comfort of sorcerers but as the holy man Iob saith in the 17. cap. and 15. vers That albeit the Lord did slay him yet he would put his trust in him And this hath beene the course that the Saints of God haue taken from time to time And this ought to be our course if we will arriue at the happy hauen of saluation in the world to come For it is not a thing indifferent but a matter of exceeding great moment In so much that whosoeuer doth not obserue the same he shall not without repentance enter into the kingdome of heauen These foure are the chiefe of their reasons which I haue heard The rest are either of small weight or moment or els they may be referred to the foure aforesaid wherefore I will hast to the next words which the exorcists are heere said to vse in their coniuration which are these following We adiure you by Iesus whome Paul preacheth This speech seemeth to be borrowed of the common course of iudges in their sessions and such like who when they would haue anything done exactly and diligently doe vse to sweare them vnto it Euen so in this place the Exorcists are said to vse the greeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is deriued of the noune 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth an oath and so doth the Latine word adiuro come of iusiurandum which betokeneth the same thing As for English terme we haue none that I know that can in all points expresse the greeke or latine word wherefore we are constrained to make an English word of the Latine saying we adiure for the common vsuall word of coniuring in our language cannot well stand with the sense of this place Neither doe I know how it hath crept into our tongue in these matters seeing that it signifieth rather conspiring when diuerse haue conspired and as it were sworne together to doe any act How heit according as they are vsed now amongst vs there us little or no difference in the meaning and may be vsed for the most part the one word for the other But notwithstanding in the auncientest translations they vse this word charge which because it carieth not that emphasis with it which the greeke and latine words doe therefore it in altered heere and adiure put in for it But howsoeuer it be it is most certaine that these exorcists did mightily offend the maiesty of God in so profaning of the most holy name of Christ Iesus by making thereof a charme or inchantment and abusing it to their owne priuate fame and commodity without any such commission or authority from God For euen as all authority and power is appointed by him in ciuill causes and matters of the common wealth as it is in the 13. cap. Rom. vers 1. All power is of God the powers that be are ordeined of God So it is in gods Church wherin euery man hath his place euery man hath his especiall gift according as it pleaseth God to appoint and giue him as it is manifest by the 12. cap. of the 1. epist. Cor. And whosoeuer is not content with that measure which God by his spirit hath bestowed vpon him but presumeth of greater gifts in this behalfe then he hath is a vsurper of which sort were Corah Dathan and Abiram in the 16. cap. of the booke of Numbers with their adherents whose most fearefull punishment is set downe in that place Nay euen Vzza in the second booke of Samuel cap. 6. was stricken with present death because he touched the Arke of God to stay it least it should haue fallen or haue beene hurt which he seemed to doe of a good intent The which if it be so then no doubt the sinne of these exorcists cannot be but most horrible in abusing thus the name of Christ Iesus for God will not hold him guiltles that taketh his name in vaine as it is in the third commaundement And truely it is very much to be maruelled at that men of such place and knowledge as it may seeme that these were should fall into such grosse errours and impietie For they were the sonnes of Scena a chiefe priest of the Iewes which did this Now wee know that the priestes lippes should preserue knowledge and the law should be required at his mouth for he is the messenger of the Lord of hostes Malachy cap. 2. ver 7. Wherefore if it were the duty of all the Israelites to teach their children the preceptes and commandementes of the Lord as it is in the 6. cap. of Deuteronomy ver 7. 8. and cap. 11. ver 19. then much more were the priestes bound to doe it vnto whom all the rest were to resort to light their candle of knowledge But that seemeth to bee most truly verified of the people in that age which the prophet Esay in the first chapter verse 5. 6. saieth viz. The whole head is sick of one and the same disease the whole heart is heauy euen from the soale of the foote vnto the crowne of the head there is no whole part but woundes and swellinges and filthy sores For Iosephus a Iew one of their owne countrie men liuing not long after this time a most excellent historiographer in his booke De antiquitate Iudaeorum cap. 6. and in other places doth say that this most wicked art of magick was neuer more vsed then it was in his time In so much that some doe report in their writings and those of their owne nation and countrie that their 70. Senators and as they terme them in their language the Sanhedrin which were the cheife counsailours of state amongst them and were wont to sit with the king for the gouernmēt of that common wealth were infected with the poison of this art and had great skill and cunning in the same Wherefore the afore-said Iosephus in the place before alledged hath these words Erat tunc temporis Iudaea latronum praestigiatorum planorum asylum spelunca certè quia deus extrema Iudaeorum impietate offendebatur vrbemque ideò templum abominabatur Romanorum exercitum induxit vt tanquam per ignem expurgaret Quin ait si Romani vel tantillum eius excidium distulissent proculdubio aut terrae hiatu absorpti aut nouo diluvio mersi aut incendio consumpti fuissent Haec enim generatio Sodomiticâ ipsa longè sceleratior flagitiosior erat Which may bee englished thus At that time was Iudea a receptacle and denne of theeues iuglers and notable deceiuers And truly because God was offended with their exceeding great impiety therefore hee detested also the cittie and the temple he brought in the army of the Romanes that thereby he might purge them as it were by fire Yea and that more is if the Romanes had deferred the destruction thereof neuer so little a while without doubt either the earth had swallowed them vp or they had beene drowned with some straunge and
THE ANATOMIE OF SORCERIE VVHEREIN THE WICKED IMPIEtie of Charmers Inchanters and such like is discouered and confuted BY IAMES MASON Master of Artes. Printed at London by IOHN LEGATTE Printer to the Vniuersitie of Cambridge 1612. And are to be sold in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the Crowne by Simon Waterson To the Reader THou maiest maruaile gentle reader what hath moooued mee after so many zealous and learned Diuines to take in hand this treatise against sorcery Wherfore I haue thought it good to certifie thee in some measure of my meaning herein It was my chance to fall into communication with a notable supporter of those wicked vanities which are spoken against in this booke who not contented to practise the same himselfe went about to perswade others thereunto and to that end had framed reasons and arguments to vphold his assertion Which when I heard and vnderstood considering that he was a man of place and some learning and therefore might preuaile the more in this mischieuous deuise I determined to search out what authors had written concerning that matter But finding them all that I could hit vpon to be more occupied in making inuectiues against sorcerie in generall then in particular setting downe what it was or wherein it consisted thereby leauing a dare open to these vaine and wicked men to creepe out at by reason the chiefe grounds were not taken away whereon they stand Therefore I resolued to make some treatise of mine own And because I thought I should haue thereby fit occasion both to answer his arguments and also to speake of other matters very meete and necessarie in this case I made choice of this text in the Actes of the Apostles and so much the rather for that it was a place alleadged by the aforesaid partie himselfe that so I might as it were vna fidelia duos parietes dealbare That is as we say stoppe two gappes with one bush both answering to the aduersaries reasons and likewise opening the meaning of the said place to all such simple and true meaning Christians as should heare or reade the same Howbeit at the first I had no such purpose as to make it common to all but onely to such of my friends and acquaintance to whom I meant to commit it and my selfe should thinke good Notwithstanding afterward at my aforesaid friends request who did beare me in hand that it would be profitable to the Church of God if it should come abroad into the open view of the world at the last I yielded as thou seest God graunt that it may worke that effect which I wish for the which if I shall perceiue it shall encourage me to imploy my studies hereafter for thy further benefit In the meane while I commit thee to the tuition of him who is able to doe more then we can wish or desire And so I bid thee heartily farewell Iames Mason Act. cap. 19. the 11 12 13 14 15 and 16. verses 11. And God wrought no small miracles by the hand of Paul 12. So that from his bodie were brought vnto the sicke napkins or hand-kerchefes and the diseases departed from them and the euill spirits went out of them 13. Then certaine of the vagabond Iewes exorcists tooke in hand to name ouer them which had euill spirits the name of the Lord Iesus saying we adiure you by Iesus whome Paul preacheth 14. And there were certaine sonnes of Sceua a chiefe priest of the Iewes about seauen which did this 15. And the euill spirit answered and said Iesus I acknowledge and Paul I know but who are ye 16. And the man in whome the euill spirit was ranne on them and ouer came them and preuailed against them so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded WHen our Sauiour Christ Iesus was to depart out of this world as pertaining to his bodily presence and to ascend vp into heauen he commaunded his Apostles to preach the Gospel promising that he would ratifie the same with signes and wonders as appeareth cap. 16. of Marke The fulfilling of which promise as in many other places so in this chapter it is most notably set downe For wheras before the spirit of God had shewed the preaching of Saint Paul as also his confutation of the aduersaries of the Gospel in disputation in these words hee declareth how God confirmed the same by miracles especially in the 11. and 12. verses Then followeth the peruerse emulation thereof by the wicked coniurers in the 13. and 14. verses And lastly the effect or punishment of this their practise in the 15. and 16. verses For the first The miracles which Saint Paul is here said to worke are set downe first generally in the 11. verse and afterward in the 12. verse the same is amplified by particulars In the generall we must obserue two things viz. The chiefe efficient cause of miracles which is God And the instrumentall cause which in this place is the Apostle Saint Paul But before we enter into the particular discourse of these points we must consider the coherence of these words with those which went before and that is insinuated by this word and in greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is a copulatiue coniunction ioyneth these words with the former as if he should haue said that not only the Gospel was preached by the Apostle Saint Paul but also the same was ratified and confirmed of God by miracles And truly if we looke throughout the whole booke of God we shall finde the working of miracles alwaies annexed vnto the word to giue credit and authoritie thereunto and to confirme the vocation of those that are setters forth of the same So the Lord furnished Moses with a most excellent gift of working miracles but hee first appointed him to deliuer his will vnto Pharaoh for the bringing of the children of Israel out of Egypt The like may be said of Iehosuah and Samuel and also of all the rest of the Prophets in the olde Testament which for breuity sake I omit to name leauing them to your owne consideration to examine the truth in this case As for the Apostles and Disciples of our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ I thinke no man wil denie but that they were indued with the gift of working miracles to this end that thereby their calling might the better be confirmed and the Gospel of Christ magnified Neither can the contrarie bee prooued in any of the holy men of God which haue wrought miracles And Saint Paul in the first Epistle to the Corinthians cap. 12. vers 7. saith that this gift of working miracles is giuen to profit and edifie the Church and not for any mans priuate vse as it may be necessarily gathered out of the circumstance of that place The which if it be so thē most abominable are the dealings of those most cursed blessers commonly called wise cunning men and women who hauing no publike calling either ordinarie or extraordinarie whereby
are infused and wherewith they are mixed and the greeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 betokeneth the same thing Neither do I see wherefore Satan should vse naturall meanes in the parties before specified and such like rather then supernaturall if it had not past his reach seeing that he doth for the most part endeauour to couer his dealing as much as he can that it may not be espied As he did when he laid his hand vpon Iob as it apeareth in the first chapter of his booke And therefore it is to be thought that he made vse in the aforesaid persons of those naturall meanes which came first into his minde and were nearest at hand for that present time And as concerning the second kind of miracle which S. Paul is heere said to worke by napkins and partlets sent vnto the parties grieued To wit the casting out of diuels the same is to be iudged and said which hath beene spoken of the miracle of healing both in regard of the outward and also of the inward meanes of the same For as for the inward which is the onely meanes It is the power and spirit of God alone and as for the outward manner it maketh as I said before nothing to the working of the miracle Wherefore they are all in a mighty errour which thinke that Satan can be cast out by certaine set and conceited words or characters as they vse in magicke For we must not thinke that the diuell is either so simple or so weake if God permit him to vse his strength as to be as it were blowne out with the winde or sound of words or so timorous that he may be fraied away with the sight of figures or characters when as he durst tempt our first parents in their state of innocency Gen. cap. 3. Nay he was not afraide to set vpon our Sauiour Christ as it is in the 4. cap. of Saint Luk. although he was God albeit in the forme of man Phil. cap. 2. vers 6. And S. Peter likeneth him to a roaring lyon in his first epist. and cap. 5. And our Sauiour Christ in the 12. cap. of S. Mathewes Gospell seemeth to compare him to a strong man which will not yield till a stronger then he compelleth him Indeede sometime he will faine as though he were forcibly dispossessed by the vaine trickes of magitians and coniurers but it is onely to this end that he may thereby the more strengthen and enlarge his owne kingdome by bringing into detaining men in this wicked errour to thinke that such things are brought to passe by magicall conceits when as the diuell goeth out of himselfe euen as when we see two men pulling at a thing one of them contrary to the other and the stronger will seeme to be forced to yield and so letteth goe his hold but it is when he seeth his most aduantage to giue his aduersary the greater fall Euen so Satan albeit he may sometime seeme to be forced yet indeed and in truth it is but policy thereby to worke the more harme For he is not constrained to go out by any such vaine follies or by any other howsoeuer vsed but onely by the meere power and finger of God as it will appeare by that which followeth in the text Then certaine of the vagabond Iewes exorcistae Heere in this verse we see the effect of those miracles which Paul is said to worke in this place in the wicked sorcerers who when the Apostle had preached the Gospell of our Sauiour Christ and by his power and in his name had done these said miracles for the confirmation of the same went about most wickedly to abuse his sacred name to the establishing of their magicke and sorcery For although the name which they are called by may seeme to haue no badde but an indifferent signification being vsed in the primitiue Church for those which hauing receiued the gift of working miracles from God did vse his name in casting out of diuels and the very etymologie of the word in the originall tongue doth shew the same Yet it is most euident by the circumstance of this place that these men were nothing but meere wicked magitians and namely of that sort which we cal coniurers who although there be no difference in respect of the substance of their wicked seruing of Satan in this behalfe Notwithstanding the fashion and manner of their seruice seemeth somewhat to differ For those which we call witches or sorcerers seeme to be in a more vile and slauish condition being alwaies at the diuels commaundement but these which we terme coniurers will make as though they commaunded the diuell howbeit they profit nothing thereby sauing that they serue his turne herein and sometime their own so farre forth as their practise may stand with the furtherance of Satans purpose in the same which is the enlargement of his owne kingdome Otherwise they may commaund as they say and goe without he will doe what himselfe listeth and not what they would haue him to doe The which peraduenture when these Exorcistes saw hauing eftsoones vsed their accustomed manner and ceremonies of coniuration and neuertheles many times missing of their purposes And likewise seeing and considering the Apostle Saint Paul how he neuer fayled in the working of his miracles by the name of the Lord Iesus They thought that they would make triall what they could bring to passe thereby and so as they traueliled about the country as fortune-rellers charmers inchanters and such like do with vs they tooke in hand to cast out diuels out of those which were possessed with the same by naming ouer them which had the said euill spirits the name of the Lord Iesus Marke I pray you the incredible boldnes of these wicked coniurers who not considering neither the occasion end nor authority whereby S. Paul did worke Nor their owne daunger which might ensue vnto them thereby rashly take vpon them to doe such miracles by the name of our Lord Iesus without any further direction But such is all kinde of magicke and sorcery being founded neither vpon reason nor yet vpon common sense albeit they will seeme to make an art of it For whosoeuer shal examine the truth of the grounds and principles thereof in their bookes shall finde no pith nor any sound matter worth the noting but onely foolish and vaine trickes as are circles characters and such like or words notvnderstood or vainely or wickedly applied as in abusing the name of God or his word and such like when they vse them not to that end for the which they were appointed as doe heere the aforesaid forcerers the exorcists and therfore for the most part they are frustrate of their purposes except it be sometime by God his permission that the diuell of his owne minde for causes before rehearsed doth worke the effect for them The which when the Emperour Nero saw as it is recorded in the thirtieth booke and first chapter of Plinies naturall
Latines is when a set forme order or number of words in matters are as it were so religiously to be kept that it is not lawfull to alter or chaunge the same Now because that in poeticall workes in verse this is chiefly to be obserued therefore they are most commonly called by the aforesaid names Howbeit all charmes and inchantments by reason that they are also tyed to a certaine forme order or number of words are also termed Spelles as night-spells and wood-spells and such like As also in Latine Carmina as it is manifest by diuerse Latine authours and namely in Virgil in his eight eglogue by these words Ducite ab vrbe domum mea carmina ducite Daphnim c. And for as much as the same were sometimes pronounced in a singing manner therefore they were also called otherwhiles Incantamenta that is as we translate it Inchantments of the Latine word canto which doth betoken to sing and also to charme or inchaunt as it is in the aforesaid eglogue where it is said Frigidus in pratis cantando rumpitur anguis So that heere we see that one the selfe same thing in effect is signified by diuerse words although in diuerse respects Yea and the originall word in the aforesaid 58. Psal. which is there translated a charmer and in some translations an inchaunter doth naturally betoken one that whispereth muttereth or mumbleth speaking softly as it were betwixt the teeth And because the charmers and inchaunters do so as it is manifest by experience and likewise by the 8. cap. of Esa. vers 19. in these words And when they shall say vnto you inquire at them that haue a spirit of diuination and at the south-sayers which whisper and murmur c. and Esa. the 29. cap. vers 4. Thy voice shall be also out of the ground like him that hath a spirit of diuination and thy talking shall whisper out of the dust Wherefore that we may not striue or contend about words alone let vs returne to the very point and pith of the matter which we haue in handling which is what is lawful in this case and what is vnlawfull The which may easily and briefly bee determined if wee call to mind what I haue said before concerning the difference betwixt the seruants of God and the seruants of the diuell in this behalfe For seeing that there be three especiall things required in him that is a lawfull worker of miracles First that he haue an especiall calling from God secondly that the means and manner which he vseth be lawfull good godly and thirdly that he doth it to the glory of God and the edification of his Church whosoeuer wanteth any one of these three things in his working what words or characters or what meanes soeuer he vseth hee is but a charmer or inchanter and the meanes or manner which hee vseth are but meere charmes and inchantments and therefore vtterly vnlawfull and abominable before God Albeit some doe holde that the signe of the crosse is very effectuall in these cases as it is much vsed in charmes inchantments And to approoue their assertion they alleadge the figure which appeared vnto Constantine the great wherein it was said that hee should ouercome as it is in Latine in hoc signo vinces But this may be easily answered That it was not the signe of the crosse but of Christs name for the said figure was made of two greeke letters conioyned togither viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is manifest in Eusebius in the life of Constantine l. 1. cap. 22. 25. So that it is not signum crucis that did this but fides crucifixi or rather Christ himselfe And although it pleased God at that time to shew this signe of the crosse to that Emperour to confirme his faith yet it followeth not that that figure was to be vsed afterward to worke wonders by or that there was any such vertue therein Nay otherwhiles it commeth to passe that the same which God hath commaunded to be vsed for a time vpon especiall occasion knowne to himselfe alone and hath giuen vertue and power to it to worke some especiall good vnto his children doth after lose the same vertue is an occasion of falling to them that vse it as the brasen serpent which the Lord appointed to be set vp vpon a pole and whosoeuer then beeing bitten of the fiery serpents which are there spoken of did looke vpon it recouered health as it is in the booke of Numbers the 21. chapter vers 8. besides that it was a type of our Sauiour Christs passion as it is in the 3. chapter of Saint Iohns Gospel vers 14. Yet we cannot reade that euer afterward it wrought the like effect Yea Hezekiah seemeth to be commended in the second booke of the Kings cap. 18. ver 4. for breaking the same in pieces But let this suffice concerning their second reason The third argument which they vse to defend these sorcerers which they call cunning folkes is That they worke these things by the saith of miracles and therefore by no euill or diuellish meanes To this I answer That if their antecedent were true I could easily graunt their consequent But that by no possible meanes can be prooued by them For albeit our Sauiour Christ in the 17. chapter of the Gospel after S. Matthew vers 20. saith vnto his disciples Verily I say vnto you if ye had faith as much as is a graine of mustard-seede ye shall say to this mountaine remooue thy selfe hence to yonder place and it shall remooue and nothing shall be vnpossible vnto you Yet it followeth not that these cunning folke as they are termed doe worke by the said kinde of faith For our Sauiour Christ speaketh in that place vnto his disciples vpon whome he had bestowed the gift of working miracles before as it is in the 10 chapter of the Gospel by Saint Mathew and yet notwithstanding their faith wauered so that they could not cast out the diuell out of that childe as it is in the said 17. chapter of the Gospel after Saint Matthew Euen as we see also in Peter who although our Sauiour Christ in the 14. chapter of the said Gospel did bidde him come vnto him walking vpon the sea yet through infidelitie he had beene drowned if Christ had not taken him by the hand and as it were againe renewing his former faith and strengthening it For it is most certaine that no man liuing hath the faith of miracles except the Lord hath first giuen him the grace and gift of working miracles For seeing that faith is a beliefe and how can a man beleeue that which he knoweth not and how can he know without some especiall promise For to build his faith of miracles simply vpon the word of God alone as it is generally set downe in the scripture is not sufficient vnlesse he haue further an especiall promise or reuelation from God For otherwise euery one that beleeueth might
the same as also in the mylt An vlcer in the bladder likewise is thought vncurable especially if it be deepe In like manner no member which is altogither mortified can be recouered Now these aforesaid and such like diseases are iudged simply vncurable by reason that at no time nor in any person they are seene to bee healed But there are diuers and sundrie other maladies which are not simply and altogither so but onely in regard of some circumstances as the consuming feuer which is called febris hectica at the first is easily cured but after that it is confirmed it is past remedie as also that kinde of leprosie called Elephantiasis The gout likewise when as it hath continued so long that hard knobs or knots are of grosse humours ingendred in the ioynts is esteemed vncurable according to the saying of the Poet. Tollere nodosam nescit medicina podagram So there are many diseases which in young folks are healed but in olde persons they are vncurable and diuers kindes of feuers are cured in many persons but in some they admit no remedy as we see by daily experience and it is manifest by the 20. chap. of the second booke of the Kings that Ezechias was irrecouerably sicke and that as it is thought of a pestilent feuer from which oftentimes other are recouered by the helpe of medicines And albeit hee was restored to health againe and a medicine applyed vnto his disease yet was his sicknes deadly as it is in the first verse of the said chapter Neither was it cured by any naturall meanes but supernaturally as appeareth in the 5. verse where God saith that himselfe had healed him before that any naturall remedie at all was applyed vnto his sore There are many other vncurable diseases of both sorts the which it were too long and tedious here to recite none of all which beeing past remedy by naturall meanes can be healed by any charmer or sorcerer nor by the help of Satan or any other creature what soeuer but onely by the supernaturall power finger of God by the which all the holy Prophets Apostles and Saints of God from time to time haue wrought all their miracles and therefore the miracle of healing As for the outward meanes manner which they haue vsed which is the second thing which I obserued in these miracles it maketh nothing at all to the curing of any disease but whereas the eyes of our vnderstanding are so obscured blinded that they cannot see into the inward power and working of the spirit of God which is the onely author of this gift and grace of healing it pleaseth God otherwhiles to put into the mindes of his seruants in these cases to vse some outward sensible meanes by the view whereof as by certaine signes tokens men might bee admonished and further induced to a deeper consideration of Gods hidden working herein Not that any thing is effected by these meanes for then would the holy men of God haue vsed alwaies one and the selfe same outward meanes in producing of the same effects Or els all the same meanes are effectuall alwaies and in all persons But the first is false for our Sauiour Christ cured by his word onely and Peter in the 5. cap. Act. vers 15. is said to heale diseases euen with his shadow And heere Saint Paul is reported to haue cured them with napkins and partletes And as for the second we see it cannot be true by common experience for who cureth now by his shadow onely as Peter did Indeede many of our sorcerers will seeme like apes to imitate Saint Paul in this place sending napkins or cloathes vnto those that are sicke but their working is as I haue said before by naturall meanes For it seemeth very certaine in all reason That by the same meanes generally that the diuell inflicteth diseases vpon man or beast he doth expell and driue away the same Now it is euident by many examples that he inflicteth diseases by naturall meanes for Iohannes Langius in his 38. medicinall epistle reciteth an history of one Vlricke Neucesser who being extreamely pained in one of his sides vpon a time laid hold of a naile that lay vnder the skin there which naile when the chirurgion had cut out and the paine nothing allaied the man despairing of any recouery cut his owne throat and afterward being opened before his buriall in the presence of many by two chirurgions whom he there nameth there were found in his belly a long round piece of wood foure kniues of steele partly sharpe and partly nickt like a saw and two sharpe instruments of iron that were more then a spanne long and haire rowled together in forme like a ball So Anthonius Beneuenius de admirandis morborum causis telleth of a certaine woman of Florence who being pained with an exceeding great torment in her stomacke sodainely cast vp by vomit crooked nayles needles of brasse with waxe and lumpes of haire and lastly a piece of flesh so bigge that it was thought impossible to be auoided In like manner Benedictus Veronensis in his 7 booke and 25. chapter saith that he saw two women dwelling in the same towne and very familiar friends which being both extreamely vexed and tormented with vomiting one of them with much adoe cast vp a great needle or pinne wherewith women vse to trimme their haire being crooked after the manner of a hooke and wrapped together with the haire of a womans head wherein were infolded the pairings of nayles the which being voided she notwithstanding lay as it were strangled and so dyed the next night The other cast vp the haire of a womans head with pieces of glasse and three peices of a doggs taile dried with the haire vpon it which if they had beene set togither againe would haue made the length or quantitie of the whole taile There are many other such like examples of diseases laid vpon mortall men which might be brought to this purpose None of all which could possibly be done but by inchantment and yet we see that they were done or inflicted but onely by naturall meanes Neither can any man prooue the contrary as I thinke in any other The which if it be so then may we conclude that all these and such like which are done by inchantment are done by naturall meanes But some man may obiect and say That as one swallow maketh not summer so a few particular examples cannot inferre a generall conclusion To this I answer That many particular examples recited with the rest all are in generall implied so that there can no instance be brought to the contrary is a sufficient argument Besides this the very name giuen by men of former age in latine to magitians charmers sorcerers inchanters necromancers and such like calling them venehicos doth decipher the manner of their working as though they made and infused such matter or medicines as altereth the nature and temper of those things into which they