auouch any thing for truth which is not a truth or to father a lie vpon Christ and so to hold the truth in vnrighteousnes It is impietie to put vpon the pure Spouse of Christ the besmearing brand of that antichristian strumpet to whome alone is giuen power to worke lying signes and wonders in all deceiueablenesse of vnrighteousnesse and so make her saith M. Darel to boast or bragge that she hath in her eare the marke of a Rogue or that shee is burnt in the hand like a theefe For as these saith he are the infallible markes of rogues and theeues so surely the miraculous expelling of diuels by papists and others in these dayes of the Gospell it is the vndoubted true ensigne badge or cognizance of antichrist It is impietie to affirme that fasting and prayer ex opere operato may possiblie effect such a worke and so to iumpe with trayterous Stapleton and with Thyreus the Iesuite It is impietie to prophane the holy exercise of prayer and fasting by such preposterous practises without any warrant at al from the word It is impietie to draw prayer and fasting from their peculiar and proper appointed ends namely from being but proppes and helpes for the onlie support of our feeble faith in the promises of God and to make them the only sole meanes for the powerfull expelling of diuels without any faith at al. Yea and euen such a meanes forsooth as may saith M. Darel enable a reprobate to effect such a worke Loe these are the seuerall impieties which doe necessarilie succeede your sensles exposition and yet you aske what impieties would follow thereof Now next for absurdities It is to too absurde to auouch that fasting is more effectuall and more powerfull for the expelling of spirits and diuels then is prayer it selfe It is absurde to make sole prayer but a practicall meanes to proue experiments by It is absurd to make fasting the subsequent of prayer whereas it should indeed be a precedent exercise or rather an ordinarie preparation thereunto It is absurde to establish a trade without a tuition or to prescribe a medicine where there is no maladie at all Loe these and such other absurdities doe necessarilie succeed your sensles exposition of Math. 17. vers 21. and yet you enquire what absurdities may possiblie succeed the same Now next shall be handled succinctlie the daungers also thereof which are both manie and those also most mightie For first it cannot but be fearefullie dangerous that the Church should be brought to imbrace for infallible truth that which cannot possiblie be proued a truth Againe it is vndoubtedly dangerous for the Church by this meanes to consort her selfe with her enimy especially in such grosse and erronious opinions To practise prayer and fasting as a perpetual ordinance establisht by Christ for the powerful expelling of diuels hauing no one warrant in the word for the same To be made carelesse of the true spirituall armour against Satan in deed by buzzing secretlie into her eares that which is not her armour appointed by God Loe these are some of those palpable impieties absurdities and dangers which must necessarilie succeed your said exposition and yet you are not ashamed to enquire what impieties absurdities or daungers may possiblie follow thereof These and such like they are the supposed good fruites which grow vp and may possiblie be gathered from your former most fruitles exposition concerning that portion of scripture As for the euill fruits you enquire after therein you are sufficiently able to resolue your selfe For what fruit may you haue of that whereof you are now so filthilie ashamed that you dare not shew forth your face as in former times Exorcistes Sir I would you knew it I am nothing ashamed of that infallible truth which I teach Orthodoxus If you blush not for very shame at so grosse an exposition the lesse is your glorie and the greater your confusion no doubt For who but an impudent person would not be highlie ashamed of the ignorance of his owne soule Howbeit if in very deed you be not ashamed thereof from your heart why then doe you thus hide your head in a corner Truth you know she seeketh no corners neyther feareth she more in her heart then to be hid from the eyes of the world Exorcistes I forsake not the truth it selfe be you sure I onely but flee those fierie trials which so fiercely doe follow the truth Neither take I this course without the warrant of Christ who wils me when I am persecuted in one Citie to flie into another Orthodoxus Alas poore pitiful cause what hard hap hadst thou to put thy selfe vnder the protection of so cowardly a Patrone as only but braues it in words without either beating once back or bearing off the blowes which daily befall thy vntimelie birth Howbeit you doe blasphemouslie belie our Sauiour Christ in saying that hee should approue of your cowardlie flight from citie to citie For the flight which Christ warranteth there is that wherin only your person not your profession is hotlie pursued by persecuting Tyrants You are not pursued with any purposed hurt to your person but onely with a prouident respect to those your preposterous practises which your selfe hauing preposterously set first on foote doe now by this your cowardly cariage euen purposely betray in the open field Besides that howsoeuer your flight might bee warranted lawfull before the challenged combat yet being once purposely billed forth for the battell and your owne selfe vndertaking the graund-Captaine his charge in this singular skirmish you haue from hence-foorth no more warrant to flee the very forefront of the field then hath the apprehended offender to breake out of prison Notwithstanding let vs set these things aside for the present and doe shew foorth vnto vs I pray you how from that portion of Scripture you may possibly conclude the timely establishment of that your supposed ordinance of prayer and fasting Exorcistes Why sir he knoweth nothing at all in the holie things who vnderstandeth not this namely first if any bee now possest and by prayer preuaile not then prayer and fasting together must forthwith be vsed Secondly that prayer and fasting being so vsed will certainly prosper either to the present remouing or to the powerfull sanctifying of the said iudgement at least Orthodoxus If that man who vnderstands not the profunditie of these new-found mysteries knoweth nothing at all in holie things then surely I for mine owne part must freely confesse that hitherto I haue knowne nothing at all concerning that mysticall way Yea and which more is this your pretended great knowledge therein it is I verely beleeue but a presumptuous knowledge hauing in it no soundnes of knowledge at all For who euer taught you as yet or from what spirituall fountaine can you possiblie conuey such a profunditie of sacred knowledge as may warrant vs to vndertake first an
others Moreouer it may please the good Reader to remember withal that such absurd positions and so many apparant contradictions they cannot possiblie proceed from that spirit of truth which leadeth into all soundnes of truth and religion and that therefore they haue in them no force at all to fight for the Lord who needeth not the lies of mortall men Brieflie this we our selues doe certainely know all men more especiallie the iudiciall sort they plainely perceiue that howsoeuer those their pretended essentiall possessions and dispossessions of diuels may haplie accord with the truth of the Scriptures yet these their published Pamphlets they will neuer be able to make good the supposed truths which themselues doe pretend and that therefore they must of necessitie be forced to begin a new ground or to giue ouer their cause The Lord by his spirit direct vs only vnto that which tends to the glory of his great name the present good of his Church and our owne euerlasting comforts in Iesus Christ. So be it euen so Lord Iesu. Amen The seuerall Arguments handled at large in the subsequent Dialogues concerning our second encounter The first Dialogue Pag. 1. The Argument 1 WHether Master Darel his second encounter contayning an hotch-potch of things confusedly shuffled together hath found a better successe concerning the pretended essentiall possession of Spirits and Diuels then any the precedent particulars propounded at large in our former Dialogues The second Dialogue Pag. 81. The Argument 2 WHether this fresh encounter contayning an hotch-potch of matters confusedlie shuffled together hath found a better successe coÌ„cerning the pretended dispossession of Diuels by prayer and fasting then any of the precedent particulars propounded at large in those our former discourses The third Dialogue Pag. 197. The Argument 3 THe holie and right vses which the Church and Children of God are to make of this Doctrine concerning the finall determination of possessions and disposessions of spirits and diuels A SVMMARIE ANSWERE TO ALL THE MATERIALL POINTS in any of Master DAREL his bookes The first Dialogue THE ARGVMENT Whether Master Darel his second encounter containing an hotch-potch of things confusedly shuffled together hath found a better successe concerning the pretended essentiall possession of Spirits and Diuels then any the precedent particulars propounded at large in our former Dialogues The speakers names PHILOLOGVS LYCANTHROPVS PNEVMATOMACHVS PHYSIOLOGVS ORTHODOXVS EXORCISTES Orthodoxus EXorcistes Hauing very lately receiued your late-spread factious Pamphlets as also your Champion-like challenge concerning your old inueterate opinions about the essentiall possessions of Spirits and Diuels I vnderstand by Master Physiologus and the rest of our companie that according to your owne appointment for time and place you are now come purposely ouer vnto vs to mannage your challenge Surely howsoeuer your maine forces may happely be feeble there is no want I perceiue of a valorous minde Well sir you are welcome vnto vs. And therefore what say you man Doe you feele your selfe no lesse readie than willing to aduenture the combate afresh Exorcistes Yea sir I am very willing and readie at all assaies and doe purpose very valiantlie to hold out the encounter or lie fast by the heeles But what say you first to those my three late published treatises which you so scornefully brand with the odious title of factious Pamphlets Orthodoxus Or euer I come to open my mouth concerning any your owne matters I must first of all be very importunate vpon the rest of our companie that they would in no wise interrupt our talke for protracting the time but onely attend with silence and become indiffâ—rent Iudges concerning the scope of our conference Vnles happilie it may please Master Physiologus for better ease vnto me and more delight to your selues to enterlace now and then some such Philosophicall points as may in any sort tend to the further manifestation of the maine purpose in hand Lycanthropus We like very well of and doe willinglie submit to your motion proceede therefore in your matters as the Lord in mercie shall direct your minds Orthodoxus Content Come on therefore Exorcistes what say you now to the essentiall possession of Spirits and Diuels Exorcistes Sir be you sure you must finde me no Changeling concerning that so weightie a matter But first shew me I beseech you how you may possiblie make good the intolerable disgrace which you haue primarilie imposed vpon those my fruitefull labours which it pleaseth your own selfe to terme but factious Pamphlets Orthodoxus Why man It hath been euer my ordinarie manner of dealing you know to call a spade a spade and therefore you must pardon my plainenes herein Howbeit be patient I pray you we will neuer fall forth for naming the Childe And therefore pretermitting the terme of factious Pamphlets those your three last published treatises sith forsooth you will needes haue them intituled so they are either such as concerne onely but matters of fact or such as concerne matters of fact and Doctrine together Your treatises concerning onely but matters of fact namely your Triall and Detection I doe purpose at no hand to intermeddle withall Both because you your owne selfe haue purposely singled forth from the rest your proper Antagonists whom you proudely intitle the two English Inquisitours Samuel Harsnet I meane and his Master whom also in the very heate of your pride you haue by a Hysteron Proteron preposterouslie put downe in your Pamphlet and for that I also my selfe haue no authenticall Commission to enquire after much lesse to determine such factious proceedings For which speciall respects I doe purposely put ouer the trying forth of your Triall as also the orderly deciding of that your Detection to such Ecclesiasticall Commissioners as her excellent Maiestie hath authenticallie subordinate vnder her Highnes for the orderlie finding forth of all those vnorderlie and grosse malefactors which doe indirectlie withstand or impugne the same Exorcistes Well what say you then to the other of my treatises Orthodoxus You shall vnderstand anon my censure concerning the same In the meane time howsoeuer for the former considerations I doe vtterlie refuse to meddle with those two forenamed Pamphlets being meerelie but matters of fact yet must I bicker with you a blowe or two concerning the seuerall Epistles prefixed to both For besides that they are in some places absurd and senseles doe labour thoroughout vpon a pitifull begging of the cause of Possession and Dispossession are branded with Grosthead his corrections by matching in your Apocryphall text that your pretended miracle with the true miracles of Christ but yet making the same in your marginall note no miracle at all besides I say that they all keepe onely a circular motion are full fraught with idle excursions with rouing phantasies with extrauagant speeches are thirteene times pestered with an idle traducing tautologie are stored with fearefull disloyall titles and termes of disgrace with vaunting challenges virulent raylings and
infallible Doctrines which you haue learned from Christ and auoyd them For they that are such serue not the Lord Iesus Christ but their owne bellies and with faire speech and flattering deceiue the hearts of the simple Consider therefore we humbly beseech you consult and giue sentence either with vs or against as the Lord shall direct your hearts If wee be thought to haue the truth on our sides we doubt not but that you will fight together with vs in one and the selfesame faith of the Gospell On the other side if we be found to haue faulted either in matter or manner wee beseech you confute vs and spare not and the blessing of God doe light on your hearts for your labour that way Neither shall our priuiledged bookes be any stoppage at all to so good a purpose for if you be vnwilling to deale that way because of authoritie your priuate conuictions shall suffice to procure from vs a publike retractation of whatsoeuer shall bee soundly adiudged amisse For howsoeuer we may happily erre we purpose by Gods grace to bee no Heretikes Referring therefore our selues and our labours to your approued considerations we humblie betake you all in our hartiest prayers to the holy directions of the onely wise God who iudgeth according to trueth Amen Your louing brethren assuredly in the Lord and the Lord his vnworthiest on earth IOHN DEACON IOHN WALKER TO THE CHRISTIAN AND WELL AFFECTED READERS WHO EXPECT THE COMming of the Lorde Iesus to their immortalitie I.D. and I.W. doe wish the necessarie graces of the spirit with a sauing knowledge in Iesus Christ So be it GOod Christian Reader when we dulie considered Maister Darel and his complices their lately dispersed pamphlets concerning their new-found trade of Diuillitie as also their vndutifull manner of imprinting and publishing the same to the world we could not but call to remembrance a most pestilent practise which Cardinall Benno reporteth of Hildebrand Who hauing killed Alexander the second for that he refused to sit at his speciall appointment in the Apostolike Sea without the good Emperours licence was by the ayde of his souldiours forthwith enthronized into the Popedome himselfe not hauing therein the consent either of Cleargie or people The which his prowd vsurpation when Abbas Cassinensis was come to redresse Hildebrand that insolent Vsurper very scornefullie sayth vnto him thus Frater nimium tardasti Brother you haue beene somewhat too slowe to whome Cassinensis very boldly replyed saying tu Hildebrande nimium festinasti and thou O Hildebrand thou hast beene ouer-hastie by much both in killing thy good predecessour in procuring the Popedome by such prowd vsurpation Euen thus surely it falles forth with vs at this present concerning especiallie the matters controuerted betweene our selues and those our Antagonists For they not only giuing the Canuisado of late to her Maiesties high Commission but hauing withall by the venemous infection of their viperous pennes verie vncharitablie endeuoured to wound S. H. vnto death for that by meanes of the sayd S. H. his dutifull discouerie of those their vndutifull dealings they might not be permitted to vsurp in our English Church a new Apostolicall power at their pleasures without any her Maiesties authenticall licence Maister Darel the principall agent partly by the inherent pride of his insolent spirit and partly by the prowde support of many his vnder-hand fauorits is very prowdlie enthronized into a new Popedome forsooth And by priuiledge thereof he hath very peremptorily imprinted and published sundrie seditious pamphlets hauing thereunto neither warrant from God nor dispensation from Prince nor testimonie of sound conscience no nor so much as the holie approbation of any good christian subiect Notwithstanding all this he hath for a season though feare and shame enforceth him now to pluck in his head very prowdlie ietted from countrie to countrie like a pettie new Pope among his owne Cardinals yea and that also in his pontificalities portrayed and contriued after the new-found popelike cut The which their vnbridled insolencie when we indeuoured to encounter by publishing as we verily beleeue the infallible truth of these intricate matters in a treatise at large and had signified so much to themselues by word and by letters in an only desire of doing them good they labored by letters and otherwaies to intercept our said enterprise a time at the least And in the meane time by printing and publishing the trifling toyes of that their new found trifling trade they haue sought to forestall our former good purpose and laboured to calme our carefull endeuours for doing them good Yea and by these their preuenting practises they do in effect but disdainefullie say vnto vs with Pope Hildebrand their prowd copartner Deere brethren you haue bin somewhat too slow in publishing those your dialogicall Discourses concerning Spirits and Diuels Howbeit we by these our subsequent labours and second encounters may with Cassinensis very conscionablie replie vpon them thus and you oh counterfeit Exorcistes you haue bin ouer-hastie by much not only in killing your good predecessour by your poysoned penne but also in broaching a fond triall abroade without any triall of truth in designing a Doctrine so opposite to the Doctrine of Christ and in discouering a Detection to detect your great follie and shame to the world The truth of the premisses good christian Reader may be made more apparantlie euident if thou wilt prouidently examine first the pamphlets themselues and then next the spirit it selfe which may be supposed to endight the same The pamphlets themselues notwithstanding any their outward florishing shewes they are inwardlie faultie we verily thinke both in matter and manner That they are ouermuch faultie in matter is more then may be denyed being euery of them fraught full of vnsound and absurd positions as shall be shewed hereafter in a short Catalogue prefixed before this booke Moreouer that they be likewise faultie in their manner or forme may easily appeare vnto such as are not vtterlie ignorant of methode or do any thing know what belongs to an orderlie manner of writing For first their manner of writing it seemes to be something Schismaticall and very shrewdlie to sauour of a Serpentine subtiltie because whatsoeuer their pamphlets pretend they proceede not by a plaine course of teaching but do rather incedere tortuosè goe wrigginglie to worke and walke this way and that way like to the hunted Hare which knoweth not whereon to resolue for a certaine Besides that their manner of writing it is also verie enigmaticall obscure and cloudie their sentences or periods they are in effect no better then riddles and for the most part so vncertaine so variable so flitting and so changing as none but themselues may possiblie spell or spie forth their meaning Briefely the very frame itselfe of their whole proceeding resembleth fitlie a paire of tarriours or tyring yrons and serueth to no other purpose at all but to hold men occupied all
Exorcistes And what say you to the other part Orthodoxus The other part of that Pamphlet respecting matters of fact and matters of Doctrine confusedly iumbled and blended together is intituled The Doctrine of the Possession and Dispossession of Demoniakes out of the word of God Wherein wee haue summarily to obserue first the Preface put downe in the very forefront of the Pamphlet and then next the Doctrine it selfe with the prosecution thereof The Preface containeth first the maine purpose of that friuolous Pamphlet and then next a three-fold Distribution of that selfesame purpose The maine purpose you pretend for publishing that friuolous Pamphlet is the glorie of God and the edification of the Christian Reader Surely how friuolous soeuer the Pamphlet be deemed the pretended maine purpose for publishing the same is a very honourable and a glorious purpose no doubt Howbeit because the most counterfeit Coyne resembleth eftsoones the most glittering shew and the most horrible Strumpet the honestest face yea and for that also we haue it very strictly giuen vs in charge first to search out and examine your Spirit or euer we doe ouer rashly giue credit to any your holie pretences It shal not be amisse before hand very euenly to peize with the holie waights of the Sanctuarie whatsoeuer payment you proffer in liew of such purpose and then after approoue or disprooue of your holie pretences accordingly And this in effect for the maine purpose prefixed in the very forefront of that friuolous Pamphlet The three-fold Distribution of that selfesame purpose is this that followeth in order 1. First you would proue that the eight persons you speake of were euery of them possessed by Satan 2. Secondly that they were all of them vndoubtedly dispossessed by your fasting and prayer 3. Lastly you lay downe the holie and right vses which you say we must make of this wonderfull worke This wee suppose is the three-fold Distribution of that your former pretended maine purpose whereof we like wondrous well especially if you shall shew your selfe no lesse sufficiently able to prosecute then you haue orderly disposed of that your pretended maine purpose And to ease you something herein this we must tell you before that if you can soundly informe our iudgements concerning the infallible truth of those the two former points we will not greatly sticke to yeeld you the latter Albeit the same be shrewdly intermingled with some such disloyal assertions such strange conceits and such needlesse toyes as are not in our powers to reforme and we wholy disclaime Moreouer whatsoeuer odde Question concerning these matters hath been controuerted or handled before in anie one of our former Conferences that wee will not now disputs of afresh but only referre you to the Dialogue wherein the same is determined Briefly your needles Dilatations your superfluous applications your often excursions your idle repetitions your wandring Vagaries your roauing Discourses and extrauagant speeches more befitting a Rhetoricall Declamer then a Logicall Disputer all those we will passe by with a purposed silence for mispending the time Neither will we tye our selues strictly to your course of speech but will briefly abstract from the whole your propositions and proofes with whatsoeuer els is materiall and onlie endeuour to answere the same And this in effect for the whole preface put downe in the verie forefront of your friuolous Pamphlet The Doctrine it selfe with the prosecution thereof comes next to our consideration The Doctrine it selfe is a Doctrine concerning the essentiall possession and dispossession of Demoniakes out of the word of God Whether this be an high or rather a deepe point of diuinitie will appeare in the handling thereof The prosecution of this deepe point of Doctrine is performed according to the threefold distribution aforesaid Thus haue we brieflie and summarilie broken vp the whole body of this your Doctrinal discourse with the due order obserued therein Goe to now Exorcistes proceed according to this order and spare not what say you man to the first point of al I meane the essentiall possession of those your pretended Demoniakes Exorcistes I doe confidentlie auouch to the world that those eight persons we speak of they were in deed essentiallie possessed with vncleane spirits and did not counterfeit a possession as is affirmed by some Orthodoxus You say they were in deed essentiallie possessed I pray you forget not your wordes Howbeit or euer we come to dispute the verie point of that Question this I must tell you for truth that you cannot possiblie name anie one place throughout the whole Bible wherein the words possession or possessed are properlie vsed to this your pretended purpose as wee haue shewed sufficientlie in our second Dialogue and then how should you possiblie proue your supposed essentiall possessions of those your pretended Demoniakes out of the word Exorcistes O yes sir euerie where throughout the Geneuah translation those words are ordinarilie obserued Orthodoxus A proper Disputer you shew your selfe I insist vpon the Originall and you vrge the Geneuah translation which yet being dulie conferred one place with another will be found directlie against you For first concerning the Originall the word which the Euangelist vseth therein is Daemonizomênos that is one Diuellished or one afflicted tormented or vext with a Diuell And so hath your Geneuah translation in the fifteenth of Matthew the twentie two verse Yea and herein also you your owne selfe very fullie accordeth in the verie Title of that your forenamed Narration terming that your supposed Possession in your eight pretēded Demoniakes to be nothing els but a grieuous vexation by the Diuell Yea and which more is euen in the verie title of this your treatise of doctrine you doe call them onelie Demoniakes as also in sundrie places throughout that booke By all which it is to too apparant that either you finallie distrust the finding of that word possession throughout the whole Bible and so speake of possession at a blind aduenture or that els you do with the Geneuah translator account the words possession and vexation by Diuels to be indifferentlie taken for one and the selfesame matter and so your supposed essentiall possession falles flat to the ground Howbeit if we should verie fauourablie affoord you the word possession which by great hand you see will neuer be gained yet then also you are as far from the point of your purpose as euer before For how proue you those your eight pretended Demoniakes to be in such sort possessed as you beare vs in hand they were Exorcistes I proue it directlie from the verie cause of their actions or passions thus Supernaturall effects doe argue some supernaturall cause Those actions or passions which they endured were supernaturall effects therefore those actions or passions they argue some supernaturall cause Orthodoxus Your Assumption is vtterlie vntrue For those their supposed actions or passions they were not supernaturall whatsoeuer you seeme to report and which more is meere naturall
all this he was eftsoones of such supernaturall strength as he could hardlie be ruled Physiologus How then came it to passe that some few men or women were able by their owne naturall power to subdue his saide supernaturall strength at their pleasure You shall hardlie perswade mee that the meere naturall power of a thousand men may possiblie subdue the supernaturall strength of a spirit or diuell Howbeit if this your supposed Demoniake had in deede beene fast tyed in chaynes of iron as were the Demoniakes put downe in the Gospell and could also as easilie haue knapt them in sunder you might then more boldlie haue reported and wee would the sooner haue beleeued that the youngman as you say had beene in deed of an extraordinarie supernaturall strength beyond the facultie and power of nature In the meane time you may not be angrie though we esteeme these trothles tales as trifling toyes being altogether insufficient to proue any such eyther actions or passions as doe wholie surmount the facultie skill and power of nature Exorcistes Why sir besides the precedent supernaturall actions the youngman he was of a supernaturall knowledge foretelling my comming vnto him and telling of many things done the actours themselues being absent Physiologus This is not so supernaturall as you make men beleeue For he might be ashsted in those his supposed predictions and declarations of actions els where effected by watch-wordes by signes by the insinuations and speeches of others by his owne obseruations collections and probable coniectures yea and perhappes by some cunning confederacies with Exorcistes himselfe Now then all these and other like helps hee eftsoones enioying as hath beene deposed by diuers no merueile at all though those his cosining predictions and declarations of actions to simple and plaine meaning people did seeme verie admirable straunge and miraculous Although yet with the circumspect and prouident beholders there was in them no straungnes at all but such as might easilie be effected by the meanest of wit with the help of a cunning confederate For if Bankes by his continuall prastise had brought his blacke Horse to such exquisite knowledge as that by the onely sight of his maisters eye by his words and many other experimented obseruations and rules he could and did eftsoones effect such admirable matters as many of the beholders did imagine him to be rather a black diuell then an Horse why should we wonder at all that two cunning companions confederate together before should conclude such a course betweene themselues as the one by the help of the other should prognosticate such straunge and incredible euents as that the sillie poore hearers would rather deeme him some supernaturall Cole-prophet then any naturall cosining companion So then this argueth no such supernaturall knowledge as you would make vs beleeue Howbeit if hee had spoken eyther Hebrew or Greeke neuer hauing learned those languages before that had beene in deed a very certaine argument of some supernaturall knowledge and might very probably haue concluded some possession by Satan Exorcistes Why sir hee spake Latine I assure you saying thus Ego sum Deus Ego sum Rex Yea and which more is he spake for a good space together with an hallow voice in his bellie his mouth neuer closed but stretched wide open Physiologus It should seeme he was onelie possest with some poore petie diuell that had no more Latine in store Howbeit if the diuels memorie had failed him the best is the boy himselfe he had learned that Latine at schoole many yeares or euer the diuell and he grew acquainted As for speaking with an hollow voice in his bellie whatsoeuer it pleaseth your selfe to put downe with your penne very manie notwithstanding haue iudiciallie deposed that he spake as distinctlie and as orderlie as other men doe But be it supposed he spake in such sort as you say doth that argue necessarily some diuel in his bellie So euerie paltrie ventriloquist must become a Demoniake Hippocrates maketh mention of the wife of one Polemarchus who spake in her bellie Iohn Gorreus hee saith that such as speake in their bellie in Hipocrates they are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is persons which speake in their bellie their mouth and their lippes being closed Faetius he writeth that the great Adrian Turnebus affirmed in his reading chaire that hee had seene a Rogue who without eyther opening his mouth or stirring of his lippes did with his bellie alone make such a sound and vttered such a sensible voice as both pleased the hearers and gainde to himselfe great store of money by the practise thereof If therefore these be the supernaturall actions whereupon you so greatlie relie for the vndoubted confirmation of those your supposed essentiall possessions I am sorie for intercepting M. Orthodoxus his course Both because these things are to too course and ridiculous to conclude such a cause and for that also they were not in such sort effected as they are by your selfe in your published Pamphlet reported Exorcistes Howsoeuer you would gladlie discredit the truth of the Historie the same could not possiblie be false it hauing the vndoubted truth thereof so carefullie reported with euerie circumstance and the same also most soundlie deposed vnto by diuers Deponents Orthodoxus Why man the very matters themselues they were nothing so straunge as the Historie reports them to be For how admirable soeuer they seemed at first in the beholders eyes yet the Deponents themselues deposing with some better deliberation their supposed straungnes a fresh they haue since then more aduisedlie reformed their oathes and deposed the contrarie Namelie that now by their better enlightned iudgements they doe plainely perceiue all those the former supposed supernaturall actions or passions to be but meere counterfeit toyes and plaine cosoning practises And therefore whatsoeuer your selfe may happily imagine concerning the supposed infallible truth of that Historie so carefullie reporting those seuerall points with the seuerall circumstances appertaining thereto yet the very best that wise men may thinke of that Historie is this Namely that the writer thereof reported those matters as then only they seemed to be but not as they were indeed and in truth Besides that other Histories are therefore credited because they report nothing in nature impossible or if happilie they doe yet then they plainely demonstrate how the same was effected Moreouer whereas you tell vs that the truth of the Historie hath beene deposed vnto our answere is this so hath the supposed truth thereof bin truely deposed against howsoeuer you your selfe in your accustomed charitie doe charge the Deponents themselues with open penurie And therefore notwithstanding that your exceeding great care for the truth of the historie the matters reported therein they may be vntrue Exorcistes But sir the Magistrates they haue not hetherto punished the reporters themselues for seducers and reporters of lies and therefore why should not the
Exorcistes Nay sir the Euangelist doth not barely report them as meere matters of fact but puts them downe also as rules of doctrine and directions for the Church to discerne truelie of essentiall possessions now Orthodoxus How are you certaine hereof Exorcistes Why sir I conceiue it so therefore no doubt it is so Orthodoxus Oh irrefragable argument autos epha ipse dixit M. Exorcistes himselfe hath spoken it therefore all the wisedome in the world will neuer be able to impugne the impregnable truth thereof Howbeit sir I for my owne part conceiue it not so therfore the same is not so How now Exorcistes here is Pythagoras against Pythagoras who I beseech you shall be vmpier betweene them Exorcistes Surely the very words of the text Wherein our Sauiour sayth not how long hath thy sonne beene possessed but rather how long hath thy sonne been thus handled Making you may plainelie perceiue such his manner of handling an infallible signe to discerne sonndlie of all future essentiall possessions Orthodoxus You labour to proue your idle conceit from a plaine text of Scripture but accursed be that glosse which corrupteth the text For the question which Christ propoundeth there to the father of the child respecteth onlie the first time of that accident and not the manner or forme of his handling as very plainely appeareth in the wordes of the text saying thus how long time is it ous touto gegonen auto that is since this thing befell thy sonne or since this thing happened to him or since this came to passe or since this vexation first seased vpon him Thus you see the verie words of the text and the purest translators doe simplie referre that demaund of Christ to the verie time it selfe not to the manner of that accident and therefore were it not that you would gladlie draw in your essentiall possession as it were by the eares all wise men would wōder you should so corruptly abuse the plaine text Howbeit this is not all for besides this your purposed corrupting of Scripture you doe also verie presumptuouslie adde to the text the wicked inuention of your own idle braine by foysting these words in him or a diuell in him into the very text it selfe and so you enforce the holy Scriptures to speake what you please saying thus How long is it since thy sonne hath had essentiallie a diuell within him And this no doubt of a very set purpose to vnderproppe your senceles opinion of essentiall possessions there being no words in the text importing such matter or tending that way For Matthew reporting that storie saith onely thus He is lunatike or sore vexed Luke saith a spirit taketh him Marke saith He hath a dombe spirite Loe this is all that the Euangelists write of that matter How therfore are you able from al or any one of these places to conclude a Diuell essentiallie inherent in the bodie of the Child Nay rather why should we not boldlie conclude the quite contrarie Namely that the Diuell did onely but actuallie vexe and torment him and therefore from hence you see there ariseth no rule of Doctrine or direction to discerne truly of essentiall possessions Exorcistes Why sir there is a medicine left for the curing of essentiall possessions therefore there is a meanes giuen to discerne soundly of such a possession Otherwaies what vse of a medicine where there is no meanes at all to discerne of the maladie Orthodoxus Perceiuing the plaine text of Scripture to be directlie against you now you compasse your matter about with a quite contrarie course Labouring with tooth and nayle to proue ignotum per ignotius a matter vncertaine by a thing more vncertaine and so in seeking to lay out your matter apparantly you make it more obscure then it was at the first For if there be no medicine left for the cure then to vse your owne reason there is no meanes to discerne the disease Whether there be now such a medicine as your selfe doe imagine will hereafter appeare when we come to entreate of that point In the meane time leauing Thyreus and your selfe to dispute the infallible signes of possession we expect better reasons at your hands for the proofe of your supposed essentiall possessions or require at the least your present submission Exorcistes Why sir those eight Demoniakes we speake of they were vndoubtedly dispossessed by prayer and fasting therefore essentiallie possessed of Sathan Orthodoxus They were not essentiallie possessed of Satan therefore not dispossessed at all by prayer and fasting Howbeit least you should thinke I doe now but put edge vnto edge goe to be it supposed they were so dispossest as you say that onely proueth they were possessed not that they were essentiallie possessed of Satan For possessed they might be though the Diuell not essentiallie inherent in any one of their bodies which is the poynt we dispute of Exorcistes Their speedie deliuerance doth argue an essentiall possession for had they been onely but outwardlie afflicted of Satan they had not been so presently deliuered as they vndoubtedlie were Orthodoxus Nay rather if they had in deed been essentiallie possest as you say the Diuell would haue been the longer in driuing out for possession we commonly say is fully as good as eleuen points in Lawe Perceiue you not therefore how absurdlie you reason when you affirme it more easie to deliuer a man essentiallie possessed of Satan than to deliuer a man not possessed at all For very certaine it is that if one and the selfesame working power for the dispossessing of Diuels doth with equall expedition both outwardly and inwardly concur in that speciall busines it will bring forth euen one and the selfesame effect and therefore why should not that worke whatsoeuer whether outward or inward be then forthwith accomplished with like speedie deliuerance Exorcistes Because prayer and fasting being vsed herein this disease it hath a more particular a more absolute and a more certaine promise of speedie deliuerance then any other torment of bodie or minde inflicted by Satan Orthodoxus You doe either most stranglie forget your selfe or very rashly auouch you care not what For hath not euery speciall torment else inflicted by Satan as particular as absolute and as certaine a promise as this your pretended possession that particular promise especially being implicatiuely considered in that selfe same generall promise which the Lord hath vndoubtedly giuen to ech faithfull resistance of Satan Now then if generally all then more specially euery particular torment inflicted by Satan the same being faithfully resisted shall vndoubtedly receiue grace from aboue for a like speedie deliuerance so farre foorth especially as seemeth good to the Lord. Notwithstanding it may be and very likely it is you will answere vs thus All the externall torments inflicted by Satan they haue onely a promise conditionally namely if the same seemeth good to the Lord howbeit the essentiall possession
of diuels being an internall torment it hath a promise more absolutely I meane in plaine English whether God will or not This you auouch in effect throughout all your pamphlets in sundry places therefore proue this assertion soundly by either Scripture or reason and the conquest I assure you is your owne Notwithstanding howsoeuer Exorcistes surmiseth the contrary we doe confidently auouch that all externall torments whatsoeuer inflicted by Satan they haue so much more certaine promise of speedy deliuerance then these your supposed essentiall possessions by how much that their said promise of speedy deliuerance is more apparantly and more certainely auouched to them then is any to these your pretended essentiall possessions of Satan For howsoeuer you may possibly beare vs in hand there was some gratious promise of speedy deliuerance graunted freely vnto it in tenebris I meane in some secret corner very certaine we arâ— whatsoeuer you prate that there is no apparant precept or promise concerning such matters throughout the whole Scriptures as shall more plainely be proued when we come to that point And therefore that sillie poore instance wherewith you endeuour to proue a more speedy deliuerance from those your pretended essentiall possessions that selfesame instance arising especially from those your particular actions now iustly called in question it concludes not your cause howsoeuer therein you doe but triflingly colludeâ—ith â—ith â—our ignorant Reader no no it is onely a pitifull begging of that you should proue For we flatly auouch that those your eight pretended Demoniakes they were not so possessed at all and therefore not dispossessed by your prayer and faâ—ting Briefly when you are able as substantially to demonstrate the vndoubted certaintie of your essentiall possessions as Christ hath vnanswerably established the infallible truth of his glorious resurrection we will then by the grace of our God endeuour our selues to become therein also not faithlesse but faithfull Thomasses In the meane time you must be content though we also accord and iumpe iustly with those your other Antagonistes who doe purposâ—ly reiect your phantasticall opinion of essentiall possessions Moreouer we doe here aduertise your selfe withall to wonder no more that the learned-men of our land should be of a diuers iudgement to yours vntill you haue exactly considered and fully answered our former Dialogues Againe we would wish you to forbeare from those your insolent vaunts concerning your hauing of Scriptures and Fathers fâ—lly on your side vntill you haue sufficiâ—ntly answered the seuerall Scriptures and Fathers let downe in our sixt Dialogue at large Briefly we would haue you surceaseâ—rom â—rom that your shamelesse pretending of common experience vntill you haue flatly confuted whatsoeuer our seuenth Dialogue setteth downe to the contrarie Yea and all these the former forbearings we would haue you so much the rather to performe by how much we see it is nothing repugnant to the nature and will of God to denie your supposed essentiall possessions especially now in these daies of the Gospell Exorcistes Oh yes sir the Lord he hath threatned wonderfull iudgements both written and vnwritten therefore he hath also threatned the essentiall possession of spirits and diuels Orthodoxus Or euer I answere the very point of your argument I must necessarily censure a little as wel your inconsiderate quoting as also your vnconscionable abusing and prophaning of Scriptures For first in Deuteronomie we must in any case accompt your essentiall possession of diuels some vnwritten wonderfull iudgement howbeit in the Reuelation forsooth you will haue vs esteeme of the same as of some written iudgement of God And thus betweene written and vnwritten you keepe such a coyle as men must neuer be quiet before the supposed essentiall pessession of diuels be deemed if not a written yet some vnwritten iudgement of God at the least But goe to propound your owne argument Exorcistes I propound it thus All wonderfull iudgements whether vnwritten or written are vndoubtedly threatned to disobedient persons But the essentiall possession of diuels is some wonderfull iudgement of God vnwritten or written therefore the essentiall possession of diuels is vndoubtedly threatned to disobedient persons Orthodoxus I doe first answere your proposition thus All such wonderfull iudgements as the Lord in his eternall counsell hath decreed for iudgements those whether vnwritten or written are vndoubtedly threatned to disobedient persons Then next I denie your Assumption namely that the essentiall possession of diuels is any such wonderfull iudgement as the Lord in his eternall counsell hath decreed for a iudgement neither will you euer be able to proue the same But goe to admitte by the way your argument were currant in euery point which will neuer be proued what then how doth this conclude your supposed essentiall possessions now in these daies of the Gospell Exorcistes Oh yes sir if you admitte the premisses I doubt not to proue that Consequent by a necessarie prosyllogisme in this following order Whatsoeuer wonderfull iudgements vnwritten or written are perpetually threatned to the disobedient persons those iudgements they are also perpetuallie inflicted vpon the disobedient persons But essentiall possessions being some wonderfull iudgement vnwritten or written are perpetually threatned to the disobedient persons therefore essentiall possessions they also are perpetually inflicted vpon the disobedient persons Orthodoxus The proposition of this your necessarie prosyllogisme it halteth downe right and will neuer be made to goe currantly an end with all the cunning you haue For then all the wonderfull iudgements of God whatsoeuer whether vnwritten or written being perpetually threatned against must also be perpetually inflicted vpon the disobedient persons and so by consequence there should be no saluation for any in Christ. Exorcistes Why sir the essentiall possession of diuels it is onely but a corporall iudgement and inflicted vpon men in this present life Orthodoxus Then is the same also but a conditionall and temporarie iudgement and may not be auouched perpetuall For where the condition of the iudgement it selfe is not perpetuall there also the perpetuitie of the iudgement falles flat to the ground Exorcistes Though the essentiall possession of diuels be in deede but a temporarie iudgement the Lord notwithstanding he may now in these daies of the Gospell inflict the same vpon some if so it seemeth him good Orthodoxus And he may cease to inflict the same vpon any for euer if so it seemeth him good which is euery way as likely and as probable as that which you say your selfe Howbeit because this is not to answere in deede but rather to hacke sword with sword we will therefore more exactly examine the very point of your argument which I take to be this namely the Lord he may now inflict the essentiall possession of diuels vpon some in these daies of the Gospell What then therefore he doth now also inflict the same vpon some that followeth faire and farre off Although yet this in
whatsoeuer Know you not who it is that the father in these last dayes hath finallie appointed to reueale and to speake all truthes to his Church What man will you then forsake the fountaine of liuing waters for the reuelation of truthes and runne to such filthie puddles of your owne deuising as are able to hold no water at all Will you leaue the law and the testimonies and trot after a blind and a trothlesse lad for the reuelation of these hidden truthes will you withdraw your selfe from that holy oyntment whose onelie office it is to lead into all truth whatsoeuer and hunt after a supposed wicked spirit in a graceles and sensles boy Will you returne from the author of truth to the author of lyes from the holy ministrie of God to an extraordinarie ministerie of the diuel and his diuellish instrument In the name of God doe presentlie humble your soule at the fearefull remembrance of this your horrible and fearefull condition Pray earnestlie to God that if it be possible this blasphemous thought of your heart may be forgiuen you when the time of refreshing commeth What great blasphemie is this against our Lord Iesus the Churches sole Prophet For the onlie testimonie of Iesus is that spirit of Prophecie whereupon wee must soundly relie for the reuelation of all truthes whatsoeuer What intollerable iniurie is this to the office of his holy spirit who alone must bring to our remembrance whatsoeuer the Lord Iesus hath spoken before What a fearefull checke giueth this blasphemous speech of yours to the ordinarie ministerie of Christ so singularly graced and so notablie qualified with sundrie giftes from aboue for the manifestation of all truthes whatsoeuer to the end of the world Yea besides these your sundrie and intolerable blasphemies what a deadlie blow haue you giuen your owne selfe and your fellow-laborers as though that might be made knowen to the world by the ministerie of diuels which could not nor cannot possiblie be found forth by the Lord Iesus his ordinance A very dangerous conceit and flat opposite I assure you to our Sauiour himselfe who saith they haue Moses the Prophets let them heare them That wee should therefore expect reueâ—ations of truthes from any other meanes els was neuer taught from heauen but from hell yea euen out of the lying mouth of that damned rich glutton who reiecting the reuelations of the word did say vnto Abraham that if one should arise from the dead they would vndoubtedly beleeue and be saued Behold here the infernall author of that your vile and fearefull conceit and be forthwith ashamed of such a tutor The Lord open your eyes and instruct you better that so you may be enabled hereafter to deuide the word more truelie and to shew your selfe a more sound and substantiall teacher of truth For consider I beseech you how harshlie this blasphemous speech of yours would sound in the verie eares of your prophanest hearers namelie if you should say thus vnto them Good people be not troubled I pray you with any your owne ignorance concerning these hidden truthes which wee intimate to you and which are now in question among vs. For be you well assured that this truth which hitherto hath bin hidden from manie it shall now notwithstanding very shortly be manifested vnto you by such a corrupt boy or rather if you will by some diuell in the boy at the least Were not this pockie good stuffe think you to pester your Pulpit withall And yet this in effect is euen the very same which you affoord vnto vs froÌ„ that your former most filthie conceit Hauing thus in some sort discharged my conscience by giuing you admonition in time doe you now produce better arguments to proue your supposed essentiall possessions of spirits and diuels or els doe forthwith giue ouer the field for shame Exorcistes Why sir I dispossest them all by prayer and fasting therefore they were all essentiallie possessed Physiologus What man are you quite spent vp concerning the pretended essentiall possessions of those your eight Demoniakes that you are now like a steale-counter thus couertly creeping vnto their supposed dispossessions by prayer and fasting Surely sir if while we be but in dealing spare blowes the one with the other you begin like a cowardlie crauen so soone to set vp the heckle it is to be feared you will neuer hold out when once we come to the deadly fight Exorcistes Yes yes I warrant you feare it not For neither is my cause so crasie that I neede to feare your encounter nor my courage so cowardly as that I will euer fight crauen be the bickering neuer so sharpe Phyfiologus Well said Exorcistes when the cause it selfe becomes desperate then well fare a valourous heart howbeit it were much better in my simple conceite to yeeld vp the field by a faire and a friendly perswasion then in a foole-hardie or humorous course to continue a desperate fight till you receiue a deadly foyle Lycanthropus Surely Exorcistes howsoeuer you braue it in words it were better the controuersie were brought to an issue because the faster you runne the further you range and the more fiercelie you fight the more feeble you growe yea all men may plainely perceiue that howsoeuer you prate you will neuer preuaile Exorcistes Tush man feare you not that Philologus Nay feare that feare will we feare not at all Exorcistes Neither yet I I assure you Orthodoxus Well then Exorcistes hauing said what possiblie you can concerning your first distribution I meane the supposed essentiall possessions of those your eight pretended Demoniakes let vs now for one houre or two goe take the fresh aire and then reuiue our skirmish afresh concerning your second distribution I meane your dispossessing of those eight by your prayer and fasting Exorcistes I doe willingly yeeld to your motion The end of the first Dialogue The second Dialogue THE ARGVMENT Whether this fresh encounter containing an hotch-potch of matters confusedly shuffled together hath found a better successe concerning the pretended Dispossession of Diuels by prayer and fasting then any the precedent particulars propounded at large in those our former Discourses The speakers names PHILOLOGVS LYCANTHROPVS PNEVMATOMACHVS PHYSIOLOGVS ORTHODOXVS EXORCISTES Orthodoxus THis pleasant fresh ayre I assure you hath well refreshed our feeble spirits and therefore that we protract no further time doe tell vs directly Exorcistes what you say now to your falslie pretended Dispossession of Diuels by Prayer and Fasting Exorcistes Sir hauing sufficiently proued that the eight persons we speake of were euery of them essentiallie possest by the Diuell yea and this also with such vnanswerable and inuincible arguments as may fully perswade an indifferent Reader there needes no further labour herein Nnotwithstanding because that which makes for the proofe of their Dispossession tendeth directlie to the further confirmation of that their said essentiall possession I am therefore
or rather their vnwarranted trifling toyes as they haue bin hitherto receiued hand ouer head among the irreligious and prophane of the world with no lâ—sse admiration forsooth then if they had been the Alcoranean Oracles of Mahomet himselfe so are they alas at this present to too readily entertained with many of no small accompt in the Church as the infallible truths of the eternall God Howbeit the same being once equallie waied and wisely examined according to the very touchstone of truth they will notwithstanding any the supposed sway of their bookes appeare to be no better in effect than old wiues fables then the Legerdemaines of cunning Imposters and the cousoning sleights of some Popish priests as hath beene proued at large The premisses therefore considered let the authors or fauourers of those published Pamphlets endeuour what they possiblie may to support and vphold those fondly conceited fooleries in their former account with the people of God they will notwithstanding very shortly vanish away like snow in the Sunne be deemed no better in effect then Hobgoblings Bugboies Night-sprites or Fairies to make the yoong children afraid with their supposed shadowes while the aged ones in Christ doe take their comfortable rest in an assured confidence concerning the ouerruling power and prouidence of Iehouah himselfe And thus much in effect for those seuerall vses which doe generally appertaine to all men Pneumatomachus They are all singular vses no doubt But proceede now I beseech you to the putting downe also of such as are more particularly befitting some speciall persons Orthodoxus With very good will Wherein we haue first to consider that the seuerall vses more particularly befitting some speciall persons they are summarily of two sorts Namely either such only as concerne the affectors of that new-found Diuillitie or else such also as respect the mislikers thereof Lycanthropus What are those vses I pray you which more speciallie concerne the affectors thereof Orthodoxus They are summarily such as doe purposely tend to the timely informing either of the authors themselues or of any their fauourits Philologus Declare first I pray you those seuerall vses which more particularly respect the authors themselues Orthodoxus Content Wherein wee haue first to consider that for so much as all those the former conceits which Exorcistes hath broached abroad concerning these matters in question are euery of them vndoubtedly such as notwithstanding any his glorious pretences doe not onely not bring any one benefit to the Church in generall or to any the particular members thereof but doe rather tend couertly to the timely support of his owne priuate purposes without hauing relation to publike good nay rather to the vntimely procuring of many publike and priuate mischiefes The consideration hereof may serue to discouer those secret plots and vnder-hand practises which our miracle-mongers of what condition soeuer doe mutually obserue among themselues with one harmonicall consent and course For they all in the very first progresse of any their plotted proceedings doe primarily propound to themselues such purposed proiects as they notwithstanding any their outward iollie pretences doe cunningly prosecute and eftsoones accomplish by the secret meanes of many their vnder-hand practises and iuggling sleights of legerdemaine yea and this also with such a slie and nimble conueiance as a man would hardly imagine that not any other but May-butter it selfe could possiblie melt in their mouthes For these cunning practitioners as they haue euermore had an insatiable thirst to the filthie pleasures and pelfe of the world as to the onely true obiects of their hearts desire and the very purposed proiects which they principally propound to themselues in any their vnder-hand practises though they falsely make shew of a quite contrarie end in all outward appearance so haue they their sundrie deuices to further their said enterprise and to accomplish effectually that their primarie pretended purpose wherein also they are resolutelie bent notwithstanding any crossing occurrents although yet with as little suspition as they possiblie may And therefore in the very first progresse of those their proceedings they solemnely pretend the glorie of God the gracing of sundrie his sacred ordinances and the singular great good of his Church Namely either an approbation of the real presence of Christ in their Masse or a confirmation of publike fasts in those their solemne meetings or a perpetuall establishment of the worship of Saints of Purgatorie of Masses of Trentals of Dirges of praying for the dead of plodding on Pilgrimage with tenne thousand such other deuices Howbeit notwithstanding these wonderfull sturres if wee more prouidently respect the full period of those their proceedings wee may plainly perceiue that their primarie propounded pleasures and profits which they hourely expect as an ordinarie interest successiuely arising from such coloured courses they are that quickening spirit which only affoordeth life and motion to those their entended actions yea and that onely preexisting efficient which giues an essentiall forme to all their purposes and without which their vnder-hand practises would become an vntimely birth would quickly vanish away of themselues and forthwith come vnto nothing Neither only these their lewd plots and practises are apparantly laid open but the fearefull effects also of such counterfeit pranckes they are by the consideration hereof verie plainly discouered For who seeth not how opposite the same is to the eternall purpose of God concerning the actual brusing of the Serpents head how derogatorious to the supereminent dignitie and power of Christ for the finall determination of Satan his power of possession how iniurious vnto the certaine established truth of the Gospell in that it reuiueth the miraculous confirmation thereof afresh how hurtfull to the Church of Christ by breeding therein such vnnecessarie and fruitlesse garboyles how grieuous to the godly in procuring such an horrible prophanation of prayer and fasting vnder an holie pretence of doing great good to the Church how scandalous to the weake in making them doubt whether the Gospell bee yet fully confirmed by miracles how offensiue to Atheiâ—â—s in causing them to skorne the holie things of God so odly prophaned how gratefull an enterprise to Antichrist in that it puts vpon the true spouse of Christ the proper badge of his whorish strumpet how dangerous to all men by drawing them thereby into many idle conceits and needlesse troubles and lastly how acceptable a seruice it is to the Diuell and his Angels in that it erecteth and holdeth vp their kingdome afresh by bearing the world in hand that Spirits and Diuels haue such an essentiall inherencie in the bodies of men as cannot bee helped without fasting and prayer when there is no such matter at all but only the bare imaginations of idle braines and the deluding deuices of such cunning Impostors as accompt worldly gaine the greatest godlinesse and thereunto also doe hourely applie all their purposed plots and predetermined practises as experience in euery age
not at all but that these poore labours of ours how loathsome soeuer in the eyes of the scornefull they daylie doe and will vndoubtedlie take so much more deepe impression in the honourable hearts of all holie superiours by how much they may now plainely perceiue in experience that partly for want of looking into with the soundest iudgement and partlie also for not proceeding against such grosse malefactors with some sharper censure accordinglie such straunge and vnwonted occurrents doe eftsoones become very intricate obscure and doubtfull and procure withall manie perillous and incurable conceits among the simpler sort Pneumatomachus A very excellent vse but proceed in the rest Orthodoxus Againe in that the outragious flames of this wild-fire which at the very first beginning of all so vniuersallie and so fearefullie ouerspread it selfe are now so quietlie calmed by the cooling streames of iustice so forciblie suppressing the same this tendeth very notablie you see to the singular commendation of those our superiours who so timely tooke notice of so seriouslie enquired into so iudiciallie proceeded against and with such holie perseuerance persisted constantlie in the necessarie restraint and timelie stoppage of all those outragious courses which the busie headed broachers of such idle conceits were so vndutifullie entred into by the onlie instigation of their owne itching humour without eyther due regard to the glorie of God or any respect of the Churches good Yea and which more is the magistrates singular care is so much the more highlie commended by how much an vrgent necessitie in this erronious and reeling age of the world required the same at their hands Wherein euery odde companion doth boldlie take libertie to fansie whatsoeuer him liketh penneth and printeth whatsoeuer he pleaseth and broacheth and buyeth whatsoeuer his itching humour affecteth though neuer so opposite to our holy established religion neuer so contrarie to her Maiesties lawfull proceedings neuer so absurd and vnsound in it selfe or neuer so daungerously entendeth the Churches hurt yea al this as though there were no king at all in Israel Besides all this the magistrates their deserued commendation concerning the timelie supprssing of these vntimelie occurrents doth breake forth like the Sunne in his strength more especiallie in this that they also respecting especiallie that speciall charge which Christ Iesus by an holie adiuration imposeth vpon them thus Take to vs the foxes the little foxes which destroy the vines for our vines haue small grapes haue notwithstanding all humane frailties continued an inuincible courage against so manie strong meanes which were hourely vsed vnto them in the onely behalfe of the parties offending yea and that also by the often importunities of sundrie solicitours of very good worth and place Who euerie of them from out of their approued loue to good men good causes no doubt were so earnest that way as it is to be wondred that the Magistrates christian courage was not vtterlie quailed or something calmed at least Which would vndoubtedlie haue come to passe had they not with a single eye respected their duties enioyned them in the word the sundrie examples of sundrie good gouernours before them and their singular care for the Churches peace And this in effect for those seueral vses which more especially concerne the ciuill magistrates Lycanthropus Declare now some such other vses I pray you as may haue a more speciall relation to the ecclesiasticall ministers Orthodoxus With very good will Wherein we haue first to consider that seeing there haue beene and shall be to the end of the world some such cunning seducers and cogging companions as not onlie will cry out loe here is Christ loe there is Christ but shall moreouer be able to effect manie lying signes and wonders in all deceiueablenes of vnrighteousnes among such especiallie as receiue not the loue of the truth this therefore verie fitlie giueth the checke to those the pillars of truth in this secure and selfeliking age Who partlie for feare of foregoing their good reputation among the preciser sort as they commonlie call them partlie in an onely doubt of vndergoing some displeasure with the higher powers and partlie for feare of endaungering their proper estate in the smallest degree can at no hand be drawen eyther by penne or by preaching or by publike conference to confirme that infallible truth which in their hearts they affirme concerning these vnwonted occurents Yea and which more is howsoeuer they pretend to be implicatiuely infolded within that absolute number of wisedoms seauen pillars yet may they at no hand be procured to support this necessarie building of wisedome so farre forth especiallie as their proper titles import but are otherwaies willing enough that some other besides themselues should beare the whole burden and very well contented that any so he haue but a seeming shew though no shewing substance at all should passe smoothlie away with his errour to the intolerable preiudice of the truth it selfe the irrecouerable poysoning of manie poore people and the fearefull hazarding of their owne proper soules Pneumatomachus A vse worthie of obseruation but proceed in the rest Orthodoxus Moreouer in that so many grosse and palpable absurdities do not only arise from this new-found Diuillitie as hath bin declared at large but which more is do couertlie trudge vp and downe from hand to hand and are too careleslie entertained among the simpler sort as necessarie fruitfull and most currant conceits to the intolerable scandalizing of manie the high dishonor of God the vndoubted preiudice of that supereminent power of Iesus Christ ouer Spirits and Diuels to the palpable obscuring of such speciall promises as more especially concerne those speciall points to the fearefull prophanation of prayer and fasting to the dredful endaungering of the poore people of God to the needles confirmations of popish adiurations Exorcizings and coniurings of Spirits and Diuels to the dayly propagation of atheisme epicurisme and irreligious opinions among the prophaner sort This therefore may something make knowne to the true Ministers of Christ how necessarily it appertaines to euery of them in their seuerall stations to stirre vp the gifts that are gratiously bestowed vpon them to take the Lords part in these holie truths to fight together in one faith of the Gospell to teach holesome doctrine and to stop the mouthes of all the gainesayers how holie soeuer in any their outward pretences Yea and albeit they haue heretofore too inconsiderately affected the persons of some in an only conceit of their inherent holines yet whensoeuer they shall hereafter perceiue any to arise among themselues which purposely speake peruerse things to draw disciples after them that then laying aside all carnall respects they be forthwith taken vp with an holie consideration of their owne proper places their callings their titles the condition of the times the gadding affections of people this itching age of the world the approching day of the Lord their conscionable
care towards God to his Church to their owne soules and more especially to that people of the Lord which peculiarly dependeth vpon them And that also in an only respect of these the precedent coÌ„siderations they do forthwith make apparantly known to all the world their proper abilitie their valour and courage in defending the truth and in conuincing the aduersaries thereof of what coÌ„dition soeuer That by such a conscionable course they may truly declare themselues to be men sanctified and prepared for the seruice of the Lord yea and such also as can do nothing against the truth but for the truth notwithstanding any the sinister perswasions of men or the carnall respects of this bewitching world And this in effect â—â—r those seuerall vses which more especially concerne the publike mislikers of this new-found Diuillitie Lycanthropus Very well Proceede now I beseech you to the timely vnfolding of some such speciall vses as haue a more speciall relation to the priuate mislikers Orthodoxus With all my hart Wherein we haue first to consider that seeing the â—ound truth of this doctrine we teach hath in euery age of the world bin so mightily vndermined by Sathan himselfe and so dangerously darkened by such seducing companions as accompting glorie or gaine the greatest godlines do endeuour to withhold the veritie it selfe in vnrighteousnes and to turne the manifest truth of God into a mysticall lye This therefore it tendeth very notably you see to the timely commendation and comfort of all such sound harted Christians as notwithstanding these encountring occurrents are not lightly carried about with euery vaine blast of deceiueable doctrines from the sinceritie and soundnes of that sacred faith which they firmely hold in Iesus Christ but do rather very circumspectlie watch most couragiouslie stand fast in the faith to too valiantly quite themselues like valorous souldiers are vnconquerablie strong against principalities and powers against the worldly gouernours euen the princes of the darkenes of this world against spirituall wickednesses in the high place yea and which more is do euen fight together in one faith of the Gospell not fearing the outragious force of their aduersaries how many or how mightie soeuer which is vndoubtedly vnto their aduersaries a token of perdition but vnto them a signe of saluation and that also of God Surely such their sound persisting in the puritie of faith as it argueth no small measure of grace so doth it freelie afoord theÌ„ a singular meditation of spirituall comfort so oft as they in the middest of this reeling and wauering world be soundly touched with the due consideration of that their setled constancie For consider I beseech you and tell me directly what persons they were that were freed from those the bewitching Inchantments wherewith Pharaoh and the Egyptians were so grosly deluded but only the true Israell of God Againe who are they that do considerately foresee those seducing practises of such miracle-mongers as giue men a signe or a wonder to draw them from God but they who do circumspectlie respect the purpose of Iehouah in sending such seducers among theÌ„ which is only to â—ound and to try their sincere and faithfull cleauing to him with all their harts Againe who were they that discerned the lying spirit in the mouth of Baall his prophets but those only seuen thousand whome the Lord in mercie had elected to himselfe and called to the sincere profession of his holie name Againe who are they that discouer those the deceiueable sounds and signes of such counterfeit Christs as cry out and say Lo here is Christ Lo there is Christ but only those saued ones who hauing receiued his cognizance do heare only his voyce and follow him whether soeuer he goeth Againe what were they that escaped the bewitching snares of Simon Magus very pestilentlie termed the great power of God but such only as gaue an attentiue regard to the preaching of Phillip and faithfullie entertained his powerfull miracles Againe who had an immunitie from those satanicall inticements of Elymas the sorcerer who mightily withstood the preaching of Paule and seducingly sought to turne Sergius Paulus away from the faith but only those prudent deputies and those prouident people who conscionablie conuersing with Paule and Barnabas do desire to be soundly instructed in the word of God Againe who are mercifully deliuered from the deluding enchantments of such schismaticall teachers as draw men into factious courses but they only that receiue not the word with respect of persons Againe who are they that are sincerely preserued and cheerefullie presented chast virgins to Christ but such onely as are not seduced with serpentine sleights but can and doe prouidently perceiue the legerdemaines of those cunnicatching companions who cunningly transforme themselues as if they were the Apostles of Christ Againe who are they that are not spiritually entrapped with the deceiueable signes and woâ—ders which the second Beast hath power to worke vpon earth but such onely as being wise to number the name of the Beast haue their own names assuredly written in the booke of life Thus then these holie mislikers of this new found Diuillitie who accompt the faith of miracles to be but rash and vncertaine they plainly perceiue by all the premisses their happie condition in Iesus Christ and may assuredly comfort their soules in this their immoueable constancie notwithstanding the daily contemplation of such strange signes and wonders as if it were possible are able to deceiue the verie elect Peuumatomachus This sir I assure you is a comfortable vse but proceed in the rest I beseech you Orthodoxus Moreouer in that the holie mislikers of this new found trade of Diuillitie haue found themselues notwithstanding Satan his sundrie sleights of legerdemaine to remaine sincerely and immutably constant in their holy profession surely the timely consideratioÌ„ of this so singular a mercie in Iesus Christ should stirre vp their hearts vnto a dutifull thankfulnes to God for the same Yea and it should make them to testifie such speciall fauour both in labouring earnestly the hoped saluation of the rest of their brethren by hauing a mutuall compassion vpon some and other some againe by sauing with feare in pulling them violently from out of the fire That being by this meanes recouered they may conscionablie confesse their holie conuersion and therewithall be brought not only to present all those their vnpriuiledged bookes concerning this curious craft to the publike Magistrate to bee sacrificed forthwith in the fire but also euen ioyntly and couragiously to encounter with Satan himselfe or any his Serpentine ymps for the speedie suppressing of all such seducing courses as our miracle-mongers doe hourely imagine and with flattering speeches doe purposely plot to deceiue the hearts of the simple Briefly let them vndoubtedly assure themselues that by such an happie conuersion of these their poore seduced brethren thus straggling
sinnes Now such sinnes are still remayning with men therefore also such essentiall possessions Orthodoxus Had possessions bin onlie for those two former respects you would then you confesse haue freely consented vnto vs. Howbeit they were also you say for sinne Now surely if words could carrie the matter away you would make a notable Captaine to keepe an hold for sure they were to be wel laden with words Neyther will you euer giue out before your braines be beaten about your eares but still forsooth they were possessed for sinne Howbeit this Cuckoe-like melodie hath beene so oft in your mouth that it beginneth now to wax very stale for want of varietie Notwithstanding all this we need not be curious for answere herein if wee please to accept of your curteous offer concerning your ioyning with vs in this point For that the possession of diuels was generallie for those two former respects your owne selfe haue confessed before That the same also was purposelie inflicted for sinne the impregnable proofe thereof doth as yet haerere in calamo cleaue fast to your quill and we haue sufficiently declared the contrarie a little before Exorcistes Yes sir there were essentiall possessions of Diuels before the comming of Christ. But such possessions could not possiblie be then for the declaration of Christ his Deitie it being not then manifested to the world in the flesh and therefore those possessions must necessarilie be then inflicted vpon men for their sinnes Orthodoxus There were neuer essentiall possessions of Diuels either before or after the comming of Christ as in our second third and fourth Dialogue appeareth Yea and this we further auouch for the purpose in hand that there were no actuall possessions at all for any long time especallie before the comming of Christ as we haue sufficiently shewed before and your quotations of Scripture conclude not your cause especiallie that in the Acts. Vnlesse happily you would haue vs imagine that the presumptuous practise of the seauen sonnes of Sheua and this your preposterous attempt did euery of them proceed from one and the selfesame ground and tended ioyntly to one and the selfesame purpose Both because they were neuer authenticallie furnisht with a powerfull authoritie from Christ to mannage throughlie their preposterous pretences and for that also they felt then and your selfe feele now in a fearefull experience euen but one and the selfe-same effect Namelie their adiured Demoniake outragiously running on them and rending their carkasses your coniured patient verie fiercelie returning on you in discouering his cosinage to the cracking of your credit for euer as touching your exquisite skill in the Cabalisticall craft inso much as they you also your selfe were driuen out a dores all naked and wounded Touching the peoples discerning of possessions whatsoeuer by any the supposed signes thereof we haue answered fullie before and doe here very confidently conclude that this your pretended possession in Sommers if the same was no cosinage at all concerning your selfe it was vndoubtedly a meere illusion of Satan at least Exorcistes Nay sir that I assure you is vtterly impossible Because then not only our eyes but the rest of our senses our tasting only excepted they were all deceiued For very certaine it is that my selfe with some hundred and fiftie besides at the least we saw we heard we smelt and we handled very strange and impossible accidents I assure you Orthodoxus Your assurance herein is not worth one rush For if those your pretended admirable accidents were indeede and in truth so straunge and impossible as you beare vs in hand how then could your selfe or any one of those hundred and fiftie eyther see or heare or smell or handle them at all Sith it is certainely sure that your corporall senses they could not possiblie comprehend any such supernaturall strannge or impossible matters Besides all this it is not impossible that the rest of your senses as well as your eyes might all be deluded by meanes of some deceiueable notions at that instant arising from some deceiueable obiects apprehended forthwith in the imaginatiue facultie and disordering the iudgement as in our second fourth and fift Dialogues is largely declared Brieflie you your owne selfe doe else where very confidentlie auouch for infallible truth that diuels in very deed will vndoubtedly seeme to doe some things in an outward shew when as in truth they effect no such matters at all And therefore trust not I aduise you your naturall senses too farre in discerning of diuels themselues or of any their supernaturall actions least in the end you be inforced with open shame to acknowledge your naturall follie The rest is fullie answered before And therefore to conclude this point I beseech you beware lest while with such a setled pertinacie you be drawen to denie the possibilitie of Satans illusions in those your pretended essentiall possessions you doe not both purposelie delude your poore ignorant Reader and preposterouslie procure at vnwares such strong and such fearefull illusions vpon your owne soule as may make you to beleeue erronious lies and to repose your whole felicitie and pleasure in all vnrighteousnes Loe Exorcistes this is the worst I wish you and this is the best I can doe for you And thus much in effect for a summarie answere concerning the supposed essentiall possession of those your eight pretended Demoniakes set downe at large in your second Narration Lycanthropus Surely sir this may suffice any reasonable man not partiallie wedde to his proper conceit Pneumatomachus A reasonable man say you Let him be reasonable or vnreasonable hee shall neuer be able with any sound or substantiall reason to answere the same Phylologus Very true as you say but what saith Exorcistes vnto it Exorcistes I say they were all essentiallie possessed of Satan and your selues haue not hitherto proued the contrarie Phisiologus You say they were all essentiallie possessed and we haue not hitherto proued the contrarie a proper Disputer no doubt You must take libertie to pester the Church with your idle affirmatiue positions and then put vs against all order of learning to proue the negatiue part or els forsooth because your mastership saith it your Cabalistical conceits must needs be canonized currant No no Exorcistes you are not yet come to that credit in the schooles of the Prophets that whatsoeuer your selfe shall but barelie report the same without all peraduenture must be deemed an authentical oracle And therefore affoord vs some sounder arguments to proue the essentiall possessions of spirits and diuels or presently giue ouer the conference Exorcistes How slenderlie soeuer you recken of those my precedent reasons I haue such an apparant confirmation of that which I hold concerning these matters as your selfe shall neuer be able to contradict Namely a very straunge and vnwonted experiment from a poore Boy at Northwich in Cheshire euen now at this present essentiallie possessed of Satan Orthodoxus Yea but how are you certaine
the Boy is in deed and in truth essentially possessed of Satan Exorcistes Why sir I my selfe haue beene there sith he was so possessed to take a circumspect view of his fearefull fits and doe plainely perceiue by his supernaturall actions and passions that he is in verie deed essentiallie possessed of some spirit or diuell at the least Orthodoxus So were you with him also as some doe crediblie auouch immediatlie before he fel into these his supposed fittes and might therfore for any thing known to the cōtrary be confederate with himselfe or some others concerning those his cosoning courses But be it supposed you neuer saw him before and then tell vs how you dare so confidently conclude from those his supposed actions an essentiall possession of some spirit or diuell sith diuels you know are such spirituall and inuisible substances as may not possiblie be discerned by any corporall sense Exorcistes Why sir his supernaturall actions do plainely demonstrate the same to all the world Orthodoxus Rehearse some few of those his supposed supernaturall actions I pray you Exorcistes I will First he continuallie waggeth his head without anie intermission at all Orthodoxus So doth the palsie sicke patient as we may see by daylie experience and which more is whereas the palsie-sicke hath no intermission at all that your pretended Demoniake hee onelie waggeth the head in the day time and when people are present howbeit in the night time he sleepes very quietlie as his owne mother reporteth And therefore if an only bare wagging of the head doth necessarilie argue an essentiall possession then euery palsie sicke patient that waggeth the head hee also is essentiallie possessed of Satan Howbeit sir we also our selues haue seene this your supposed Demoniake as well as your selfe but could not perceiue in him any such supernaturall actions or passions as you boldlie report vpon your bare credit Besides that if the onlie bare wagging of the head must necessarilie conclude a supernaturall action then euery little childe that playeth wag-wanton it also effecteth some supernaturall action Moreouer this one and the rest of those your pretended Demoniakes they were and are commonlie ouertaken with those their supposed supernaturall fits when they are layd on their bedde and closelie vnder a couerlid by which meanes they may the more easilie wagge their heads or worke any their pretended actions and so likewise the sooner deceiue the sillie beholders Who being wholie taken vp before with a deepe impression of some supposed essentiall possession were thereby so fearefullie forestalled in iudgement as they could not prouidently behold nor aduisedlie consider the manner of the Demoniakes working And therefore this wagging of the head it is no such supernaturall action as may vndoubtedlie conclude an essentiall possession Exorcistes But sir besides this extraordinary wagging of the head he is also of a supernaturall strength Orthodoxus No such supernaturall strength was apparant to vs being present with him I assure you in the very extremitie or middest of those his pretended fits For the one of vs did easily hold his head his shoulders and all the other parts of his bodie from mouing at all yea and this also euen in despight of the boy himselfe or of any supposed Diuell inherent within him and therefore this supernaturall strength is rather supposed and suggested by your selfe and your fauourites then any waies soundly prooued or but probablie demonstrated to vs. Exorcistes Besides all this hee was vndoubtedly of a supernaturall knowledge for if two or three had suddenly come into the parlour where he lay with seuerall bookes of sundrie matters hid close in their hats hee could tell which of them had the holie Bible of God in his hat and at him he would catch and snatch letting all the prophane bookes passe quietly by him without any such stirre at all Orthodoxus So could Bankes his blacke horse very sensiblie demonstrate what money some had in his purse with sundrie other trickes more admirable then this by much and yet not possessed at all with a Diuell So a blind man but casting his staffe at all aduenture may happely at some time to kill a Crow and yet neither indued with supernaturall knowledge nor possest with a Diuell in the doing thereof So likewise a blindfolded lubber playing at blindman buzz may happely by skuffling vp and downe in the house to light vpon one and the selfe same person for two or three times together and yet not assisted therein at all with any supernaturall knowledge or led thereunto by any the extraordinarie directions of either Spirit or Diuell Briefly so likewise a little yong child playing at handie dandie may happely for three or foure times together to make choise of that hand wherein the pin or the point is placed and all this I hope without any supernaturall knowledge at all And therefore it is very absurd that your selfe from any such action as stands only vpon hap and hap hazard should so confidently conclude a supernaturall knowledge and so by consequence an essentiall possession of either Spirit or Diuell Besides that how confidently soeuer you report this point of chusing the Bible before any other booke else there bee some of good credit and such also as fauour your cause so farre forth especially as they perceiue not as yet the contrarie truth who doe confidently report that in deede and in truth this your supposed Demoniake did so much as you say for once or twice but that at some other times againe hee had failed grosly therein and therefore this tricke of hap-hazard is no such certaine signe as may vndoubtedly conclude an essentiall possession in that your pretended poore patient I told you a little before if you haue not forgotten that whensoeuer you hapned afresh vpon some other such new-found Demoniake we then should haue some other new signes of this your supposed essentiall possession to make your game hit and now I perceiue it is growing very fast towards such a pretended period For behold wee haue here now in this your newly pretended Demoniake two other essentiall signes forsooth of an essentiall possession namely the wagging of the head and the playing at handie dandie Alas Exorcistes though your conscience trembleth not yet me thinkes your very face should blush for shame in reporting these trifling toyes for true and infallible tokens of an essentiall possession of some one Diuell or other inherently couching within the very bodie of this your new-found Demoniake Exorcistes But sir besides all this the boy I assure you he is for the whole time of his fearefull fits so senselesse in euery part as he neither seeth nor heareth nor speaketh nor feeleth and therefore essentially possest with a Diuell Orthodoxus How know you for certaine that hee is in deede and in truth so senselesse as you beare vs in hand You are able I confesse to know when your selfe neither seeth nor heareth nor speaketh nor feeleth but that you should in like manner