published historie be reported for truth Orthodoxus As though because some sillie poore persons reporting those matters as they verily supposed the same to be the Magistrate therefore he must with no lesse seueritie censure such flying reports then if it had beene in deed and in truth for a meere matter of fact or els those matters themselues so flyinglie reported abroad they must necessarilie be intertained for infallible truths or as though because the Magistrate either in mercie will not or in some negligence doth not seuerelie punish the reporters of lies therefore those their reported lies escaping vnpunished must hand ouer head be esteemed infallible truths Or as though because the due punishment for such seducing and lying reporters be prolonged a time therefore in the meane time the historie it selfe affoording such false and lying reports must necessarilie be reputed an authenticall historie notwithstanding the principall parties and the Deponents also themselues haue iudiciallie deposed the contrarie Neither doth the principall partie reporte any impossibilitie of himselfe as you would haue vs fondly imagine because it is vndoubtedly possible and we make no question at all but that he did counterfeite And so notwithstanding those your thirtie Deponents in store that which the historie reports concerning those your supposed supernaturall actions or passions it might be vtterly false Exorcistes Yea but I am sufficiently able notwithstanding the Partie his impudent denials to proue by the apparant signes put downe in the Scriptures that he was vndoubtedly possessed of Satan Orthodoxus When you haue substantially proued vnto vs first that those your pretended signes put down in the Scriptures were purposelie recorded by the spirit of God for certaine and infallible perpetuall meanes to discerne truly of essentiall possessions and then next that those falslie imagined signes in your counterfeit patients were euery of them as vndoubted effects of such a possession as were any of the other recorded in Scripture of an actuall possession then you say something vnto vs. Howbeit this your exceeding great labour to proue your supposed essentiall possessions from Scripture by the particular effects of parties actuallie possessed in Scripture it might we verely suppose vntill then haue been very well spared Both because those pretended Scripture signes were neuer put downe as any certaine demonstratiue rules to discerne of your supposed essentiall possessions which we haue proued before and for that also we doe freely acknowledge an actuall possession in the daies of Christ howsoeuer we doe flatly deny an essentiall inherencie of Diuels in the possessed mans bodie or mind as in our third and sixt Dialogue is plainely declared Moreouer be it supposed that those selfesame effects of Demoniakes recorded in Scripture were in deed and in truth the vndoubted true meanes to discerne truly of actuall possessions then yet doth it not necessarie follow that they are now also the vndoubted true signes of an essentiall possession in Sommers Both because Sommers himselfe hath no lesse freelie confessed then iudiciallie deposed his counterfeite carriage in all things and for that also the possession of Diuels whatsoeuer is ceassed long since as in our seuenth and tenth Dialogues hath been sufficiently shewed Exorcistes If this be all you are able to say concerning the infallible signes set downe in the Scriptures your answere is weake Orthodoxus The answere alreadie auouched might be fully sufficien◠to stay the violent streames of these your outragious courses Notwithstanding all this least happily by our voluntarie silence to these your supposed signes expressed in Scripture you might either falslie flatter your selfe or fondly imagine that we are forced to silence because now you doe in very deede Aiacis clypeo tympanizare encounter our forces with such a dangerous two edged sword as killeth downe right let vs therefore consider the matter so much the more exactlie see whether the Lord by those your pretended Scripture signes hath pronounced a definitiue sentence flat on your side or not And herein we will first examine those the supposed signes thēselues then next your orderlie applying of those selfesame signes to that your pretended purpose Your supposed signes of possession are of two sorts namely either written or experimented or rather if you will haue it so they are either canonicall or apocryphall signes Your written or rather if you will your canonicall signes they are those which your selfe would forciblie straine from the sacred Scriptures Forciblie I say both because there are no such matters establisht in Scripture for infallible signes of future possessions as we shewed before and for that also if some such could be soundly produced from Scripture yet these your published signes they keepe no such certaintie in themselues as may certainely conclude any certaine established meanes for the certaine discerning of essentiall possessions to the end of the world No surely these your published signes they doe ebbe and flowe with the Moone hauing sometimes their redundancie and sometimes their diminution as best pleaseth your humour to make them proportionable with this your pretended purpose in hand For first in that your primary imprinted Narration the Moone being then in the ful it was so full Sea with those your supposed signes of essentiall possession in Sommers as they flowed iust to three and twentie in number Then next in your printed Apologie the tyde being fallen it should seeme to some lower ebbe they did forthwith forgoe at that ebbe full fiue of their former rate and onely became but eighteene olde ledgers as may very plainely appeare And yet now in this your Doctrine of possessions wherein all things must needs be esteemed as the vndoubted true Oracles of Apollo Pythius at Delphos they doe sodainely flowe to a fuller Sea then euer before being now newly amounted to nineteene in number Whereunto also if we adde as needeslie we must those your owne seuen experimented or apocryphall signes of possession then doe they arise fully to sixe and twentie in the whole Surely if there doe shortly fall into your hands another fresh Demoniake affoording some new coined signes of essential possessions it is not to be doubted but that in your next new coyned Pamphlet we shall haue iust one and thirtie signes of such a possession and then I beleeue the game will be hit Howbeit in the meane season such palpable vncertainties especially in the very principles and rules themselues doe plainelie Prognosticate to so many as are not purposelie blind that this your new found Cabalisticall craft concerning the deepe and mysticall arte of Diuillitie is nothing else in effect but a meere Cabalisticall cogging conceit or rather a verie nimble and craftie conueyance of Legerdemaine And therefore those your supposed Scripture signes continued from the sixt to the seuenteenth page they might I assure you for any thing hitherto heard very well haue been spared were it not that your selfe in setting them downe did purposely intend to set forth to the world
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
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
standeth daily in feare least the foules of heauen doe carrie the sound and that which hath wings discouer the matter surely you that eftsoones doe so outragiouslie ring forth your virulent reuilings and rayling termes against persons in publike authoritie how should not you stand dailie in dread of a much more desperate downe-fall Howbeit that we may the better beate backe the very vttermost ebbe of those raging waues wherewith you foame forth at vnwares your filthie shame and the more forciblie cause them recoyle to the infectious Channell it selfe of that your imbred corruption from whence they first floated amaine with so furious a streame it shall not be amisse to admonish your Reader of two cunning sleights of Legerdemaine practised by your selfe throughout your Pamphlets The first is this namely whatsoeuer is materiall in Master Harsnets Discouerie and maketh directly against either the matter it selfe or the manner of your practise that you doe closelie and slielie ouerslip not heauing thereat with the waight of one finger Exorcistes Put downe but one instance if possiblie you are able of any such cunning omission of matters materiall Orthodoxus I will First therefore whereas M. Harsnet in that his Epistle before the Discouerie hath apparantly discouered and dashed to nothing your fond and ridiculous distinction of mirandum and miraculum by the onely quoting of some certaine places of Scripture wherein wonders and miracles are flatly confounded as termes proceeding from one and the selfe same roote and wherein also those two words themselues or some other equiualent with them are indifferently vsed the one for the other this Distinction of yours being the very Atlas it selfe that supportes the whole frame of those your Cabalisticall conceits concerning the pretended possessions and dispossessions of Diuels is a matter you see very great and materiall and therefore by consequence it craueth your whole cunning and skill in confirming the same Howbeit this new found Distinction of yours for any thing hitherto heard it finds at your hands a succourles shelter neither are those his quotations any otherwaies answered then by laying your hand on your mouth Againe wheresoeuer Master Harsnet in any one place thoroughout his Discouerie laieth downe directly against you an accusation concerning Sommers his counterfeiting and then mannageth his said accusation first by the testimonie of Sommers himselfe then next by your owne answere vnto it and lastly by the seuerall Depositions of seuerall Deponents the which as all wise men auouch is a very orderlie direct and materiall proceeding and therefore for clearing your cause it behooues you to shew your cunningest skil against such a course and your vttermost force to weaken the same Howbeit such his materiall proceedings is for the most part by whole Chapters together pretermitted with silence vnles now and then you catch at some odde quippes or termes of disgrace for feare of being thought to say nothing at all and those you doe hotelie and fiercely pursue Dealing therein not vnlike to the daintie-fed Dog who hauing eftsoones the proffer of a good morsell of meate le ts fall the same and very eagerly skippeth at and followeth a flie And by this your cunning manner of dealing you would make your sillie poore Readers beleeue that in any materiall point you haue directlie Detected Master Harsnets Discouerie whereas in the opinion of all the learned you haue rather indirectlie Discouered a very dangerous Detection of some supposed fraudulent dealing And this in effect for your first cunning sleight Exorcistes Well sir and what is the other Orthodoxus Your other cunning sleight to couer your Legerdemaine is this Namely when any materiall poynt is by M. Harsnet propounded from Sommers his mouth that may any way portend your teaching to counterfeit then Sommers forsooth he must be an infamous and notorious Liar a forsworne a counterfeit a blasphemous wretch Howbeit when Sommers vttereth any one word that may seeme in the least appearance to vphold your idle conceits or that may any waies be thought to support your Iesuiticall supposes or supposed bare signes of essentiall possession and dispossession of Diuels then any your conceits how phantasticall or absurde soeuer they must needes be esteemed for currant conclusions and why Because forsooth K. Wright T. Darling M. Cooper and W. Sommers doe say it As if these your sillie poore Proctors were all of them equall with Pythagoras iudgement Or as though any their incredible predictions must priuiledge your palpable asseuerations Or which more is as though wee must needes bee perswaded by your copartners mouthes that you your selfe is no theefe Whether you haue ignorantly or purposely practized these sleights of legerdemaine I dare not certainly say because I know not herein your hearts corruption but let the indifferent and diligent Reader obserue you throughout by conferring your writings one with the other and then tell me where in any these points I misreport your proceedings In the meane time this may summarily suffice as a caueat or watch-word for plaine hearted Readers to beware how they doe either affect or approue of hand ouer head those your two stragling Pamphlets which onely concerne but matters of fact and thus much in effect for those vagrant and rouing rapsodies Exorcistes Be it so as you say but what is your iudgement concerning the third Orthodoxus Your third Pamphlet is a notable compound of sundrie deuices confusedly shuffled together for it containeth both matter of fact and matter of doctrine The first part which concerneth only but matter of fact is solemnely intituled A true Narration of the straunge and grieuous vexation by the Diuell of the seauen persons in Lancashire and W. Sommers of Nottingham This your true Narration if any vpon your bare report will receiue it for trueth lieth very free I suppose from either the incounter or challenge of any as yet and therefore very free for such as take pleasure in trifling toyes to vndertake any trifling incounter therewith Howbeit for that the infallible truth as well of the Narration it selfe as of any the supposed straunge actions or passions reported therein how confidently soeuer you report them for true doth wholy depend vpon that certaine truth which must certainly confirme vnto vs the certaine continuance of essentiall possessions and dispossessions in these daies of the Gospell you must haue vs excused though wee hold all those your lately reported actions or passions of the parties possessed in perpetuall suspence vnlesse the certaine continuance of those your pretended essentiall possessions be first vnanswerablie propounded and prooued vnto vs. And in the meane time you must giue vs good leaue to esteeme of this your new-coyned Narration no better then of a pretie contriued conceit to passe away winter nights when friends being merily met sit sporting themselues by the fire side and thus much in effect for the first part of that friuolous Pamphlet which onely concerneth meere fictions I should say matters of fact
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
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
readie with the like inuincible reasons to deale in that poynt if you please Orthodoxus It pleaseth vs passing well and the sounder you deale the better we like it and the sooner we shall make an ende As for your sufficient prouing of that which you falslie pretend let the indifferent Reader determine In the meane time because you brag beyond measure of your vnanswerable and inuincible arguments to mannage your matters withall we will therefore the more exactly examine them seuerally to make present triall of that their pretended force And whereas you seeke to shelter all those your falslie pretended Patients vnder an holie couerture of the parties dispossessed in Scripture and by such a deuice would seeme to soare aloft in the clowdes before you be feathered fleg to flie at so loftie a pitch this therefore wee must tell you or euer we enter the combat that the holie Scriptures themselues wil not yeeld their holie protection to so paltrie a cause And therefore that which we haue hitherto spoken against your falslie pretended essentiall possessions may fullie suffice to answere the whole because where there was no true possession there can be no dispossession in truth yet because the finall ouerthrow of these your pretended dispossessions doth more fully destroy your falslie supposed essentiall possessions we are also here readie to encounter your vttermost force Pretermitting therefore all those your falslie pretended signes of dispossession from sacred Scripture as also your intolerable prophanation thereof by your fond applications doe presentlie proceede in propounding vnto vs your arguments Exorcistes I will First there were in euery of our Demoniakes those selfesame signes or notes of dispossession precedent and subsequent which wee reade of in the Scripture Demoniakes and therefore there was in euery of them the selfesame dispossession no doubt Orthodoxus If there were no doubt in the matter at al it were vndoubtedly a meere madnes for any to impugne the same Howbeit thus we answer your argument There were not in those your pretended Demoniakes the selfesame signes or notes precedent and subsequent therefore not the selfesame vndoubted dispossessions That there were not the selfesame signes or notes I proue it thus First those signes or notes in the Scripture Demoniakes they were vndoubted effects of their dispossessions the signes or notes in those your pretended Demoniakes they were in truth but counterfeit cousonages as themselues haue freely confessed vpon their oathes Furthermore those signes or effects which wee finde in the Scripture Demoniakes they were sensibly performed to the view of the beholders eye the other in those your pretended Demoniakes they were not so by your owne confession Againe howsoeuer those signes or notes in Scripture Demoniakes were the vndoubted effects of dispossessions then and so to be taken because they are recorded for such by the blessed Euangelist who could not erre in so recording the same those your falsely pretended signes they are but the vnruly reports of your lying pen directed therein by a deceitfull heart yea they bee such signes Master Darell affirmeth as men may be deeply deceiued in discerning thereof Besides that those selfesame effects in the Scripture Demoniakes then they cannot so concludently proue dispossessions now because the like effects doe eftsoones also arise from meere naturall causes and corporall diseases as our seauenth Dialogue declareth at large And therefore if those selfesame effects then must necessarily bee made the vndoubted true signes of dispossessions now then wheresoeuer is the like rending and tearing crying aloude and leauing for dead there is also the like essential dispossession of Diuels which were to too absurd to imagine Briefly your good friend Master Darell he doth confidently conclude a dispossession of Diuels where no such signes are apparant and therefore those your pretended signes precedent and subsequent they doe not necessarily conclude an essentiall dispossession of Diuels Exorcistes Oh yes sir for besides those Scripture signes I haue in my proper experience eftsoones obserued in the dispossession of some certaine Demoniakes a very sensible seeing or feeling of some thing going out of their bodies like to a Mouse an Vrchin a Toade a Bull a foule blacke man a Dog and such like and therefore there is vndoubtedly an essentiall dispossession of Diuels Orthodoxus What man are you wearie alreadie of those your Canonicall notes of dispossessions that you are fled so soone to those your owne experimented apocryphall signes or effects Surely it should seeme your force is but weake Notwithstanding howsoeuer you say you haue eftsoones obserued such things in your owne experience very certaine it is that not your owne selfe but those your counterfeite Patients rather if any at all they alone experimented some such supposed sensible seeings and feelings of some thing going out of their bodies and therefore it is very vntrue to say that you your owne selfe obserued the same in your proper experience Besides that Master Darell your good friend doth flatlie affirme that the Spirits themselues they neither were nor continued with those his pretended Demoniakes in any such sensible bodies as you say here you haue eftsoones obserued in sundrie of them and therefore impossible there should be any such sensible seeing or feeling of substances proceeding foorth from them as you beare vs in hand For howsoeuer you seeme to qualifie your former speech from the Spirit his supposed operation in the present procuring of some such sensible matters in shew at the very instant of their seuerall dispossessions that is ouer childish a conceit to perswade any reasonable man hauing especially his eyes in his head For the Spirits they could not by any their supposed operations whatsoeuer procure such sensible things as might be sensiblie seene or palpablie felt of any whosoeuer as in our second third fourth and fift Dialogues is shewed at large Exorcistes Yea but besides all this I haue by my proper experience obserued eftsoones in sundrie Demoniakes a vomiting immediatly before the egresse of the Spirit prognosticating plainlie vnto vs his imminent essentiall dispossession and therefore there is vndoubtedly an essentiall dispossession of Diuels Orthodoxus If this your new-coyned Prognostication had indeede been printed with priuiledge wee might by the warrant thereof not onely bee perswaded of the very trueth of that which you prate but withall we might by vertue thereof very boldly auouch that euery Gormandizing belli-god and surfetting Swil-boule so oft as they happen to spue are essentially dispossest of one Diuell at the least Yea and so much more likely than the other you speake of by how much those your pretended Demoniakes spitting vp but a little quantity of choler or phlegme as your selfe do report and that also with very great labour these drunken Epicures they doe spue forth the Spirits by whole pottles at once and that with a trice Besides that if vomiting forsooth be an vndoubted true signe of essentiall dispossessions it is
very probable that men may mightily further the essential dispossessing of diuels by procuring the possessed to vomite forthwith Brieflie the scriptures they make no mention at all of these your apocryphall signes of essentiall dispossessions and therefore they are no certaine signes of any such matter but must saith good M. Darel be regarded of all men accordingly Namely they must in deed and in truth be deemed no better then the dreaming dotages of some phantasticall or idle braine howsoeuer you your selfe being destitute of true scripture signes to 〈◊〉 port your purpose in hand doe make them the vndoubted true signes of Thomas Darling his dispossession And therefore propound better arguments then these or put an end to your pratling discourse for shame Exorcistes Why sir we vsed prayer and fasting in such proper termes and to such speciall end I meane to their essentiall dispossessions and the same was forthwith effectuall for the Lord he vndoubtedly heard vs and wee saw the very worke it selfe accomplished according to our owne desires therefore there is now vndoubtedly an essentiall dispossession of diuels Orthodoxus If you so stricktly tyed your selfe to some set and appointed termes for such purpose as you pretend it seemes then by the purporte of your speech that you rather coniured the diuell from those your Demoniakes then entreated the Lord to cast them out and then how can you from thence so confidently conclude that your prayer and fasting was effectuallie heard of the Lord For this question may iustlie arise from your speech Namely whether the powerfull efficacie of those your charming tearmes had simplie and onelie their relation to God alone or to God and the diuell together If simplie and onlie to God alone then you doe therein directlie affirme that God respected rather the forme then the faith rather the termes then the truth of your prayer And therein withall you doe implicatiuely put downe the principall cause why the rest of the Preachers notwithstanding their often attempts by feruent prayer could not possiblie expell William Sommer his combersome diuell as well as your selfe namely for that they wanted euerie of them those terrible termes which would haue striken it dead Notwithstanding this crosseth Master Darel very shrewdlie ouer the thumbes who telleth vs plainely that the dispossession of Satan is so ordinarie and so easie a matter as it may be effected of any how simplie soeuer whereas that which your selfe here reporteth implieth a quite contrarie tale and concludes it impossible for any to accomplish the worke but such as are first made throughlie acquainted with the proper tearmes of that trade Againe if the powerfull efficacie of those your charming tearmes had their relation to God and the diuell together then how dare you so confidently auouch that those your sayd prayers vttered forth in such set and appointed termes were heard of God sith it may be the diuell himselfe being fearefullie frighted with those terrible tearmes was voluntarilie fledde beyond the vtmost borders of Egypt or euer the Lord once opened his mouth concerning such his present departure from those your pretended Demoniakes Besides all this those your charming termes they are it should seeme of a wonderfull working power in that not onelie they are able by your owne saying to driue out the most combersome diuell with a trice but which more is to accomplish in all likelihood an vndoubted regeneration euen in the Demoniakes themselues as a man may collect by your speech For you desired you say that the diuell might so be driuen forth from euery of them as their bodies might forthwith become temples of the holy Ghost to dwel in and euen at the very instant you saw the worke visiblie accomplished according to your owne desires This being so as you say no wonder at all though the Inhabitants of Nottingham were so desirous to entertain your person and preaching the very termes of your prayers being so effectuall as you beare vs in hand But tell vs I beseech you from what special grounds you are so certainely assured that the meanes which you vsed in those your supposed dispossessions were so effectuall then sith M. Darel himselfe doth flatlie affirme that both prayer alone or prayer and fasting together they are not alwaies effectuall to that selfesame worke Yea and which more is how could your selfe be so certaine thereof seeing Satan as you say is so cunning that he can cause many things to be in appearance which are not so indeed in truth can also pretend a departure when as yet he lieth secretly lurking within the Demoniakes bodies Brieflie how are you sure the worke it selfe was forthwith effected in such sort as you say I meane that you visiblie saw the diuell driuen forth of those your Demoniakes their bodies effectuallie made temples at the very instant for the holy Ghost to dwell in sith as well the essentiall dispossession of diuels as also that admirable worke of regeneration are eyther of them spirituall matters and may not possiblie be discerned with corporall sense And therefore we see not how the worke was forthwith accomplished according to your owne desires vnles happilie your owne desires being then onely to haue the beholders deluded came so to passe as you sawe therein your hearts desire in such sort effected This reason therefore howsoeuer it may serue in some sort to discouer your dissimulation it concludes no essentiell dispossession of Diuels Exorcistes But sir there was then and after an earnest desire of Satan his repossession in euery of those our Demoniakes and therefore there must necessarilie be performed in euery of them an vndoubted essentiall dispossession before Orthodoxus Doe tell vs I beseech you how you became on the suddaine so familiarlie acquainted with the Diuell his earnest desire of a repossession Exorcistes Euen by the consonancie of the sacred Scriptures and the seuerall reports of the parties themselues Orthodoxus Those Scriptures being meerely metaphoricall how should they certainely conclude any such earnest desire of Satan his repossession vnles you could first assuredly demonstrate vnto vs both his essentiall possession and dispossession before in those your pretended Demoniakes As for the seuerall reports of the parties themselues that we verilie thinke should yeeld vnto you no such certaine assurance Sith they haue voluntarily deposed before authoritie and we also our selues hauing diligentlie enquired into the matter it selfe doe plainely perceiue in our owne experience that the parties themselues they had for the present no purpose at all to relate the vndoubted truth of things as they were done in deed but reported them rather according to the predeterminate purpose of your proper desires as wee told you before Moreouer it may be that those your pretended Demoniakes they were then when they reported those matters in some one of their falslie pretended fittes and were not in deed possessed or dispossessed at all but they and the diuell dissembled
Spirites wherewith the childe was possessed whence partly it came to passe they had not cast him out Physiologus Philologus doe you marke Exorcistes his speech Philologus I marke it well For he saith that Scripture had no further relation to the Apostles them selues then onely to set forth vnto them with what kinde of spirit the childe was possessed Physiologus You obserue him aright But goe to now fast or loose for a shilling Philologus It is fast for a shilling Physiologus Nay loose for a shilling as will plainely appeare by the triall thereof For first if this Scripture hath an apt reference vnto the Apostles themselues so farre foorth especially as concernes the necessary demonstration of that kinde of spirit wherewith the child was possessed then so farre forth also that portion of scripture was by Exorcistes owne mouth appropriated to the Apostles them selues As also if that kinde of diuell was but partly a cause why the Disciples could not driue him out from the childe as Exorcistes affirmeth euen now then their weaknesse of faith was partly the other impediment to that speciall worke as Exorcistes also auouched before when he put downe the sense of that Scripture Making onely but two impediments to that selfe same businesse namely the weakenesse of the Apostles faith and the kinde of spirit wherewith the childe was possessed Both which impediments he saith are necessarily implyed in that portion of Scripture whereupon it must necessarily follow that the very Scripture it selfe is peculiarly appropriated to the Apostles of Christ the which thing here he doth flatly deny Thus then yourselfe may plainely perceiue that by trusting the Aegyptians tongue too farre without any farther regard to the sleight of his fingers your shilling is flatly my owne Philologus I may not deny it Howbeit this being the first pennie that euer I lost at fast or loose it shall make me beware how I relie too fast vpon the leger-demaines of such iuggling mates for feare of loosing the purse and all Orthodoxus Physiologus You your selfe I perceiue and Philologus are pleasantly disposed in that you can so pleasantly sport your selues with Exorcistes his slippes Howbeit forbeare I beseech you and let the poore man proceede in putting downe his reasons why this portion of Scripture howsoeuer the same was taken before may not now be vnderstood of the Apostles and seuentie Disciples Exorcistes My reason why that Scripture may not now be vnderstood of them is chieflie this Christ speaketh in that place expresly and by name of an ordinarie meanes to cast out diuels and therefore by consequence he speaketh onely to such ordinarie men as by that selfe same meanes either had or should cast them out and not to any the Apostles of Christ who dealt in those cases by no appointed ordinarie meanes but without meanes by that onely power or gift which they receiued immediatly for the working of miracles Orthodoxus Either your wits are bewitched or else you are purposely bent to blindfold your poore ignorant Reader that so you may the more boldly giue him the bobbe For fasting and prayer spoken of in that text it seemed to your selfe a little before to be there but a secret ordinance of Christ for the expelling of spirits and diuels and doth Christ now expreslie and by name entreate there also of an apparant ordinarie meanes for casting out diuels Surely it seemes you would shew your selfe an exquisite Artist in deuising this new found trade of Diuillitie were you but furnished throughly with the necessarie supplie of a lyars memorie Howbeit our Sauiour Christ he doth in that portion of Scripture neither expreslie nor secretly establish any such supposed ordinarie meanes for the ordinarie expelling of diuels by any whomsoeuer but speakes by the way of prayer and fasting as of the ordinarie helpes to that selfe same miraculous faith whereby his Disciples should haue driuen that diuell from the child Neither doe we say or so much as imagine that the Apostles at any time expelled spirits or diuels by any your supposed ordinarie meanes alone and it is absurd for your selues to auouch that they vsed no meanes at all For they vsed that their miraculous faith which apprehended the immediate power of Christ in their miraculous expelling of diuels the which their said faith being but weake at that present should haue beene stirred vp and confirmed by fasting and prayer Exorcistes This iumpeth very patte with trayterous Stapleton and Thyreus the Iesuite who ioyntly affirme that there are some kinde of spirites which the Apostles with all their power could not possiblie expell but by prayer and fasting Orthodoxus And tell me in good earnest whether Exorcistes our diuel-driuer doth â—ot also auouch the same Howbeit let Stapleton Thyreus and Exorcistes affirme what they will we hold no such Iesuiticall fooleries and the difference betweene them and our selues is apparantly euident if your selfe had but eies to behold the same For whereas they and yourselfe by foysting in a combersome kinde of diuels vnwealdie for the Apostles them selues through any their miraculous faith to ouersway doe goe very fondly about to establish a new found ordinance for the orderly exorcizing of spirits and diuels vnder an holy pretence of prayer and fasting as an ordinary meanes appointed by Christ to that selfe same busines we neuer dreaming of any such doting distinction of diuels doe flatly denie such an ordinance to be any where establisht by Christ and with all we very confidently auouch that all diuels whatsoeuer were euer driuen foorth by the onely immediate power of the Lord apprehended wholie by a miraculous faith Which said faith being at any time growen sluggish or weake must necessarily be stirred vp by fasting and prayer euen as also the extraordinarie propheticall spirit of Elisha was excited or quickned by the melodious harmonie of a musicall harp And therefore by the selfe same reason you may as boldly conclude a new found ordinance for prophesiyng by the meanes of an harpe because such a meanes was once practised to awaken Elisha his propheticall spirit as conclude an established ordinance for driuing forth diuels by fasting and prayer because Christ at one time did tell his Disciples that such a meanes should haue been vsed by them for the timely stirring vp of their miraculous faith in that their intended businesse In which holy exercise of prayer and fasting the Disciples themselues being somewhat too negligent all the while that Christ was absent from them in the mount their said faith was therefore vnable to accomplish that selfe same miraculous work Exorcistes If this exposition were true then should there be some such kind of diuels as the Apostles of Christ by all the faith they eyther had or could haue were vnable without further supplie to subdue which seemes very straunge vnto mee and such a sense as I neyther can nor dare beleeue neyther yet receiue for infallible truth Orthodoxus Why man Stapelton Thyreus
orders of angels in heauen you doe therein directly oppose your selfe not only vnto that definition which the Apostle maketh of Angels in the Epistle to the Hebrewes but which more is euen vnto his maine purpose in that selfesame place For first he defineth all Angels howsoeuer called in scripture to be none other but ministring spirits that is to be all of one and the selfesame condition in nature and office Secondly his maine purpose in so speaking of Angels there is to aduance Christ Iesus farre aboue all principalities or powers whatsoeuer therefore if any Archangell Throne Domination power or any other name els that is named were any greater then an angel surely all that disputation of the Apostle were nothing worth For how could it conclude the excellency of Christ aboue all creatures because he is greater then Angels if Cherubim Seruphim or any Archangell were also greater in dignitie then Angels And therefore that the Apostles reason may as it is be strong and vnanswerable we must confesse all blessed spirits whatsoeuer they be to be all but this namely ministring spirits for all the Elect. Moreouer by auouching for certaine some seuerall orders also among spirits or diuels in hell you doe therein bewray your intolerable pride to all the world For if Moses knowing by inspiration the originall of the world how it was had it not yet reuealed vnto him what to write of angels or diuels if Stephen who saw the heauens open yet saw not these supposed seuerall orders of angels or diuels if Paul who was taken vp into the third heauen saw notwithstanding so little concerning such seuerall orders of angels or diuels that whosoeuer will auouch so curiouslie thereof he saith they be puft vp with a fleshlie minde to speake of thinges which they neuer saw brieflie if Iohn in all his reuelations had no such knowledge reuealed concerning the seuerall orders of spirits or diuels who then is Exorcistes or what is his parentage that hee dare so proudlie determine such certeintie of things vncertaine or that we should once beleeue him in that wherein I am certaine he beleeues not himselfe For this we hold an infallible truth that the seuerall names which are giuen to angels or spirits they were purposelie giuen them for our better vnderstanding of the vnspeakeable power of God in their seuerall ministeries and not to haue vs so precisely determine of anie their seuerall orders And this is most cleere in Paule himselfe who when hee had reckoned vp principalities thrones dominions and powers hee addeth and euery name that is named in this world or in the world to come A cleare sentence of his own modestie in confessing an holy ignorance concerning the seuerall orders of angels or diuels and such as should moue vs in all holie sobrietie to say with Augustine The difference of these seuerall degrees I confesse I know not if any man will say that hee knoweth it let him speake but let him proue what he speaketh Seeing therefore Exorcistes you doe vaunt it so brauely of your certaine knowledge concerning the seuerall orders of spirits and diuels doe proue directlie vnto vs that of infernall spirits some are greater or lesse then other in princely preheminence or els doe now plainely confesse that Christ by these words this kinde doth but generallie vnderstand all Diuels whatsoeuer Exorcistes Oh then I perceiue you haue hitherto wholie mistaken my meaning For Christ in saying this kinde doth not preciselie distinguish spirits or diuels into seuerall officers making some higher and some lower in princely preheminence among themselues but teacheth vs rather that among the sundrie sorts of vncleane spirits some goe beyond others in malice and crueltie towards men in subtiltie and iniquitie And that therefore these are called by our Sauiour Christ the worst kind of spirits whereby they are distinguished and doe differ from others which are lesse cruell and wicked Physiologus Oh then I also perceiue that howsoeuer your knowledge may be infinitely profound in comparison of others your hap in disputing these parabables is to too ouerthwart at this present For the further you wade in the bottomles gulph of this new-found diuillitie the deeper you diue your selfe ouer head and eares in all grosse and senseles absurdities Before you did only distinguish diuels into their seuerall sorts or orders but finding no fast footehold in those wandring vagaries you would now difference them only in regard of their naturall qualities Making of infernall spirits some cruell some kind some good some bad some meeke and some very malitious in comparison of others Thereby insinuating closely vnto vs that some Diuels are but yet in declining and not come to the full period of their fearefull Apostacie or falling from God I euer did thinke till now that all Diuels whatsoeuer they had been equallie malitious equallie enuious equallie cruell equallie ramping and roaring like Lions equallie compassing the world to worke our destruction and that therefore they are all purposely and all iointly sayde to bee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is spirituall wickednesses aboue in the aire Marke I beseech you the Apostle he calleth them spirituall wickednesses in the plurall number to signifie vnto vs that euery Diuell seuerally hath complete in that his spirituall nature the fulnes of spiritual wickednes Howbeit your mind it should seeme was musing vpon the gentle departure of Midlecub and his courteous companions and that was some cause why you put downe at vnwares such palpable grosse and ridiculous fooleries For surely had you only but thought vpon Sommers his knauish diuell for so it pleaseth your selfe to accompt him you would neuer haue dreamed of any such kinde or courteous Diuels as you tell vs of here Notwithstanding sith you are now anatomizing the nature of Diuels do shew vs I pray you among whether of those your two contrary â—anckes of infernall spirits we may boldly raunge Diuell Ascalon the Iester of Hell It may be you will haue him to make vp a full consort among those your musicall Lancashire spirits who were giuen for the most part to singing and dauncing to gibing and iesting and so keepe a seemely decorum in those your seuerall orders of Diuels As for Roofye your old acquaintance we see not as yet how we may possiblie make of him either flesh or fish for he hath only you say the appellatiue name of all Diuels whatsoeuer and by reason thereof he may boldly partake with the Diuels of euery kinde whether cruell or courteous But fie fie Exorcistes are you not euen groslie ashamed thus triflingly to delude your poore ignorant Readers in making them beleeue the Crowe is white I meane in bearing them thus boldlie in hand that all Diuels whatsoeuer are euen such as your selfe do deuise them to be Yea and this also without due regard of God of Religion of reason of common sense and all honest
humanitie I haue the more carefullie and more earnestlie labored this point because vnder the cunning pretence thereof you do cunninglie go about to establish your new-found ordinance of fasting and prayer in the powerfull expelling of Diuels For vnlesse you be able by one meanes or other to finde vs forth some such combersome kind of Diuels as the Apostles of Christ by all their miraculous faith were vnable to expell without fasting and prayer annexed therewith that speech of Christ concerning prayer and fasting you did plainely perceiue and do elsewhere confesse it must needs haue a peculiar relation to the Apostles themselues This you cannot but see and in consideration hereof you doe purposely keepe this combersome coyle about the distinction of Diuels Howbeit the very matter of your charge being but gunpowder and pisse the vntimely discharge of your bellowing Cannon hath procured more stinke to your cause then stirre to your aduersarie For in laboring to build your new-found Ordinance vpon this so sandie and fraile a foundation the fall you see plainely is so much the sorer and your losse groweth greater by many degrees Notwithstanding be it supposed that Christ in those words doth put downe in deede some such seuerall orders of Diuels as haplie you dreame of yet then are you neuer the neerer your purpose For let maister Orthodoxus now heare how you may possiblie conclude from thence any such an established ordinance for the perpetuall expelling of Spirits and Diuels as you would beare vs in hand Exorcistes Why sir that very text it selfe doth intimate these foure things vnto vs. First that there are two kinds of Diuels the one lesse the other more mightie cruell subtile and more wicked Secondly that the former kind are more easily cast out of man the other with greater difficultie Thirdly that the Child was possest with one of the second kinde Fourthly that thence partly it was that the Disciples had not driuen him forth frō the childe Physiologus Here we may see skill with a witnes The vnlearned no doubt wanting arte to analyze the scriptures may here learne the trade to bebutcher a text at the least yea and how to quarter it forth both for the seller his best aduantage and according to the compasse of the buyer his purse Notwithstanding whether any of those your foure intimations are intimated trulie vnto vs from the true naturall scope of that text let the skilfull Artists determine betweene vs. As for those your two kinds of Diuels you haue sufficiently heard before Your other three intimations wee leaue them to such sillie poore senseles soules as desire by their fond intertainement to intimate their owne and your follie to all the world In the meane time let maister Orthodoxus now heare how either all or any one of those your sillie intimations may soundly intimate your supposed perpetual ordinance of prayer and fasting Exorcistes They intimate the same very fitlie vnto vs. For sith there be in deede such seuerall sorts of Diuels as hath beene declared and that thence also it was why the Disciples could not driue forth the Diuell from that child our sauiour Christ was necessarily constrained to establish such an ordinance as should effectuallie do it for euer Orthodoxus But if there be no such seuerall orders of Diuels as we haue fullie declared before then by your owne reason there needs no establishment of any such supposed perpetuall ordinance Besides that maister Darel he tels vs directly that the Disciples faith was fullie sufficient to effect it before if he were but a Diuell and was their said faith vnable to deale with that Diuel That Diuell it should seeme was not the Diuell himselfe but rather the Diuell his Dame and therefore it was that the Disciples could not possiblie preuaile for one shee Diuell as some oldwiues affirme is farre worse to encounter withal then foure and twentie hee Diuels besides Howbeit perceiue you not Exorcistes how dangerouslie you derogate from the foreseeing wisedome of Iesus Christ who hauing giuen his Disciples an extraordinarie faith which could not preuaile with euery kind of Diuell was now as you say enforced vpon better deliberation to establish such a powerfull ordinance as should be able for euer to strike it dead Briefely if these your foure intimations pretended perforce from that portion of scripture with that your newfound ordinance of fasting and prayer enforced from thence be currant in euery condition maister Darell doth tell you it must necessarily follow that then the Apostles themselues should haue fasted and prayed because either it must then haue been that there was a kind of Spirit which for all the power the Apostles receyued could not possiblie be expelled by them except besides their said miraculous power they had vsed the meanes of prayer and fasting which is directly against the scripture as we haue heard before or that the Apostles weake faith should at the least haue beene helped by prayer and fasting that so they might haue expelled the spirit all which sayth he could not possiblie be Exorcistes Let maister Darel prate what he please the interpretation I gaue is sound and good and therefore it ought to be receiued Orthodoxus He is a wise man no doubt who certainely knowes what interpretation you giue because whatsoeuer you pretend you hold nothing for certaine Howbeit if you meane that interpretation of yours which properly respecteth those your foure intimations reported euen now then surely there is small soundnes therein and therefore no reason your said interpretation should be receyued for currant but very great reason to accompt maister Darel and your selfe a couple of pratling companions Exorcistes Howsoeuer you imagine the contrarie I see not what should hinder any from receyuing my said interpretation sith the very occasion coherence text and letter of that scripture make all and euery of them for it and for that also the same is nothing against the analogie of faith Orthodoxus How fitlie the occasion coherence and text it selfe doe tend to the timely support of that your supposed interpretation hath bin fullie shewed before What concord it hath with the anologie of faith is further then may be perceiued as yet and much more then M. Darel himselfe dare freely acknowledge For he tels vs els where that there is no scripture besides to help in this case and then how should it possiblie accord with the analogie of faith Exorcistes Why sir what impietie or what great absurditie is it to hold that prayer and fasting is an ordinary meanes establisht by Christ for the powerful expelling of diuels Or what danger may possiblie befall the Church of God by imbracing the same for a truth it being so indeed And this is all the euill fruit you can gather from that my former exposition Orthodoxus You demaunde what impietie absurditie or daunger doe follow your said exposition I am content to giue you some inckling thereof First it is impietie to
of prayer and fasting together as of a perpetuall ordinance establisht by Christ to any such purpose onely they giue their aduise for the exercise of prayer alone if any such supposed occurrent should at any time befall the people of God Besides that these your produced Fathers not prouing before your priuate opinion concerning essentiall possessions their now propounded speeches to proue your pretended dispossessions by prayer and fasting as by a perpetuall ordinance established purposely by Christ himselfe to such speciall purpose are meerely vaine and superfluous Exorcistes The Fathers you say they onely but giue their aduise concerning such workes would the Fathers presume to aduise vnto that thinke you whereof they had no warrant at all in the word Orthodoxus Yea why not they hauing especially the selfesame aduising course so authentically warranted to them by good Master Darels example who without any warrant at all from the word as he saith presumes to giue the selfesame aduice concerning the cure of parties bewitched Howbeit if either those fathers or you your selfe were possiblie able to proue prayer and fasting such a perpetuall ordinance establisht by Christ as you falsely pretend then surely albeit they gaue no such aduice at all the same supposed ordinance being at any time orderly vsed should bee euer effectuall For who may bee able to alter the certaine appointment of God or possibly withstand his absolute will concerning the purposed efficacie of any his established ordinances Otherwise saith good Master Darell the Lord should haue instituted something in vaine a medicine for the curing of that selfesame disease which neuer can bee or if happily it so fell forth that any were sick thereof yet should not the medicine it selfe be of that powerfull efficacie which is by your selfe pretended Exorcistes That followeth not because the meanes which God himselfe hath appointed to some certaine end doe not alwaies prosper thereunto Orthodoxus It may follow very fitly for any thing hitherto heard yea and it is impious and to too absurd saith good Master Darell for any to affirme the contrarie Besides that the meanes which God himselfe appointeth to some certaine end it shall and doth euermore prosper to that selfesame end whereunto it is appointed of God though we perceiue not the manner how nor yet know the period of time when the same is effectuall Exorcistes But we see it eftsoones to be otherwise in preaching in feeding and plowing which the Lord hath appointed for the conuersion of sinners for the sustentation of nature and for the encrease of fruites all which notwithstanding the Lord his appointment are eftsoones ineffectuall Orthodoxus You prate herein you know not or care not what at the least For if the Lord hath certainly appointed preaching feeding and plowing for those the forenamed endâ— they shall vndoubtedly accomplish those ends notwithstanding any supposed occurrent whatsoeuer As for example the Lord hath appointed the preaching of the Gospell to be either a sauour of life vnto life or a sauour of death vnto death and therefore the said preaching of the Gospell it shall certainly prosper and haue it vndoubted effect concerning life or death at the least For first it shall be euermore effectuall concerning the worke of saluation in all the elect enioying the same howsoeuer your selfe imagine the contrarie First because so many as are certainly ordained to life shall thereby bee conuerted and brought in time to a sauing faith Secondly the very period of time concerning their said conuersion is vtterly vnknowne to all yea euen to the conuerted himselfe who knoweth no more the certaine time of his spirituall regeneration then the naturall man knoweth the certaine season of his naturall conception though they haue both in time an experimentall knowledge that they were certainlie begotten in time Thirdly their said conuersion is continually encreasing and growing thereby though wee cannot possibly discerne the manner of that selfesame encrease no more then wee may possibly discerne the growing of grasse albeit we should daily stand staring and gazing vpon it Fourthly euen then also when we imagine their said conuersion to prosper the least or is resisted the most it doth eftsoones prosper the best Lastly the said preaching of the Gospell it shall be from time to time as effectuall in euery respect for the elects conuersion as for the reprobates certaine conuiction but the same is euermore an effectuall meanes which maketh the wicked to stumble and therefore effectuall to raise vp the elect in Iesus Christ. Now next for the vsage of meates and drinkes they in like manner are euermore effectuall either to nourish or to annoy the bodies of men at the least which are the two certaine ends whereunto they are certainly appointed of God For as men at sometimes doe feed very moderatly and are much refreshed thereby because the Lord so appointed the same so surely at sometimes againe euen when they are eating and while the meate is still in their mouthes the wrath of God falleth very fearfully vpon them Lastly for plowing and sowing very certaine it is the same shall euermore effectually prosper in procuring abundance or barrennes vpon the ground at the least which are the two certaine ends whereunto they are certainly appointed of God For howsoeuer we may by the secret operation of God beholde in Isaack his tillage the blessing of abundance yet sometimes againe the Lord maketh the fruitfullest land to become very barren because of the wickednesse of such as dwell therein Thus then you may plainly perceiue that both preaching and feeding and plowing they are neuer in vaine but doe effectually worke to that certaine end whereto they are certainlie appointed of God and therefore praying and fasting if they bee certainly appointed by God for the powerfull expelling of Diuels they shall certainly prosper to that selfe-same end and be alwaies effectuall thereunto Howbeit because you so confidently impugne the truth of these points let vs heare your reason why the same should not be alwaies effectuall Exorcistes The reason is because the Lord is euer at libertie and not tyed to any one meanes at all he may blesse or keepe backe if hee please the blessing which himselfe hath appointed and then the meanes or second cause it selfe will neuer preuaile Orthodoxus That is vntrue For if the Lord hath appointed the meanes it selfe to a certaine end he is not then at libertie but hath necessarily bound himselfe to that selfesame meanes so farre forth especially as concernes that certaine end whereunto he hath certainly appointed the same yea and he must also in equitie euen make the said meanes to be very effectuall So as if at any time the meanes it selfe be vtterly ineffectuall we may certainly conclude that the Lord had not certainly appointed the same to that certaine end The which point Master Darell perceiued full well as appeares by his speech saying thus When the
themselues which you produce for your purpose they all import so much as I say Namely the deuiding of Iorden by Eluah his cloake the curing of Naamans leprosie by washing seauen times in Iorden the opening of the dumbe mans eares by the touch of Christs finger and the loosing of his tongue by his spattle his curing of the blind by a playster of clay and by washing in Siloam with sundry such other besides as in our tenth Dialogue doth plainely appeare Exorcistes These outward things or actions which were sometimes practised by the Prophets Apostles and others in the working of miracles they were not vsed as meanes but as signes when and accordingly as the actors themselues perceiued them profitable for the people present Orthodoxus Why man what more profit might grow to the people of God by vsing them rather as signes then as meanes of those their miraculous actions Exorcistes They vsed them rather as signes then as meanes happilie to trie the beholders faith the better thereby or imprint the worke wrought the more in the beholders mindes and parties cured or for some other speciall purpose best knowen to the Lord. Orthodoxus Your Diuinitie it should seeme is but sillie Diuinitie standing for the most part vpon sillie and doubtfull grounds namelie eyther vpon hap and hap hazard or vpon some other fickle foundation you wot not well what And yet notwithstanding you do no lesse impudentlie auouch the same for an infallible truth then if you meant to out-face the whole world with the sway of your words But good Exorcistes doe tell vs directly how any mans faith may the better be tried or the action it selfe more deepely imprinted in the beholders breasts by making those accidentall matters to be rather the signes thē the meanes of such miraculous actions Moreouer in auouching those matters to be rather the signes then the meanes of such miraculous actions you doe therein directly conclude that euery of those admirable actions whereof those outward matters are onely but signes and no meanes were vndoubtedly true miracles Because saith good Master Darel whatsoeuer is brought to passe without meanes that same is a miracle as we haue handled at large in Oth and mopeth in semeion teras throughout our tenth Dialogue But what might be the maine reason it selfe which makes you so carefull in auoyding the word meanes and so egerlie to take vp the word signes concerning this point Exorcistes I purposelie do it to proue all those the aforesaid strange actions no miracles at all how wonderfull soeuer in shew For whatsoeuer is brought to passe by meanes is no miracle because of the same meanes Orthodoxus If for this onlie respect you denie those outward matters to be meanes and onlie auouch them to be but bare signes of the action effected then surely you therein doe make those selfesame actions whereof such outward matters are onelie but signes to be much more miraculous then if these outward matters themselues had beene some meanes at the least to accomplish the action And so by consequence the dispossessing of those your Demoniakes it was an action very miraculous as hauing no meanes at all to effect the same Exorcistes Yes sir they had prayer and fasting as the onelie appointed meanes to that special worke Orthodoxus Yea but you flatlie denie those outward matters whatsoeuer to be thereunto any meanes at all and do auouch them to be but the onlie bare signes of such actions effected Exorcistes I denied those other matters which were mentioned before in the Propheticall and Apostolicall operations to be anie meanes at all and did make them but the onelie bare signes of those their miraculous actions Howbeit I euer haue held and doe confidently auouch that prayer and fasting is a peculiar meanes appointed by God for the perpetuall expelling of spirits and diuels Orthodoxus This your pretended ordinance of prayer and fasting hauing hitherto beene often denied and neuer yet by your selfe confirmed for truth it is to little or no purpose to insist as you doe vpon one and the selfesame point Besides that your selfe hauing spoken elsewhere of the prayers of Christ of Peter and others in the working of miracles you make their said prayers to be onely but signes and no meanes of their miracles Exorcistes Very true as you say For they expelled Diuels by a commaunding power not by any intreating word and therefore if at any time they prayed at their working of miracles they vsed not those their said prayers as any appointed meanes leading to the action intended but rather in regard of the people present To teach them thereby that whensoeuer they effected miraculous actions they wrought not those works by any godlinesse or power of their owne but by the only immediate power of him whom they called vpon Orthodoxus Well be it so as you say But declare plainely vnto vs I pray you your owne purpose in praying also at the dispossession of those your pretended Demoniakes Was it to perswade the people that your selfe expelled those diuels by any your owne godlines or power of your prayers and not rather to teach them that the diuels so expelled were vndoubtedly driuen forth by the onely power of him vpon whom you did call by your feruent prayers Exorcistes We purposely praid I must needs confesse to teach the beholders that the worke was effected by the onely power of him to whom we put vp our prayers Orthodoxus Herein then you confesse at vnwares that your said prayer and fasting was no meanes at all for those your pretended dispossessings of Satan but only a bare signe of the absolute power of Christ which draue forth the diuell and so by consequence you doe fully conclude that your expelling of Diuels by prayer and fasting if any such were was also a miraculous worke Exorcistes I denie such a driuing out of diuels to be any miracle at all and doe very confidently auouch that prayer and fasting in such sort obserued is a supernaturall medicine for the timely curing of supernaturall diseases Orthodoxus If prayer and fasting be as you say a supernaturall medicine for supernaturall diseases why then are not parties bewitched deliuered in like manner from those their torments by the onely meanes of prayer and fasting Exorcistes Had we the like Scriptures for the extraordinarie curing of parties bewitched by prayer fasting as we haue for the admirable dispossessing of parties possessed we would not then doubt but that the one might therby be helped as well as the other Orthodoxus But tell vs in good earnest haue you not as full warrant from Scripture for the curing of parties bewitched by prayer and fasting as you haue for the timely dispossessing of those your pretended Demoniakes Exorcistes No in very deed we haue not in Scripture the like warrant for one which we haue for the other Orthodoxus By what warrant then did you vndertake the pretended dispossession of Kath.
Wright of Th. Darling of W. Sommers and of those seuen also in Lancashire if you had no Scripture to warrant the vndertaking of any such course Exorcistes Yes sir we had Scripture to warrant whatsoeuer we enterprised concerning those seuerall persons For they being all essentially possessed by Satan we vsed prayer and fasting in their timely dispossessing and this also according to the established ordinance of Christ himselfe Orthodoxus For this your often pretended ordinance establisht by Christ you haue sufficiently heard before and therefore it were meerely superfluous to enter thereon afresh especially your selfe propounding no fresh arguments to mannage the same But good Exorcistes tell vs here without halting whether you doe verelie hold that those tenne persons aforesaid were all of them essentiallie possessed of Satan Exorcistes I make no doubt thereof and it were meere madnesse for any to call that in question it being so apparantly and so crediblie auouched Orthodoxus Well then we will for the present forbeare to call it in question afresh for feare of being reputed by your selfe to bee more then madde But come on shew vs directly by what meanes the Diuell did essentiallie enter into euery of them Goe to man neuer pawse at the matter but tell the truth and shame the Diuell Exorcistes What skils it how the Diuell entred into them sith it is apparantly euident they were all essentiallie possessed Orthodoxus It skilled not greatly were we not all desirous to heare the truth hereof from your owne mouth Howbeit because either your memorie failes you herein or for that else you are vtterly vnwilling that any should know the mysteries of this your new found trade let Master Darell be deemed indifferent betweene vs both to discouer these matters For he telleth vs plainely that Margaret Roper bewitched Katherine Wright that Alice Goodridge sent her Spirite called Minnie to torment Thomas Darling in all the parts of his body that William Sommers was strongely possessed by a Witch in Worcestershire who sent her spirit called Lucie into him by giuing him a peece of bread and butter and all this for a hat and a hat band and that Edmund Hartlay a supposed Coniurer by kissing the seuen in Lancashire did breath the Diuell into euery of them These are Master Darels reports concerning the essentiall possessions of those tenne seuerall persons tell vs therefore what you say to these his reports and whether you hold them for truthes Exorcistes Yea I doe hold them all for infallible truthes Orthodoxus It seemeth then that these tenne persons being only bewitched and not essentiallie possessed you had not the like scripture for the curing of them as it seemes you haue for parties possessed And so by consequence you your selfe obseruing in their seuerall cures the selfesame ordinance which Christ you say hath onely establisht for parties possessed you delt altogether therein without warrant from scripture Exorcistes Not so for there is you must note an apparant difference betweene essentiall possessing and an actuall bewitching and therefore howsoeuer those tenne persons were all vexed of Sathan by the only meanes of foure seuerall Witches yet was the Diuell essentiallie inherent in euery of their bodies and so they being euery of them essentiallie possessed were also effectuallie dispossessed by prayer and fasting Whereas all other actuall bewitchings of Sathan they are only but externall vexations by spirits and diuels and therefore the parties bewitched not being essentiallie possessed we haue not the like scripture for them which we haue for the other Orthodoxus A man no doubt may highly commend your dexteritie in finding a present shift when you are hardly beset For howsoeuer you were here on the sodaine depriued of a lyars memorie you are not destitute I perceiue of a womans wit you haue your answeres so readie to help at a pinch But go to do tell vs I pray you whether essentiall possessings and actuall bewitchings be not both of them supernaturall diseases Exorcistes Yes I confesse they are both of them supernaturall diseases and inflicted also by Sathan himselfe Orthodoxus Then surely that supernaturall medicine which accomplisheth the cure of the one it must also effectuallie worke the cure of the other But prayer and fasting you say is a supernaturall medicine to cure supernaturall vexations in parties possessed and therefore also a supernaturall medicine to cure supernaturall vexations in parties bewitched Exorcistes It is euen so I confesse neither is there any other way or meanes for the curing of such but only prayer and fasting vnlesse haplie they will go to the Diuell for help as many haue done and yet do Orthodoxus Your answeres I perceiue they growe very giddie for prayer and fasting was but euen now no way or meanes approued by scripture to cure the supernaturall vexations of parties bewitched and now the same is become on the sodaine the only way or meanes thereto vnlesse haplie men will go to the Diuell for help Well then for as much as you make them now by your new edition the only way or meanes to cure the supernaturall vexations also of parties bewitched why do you not practise that selfesame meanes and make apparantly euident those selfesame effects of sole prayer and fasting in parties bewitched which you falsely pretend in parties possessed Besides that your speech it is to too absurd concerning the peoples going to the Diuell for help for neither haue the bewitched parties any power of themselues to go at their owne pleasures to the Diuell for such a supposed help without some secret purpose of God and so you make the Lord some secret patrone to such sinister practises neyther yet if haplie they attempt such a course can one Diuell possiblie driue forth anothee if Christ his argument be any thing currant as we told you before Exorcistes Why sir your owne speech importeth that parties bewitched can haue no help at all but from God and therefore let them fast and pray and neuer giue ouer till they haue receiued some comfortable answere from God Orthodoxus But seeing they haue no warrant thereto from the scriptures as you confessed before how should they possiblie by their said prayer and fasting conceiue either hope of ease or expect any fauourable answere from God For whatsoeuer is not done of faith is sinne and nothing may be said to be done of faith which hath not it warranted ground from the scripture Notwithstanding be it supposed that the parties bewitched should in such an vnwarranted course present their feruent and often prayers to God in vaine what then were best to be done in this case Exorcistes Then let them ioyne fasting therewith For seeing none for a temporall iudgement haue more cause to be humbled then they and that fasting is a meanes to humble our harts who should more fast I beseech you then such and so seeke by prayer and fasting to remoue that heauie hand of God which lieth pressing vpon them and
miraculous manner of working by him Thus then you see their said deliuerance being determined with God before all times it was accordingly promised and performed in time And as before the Law written from the very first creation the Lord obserued this method order in the orderly manifestation of any his vnchangeable ordinances so surely both at and after the giuing of the Law there was in him no shadow of chaunge concerning that selfesame vnchaungeable course For First hauing determined with himselfe before all beginnings of time to establish the Morall Law as a perpetuall rule of perfect obedience not onely he did in very fitte time make promise thereof to his people but which more is after the full expiration of foure hundred and thirtie yeeres I meane at the very appointed season it selfe he did correspondently accomplish the same Neither hath the Lord obserued such an orderly methode of working onely before and at the giuing of the Law but euer since then he hath beene altogether one and the same in the orderly accomplishment of al his actions as may plainly appeare in his orderly establishing and subuerting of the seuerall Monarkes how mightie soeuer in the seauentie yeeres captiuitie of Israell his people in the birth and death of his onely Sonne in the vniuersall establishment of his glorious Gospell in Ierusalems finall destruction in reiecting his owne people the Iewes and in bringing the Gentiles into their roomes And as in all these the precedent operations and actions so likewise in the powerfull dispossessing of Satan and in the finall determination of that his tyrannicall power of actuall possession the Lord hath carefully obserued not onely in purposing but also in promising and performing the selfesame order accordingly For as the Lord before all beginnings of time did purposely determine such a temporary iudgement as a peculiar demonstration of the Deitie of his onely Sonne and promised withall the admirable conquering of the selfesame iudgement in that promised seede which was actually to bruse the Serpents head so hath his said Sonne correspondently accomplisht the same by his death and resurrection destroying through death him that had power ouer death that is to say the Diuell Yea he hath spoyled Principalities and Powers made such a shew of them openly and so triumphed ouer them all in his Crosse as we may boldly assure our selues of the finall accomplishment of that which our Sauiour affirmeth saying Now is the iudgement of this world now is the Prince of this world cast out that is his power of actuall possession is fully and finally determined According to that his authenticall message else wherâ— vnto Herode saying Behold I cast out Diuels to day and tomorrow and the third day I shall be perfected or the third day I will make an end of that businesse The premâ—sses therefore considered there is no more reason to doubt of the finall determination of this one then of any other the eternall Decrees of God whatsoeuer For seeing the Lord not onely purposed the finall determination of Satan his power of actuall possession from before all beginnings of time but also very solemnely promised and most powerfully effected the same in that promised seede which was actually to bruise the Serpents heade who seeth not euen one and the selfesame methode and order herein obserued as in all other the forenamed purposes and determinations of our eternall God And therefore there is no more reason to denye the finall determination of this one then of any other the like purposed operations of God vnlesse we doe purposely entend to bring present confusion vpon the orderly actions of that only wise agent who accomplisheth and ordereth all things in measure in number and waight Physiologus Very true as you say And therefore let those men beware who so constantly auouch the continuance of actuall possession now in these later dayes of the world But proceede in the rest Orthodoxus Againe this doctrine of ours deciphering so plainely vnto vs all those the deceiuable notions whatsoeuer which more peculiarlie appertaine to this new-found trade of Diuillitie with the seuerall points thereof it ministreth vnto vs a notable meditation or rather a watchfull consideration concerning the very proper foundation of all those the common receiued opinions fantasies dreames or idle conceites which runne all the world ouer about the Diuels their essential assuming and transforming of bodies their pretended apparitions in this or that essentiall forme their absolute power for creating of substances their essentiall possessions their supernaturall operations with sundrie other such idle conceites These their strange imaginations concerning Spirits and Diuels if we rightlie consider the same they arise not from any the infallible truths of the Lord reuealed vnto vs in the sacred scriptures for then we might and ought boldly to imbrace them for truths how absurd soeuer in humane reason but they do rather proceede from the only imagination of mans idle braine Who hauing their cogitations darkened through the ignorance that is naturallie in them cannot possiblie be made to discerne aright of any such intricate matters Yea and they spring partly also from the corrupt customes of the world For men receiuing such vntruthes from hand to hand as it were an inueterate lie by an auncient tradition do careleslie transferre the same from themselues to their owne posteritie and the ages to come And thus forsooth an old doating custome hauing careleslie begotten many grosse and erroneous opinions concerning Spirits and Diuels the world at this present is so vniuersally besotted bewitched and possessed with these palpable fooleries as they had rather to hold a manifest lye in their very right hand then be brought from their former most fond conceites and corrupt customes to an vndoubted knowledge of the truth it selfe For howsoeuer they may haplie pretend herein the holie Religion and feare of the Lord they feare him not in deede and in truth but do serue him only after the manner of former nations yea euen vnto this day they deale in these points according to the old accustomed manner and not after the ordinances customes lawes and commaundements which the Lord commaunded the children of Iacob They runne not for a true vnderstanding of these mysticall matters to the lawe and the testimonie neither speake they at all according to this truth but euery man speaketh herein according to the blind imagination of his owne â—oolish heart and after the corrupt customes of the world itselfe because there is in them no light of truth concerning these matters And thus much in effect for those speciall vses which haue a more speciall relation to any the seuerall points propounded Lycanthropus Very well Proceede now I pray you vnto those other vses which more specially concerne the parties themselues perusing those seuerall points Orthodoxus With very good will Wherin especially we haue to consider that seeing the matters we
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
aside from the way they shall not onlie saue a soule and couer the multitude of sinnes but which more is they may in hauing this learning and in knowing the deepnes of Satan concerning these mysticall matters very assuredly expect with patience their happie coronation with Christ in the celestiall throne And thus much in effect for the holie vses of this doctrine whether they concerne the Lord himselfe or his creatures Lycanthropus These vses they are euery way so pertinent and so consonant to the substance of the doctrine it selfe as none but the headie and obstinate who hauing with a setled pertinacie euen secretly and finally deuoted themselues to their selfe-conceit will any waies mislike or impugne the same But what saith Exorcistes vnto them Exorcistes I neither could nor would willingly be opposite to them especially if the Doctrine it selfe from whence they are drawne were so currantly sound as Master Orthodoxus and the rest would beare me in hand Howbeit notwithstanding any thing hitherto heard I am and must still be in the selfe same opinion I was in at the first For if none in these daies be essentially possessed of Satan do tel me I pray you how we are to esteeme of such extraordinarie actions or passions as do eftsoones befall to sundrie distressed persons Orthodoxus I will simplie tell you what my owne selfe suppose them to be and how also I would haue your selfe and all others accompt of such accidents First such extraordinarie and vnwonted occurrents may eftsoones appeare and be practised by meere cousoning collusions and craftie conueiances of legerdemaine Yea and these counterfeite actions or passions may also bee broached either by the only pretended Demoniake himselfe as did the dissembling caitife who cousoned that reuerend father Master Fox without the assistance of any other besides or else such extraordinarie actions they may be effected by the ioynt assistance helpe and direction of some craftie confederate conioyned with that the aforesaid pretended Demoniake in the couert dispatch of those his counterfeit prankes Of this kinde of Demoniakes the world hath been successiuely pestered in euery age since the Primitiue Church and therefore no wonder at all though now in these daies some certaine persons should likewise depart from the faith giuing heede to spirits of error and to doctrines of Diuels Sometimes againe the pretended Demoniake may in deed and in truth be easily drawen to beleeue that he is without doubt essentially possessed of Satan when there is no such matter at all he hauing onely at vnwares to himselfe and by some paltrie Priest or cunning Impostor beene before verie grosly abused partly by Patheticall and circumuenting perswasions and partly also by some intoxicated perfume some filthie confection or potion The which bewitching sorceries doe so strangely disorder the poore Patients body his minde it selfe with all the powers and faculties concerning them both as for the present the very beholders themselues are easily perswaded with the people of Samaria to beleeue that the partie in deed is essentially possessed Yea and which more is the very Exorcist himselfe who pretendeth and vndertaketh the supposed dispossession of this newly supposed Demoniake he may also very easily beare the beholders in hand that he is vndoubtedly some mightie Magnifico in this new-found trade of Diuillitie and make them thus to crie out frō the least to the most Doubtlesse this man is the great power of God Of this kind of Demoniakes as also of that the intoxicated potion it selfe the Iesuiticall Exorcists in their Exorcising pamphlets they affoord vs sundry examples Thirdly these extraordinarie and vnwonted occurrents they may and doe also eftsoones arise from meere naturall causes namely from Mania from Melancholy from Lunacy from Furie from the Phrensie from the Epilepsie from the Mother from Conuulsions obstructions and sundry such other vnnaturall accidents as we haue eftsoones declared in our former discourses By the vnwontednes and efficacie of which vnnaturall infirmities the minde it selfe being mightily disordered before by meanes of the Phantasie doth easily resolue that some extraordinarie operations of Satan doe mightilie distemper his natural constitution and strangely afflict the same in euery part Of this kind of extraordinarie actions or passions very many but lately departed this life and many yet liuing haue oftentimes had an experience yea and the best vse you may possibly make of all those your eight supposed Demoniakes more especially of your newly pretended Patients sprong vp in Cheshire of late is only this Namely that the excesse of melancholy or some other disordered humour did for the present disorder their bodies according to the approued iudgement of learned Physitions concerning especially the boye at Northwitch Lastly the Diuell being alwaies desirous to worke among the deare children of God the greatest disturbance that may be and finding withall some such lewd disposed person as is naturally enclined to all manner of knaueries he taketh the oportunitie of so fit a subiect and worketh so cunningly vpon the corruption of that lewd persons nature as the partie himselfe is easily brought to beleeue and to beare others also in hand that he is in deede and in truth essentially possessed of Satan Yea and which more is the said vngratious body partly for gaine partly for glory and partly also in an affected desire to be deemed terrible to others about him he doth from thence forth very willingly endeuour himselfe to speake and to act some such strange and vnwonted acts as the like were neuer espied in him before By which his villanous practises the silly beholders surprised before with an inueterate opinion of Demoniacall possessions are easily brought to intertaine for infallible truth that the partie is in deed essentiallie possessed with some Spirit or Diuell Of this kinde of Demoniakes we haue often experience in euery age and the cousoning of good Master Foxe doth plainely confirme By the premisses then you may plainely perceiue that the supposed strange actions or passions in any such falslie pretended Demoniakes they may and are also eftsoones effected without any supernaturall power of a Diuell and therefore you neede not so easilie be ledde to conceiue of those matters in such sort as you doe but ought rather to examine the causes themselues with the sundrie occasions and seuerall circumstances of persons of times and of places with other occurrents that thereby you may more soundly be able to determine thereof Lycanthropus Surely sir these Cautions and considerations being duely obserued there could not possibly be such contrarietie of opinions concerning these matters as now are rashly broached abroad to the intolerable disturbance of the Peace of the Church But what saith Exorcistes to all these matters Exorcistes I say and hold as before that there are essentiall possessions of Spirits and Diuels in these daies of the Gospell and that sole prayer and fasting is a perpetuall ordinance established by Christ for the powerfull expelling of Spirits