The History of the Devil Part 18

Antient Historians tell us, and from good Authority, that the DEVIL finding it for his Interest to bring his favourite _Mahomet_ upon the Stage, and spread the victorious Half-Moon upon the Ruin of the Cross, having with great Success, rais'd first the _Saracen_ Empire, and then the _Turkish_ to such a Height, as that the Name of Christian seemed to be extirpated in those two Quarters of the World, which were then not the greatest only, but by far the most powerful, I mean _Asia_ and _Africa_; having totally laid wast all those antient and flourishing Churches of _Africa_, the Labours of St. _Cyprian_, _Tertullian_, St.

_Augustine_, and 670 Christian Bishops and Fathers, who govern'd there at once, also all the Churches of _Smyrna_, _Philadelphia_, _Ephesus_, _Sardis_, _Antioch_, _Laodicea_, and innumerable others in _Pontus_, _Bithynia_, and the Provinces of the lesser _Asia_.

The _Devil_ having, I say, finish'd these Conquests so much to his Satisfaction, began to turn his Eyes Northward, and tho' he had a considerable Interest in the _Wh.o.r.e of Babylon_, and had brought his Power by the Subjection of the _Roman_ Hierarchy to a great Height, yet finding the Interest of _Mahomet_ most suitable to his _devilish_ Purposes, as most adapted to the Destruction of Mankind, and laying waste the World, he resolv'd to espouse the growing Power of the _Turk_, and bring him in upon _Europe_ like a Deluge.

In order to this, and to make Way for an easy Conquest, like a true _Devil_ he work'd under Ground, and sap'd the Foundation of the Christian Power, by sowing Discord among the reigning Princes of _Europe_; that so envying one another they might be content to stand still and look on while the _Turk_ devoured them one by one, and at last might swallow them up all.

This _devilish_ Policy took to his Heart's Content; the Christian Princes stood still, stupid, dozing, and unconcern'd, till the Turk conquered _Thrace_, over-run _Servia_, _Macedonia_, _Bulgaria_, and all the Remains of the _Grecian_ Empire, and at last the Imperial City of _Constantinople_ it self.

Finding this politic Method so well answer his Ends, the _Devil_, who always improves upon the Success of his own Experiments, resolv'd from that time to lay a Foundation for the making those Divisions and Jealousies of the Christian Princes immortal; whereas they were at first only personal, and founded in private Quarrels between the Princes respectively; such as _Emulation_ of one another's Glory, _Envy_ at the extraordinary Valour, or other Merit of this or that Leader, or _Revenge_ of some little Affront; for which notwithstanding, so great was the Piety of Christian Princes in those Days, that they made no Scruple to sacrifice whole Armies, yea, Nations, to their Piques and private Quarrels, _a certain Sign whose Management they were under_.

These being the Causes by which the DEVIL first sow'd the Seeds of Mischief among them, and the Success so well answering his Design, he could not but wish to have the same Advantage always ready at his Hand; and therefore he resolv'd to order it so, that these Divisions, which, however useful to him, were only personal, and consequently temporary, like an Annual in the Garden, which must be rais'd anew every Season, might for the future be national, and consequently durable and immortal.

To this end it was necessary to lay the Foundation of eternal Feud, not in the Humours and Pa.s.sions of Men only, but in the Interests of Nations: The Way to do this was to form and state the Dominion of those Princes, by such a Plan drawn in h.e.l.l, and laid out from a Scheme truly political, of which the _Devil_ was chief Engineer; that the Divisions should always remain, being made a natural Consequence of the Situation of the Country, the Temper of their People, the Nature of their Commerce, the Climate, the Manner of living, or something which should for ever render it impossible for them to unite.

This, I say, was a Scheme truly infernal, in which the _Devil_ was as certainly the princ.i.p.al Operator, to ill.u.s.trate great Things by small, as ever _John_ of _Leyden_ was of the High _Dutch_ Rebellion, or Sir _John B------t_ of the late Project, called the _South-Sea_ Stock. Nor did this Contrivance of the _Devil_ at all dishonour his Author, or the Success appear unworthy of the Undertaker; for we see it not only answer the End, and made the _Turk_ victorious at the same Time, and formidable to _Europe_ ever after, but it works to this Day, the Foundation of the Divisions remains in all the several Nations, and that to such a Degree that it is impossible they should unite.

This is what I hinted before, in which the _Devil_ was mistaken, and is another instance that he knows nothing of what is to come; for this very Foundation of immortal Jealousy and Discord between the several Nations of _Spain_, _France_, _Germany_, and others, which the _Devil_ himself with so much Policy contriv'd, and which serv'd his Interests so long, is now the only Obstruction to his Designs, and prevents the entire Ruin of the Reformation; for tho' the reform'd Countries are very Powerful, and some of them, as _Great Britain_ and _Prussia_ is particularly, more powerful than ever; yet it cannot be said that the Protestant Interests in general are stronger than formerly, or so strong as they were in 1623 under the victorious Arms of the _Swede_; On the other Hand, were it possible that the Popish Powers, to wit, of _France_, _Spain_, _Germany_, _Italy_ and _Poland_, which are intirely Popish, could heartily unite their Interests, and should join their Powers to attack the Protestants, the latter would find it very difficult, if not impossible, to defend themselves.

But as fatal as such a Union of the Popish Powers would be, and as useful as it would be to the _Devil_'s Cause at this time, not the _Devil_ with all his Angels are able to bring it to pa.s.s; no, not with all his Craft and Cunning; he divided them, but he can't unite them; so that even just as 'tis with Men, so 'tis with _Devils_, they may do in an Hour what they can't undo in an Age.

This may comfort those faint-hearted Christians among us, who cry out of the Danger of a religious War in _Europe_, and what terrible Things will happen when _France_, and _Spain_, and _Germany_, and _Italy_, and _Poland_ shall all unite; let this Answer satisfy them, The _Devil_ himself can never make _France_ and _Spain_, or _France_ and the Emperor unite; jarring Humours may be reconcil'd, but jarring Interests never can: They may unite so as to make Peace, _tho' that can hardly be long_, but never so as to make Conquests together; they are too much afraid of one another, for one to bear, that any Addition of Strength should come to the other. But this is a Digression. We shall find the _Devil_ mistaken and disappointed too on several other Occasions, as we go along.

I return to Satan's Interest in the several Governments and Nations, by vertue of his Invisibility, and which he carries on by Possession; 'tis by this Invisibility that he presides in all the Councils of _foreign Powers_, (for we never mean our own, that we always premise;) and what tho' it is alledged by the Criticks, that he does not preside, because there is always a President; I say, if he is not in the President's Chair, yet if he be in the President himself, the Difference is not much; and if he does not vote as a Counsellor, if he votes in the Counsellor, 'tis much the same; and here, as it was in the Story of _Ahab_ the King of _Israel_, as he was a _lying Spirit_ in the Mouths of _all his Prophets_, so we find him a Spirit of some particular evil Quality or other, in all the Transactions and Transactors on that Stage of Life we call the State.

Thus he was a dissembling Spirit in _Char._ IX. a turbulent Spirit in _Char._ V. Emperors; a bigotted Spirit of Fire and f.a.ggot in our Queen _Mary_; an apostate Spirit in _Hen._ IV.; a cruel Spirit in _Peter_ of _Castile_; a revengeful Spirit in _Ferdinand_ II.; a _Phaeton_ in _Lewis_ XIV.; a _Sardanapalus_ in _C------_ II.

In the Great Men of the World, take them a degree lower than the Cla.s.s of Crown'd Heads, he has the same secret Influence; and hence it comes to pa.s.s, that the greatest Heroes, and Men of the highest Character for Atchievements of Glory, either by their Virtue or Valour, however they have been crowned with Victories, and elevated by human Tongues, whatever the most consummate Virtues or good Qualities they have been known by, yet they have always had some Devil or other in them to preserve _Satan_'s Claim to them uninterrupted, and prevent their Escape out of his Hands; thus we have seen a b.l.o.o.d.y Devil in a _D'Alva_; a profligate Devil in a _Buckingham_; a lying, artful, or politick Devil in a _Richlieu_; a treacherous Devil in a _Mazarin_; a cruel, merciless Devil in a _Cortez_; a debauch'd Devil in an _Eugene_; a conjuring Devil in a _Luxemburg_; and a covetous Devil in a _M---------h_: In a word, tell me the Man, I tell you the Spirit that reign'd in him.

Nor does he thus carry on his secret Management by Possession in Men of the first Magnitude only, but have you not had Evidences of it among our selves? how has he been a _lying_ Spirit in the Mouths of our Prophets, a factious Spirit in the Heads of our Politicians, a profuse _Devil_ in a _B-----s_, a corrupt Devil in _M-----_, a proud Spirit in my Lord _Plausible_, a bullying Spirit in my Lord _Bugbear_, a talkative Spirit in his Grace the D---- of _Rattle-hall_, a scribling Spirit in my Lord _H------_, a run-away Spirit in my Lord _Frightful_; and so thro' a long Roll of Heroes, whose exceeding, and particular Qualifications proclaim loudly what Handle the _Devil_ took them by, and how fast he held them; for these were all Men of ancient Fame, I hope you know that.

From Men of Figure, we descend to the Mob, and 'tis there the same thing; Possession, like the Plague, is _Morbus Plebaei_; not a Family but he is a Spirit of Strife and Contention among them; not a Man but he has a Part in him; he is a drunken _Devil_ in one, a whoring _Devil_ in another, a thieving _Devil_ in a third, a lying _Devil_ in the fourth, and so on, to a thousand, and a hundred thousand, _ad infinitum_.

Nay, even the Ladies have their Share in the Possession; and if they have not the _Devil_ in their Heads, or in their Tails, in their Faces or their Tongues, it must be some poor despicable She-devil that Satan did not think it worth his while to meddle with; and the Number of those that are below his Operation, I doubt is very small. But that Part I have much more to say to in its Place.

From Degrees of Persons, to Professions and Employments, 'tis the same; we find the _Devil_ is a true Posture-master, he a.s.sumes any Dress, appears in any Shape, counterfeits every Voice, acts upon every Stage; here he wears a Gown, there a long Robe; here he wears the Jack-Boots, there the Small-Sword; is here an _Enthusiast_, there a _Buffoon_; on this Side he acts the _Mountebank_, on that Side the _Merry-Andrew_; nothing comes amiss to him, from the Great _Mogul_, to the _Scaramouch_; the _Devil_ is in them, more or less, and plays his Game so well that he makes sure Work with 'em all: He knows where the _Common Foible_ lies, which is UNIVERSAL Pa.s.sION, what Handle to take hold of every Man by, and how to cultivate his Interest so, as not to fail of his End, or mistake the Means.

How then can it be deny'd but that his acting thus _in tenebris_, and keeping out of the sight of the World, is abundantly his Interest, and that he could do nothing, comparatively speaking, by any other Method?

What would this publick Appearance have signified? Who would have entertain'd him in his own proper Shape and Person? Even B---- _B----_ himself, tho' all the World knows him to have a foolish _Devil_ in him, would not have been Fool enough to have taken him into his Service, if he had known him: And my Lord _Simpleton_ also, who _Satan_ has set up for a cunning Fool, seems to have it sit much better upon him now he pa.s.ses for a Fool of Art, than it should have done if the naked DEVIL had come and challenged him for a Fool in Nature.

Infinite Variety ill.u.s.trate the _Devil_'s Reign among the Sons of Men; all which he manages with admirable Dexterity, and a Slight particular to himself, by the mere Advantage of his present conceal'd Situation, and which, had he been obliged to have appear'd in Publick, had been all lost, and he capable of just nothing at all, or at least of nothing more than the other ordinary Politicians of Wickedness could have done without him.

Now, Authors are much divided as to the manner how the _Devil_ manages his proper Instruments for Mischief; for Satan has a great many Agents in the Dark, who neither have the DEVIL in them, nor are they much acquainted with him, and yet he serves himself of them, whether of their Folly, or of that other Frailty call'd Wit, 'tis all one, he makes them do his Work, when they think they are doing their own; nay, so cunning is he in his guiding the weak Part of the World, that even when they think they are serving G.o.d, they are doing nothing less or more than serving the _Devil_; nay, 'tis some of the nicest Part of his Operation, to make them believe they are serving G.o.d, when they do his Work. Thus those who the Scripture foretold should persecute Christ's Church in the latter Days, were to think they do G.o.d _good Service_: Thus the Inquisition, (for Example,) it may be, at this time, in all the acts of Christian Cruelty which they are so famous for (if any of them are ignorant enough not to know that they are _Devils_ incarnate) they may, for ought we know, go on for G.o.d's sake; torture, murther, starve to Death, mangle and macerate, and all for G.o.d, and G.o.d's Catholic Church; and 'tis certainly the _Devil_'s Master-piece to bring Mankind to such a Perfection of Devilism as that of the _Inquisition_ is; for _if the_ Devil _had not been in them_, could they christen such a _h.e.l.l-fire_ Judicature as the _Inquisition_ is, by the Name of _the Holy Office_?

And so in Paganism, how could so many Nations among the poor _Indians_ offer human Sacrifices to their Idols, and murther thousands of Men, Women and Children, to appease this G.o.d of the Air, when he is angry, if the _Devil_ did not act in them under the Vizor of Devotion?

But we need not go to _America_, or to the Inquisition, not to Paganism or to Popery either, to look for People that are sacrificing to the _Devil_, or that give their Peace-offerings to him, while they are offer'd upon G.o.d's Altar; are not our Churches (ay, and Meeting-houses too, as much as they pretend to be more sanctified than their Neighbours) full of _Devil_ Worshipers? Where do his Devotees gratulate one another, and congratulate him, more than at Church? where, while they hold up their Hands, and turn up their Eyes towards Heaven, they make all their Vows to Satan, or at least to the fair _Devils_ his Representatives, which I shall speak of in their Place.

Do not the Sons of G.o.d make a.s.signations with the Daughters of Men in the very House of Worship? Do they not talk to them in the Language of the Eyes? And what is at the Bottom of it, while one Eye is upon the Prayer-book, and the other adjusting their Dress? Are they not sacrificing to _Venus_ and _Mercury_, nay, and the very _Devil_ they dress at?

Let any Man impartially survey the Church-Gestures, the Air, the Postures and the Behaviour; let him keep an exact Roll, and if I do not shew him two _Devil_ Worshipers for one true Saint, then the Word _Saint_ must have another Signification than I ever yet understood it by.

The Church (as a Place) is the Receptacle of the Dead, as well as the a.s.sembly of the Living; what relates to those below, I doubt Satan, if he would be so kind, could give a better Account of than I can; but as to the Superficies, I pretend to so much Penetration as to tell you, that there are more Spectres, more Apparitions always there, than you that know nothing of the matter may be aware of.

I happen'd to be at an eminent Place of G.o.d's most devout Worship the other Day, with a Gentleman of my Acquaintance, who, I observed, minded very little the Business he ought to come about; first I saw him always busy staring about him and bowing this Way and that Way, nay, he made two or three bows and Sc.r.a.pes when he was repeating the Responses to the Ten Commandments, and a.s.sure you he made it correspond strangely, so that the Harmony was not so broken in upon as you would expect it should; thus; _Lord_, and a Bow to a fine Lady just come up to her Seat, _have Mercy upon us_; ---- three Bows to a Throng of Ladies that came into the next Pew altogether, _and incline_ ---- then stop'd to make a great Sc.r.a.pe to my Lord ----, _our Hearts_, just then the Hearts of all the Church were gone off from the Subject, for the Response was over, so he huddled up the rest in Whispers, for _G.o.d a Mighty_ could hear him well enough, _he said_, nay, as well as if he had spoken as loud as his Neighbours did.

After we were come home, I ask'd him what he meant by all this, and what he thought of it?

How could I help it, _said he_, I must not be rude.

What, _says I_, rude to who?

Why, _says he_, there came in so many she _Devils_ I could not help it.

What, _said I_, could not you help bowing when you were saying your Prayers?

O Sir! _says he_, the Ladies would have thought I had slighted them, I could not avoid it.

Ladies! _said I_, I thought you call'd them _Devils_ just now.

Ay, ay, _Devils_, _said he_, little charming Devils, but I must not be rude to them however.

Very well, _said I_, then you would be rude to _G.o.d a Mighty_, because you could not be rude to the Devil?

Why that's true, _said he_, but what can we do? there's no going to Church as the Case stands now, if we must not worship the _Devil_ a little between whiles.

This is the Case indeed, and Satan carries his Point on every Hand; for if the fair speaking World, and the fair looking World are generally _Devils_, that is to say, are in his Management, we are sure the foul speaking and the foul doing World are all on his Side, and you have then only the fair-doing Part of the World that are out of his Cla.s.s, and when we speak of them, _O how few!_

But I return to the _Devil_'s managing our wicked Part, for this he does with most exquisite Subtilty; and this is one Part of it, (_viz._) he thrusts our Vices into our Virtues, by which he mixes the Clean and the Unclean, and thus by the Corruption of the one, poisons and debauches the other, so that the Slave he governs cannot account for his own common Actions, and is fain to be oblig'd to his Maker to accept of the Heart without the Hands and Feet; to take, as we vulgarly express it, _the Will_ for the _Deed_, and if Heaven was not so good to come into that half in half Service, I don't see but the _Devil_ would carry away all his Servants: Here indeed I should enter into a long Detail of involuntary Wickedness, which in short, is neither more or less than the _Devil_ in every Body, ay, in every one of you, (our Governors excepted) take it as you please.

What is our Language when we look back with Reflection and Reproach on past Follies? _I think I was bewitch'd_, I was _posses'd_, _certainly the Devil was in me, or else I had never been such a Sot_: _Devil_ in you, Sir! Ay, who doubts it; you may be sure the _Devil_ was in you, and there he is still, and next Time he can catch you in the same Snare, you'll be just the same SOT that you say you were before.

In short, the _Devil_ is too cunning for us, and manages us his own Way; he governs the Vices of Men by his own Methods; tho' every Crime will not make a Man a _Devil_, yet it must be owned that every Crime puts the Criminal in some Measure into the Devil's Power, gives him a t.i.tle to the Man, and he treats him magisterially ever after.

Some tell us every single Man, every individual has a _Devil_ attending him, to execute the Orders of the (Grand Signior) Devil of the whole Clan; that this attending _evil Angel_, for so he is call'd, sees every Step you take, is with you in every Action, prompts you to every Mischief, and leaves you to do every Thing that is pernicious to your self; they also alledge that there is a good Spirit which attends him too, which latter is always accessary to every Thing that we do that is good, and reluctant to evil; If this is true, how comes it to pa.s.s that those two opposite Spirits do not quarrel about it when they are pressing us to contrary Actions, one good and the other evil? and why does the evil tempting Spirit so often prevail? Instead of answering this difficult Question, I shall only tell you, as to this Story of good and evil Angels attending every particular Person, 'tis a good Allegory indeed to represent the Struggle in the Mind of Man between good and evil Inclinations; but as to the rest, the best Thing I can say of it is, _that_ I think _'tis a Fib_.

But to take Things as they are, and only talk by way of natural Consequence, for to argue from Nature is certainly the best Way to find out the _Devil_'s Story; if there are good and evil Spirits attending us, that is to say, a good Angel and a _Devil_, then 'tis no unjust Reproach upon any Body to say, when they follow the Dictates of the latter, the _Devil_ is in them; or they are _Devils_; nay, I must carry it farther still, namely, that as the Generality and greatest Number of People do follow and obey the evil Spirit and not the good, and that the predominate Power is allowed to be the nominating Power; you must then allow, that in short, the greater Part of Mankind has the Devil in them, and so I come to my Text.

To this Purpose give me leave to borrow a few Lines of a Friend on this very Part of the Devil's Management.

To Places and Persons he suits his Disguises, And dresses up all his Banditti, Who as Pickpockets flock to a Country a.s.sizes, Croud up to the Court and the City.

They're at every Elbow and every Ear, And ready at every call, Sir; The vigilant Scout plants his Agents about, And has something to do with us all, Sir.

In some he has Part, and in some he's the Whole, And of some (like the Vicar of _Baddow_) It can neither be said they have Body or Soul, But only are _Devils_ in Shadow.

The Pretty and Witty, are Devils in Masque, The Beauties are meer Apparitions; The homely alone by their Faces are known, And the Good by their ugly Conditions.

The Beaus walk about like the Shadows of Men.

And wherever he leads 'em they follow, But tak'em and shak'em, there's not one in ten But's as light as a Feather and hollow.