemus a Silenus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometimes they would act their trickes more temperately and moderately as if they did represent vpon a Stage some Agamemnon in a Dreame or a Menelaus or some Sage Vlisses Sometimes againe they would expresse the rages and extreame passions of love in some Dido in a Medea in a Phillis and a thousand others And amongst the Romans for this Art were most famous Esope Pylades Hylas Pantonimus Mnestor he whom for his excellencie in that skill Nero the Emperour gave vnto Tiridates king of Armenia who is reported to have expressed by his skilfull feates in vawting and by the motion and nimble turning of his bodie and of his members all thinges that were possible to bee expressed by the speech Of illusions offered vnto men by feined voyces But what shall we say of those men who without any skill in the Art of Tumbling are notwithstanding even by naturall disposition so subtile and ingenious as they will be able to delude and deceive even the best advised There be some men who have their voyce so subtile and so divers that they will imitate all sorts of birdes so naturally that if a man did not see them hee would constantly affirm that he heard the true melodie of birds singing naturally Others againe have the Organ of their voyce and their throte sometimes so fine and small that being verie neere vnto a man they will call him and yet it will sâ—eme to the partie called that hee should be farre off from them To this purpose I will recount vnto you a thing as strange and admirable as I ever read in any historie whatsoever and it was toâ—de me by a President at such time as I was a Student in Tholousa And I doe assure my selfe that if the same had not beene verie true that learned and grave Personage who was a man verie wary of beleeving such strange things reported vnto him would never have tolde it me in such sort as he did for he named vnto me the man that was so deceived And that was a certaine Marchant of Lions whose name for this time I will conceale who beeing exceeding rich both in banque and in other goods and possessions and being above all noted for a great and notable vsurer he went one day walking into the Countrey accompanied onely with one man that was his servant And as both of them together were entring into a great laund or an open and large Champion 〈◊〉 hold the servant beganne to speake vnto him and to tell him That he was an Angel which came vnto him purposely as a messenger sent to tell him by commandement from God that he should give and distribute part of his goods ill gotten vnto the poore and that he should liberally recompence his servant that had of a long time served him without any reward or preferment at all received from him The Marchant being abashed and astonished at the voyce demanded of his servant if he heard nothing and repeated vnto him what himselfe had heard The servant counterfaiting a kinde of wonder and astonishment did deny that hee heard any thing and immediately with a voyce farre more strange and subtile then the former he repeated the same words againe and that with such admiration of the Marchant that hee was brought into a full beliefe that it was an Angel from heaven that spake vnto him Insomuch as being arrived into his lodging he gave vnto his servant a good and large recompence As touching his life afterwards whether he amended it or no I know not But his servant who within a small time after lest his service did noyse abroade and make known by what a wile and devise he had served his turne of his Maister to wring money from him The same President did furthermore shew vnto mee that himselfe was once bidden to a banquet wherevnto the late deceased Monsieur de la Cazedien had invited many learned men the most excellent spirits that were then living in Paris During this banquet it happened that a merrie companion whom the said Signeur had caused to be present of purpose for the more pleasure and varietie of mirth at his banquet in immitation of that of Xenophon In Simposio or of the Emperour Iulian wherein there was a Silenus that kept companie with the gods In convivi Caes and brake a ieast vppon every one of the Caesars called one of the companie by name a man well knowne for his doctrine and eloquence whom I will not now name because he is living This partie hearing himselfe called arose immediately from the Table supposing that some one without the doores had called him albeit in verie deede it was no other then that same pleasant companion that was set at table with him You may see then how that they that have their voyce fine and subtile may easily deceive men of the best spirit and vnderstanding Herevnto we may also adde and referre in a sort the subtilty and fraude of some men who heretofore ayding themselves with the benefite of the night and darkenes by meanes of a voyce
entonneled in a long cane or reede have deceived and seduced such as have beene scant well advised insomuch as they have caused them to doe things they would never have done if it had not beene by meanes of such abuse and illusion It is reported that Boniface the eight did vse this suttlety as a meane to climbe vnto the Papacie and faining himselfe to be an Angell he extorted the dignitie of the soveraigne Bishoppricke out of the handes of Celestine a simple holie man and more worthy to live in an Hermitage than to have that charge wherein he had beene placed and invested It is a matter also very famous and notorious how that in times past there was in the Towne of Angiers one that was servant vnto a rich and wealthy widow who to come to the toppe of his desires which was to gette his mistris in marriage by any practise whatsoever and that by meanes thereof hee might get an interest in the great wealth and goods which she possessed he fained himselfe to be the spirit of hir late deceased husband And breaking a wal or terrasse that was neere adioyning to his mistris bed side he put a reede thorow the same thorough the which speaking in the night season so as his Mistris might heare him hee oftentimes repeated these or the like wordes in effect My sweete love I am the soule of thy deceased husband who doe counsell thee for thy profite that thou take such a one thy servant in marriage This deceitfull illusion was of that force and efficacie that it fell out according as her servant had fore thought And indeede it was not ill for her for he became so good a husband that he died one of the richest and wealthiest persons of the towne insomuch as his riches is growne into a Proverb at this day throughout all Aniow Now there be some some persons Of divers artificiall devises vsed to make a shew of Spirits and Specters that together with some artificiall and coyned voyce doe also ioyne thinges naturall which at the first shew doe seeme very strange vnto the eyes of the Beholders As for example They doe clothe themselves in the skinnes of Sea-calves or Seales which naturally are of a glistering and shining colour and so doe they present themselves vnto those whome they have a purpose to deceive perswading them with a faint and fained voyce whatsoever they doe thinke good Sometimes they take a winding sheete or some white linnen clothes and doeaffirme themselves to be the soules and spirites of the dead And of these we can yeeld plentifull examples First of all here we may alleadge an history recited by Hector Boetius in his Annales of Scotland A certayne Scottish King having lost the battell against the Pictes found his people so discoraged that they were all out of love with the warres The King being much aggreeved therewithall did suborne certaine persons who being apparelled with bright shining scales and having in their handes truncheons of rotten wood which in Scotland is very common and dooth shine by night as wee have before saide did appeere vnto the Princes and Chiefetaines of the Scottish army being in their dead sleepe and awaking them did admonish them to fight afresh against the Pictes the antient enemies of the Scots And that they should not be afraide to assaile and set vpon them for that they were sent from God to tell them that they should vndoubtedly obtaine the victory This devise wrought so well and effectually that the Princes and Chiefetaines being of opinion that they had seene the Angels of heaven in their dreame did beleeve that God would fight for them and in this conceipt and imagination they charged vpon the Pictes so lively and courageously as they both defeated and vtterly rooted them out of their coun trey Thus did these truncheons of rotten wood and these scales of fishes or rather Seale-skins give a notable occasion to this king of Scots to adde an artificiaâ— devise of mans invention to the presence of men whose lively voyce ioyned to a thing mâ—erly natural yet strange at the first shew did cause theÌ„ that they which could not discerne neither the Nature of the one nor the Art of the other did take both the one and the other to be a verie vision and true Specter That which maketh mee most to marvell at these Princes and Chiefetaines is That though each of them severally and asunder by his owne bed side did see this naturall and artificiall vision none of them neverthelesse could discover this deceipt but that all in generall did beleeve that what was presented vnto them was surpassing and beyond nature But howsoever this was well carriâ—d without being discovered I suppose at this present the like would hardely and ill be done but that it woulde rather fall out contrary to the intention and meaning of the Deceiver so as himselfe would be deceived Erasmus in one of his Epistles which hee wrote vnto a certaine Bishop shewing That it is not alwayes sure nor expedient to give faith and credite vnto Specters the which are sayde by some to appeere vnto them amongest other Histories dooth bring in this that hapned in his time There was saith he a certaine person with whome a neece of his did dwell and soiourned being a woman rich and well monied and withall very covetous He counterfeiting himselfe to be a Ghost and a Spirite didde often vse to come in the night time into the chamber of his sayde neece and being covered with a white sheete did faine himselfe to be a soule departed He would vse also to vtter some doubtfull and ambiguous wordes and would make certaine rumblings and noyses in the ayre hoping that shee would have sent for some Exorcist to come vnto her or that she her selfe would have coniured it But as she had the courage more than of a woman so did she advise her selfe accordingly and caused a certaine friend of hers to come secretly into her chamber that should entertaine the spirite And having made him to drinke well because he should stand the lesse in feare of the Spirite and arming him with a good great cudgell as much as hee could well gripe in his hand that he might therewithall serve himselfe in steede of exorcismes shee caused him to be hidden in a corner by her bed side till such time as the supposed spirit should make his repayre thither who at his accustomed houre failed not to come and to make his wonted stirres and noyses bellowing and crying I knowe not in what sadde and sorrowfull sorte Vpon the heating of these stirres the good drunkard that waâ— to play the Coniurer beganne to rowze himselfe halfe overcome as hee was with wine and sleepe The spirit seeing him drawe towards him endevoured with more strange voyces and gestures as well as hee could to repulse and terrifie him But this gallant who by reason of his wine that had warmed his braines was the more hardy and
of a long time forborne them and endured all the bravadoes and inventions that they could devise when at the last they vsed vnto him this speech Guido tu rifiuti desser di nostra brigata ma eccò quando in aurai trouvato que Iddio non sia che aurai fatto Wherevpon he retyring himselfe from them made them this answer Signori voi mipotetâ— dire à casa vostra cio che vipiace that is my Maisters you may say vnto me being at your owne home what you please meaning by that gentle frumpe that the sepulchres and churchyardes were the dwelling houses of such as they who molested him that is that they were little better then as dead men because they were ignorant and enemies to the learned Such an aunswer as this you shall hardly finde amongst all the Greekes and Democritus might well have spoken it to them that went about to make him afraide Notwithstanding the answer that he gave them did so touch them that knowing thereby his great constancie and assurance they left him in his sepulchre without counterfaiting themselves any more for spirits to molest or trouble him Common places of execution suspected for spirits to walke in Next after Sepulchres and Churchyardes the Gibets or common places of executions are greatly feared of the vulgar sort who do thinke that spirits do haunt and frequent there also And for that cause such fooles doe never cease haunting those places of purpose to feare and terrifie such as passe neere vnto the same To make short those places are so frightfull in the night time to some fearefull and timorous persons that if they heare the voyce of any person neere the place where any be hanging they will thinke it is their spirits or ghosts that doe walke thereabouts I remember me of a good iest which was once tolde me how in the Country of Mayne there was a fellow a notorious thiefe and murtherer well knowne vnto all his neighbours who by the sentence of the Lievetenant for criminall causes hee committed in Mauns was condemned to be hanged and strangled and was sent from thence backe to his owne Village wherein he dwelled to be executed and there to be set on a Gibbet standing vpon the high way from Mauns Some few dayes after his execution a certaine man travelling that way where his bodie hanged found himselfe verie sore wearied and laid him downe to rest vnder a tree not farre from the Gibbet But hee was scarse well setled to his ease when sodainly behold there commeth by another passenger that was going towards Mauns and as he was right over against the gallowes where the dead body hanged whom the partie knew well when he was alive he called him by his name and demanded of him with an high and lowde voyce as iesting at him if he would go with him to Mauns The man that lay vnder the tree to rest himselfe being to goe to Mauns likewise was very glad that he had found companie and said vnto the other Stay for me a little and I will goe with you The other to whom he spake thinking it was the theefe that spake vnto him hasted him away as fast as he could possible The man vnder the tree arising vp ranne after him as fast with a desire to overtake him and still he cried Stay for mee stay for mee but the other had not the leasure For his feare had set him in such a heate thinking still that the dead thiefe followed him at the heeles that he never left posting till he was quite out of breath Then was he forced to stay whether hee would or no and to abide till the other that followed did overtake him who by his presence brought him to be againe of good courage when he saw that his feare was meerely vaine and senselesse Now although as I have saide Churchyardes Sepulchres and Gibbets be common and vsuall places where vnhappie youthes doe make their resort to play the spirits yet so it is that sometimes their audaciousnesse passeth further Of counterfait spirits that vse to haunt mens houses for good cheere or lasciviousnes even to the dwellings and houses of men wher they have a hope either to carowse the good wine or to inioy their lascivious loves And thereof commeth the old French proverbe On sont filettes et bon vin Cest la où haute le lutin That is Where prettie wenches be and store of good wine There do the night-sprights haunt from time to time The tales of the Queene of Navarre and of Boccace are full of these dissembled spirits such as in the end have beene discovered not without receiving the due chastisement of their deserts And it is not to be doubted that if the true meaning of our lawes were pursued and duely followed Directarios qui in aliena caenacula furandi animo se conferunt Li. Sacularis D. de extraord crimimbus such lewd persons should bee as grievously punished yea and more severely then simple theeves For I know not better how to terme them than plain manifest Burglarers who do enter violently into other mens dwelling houses with an intent of stealing little other then felonious to whom our Civill Lawyers have appointed this punishment that either they should be sent to digge in the Mynes of mettalls or at least to suffer the Bastinado But that paine is too easie and gentle for them and I may well say that their behaviour doth deserve to bee punished with death as all privie and secret theâ—ves are according to the quantitie of the summe the qualitie of the persons and the circumstances of the places For their Act is farre more heinous then simple theft or fellowe Forasmuch as besides that they go with an intent to robbe and spoyle they do endevour also to sollicite and overthrow the honour and honest reputation of women of the which both the one and the other is punishable and especially if there happen any adulterie for that alone deserveth paines of death It is not once nor seldome that such sort of spirits have beene discovered by the Magistrate and sharply punished according to the exigence of the cause either with death or perpetuall infamie But it is not in our age and daies onely that these pranckes have beene vsed but even almost two thousand yeares ago or thereabouts Plautus in his Comedie intituled Mostelaria faineth how by a cunning sleight and devise of a servant an olde man his maister was made beleeve as hee came home from out of the Country that the spirits did haunt his house and that therefore both his sonne and he had forsaken and abandoned the same in his absence And this the servant did that he might the better cover and conceale the loose and dissolute behaviour of the sonne from the father and the better to colour the sale which bee had made of the house Of counterfait spirits affrighting folkes causing the death of persons by their
illusions And what shall wee say of those who counterfaiting themselves to bee spirits in an house where themselves are domestically dwelling doe thereby cause the death of some other by their lascivious and lewde behaviour For my owne part I do hold that they ought worthily to be punished with some arbitrarie paines torments And I can give you an argument or experiment of the like deede in a manner whereof our Civillians do make mention Licinius Ruffinus incomparatione legum Mosis Iurisconsult Certaine foolish young men did so rudely cast or tosle vp one of their companions that being throwne somewhat higher into the ayre then was reasonable he fell downe so vnhappily as his whole body was bruised and crushed together in such sort that hee died very shortly after Vlplanus li. 4. § cum quidam D. ad leg Cornel de sicar Iurisconsult A. in Furti § cum eo D. de furtis Lusus pernitiosus imprimitus esse non debei Glos in l. si quis aliquid D. de poenis Arg. l. penult § vlt. D de extraordin criminib l. vlt. D. eodem in verbo pro mode admissi actio dabitur ibi Paulus de Circ latoribus qui serpentes circumf erunt loquitur The Lawyer Vlpian saith in this case that those gallants which thus caused the death of this their companion by their foolish wantonnes were punishable as homicides and murtherers by the law Cornelia As also they in like case which doe engender such feare in the hearts of men being given to be superstitious and fearefull so as they die thereof ought to be punished by the same reason And Accursius saith that they which do in this manner feare and fright folkes ought according to the lawes to bee exiled and banished although the death of the parties do not happen therevpon But if so be any do die thereof he gathereth by divers lawes that then they which were the causers of such death should be punished extraordinarily But all this Discourse of Accursius is vppon the exposition of a certaine law of Paulus the Civilian who saith Whosoever shall do any thing whereby the simple spirits and mindes of men shall be frighted terrified through over great superstition The Emperor Marcus willed and ordained that such a one should be banished into some Island And yet for all that did not Accursius either more or lesse vnderstand the meaning of the law which he took vpon him to expound The French word is Sarlatans wherby is ment a kind of men who in Arabia Siria and other th' East countries do vsually by a kinde of charm take vipers scorpions and other serpēts in their bare hands so carrying them about do sell them For even those very lawes which he alledged by way of argument to what purpose doe they serve as touching his explication Their scope is not to entreate of any other thing then of the Arrabian Scopelisme or of those mountybanckes the which did vse to carrie about Serpents and not of any manner of feare conceived or apprehended through superstition But this is in some sort pardonable in Accursius who had not thoroughly searched nor turned over the good bookes of the antient Writers And therefore he could not so well expound any of those lawes that were drawn from the auntient histories For the truth is that the ordinance of Marke Antonyne the Emperour specified and declared in this law doth leade vs as it were by the hand to the interpretation and vnderstanding thereof if wee regarde by the historie it selfe the true motive that caused that Emperour to make this Ordinance Now the historie may well be gathered out of Iulius Capitolinus who saith that a certaine Impostor or cosening Deceiver making a speech in the field of Mars In vita Marci Anto-philoso vpon a wilde Figge-tree tooke vpon him to fore-tell and prophecie that the end of the world would bee very shortly after if that he at such time as he came downe out of that tree were changed into a Storke And within a while after he descending them let flie from his girdle a Storke that he had hanging thereat thinking by that devise to have deluded and blinded the people but he did it not so secretly but he was discovered and apprehended and led before the Emperour Marke who pardoned him Howbeit he made an ordinance by the which hee defended all men of what condition and qualitie soever not to feare and terrifie any man through superstition and vnder pretence of religion vpon paine to bee banished as we have said before So that you may see the true sense of the law drawne from this historie albeit the punishment which Antonyne ordained were lesse rigorous then it ought to bee For considering the greevousnes of the offence namely to ingender and breede a feare in a whole people vnder pretence of a false miracle death it selfe was but a iust and due reward for the same Of Impostors and deceivers taking vpon them to be adored as gods or deceiving men vnder a colour of religion Vnder the like paines also ought they to passe who doe give themselves out to the simple and credulous people to be adored and worshipped as gods and vnder the vayle and colour of religion do deceive and delude men faining themselves to be the soules of holie persons or such like spirits with an intent to cause themselves to be respected and honoured and that thereby they may attaine to the top of their desires bee they good or bad Hann◠the Carthaginian and Psappho did nourish birdes in a cage learning them this lesson to say That Hann◠and Psappho were gods Lucian recounteth a notable Imposture of one Alexander 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who nourishing in private a certaine gentle Serpent whereof there are many the like in Macedonie made the people of Pontus inhabiting about the Euxine Sea men of a grosse sensuall vnderstanding to beleeve that it was the god Esculapius And by that meanes hee plumed and fleeced them of their mony giving them nothing but fables and false oracles in paiment This false Prophet lived even in that verie time wherein Lucian and Athenagoras lived who made mention of him in some of their works And these two persons were living vnder the raigne of Antonyne the Philosopher and before him vnder Antonius Pius Before their time lived Simon Magus who did so cunningly charme and enchaunt the eyes of Nero by his false miracles and did so faine himselfe to be a god that Nero insteede of punishing him severely as he ought was perswaded to erect an Image vnto him set aloft on an high pillar wherevpon was written n = a The writing was in Latine Simoni Deo sancto But the Ecclesiasticall Historians who have written this historie of Simon have bin deceived in the name of Semo Fidius sanctus a god which the romans worshipt whom they tooke for Simon To Simon the holie god That
man and Atheist doth in no sort beleeve that there are either good or evill spirits nor doth apprehend those thinges that are supernaturall So the superstitious person is 〈◊〉 too soone drawne into lightnesse of beliefe and by reason of the feare which he hath of evill spirits He faineth vnto himselfe a thousand foolish and idle fancies and toyes in his braine And therefore not without good cause is superstition named by the Greekes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because of the feare of divells which both Proclus Plato Porphirye Iamblicus Dion Lucian Zeleucus apuâ— stobaeum sermone de legibus Mali Genii in quit a superstitiosis metuuntur and other Antients do call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Also those which are attached with this fault and imperfection doe make themselves beleeve that they have seene visions which indeede they have not seene And sometimes an excessive feare of spirits will seaze and take hold vpon them in such a manner that in the dead and darke horror of the night they will crosse and marke themselves a thousand times as if they did see some strange and fearefull sight and they will abhorre to heare any talke of Divelles and doe never sleepe nor rest in quiet still imagining that a thousand Phantosmes do flie vp and down round about them Of young children De somnâ— vigilia Next after those that bee superstitious come young children who as Aristotle saieth are subiect to this humour that they perswade themselves they see visions of Specters and Apparitions in the night though indeede they see nothing And most commonly they will be so afraide when they awake out of their sleepe by meanes of the sodaine emotion of the humours and of the blood descending into the sensitive organs that neither more nor lesse than as if they had some suffusion of their eyes they wil think they have seene some Specters or strange sights presented to them which for very feare wil make them to cover hide themselves close vnder the cloths of their bed And how can it be but that children should perswade themselves of such foolish imaginations and apprehensions in the night seeing that even in the verie day time a man may make them to beleeve things meerely false as if they were true and certaine Againe we see that sometimes they will fall into such a feare as they will be ready to swound and will crie out in their sleepe by night when they doe but call to their remembraunce the feare which they have had in the day time and which is more they will grow to have the Falling-sicknesse as I have noted in Hippocrates I have read in Lavater how in his Countrie of Switzerland De sacro morbâ— De Spectris at a câ—rtaine time of the yeere there were some that vsed to disguise and maske themselves in horrible vizards like vnto divells onely with an intention to terrifie the little children that were given to be fearefully conceited and they do make them beleeve that they had seene some warre-woolves fayries or night-spirits and such like And the same which Lavater saith was vsuall in his Countrey is no more then is seene in France where mummeries are very common and vsuall in divers Townes in the forme and habite of spirits and divells As touching such mummeries I cannot observe any one more ridiculous then that maske oâ— monstrous image which in a certaine Towne of this Realme which heere shall be namelesse is every yeere carried about with great solemnitie vpon their festivall daies It hath a great face and vifage infinitely broad and large with long and sharpe teeth and is for that cause called The olde woman with the great teeth But in my iudgement this is a meere idolatry taken from the Paynims and Gentiles who had also their Mandurâ—â—s which as â—ostus saith was a great maske or monstrous picture vsually carried about in the Procession of their gods and left not to moove the chaps grinde the teeth But either of those were in vented as I take it to give cause of laughter to such as were sad and pensive and to terrifie little children At Lyons also in France they have their Macheoronste little or nothing differiug from the Mandurus of the Gentiles which they vse likewise to carrie about the Cittie in great pompe and triumph The Antients as I have observed out of Ausonim had certaine such maskes or vgly pictures with three or foure squares which on what side soever they were changed and turned had the figure of a man not without great admiration to the most advised and assured and no lesse to the fearing and terrifying of little children Those maskes in Latine are called Oscilla and in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as if a man should say litle mouthed images Osâ—illa signifieth faces moving the chaps or mouth in deformed maner like vizards in a mummery and they were purposely borne hanging in little streamers or banneâ—s which they vsed to shake and moove to and fro and they might plainely be discerned in the end to have the humane shape and forme though in the agitation and stirring of them a man would have iudged that they had a thousand faces and countenances I have seene such kindes of maskes or pictures in the possession of Maister Gaiffier an advocate in the Court of Parliament who was a great lover of Antiquities and one of my very good and deare friends Of aged persons and that they are much subiect to feare c. Next after infants and little children come the aged and decrepite old persons of whom the naturall humor and moisture is well-neere spent and consumed and their braine is become to bee in a manner wasted and dryed vp by reason of their yeeres To these kinde of folkes it is naturally proper to doate and to be idly conceited and as Aristophanes saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to divine and prophecie after the manner of the Sibills and as being bereaved of their wits and senses Moreover olde age is very apt to faine vnto it selfe specters and apparitions either by reason that the braine is offended or through the weakenesse and imbecillitie of the senses or by meanes of some other such discommodities and inconveniences as old age vsually bringeth with it And God he knoweth that when old folkes men or women doe grow to bee as it were children againe which the Latines doâ— terme Repuerascere they beâ— more childish then very children according to the Greeke proverbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 insomuch as they will not sticke to affiâ—me with all the oathes of the world things that never were and which they never knew And if you would assay to plucke out of their heads the opinion which they have once conceived of specters and visions you should but loose your labour as in attempting a thing vnpossible Ierome Cardan rehearseth Lib de
by very Arâ— and cunning and by meanes of certaine candles and fumigations will cause as hath beene before touched that a chamber shall seeme to be full of serpents albeit in very truth there be nothing lesse then serpents in the chamber and onely the eyes are deceived and deluded In the same sort howsoever the divell doth represent vnder the true forme of a man some woolfe horse mule or some such other beast yet neverthelesse the man doth still abide and remaine the same that he was and hee is not either changed or transformed in any fashion whatsoever but onely in the imagination of the phantasie which is possessed and troubled by the divell And this both all the antient Doctours of the Church and all the generall Counsells have determined and agreed vppon And therefore I cannot but marvel that there should be any men so obstinately addicted and wilfully wedded to their opinions as to bring in and maintaine against all antiquitie and contrarie to the Canons a new kinde of heresie the which they goe about to proove onely by such authorities and examples as they do wrest and pervert to their owne sense and meaning wherein they doe something savour of the error of Manes the father of the Manichees Qui aliquid divinitatis aut numinis extra vnum Deum arbitrabatur who did hold that there was a kinde of divine power besides that of the one onely God For he said that there were two creators the one of things earthly and materiall the other of things celestiall which doth even iumpe with the opinion of those men For to make the divell to have such power as to change the bodie of man into another forme what other thing is it then to give and attribute vnto him that power and puissance as to create a new forme and thereinto give him a kinde of prerogative over the body of man which is a thing onely reserved vnto God alone the creator of all things both visible and invisible corporall and incorporall But this shall suffice as touching Sorcerers and that transmutation which they do maintaine of humane bodies into the bodie of some other creature The which in very deede neither is nor can be doone but onely in apparance as wee have oftentimes formerly repeated and onely by the phantasie and imagination corrupted and deluded by the prestigious deceipts and illusions of the divell How and in what sort the fantasie of meÌ„ is possessed deluded by the Divell Now that we may not wander from that which wee have in hand wee will heere shew howe and in what sort the phantasie also is possessed by the divell eyther at such time as the humors of the body are disposed fit for it or when the person hath bin bewitched enchanted or else by reason of some other secret vnknowne to men and reserved to the knowledge of God alone For as it is most certaine and assured that the braine of man is the â—eaâ—e of the imagination and the phantâ—sie and that by the same by meanes of the organs and instruments proper and fitted therevnto the conceptions of the soule are vttered and brought foorth So if the Divell doe once perceive that the braine is troubled or oftended by any maladies or infirmities which are particularly incident therevnto as the Epilepsie or Falling evil Madnesse Melancholy Lunatique fittes and other such like passions He presently taketh occasion to torment and trouble it the more And by the permission of God seizing himselfe of the same he dooth trouble the humours amaze and confound the senses captivateth the vnderstanding possesseth the fantasie darkneth and blindeth the powers of the soule and speaking through the organs of the body being then fitted and made apte to bring to light his own conceipts and devises he then commeth to shew himselfe in his kind speaketh strange languages telleth of things that are chaunced and come to passe in diverse partes of the worlde prophecieth of things to come although for the most part he be found a liar and in briefe he worketh such maâ—vells and wonders as no man can beleeve are possibly able to proceed from any body of a humane nature Opinion and reasons of Levinus Lemnius other Physitians who doe attribute to Nature the strange effects of persons possessed with Divells Levinus Lemnius his opinion of men possessed with spirites Lib. 2. cap. 2. collect de occult nat miraculis cui adde Cornelium Gemmam qui de miraculis naturae itidem librum composuit This notwithstanding some Physitians there be in our time who will needes reduce this as also all other things which be supernatural to the ordinary course and working of nature and they imagine that they can yeeld a reason for the same which being well searched dooth discover it selfe to be most vaine and frivolous and cannot any way in the worlde be maintained Amongest others Levimus Lemâ—â—us discoursing of the secrets of Nature and being to handle this poynt dooth marvellously sticke vppon the contemplation of humane nature and of the force of the naturall humours For these are his wordes There is saith he a certaine wonderfull force and vertue which doth stirre vp the humors and a certaine vehement heate dooth disturbe and moove the imaginative power at such time as the sicke persons in the extreame and burning heate of their fevers do speake and vtter foorth sometimes openly and with a kinde of eloquence and sometimes confusedly and as it wâ—r stuttering and stammering such languages as they never knewe nor learned And it is most sure that there be some humours so sharp and violent that when they come to be enflamed or corrupted so as their fuliginous excrements doe strike vppe to the braine they will make those that are surprized therewithall to stagger and stuner in their speech not vnlike those that are overcome with wine and will make them to chaâ—ter and talke in a straunge language Now if this didd proceede of any evill spirites then would not the infirmitie cease by the Arte of the Phisitian and by purgative medicines or other drugges applied to the patients causing them to sleepe For we see that ordinarily by such â—edicines they doe returne into their right mindes and into their accustomed manner of speaking And for proofe hereof Levinus dooth adde That himselfe hath healed some sicke persons who in the fitte of their fever have bin very eloquent even so farre as they have pronounced a speech as if iâ— had beene an Oration deepely studied and most accomplished in all respects and yet the parties in the time of their health were very rude persons and little better than ideots After all this he goeth forward and beginning to ground himselfe vpon on certaine reasons hee saieth As it is most certaine that the boyling and arising of the humours is marvellous and exceeding hote and ardent and the stirring and agitation of the sensitive spirits is very vehement and above all this the troubling and
reasons which he afterwardes yeeldeth in shewing That the divell doth serve himselfe of the humours or braine in men corrupted so seizing on the same doth enter into the bodies of such distempered persons in the tiem of their fittes that from the braine troubled and offended doth proceede this disease of the Epilepsie or the Falling-evill But I say according to the resolution of Saint Thomas Aquine that the divell may possesse the humours being corrupted or the braine being so troubled and offended of the paâ—tie so diseased and that this is a thing that doth happen vsually and commonly And I wot wel that the antient Magitians to call vp their divells or spirits and to know of them such things as were to come did helpe themselves with the bodies of Epileptiques and persons troubled with that disease Into the which the divells did easily enter at such time as the evill or fit tooke them and did speake by their mouthes vnto the Magitians or by some other externall signes did declare vnto them what was to come And I remember that I have read in Apuleius that he was accused before the Proconsull of Affricke Apologia 1. Apuleius servum suum Thallum remâ—tis arbitris secreto loco arula lucerna paucis consciis carminâ— cantatum corruere fecit deinde nescium sui excitâ—vit Obiection touching strange languages and prophecies c. vttered by persons distempered that it should be by nature corrupted how that he aided himselfe with his servant Thallus being surprized with the Falling-sicknesse at such time as he performed his magicke sacrifices And hee defended or excused himselfe of this crime so coldely that he seemeth to consent therevnto And it is well knowne that next to Apollonius Thianeus he was one of the greatest Magitians that can be remembred But saith yet Levinus those medecines that doe purge Melancholie Madnesse Burning-fevers the Epilepsie and such like do cause all those thinges to cease which we affirm to be caused in such bodies by the divels namely to speake strange languages to prophecie and fore-tell things to come to tell wonders of things past and to doe that which is not possible for man to doe by nature Therefore it may be concluded that it is not the divell but rather Nature corrupted which so moves the humors and stirres vp troubles the soule in that maner But I doe vtterly deny that the divells by medecines can be driven or cast out of such bodies neither can hee proove it vnto me by any example I am not ignorant that Pomponatius writeth Answer to the former Obiection that the divel cannot be cast out of bodies possest by medecines De precantat But it appears not that those purges did ex pell the divell In oratio de laudibus medecinae that the antient Exorcists or Coniurers did purge with helleborus the bodies of such as were beset with divells before they made their coniurations howbeit he cannot alleadge or bring me any good and sound historie to proove his saying And though he affirme that the wife of Frauncis Maigret Savetier of Mantua who spake divers languages was healed by Calceran a famous Phisitian of his time who did minister vnto her a potion of helleborus And that Erasmus agreeing with him doth write how hee himselfe saw a man of Spoleta in Italie that spake the Almaine tong very well albeit hee had never beene in Almaine and that after a medecine had beene given vnto him hee did avoid by the fundament a great number of wormes and so was healed and did never after speake the Almaine tongue any more yet doe I hold the truth of this very suspitious It might bee rather that the divels left these presently vpon the medecines given them onely because he would have men beleeve and wickedly attribute this power to bee in phisicke rather then to any worke of God though it were not indeed by any vertue of the phisicke Lib. 2. cap. 16. de abdit rer causis and do rather give credite to Fernelius one of the greatest Phisitians of our age who doth vtterly denie that there is any such power in phisicke And he reciteth a historie of a young Gentleman the sonne of a Knight of the Order who being possessed by the divell could not in any sorte be healed by any potions medicines or diet ministred vnto him Nor by that neither You may assoone beleeve the one as the other for all phisicke all superstitions and Coniurations are of like efficacie in this case Opinion of the Astrologers confuted That the speaking of strange languages c. by persons distempered in their bodies proceedeth of the influence of the Starres but onely by Coniurations and Exorcismes And even in our time there was better triall made heereof in that woman or Demoniaqne of Vervin who for all the medicaments that were given vnto her by those of the pretended reformed religion could never be healed but onely by the vertue and efficacie of the holy Sacrament of the Altare But to come to other matters of this kinde As little reason also have the Astrologers to attribute vnto their Starres such force and influence as to say That they doe infuse and instill into humane bodies certaine admirable faculties and so doe cause them to speake divers and straunge languages for their opinion is as farre from the trueth and to be abhorred as that of the Phisitians neither can they finde any reasons whereby they are able or ought to perswade that the Starres are the cause of any such myracle chauncing in the bodies of men And howsoever for proofe of their Assertion they doe vrge That the Moone according to the encreasing and decreasing thereof dooth produce very terrible effectes in the bodies of Lunatique persons and that according to certaine constellations of the Starres the corporall matter is disposed more or lesse to receive the celestiall Impressions yet dooth it not followe for all that That the Lunatiques in speaking and vttering diverse languages are not surprised and possessed by the Divell but that the same their diversity of tongues should proceed from the Starres For what should I say more But that the auntient Paynims themselves were not ignorant but did acknowledge that both Melancholique persons Mad-men and Lunatiques speaking diverse and sundry languages and prophecyings were men possessed with Divelles And therefore they did vse to call them Fanaticos and sometimes Ceritos Ceritus quasi Cereristus gracis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plâ—utuâ— in Poe nulo neque nos populus pro Ceritis insectabit lapidibus De sacro morbo 1. Reg. as if they shoulde say Persons stricken by Ceres sometimes Demetrioleptous and Numpholeptons and Daimonountas as Lucian witnesseth and sometimes persons possessed by Hecate which was an infernall divell or by Heros as saieth Hippocrates And in the Bible in the bookes of Kings wee see that Saul being in a melancholique passion was assailed and vexed with an evill spirite and