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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	divine_a	force_n	great_a	218	4	2.0707	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A19798	A dialogue of witches, in foretime named lot-tellers, and novv commonly called sorcerers VVherein is declared breefely and effectually, vvhat soueuer may be required, touching that argument. A treatise very profitable ... and right necessary for iudges to vnderstande, which sit vpon lyfe and death. Written in Latin by Lambertus Danæus. And now translated into English.; De venificis quos olim sortilegos, nunc autem vulgo sortarios vocant, dialogus. English	Daneau, Lambert, ca. 1530-1595?; Twyne, Thomas, 1543-1613, attributed name.	1575 (1575)	STC 6226; ESTC S109219	58,911	164

strange if in this place he ether did amisse or forgat himself But admit y Ierome were of y opinion notwithstāding other no lesse graue learned interpretours of the place doo write otherwise gather out of this place of S. Paul that there be sorcerers Of which opiniō was Chrisostome an approued writer with others also of later yeares As for August who in no respect is inferior to Ierōe what he hath written we haue shewed before Anthony These doo satisfie me Theoph. neither require I any moe mens testimonies but performe the whch you promised which is the seconde proofe of your opinion Teach me I say that it is founde out by experience that there are Sorcerers Theophil You require of me but y which is due you remēber euery thing in order wherefore I wil briefly comprise all in a worde or two Anthony Procéede then Theophil Now as cōcerning experiēce that most certen true thus much I say that in al ages it hath bin obserued founde y ther hath béen alwaies some which haue vsed this diuellish arte meanes to entoxicate men For els why should there haue béen lawes writtē against thē if there had neuer bin any such at al why should their punishmēts haue béen appointed For ther are no laws set forth to repres any crimes that are not there is one selfesame iudgemēt to be geuē by the ciuile law on thinges that are not as on thinges that appéere not as the lawiers doo teach When the question was demaūded of the most wisest lawmaker of the Atheniās Solon why he wrote no lawes against such as slewe their fathers answered that he thought that ther would neuer be any such So verely both before the birth of Christe also sithence hath this kinde of witches bin cōmonly abroade in the world And that they were before Christe sufficiētly most faithfully y most holy man of God Moyses witnesseth who by cōmaundment of God maketh mēcion of thē condēneth thē namely in Exod. the .22 chap .9 verse In Leuit. the 19. chap. .31 verse likewise in the .20 chap. .27 verse In the booke of Nūb. the .23 cha the .28 verse In Deu. the .18 cha .. .11 verse Some write y Zoroastes a man of the cūtry of Persia a great Magiciā expert in the iudiciarie Astrologie first of all men founde and practized witchcraft and afterwardes taught it to other who were al of thē Idolaters as he was Now that there were also some of the same sort since the incarnatiō of Christ infinite histories beare record and the sundry reportes of men in wryting touching the same the sentences also of Iudges geuen vpon them are witnesses lawes likewise and punishments published against thē doe beare record established aswell by the Ciuile lawe as the Canon being at this day both whole Titles Rubrikes foūde written against that kinde of crime like as appeareth in Gratianes Decree causa .xxvi. quest i. ii.iii.iiii v. Moreouer these sortes of witches haue alwayes been well knowne in our countrey of Fraunce which to be trew the innumerable actes of Parliament against thē dooe testifie which many learned m●n haue gathered together of the mat●er But cheefly a certen famous solemne cōdemnatiō of articles opiniōs made by a Sorbonist of Paris vnder Charles the .6 king of Fraunce in the yeare of our Lord .1398 maketh much to the proofe of our opiniō which opinions the schollars of the vniuersitie commonly professed in Paris Yea hath not this our age seene many witches condemned of witchcraft Anthony Can you shewe mée the cause Theophil why it should so be in our time Theophil Truely it is the terrible iudgement of God agaynst vs the cause whereof is vnknowne vnto vs For the iudgementes of God although they be hid from vs yet are they iust and holy as it appeareth in the xxv Psalme and x. verse most truely godly in the like argument and as S. Augustine sayeth in his worke of Deuinacion of Diuels Anthony How thē hath God any iuster cause to punish men in this our age thē he had in foretime thrée hūdred yéeres agoe ▪ Theophil Yea surely Anthony greater then heretofore how much the more the worlde at this present doth more shamefully and obstinately reiect the woord of God and the reuealed light thereof For how much the more men doe now a dayes shewe themselues vnthankfull towardes God the more iust cause God taketh to forsake them and geue them ouer vnto Satan to reuenge the contempt of his name So that in these dayes wherein is séene a most gréeuous pitiefull rebellion of men against Gods true doctrine Satan hath receyued the power frō God to allure thē vnto him and to sifte them and there is geuen vnto him the very effect and force of errour to deceiue intrappe and leade away many as the spirite of God hath long since witnessed it should bée in the seconde to the Thessalonians the second Chapter tenth verse and that God would geue him the power and gift to deceyue that men should geue credence to Satan and to lyes and such should bée damned as beléeued not the trueth but haue yéelded to vnrighteousnes bicause they haue not embraced the loue of the trueth that they might be saued Anthony But some there be that hold opinion that al these thinges which are reported of Sorcerers are but deuised feyned and if any such thing doe chance they come only by some sicknes of the mynd or by reason of some melancholicke humour these appearances fansies trouble them not being any tokens or signes of the iuste iudgement of God against men Theophil But truely they be very much deceiued frende Anthony no lesse then those which supposed that the madde men and possessed with diuels which liued in the time of our Lord and sauiour Iesus Christ and were by him healed were none other then men sick and troubled with melancholick chollerick diseases whose opiniō is altogither blasphemous for thei take away the certentie of the christian faith and deny the deuine nature of our Lord Iesus Christ repugning lying against the trueth of the thing for how could the diuels haue spoken with in their bodies or with so great force haue gone out of the possessed persons haue torne the members partes of their bodies if these thinges were but mere dreemes of troubled minds fansies only fits of melācholick diseases So are sorcerers plainly miserable slaues vnto Satan in subiection vnto him him doe they worship to him doo they cōmit themselues yea offer vnto him cādles of waxe in token of honour Yet some of thē doo séeme far more abiecte filthily seruisable For when Satan sheweth himself vnto them in the likenes of a man the which is to shamful to speak they kisse his buttocks which thīg certē of thē afterward haue frāckli cōfessed thēselues to haue don And

such kindes of witches in the world which we cal diuelish sorcerers Answere mée Anthony doe you agrée with the most holy word of God Anthony God forbid Theophilus that I should disagrée from the same Theop. Therin do you wel for as we are taught in the second Epistle of S. Peter the first Chapter and xix verse The scripture wherin the word of God is contayned is the most sure light and truth which is also inspired from aboue as witnesseth S. Paul in the second Epistle to Timothe the third chapter and xvi verse which notwithstanding the Atheistes of our age do despise and contemne Anthony From those do I vtterly disagrée Theophilus and through the grace of God do I throughly beléeue and yéeld to that holie word Theophil The same woord of God which you acknowledge confesse to be most certen most true hath confirmed that of auncient tyme there haue bin of this kinde of Satanicall witches and Sorcerers which declareth sufficiently that there are certen such witches Looke in the olde testament in the xviii chapter of Deuteronomie looke in the xxvii Chapter and ix verse of Ieremie vpon which place Sainct Ierome thus writeth And Malefici which we may call VVitches or suche as obey the illusions of the diuell whiche are called in the Hebrue tongue Cassaphim Read● Micheas the .v Chapter .xii. verse where as suche witches are ioyned with deuinours and Magicians Reade the .lviii. Psalme and the .viii. verse Read Nahum the Prophete the .iii. Chapter .iiii. verse and such other lyke plac●s And if also you would haue the same prooued vnto you out of the new testament which is the second part of holy Scripture Reade the Epistle of Sainct Paul to the Galathians the third Chapter and first verse Likewyse the .v. Chapter and .xx. verse whereby the most approued and best learned Interpretours both olde new do as it were by one consent agrée that there be certen sorcerers which by diuellish meanes practizes doe hurt the myndes bodies liues of men Anthony You haue recited vnto me very many places which at leasure I will reade at home and conferre together Theophil As touching other aucthours aswell ecclesiasticall as profane wryters who so would recite them all shal see they be infinite proouing affirming notwithstanding all of them that there are certen sorcerers of which I think it not necessary to recite all but onely certen of them Anthony You must studie to be briefe for my part I wil be content with a few Theophil Of ecclesiasticall wryters in nūber of whom I comprehend those bookes of holy Scripture which are called Apocryphi I must first bring foorth for wytnesse the booke of Wisedom the .xij. chap. .iiij. verse Bicause they vsed fortune telling and vvitchcraft sayth he speaking of the Cananites and vvicked sacrifices Secondly the counsel of Carthage also the secōd of Cōstantinople which was in Trullū the .lx. article Wheras namely plainly mēcion is made of these kinde of witches their wickednesse is termed deadly witchcraft Thirdly I wil bring forth Aurelius Augustine to witnesse cheefly in his CC. .vij. sermon of the time which he maketh with great affection against such kinde of men whom also he calleth enchaunters shewing howe they worke their f●ates by ayde of the Diuell making some that are in health to be sicke some that are sick to be whole Moreouer the same August in the .7 treatise vpō the gospel of s. Iohn doth plainly accurse al such which work by enchātmētz bindings other strange meanes of our enemie which is the Diuel therby hurting both men other thinges And fourthly to conclude Trithemius Abbot of Spanhem hath writtē set forth an whole boke of the same argument wherin he answereth vnto those questiōs which wer propoūded vnto him by Maximiliā emperour of the Germanes great graūdfather vnto him which liueth at this presēt What besides this wil you heare Anthony other testimonies of other men yea lawes thēselues Ther is an aūciēt wel known law of the .12 tables which punishid these witches who as was said could remoue corne frō one field into another of which law Plynie writeth in the 28. booke of the natural history the .2 chap. Is ther not also another Romane law of lesse antiquitie thē the lawes of y 12. tables called Lex Cornelia which cōdēneth greuously punisheth the same kind of people Among the Emperours of Constātinople Leo in a certen cōstitution of his which is the 6● doth the same Finally Virgil a man wel seene in al kind of knowlege both in the .3 Eclogue also in the .8 testifieth that there are such that I may ouerpas Troilus de Malueto a great Lawier and Martin Arlaeus a Deuine with me and those welnigh innumerable which liued in later tyme then the aboue named testifying al for a trueth that there are some of this kinde of detestable diuellish witches These be witnesses sufficiēt or els I know not what is sufficient Anthony Yea surely they be moe witnesses then I would wel de●ier But gētle Theophilus I pray you put me out of this one doubt which much troubleth me Theophilus What is that Anthony This forsooth for that S. Ierome a man of no small accompt in his Commentaries vpon the Epistle of S. Paul to the Galathians the .iii. Chap. first verse which place you alleaged erewhile for cōfirmation of your opinion séemeth flatly to deny that Paul euer ment that there were any Sorcerers notwithstanding that hée wryteth thus O ye foolish Galathians vvho hath bevvitched you But therein S. Paul speaketh according to the common custome of men and vulgare opinion not that he beléeued or knewe that there were any such at all Theophil Truely Anthony you haue perfectly recited without booke the m●aning of S. Ierome and surely at the first Ierome in déede séemeth to be of the same opinion but afterwarde vpon the same he addeth a nother thing and straightwayes chaūgeth his opinion which that you may the better perceiue I haue here copied foorth the whole place Bewitching sayth sainct Ierome is sayde properly to hurt infantes and such as are but of tender yeares and not perfectly able to goe alone VVhereuppon a certen heathen wryter hath sayd I know not sure what eie bewitched hath my tēder Lambes This whether it were truely spokē or not God knoweth For it may be that Diuell● may be redy to accomplish this wickednes turning thē away from their good workes● vvhom soeuer they see to beegin or to procede in fulfilling the worke of god So that this may be the cause that we suppose this exāple to haue been taken vpon the opinion of the common people By which woordes it appeareth how doubtfull vncerten that man was in this poynt being also in some other places of the same commentaries very sharply iustly blamed as namely by Augustine of s. Paules lye that no man may think it

as they doo report Yea moreouer they doo this which I wil tell a thing passing meruelous they wil tie a knot vpon a point as our cuntreymen speake that is to say they can hinder and binde maryed couples that they shal not pay their due one to the other or at leastwise that one of them shall not Anthony What is that you say Theophil Theoph. It is euen as I tell you Anthony For if they be able with their poysons to impaire the good helth of men to diminish the strength force of the body weakē the sinnes dull the senses to distemper the inward humours what merueile is it if they can hinder the vertue acte of generation which is contayned within the bodie in certen vessels of seed either by casting in by their venim an ouer coldnes of the vessels or else raysing a certen hatred or misliking one of the other betwéene man wife ▪ whom in suchwise they doo trouble which I doo easily graūt the they doe by Satanicall artes yet doe they it to thintent they may sow discorde and contencion betwéene them betwéene whom ought to be sounde and great agréement Thus these wicked men reuenge themselues bicause they hate them whom they doe so molest although vndeseruedly and without cause but to the imitacion and example of Satan their master they reioyce to sowe cockle among men Mathew the xiii Chapter .xxxix. verse Iohn the third Chapter and x. verse Anthony Haue you any examples or argumentes to confirme your saying Theophil Yea I haue both And as for examples they are almost infinite dayly hapning and conuersant before our eyes And as touching testimonies argumēts I haue that are most sure First S. Augustine amōg the sundry meanes of hurting which he attributeth vnto Sorcerers in the vii treatise vpon S. Iohn reciteth bindinges whereof this binding is a kinde of which we now speake Moreouer that which Virgil prince of Poetes and best learned of all the learned of his time in the eight Ecloge prooueth the same For this is taken from dayly experiēce which he sayth Knit collers three in three knots them Amaryllis fitte Knit Amaryllis and say thus I Venus knots doe knit The same also is cōfirmed by the Canon Si. Per. which is the last xxxiij.j question in the Decrée And if Sorcerers can let hinder the nourishing facultie of the soule as Thomas Aquinas in the .i. Sum. the .iij. quest iiij article largely disputeth proueth by the same meanes also they may corrupt hinder the engendring facultie Anthony You driue me to that exigent that I knowe not what to say or whyther to turne my selfe Theophilus What if I should also ad that which will séeme much more meruelous which notwithstāding S. Augustine and Apuleus doe credibly wryte yet am I of opinion that it can not be so Anthony What is that Theophil Forsooth that Sorcerers can chaunge men into other formes shapes that is to wit into wolues Beares Asses Anthony I pray you doth S. Augustin● wryte so Theophil Yea truly Anthony reade the 17. 18. Chapter of his worke De Ciuitate dei where S. Augustine reporteth that many both heathen men and Christians haue sayd that they were so transfourmed specially one Daniaenetus and Praestans with many other moe Anthony Surely that can not bée that an euyl spirite or Diuell can chaunge our nature or being as they call it For this is the only propertie and power of God that as he hath created the natures of thinges so is he able to chaunge them which Satan cannot doe by any meanes neither by himself neither by his seruantes the Sorcerers Theophil You say trueth and so sainct Augustine also writeth in another place Howbeit they that say they were so transfourmed they doo but suppose that sometime they liued so yet they are deceiued and those be none other then false fansies and imaginations which by meanes of some stronge illusion or great sicknesse are imprinted in their myndes But I doo not likewise deny but that Satan bringeth some into that persuasion which that hée may bring to passe hée bringeth a sléepe and blyndeth their outward senses then bringeth hée into their imagination sundry fourmes of thinges which he imprinteth so effectually within their troubled myndes and humoures that they thinke themselues in déed to be at that present to haue bin such things So likewise phisitiōs teach vs that there are certē diseases of the bodie wherein a man shall séeme to himself to be a Woulfe an Hogge an Oxe a Mule likewise that they bée all made of glasse or of Waxe such other like thing I haue also séene one that would affirme and sweare that hée was a Cocke wherefore the true and vndoubted cause of such illusions and deceiptions of minde which may be done by Sorcerers arte dependeth vpon this that the humours and temperament of the bodie being distempered the parties themselues séeme after a sort to be chaunged and alienated from themselues by working of the Diuell that they shall not know any other thinges that are represented vnto them So that those that be so vexed doe easily persuade themselues that they are such as they reporte which notwitstanding are but mere illusions of the Diuell Anthony But Nabucadnezar King of Assyrians was transfourmed into a brute beast and eate grasse the space of seuen yeares as it is read in Daniel the fourth chapter Theophil So it is But that is thus to be vnderstoode of Nabucadnezer that we must not thinke that his humane nature was conuerted into the essencie or being of a brute beast But his conuersation was chaunged and his mynde and affection which was wont to be desirous of mās company Moreouer that we must graunt that all this befell vnto him by the power of almightie God our creatour and not by Satans meanes by which onely Sorcerers doe worke to haue béene brought to passe For God is able to take away or change the essēcies or natures of thinges but Satan is not able Wherefore those things which are reported how some men are cōuerted into wolues are to be iudged most false Howbeit there be some that affirme such thinges to be doone among the farre Northerne people nigh to the riuers Borysthenes Tanais But wheras Varro wryteth that there is a Lake in Arcadia ouer which those that doe passe become Wolues I think it must thus be vnderstoode that by reason of the feare which men conceaue in passing ouer the most perillous Lake they thinke thēselues to be wolues otherwise I would say that all that history is but méere tryfles and oulde wyues tales Anthony Hitherto you haue sufficiētly declared ouer what kynd of thinges sorcerers haue power Shew me also this one thing why these wicked men are able to intoxicate poyson good and godly Christian men which thing most certen and dayly experience proueth to be true Theophil The solution of this your demaunde is easy