Some little Dog-kennel Devil may indeed take up his Quarters in or near him, and so run into and out of him as his Drum beats a Call; but to him that was born a Devil, Satan, that never acts to no purpose, cou’d not think him worth being possess’d by any thing better than a Devil of a dirty Quality; that is to say, a Spirit too mean to wear the Name of Devil, without some Badge or Addition of Infamy and Meanness to distinguish it by.
Thus what Devil of Quality would be confin’d to a P————n, who inheriting all the Pride and Insolence of his Ancestors, without one of their good Qualities; the Bully, the Billingsgate, and all the hereditary ill Language of his Family, without an Ounce of their Courage; that has been rescued five or six times from the Scandal of a Coward, by the Bravery, and at the Hazard of Friends, and never fail’d to be ungrateful; that if ever he committed a Murther, did it in cold Blood, because no body could prove he ever had any hot; who possess’d with a Poltroon Devil, was always wickeder in the Dark, than he durst be by Day-light; and who, after innumerable passive Sufferings, has been turned out of human Society, because he could not be kick’d or cuff’d either into good Manners or good Humour.
To say this was a Devil, an Apparition, or even a half Devil, would be unkind to Satan himself, since tho’ he (the Devil) has so many Millions of inferior Devils under his Command, not one cou’d be found base enough to match him, nor one Devil found but what would think himself dishonour’d to be employ’d about him.
Some merry good-for-nothing Devils we have indeed, which we might, if we had room, speak of at large, and divert you too with the Relation, such as my Lady Hatt’s Devil in Essex, who upon laying a Joiner’s Mallet in the Window of a certain Chamber, would come very orderly and knock with it all Night upon the Window, or against the Wainscot, and disturb the Neighbourhood, and then go away in the Morning, as well satisfied as may be; whereas if the Mallet was not left, he would think himself affronted, and be as unsufferable and terrifying as possible, breaking the Windows, splitting the Wainscot, committing all the Disorders, and doing all the Damage that he was able to the House, and to the Goods in it. And again, such as the Druming Devil in the Well at Oundle in Northamptonshire, and such like.
A great many antick Devils have been seen also, who seem’d to have little or nothing to do, but only to assure us that they can appear if they please, and that there is a Reality in the thing call’d Apparition.
As to Shadows of Devils, and imaginary Appearances, such as appear, and yet are invisible at the same time, I had thought to have bestow’d a Chapter upon them by themselves, but it may be as much to the Purpose to let them alone, as to meddle with them; ’tis said our old Friend Luther used to be exceedingly troubled with such invisible Apparitions, and he tells us much of them, in what they call his Table-talk; but with Master Luther’s leave, tho’ the Devil passes for a very great Lyar, I could swallow many things of his own proper making, as soon as some of those I find in a Book that goes by his Name, particularly the Story of the Devil in a Basket, the Child flying out of the Cradle, and the like.
In a word, the walking Devils that we have generally among us, are of the female Sex; whether it be that the Devil finds less Difficulty to manage them, or that he lives quieter with them, or that they are fitter for his Business than the Men, I shall not now enter into a Dispute about that; perhaps he goes better disguis’d in the fair Sex than otherwise; Antiquity gives us many Histories of She-Devils, such as we can very seldom match for Wickedness among the Men; such now as in the Text, Lot’s Daughters, Joseph’s Mistress, Sampson’s Dalilah, Herod’s Herodias, these were certainly Devils, or play’d the Devil sufficiently in their Turn; one Male Apparition indeed the Scripture furnishes you with, and that is Judas; for his Master says expresly of him, One of you is a Devil; not has the Devil, or is possess’d of the Devil; but really is a Devil, or is a real Devil.
How happy is it, that this great Secret comes thus to be discover’d to mankind? Certainly the World has gone on in Ignorance a long time, and at a strange rate, that we should have so many Devils continually walking about among us in humane Shape, and we know it not.
Philosophers tell us that there is a World of Spirits, and many learned Pieces of Guess-work they make at it, representing the World to be so near us, that the Air, as they describe it, must be full of Dragons and Devils, enough to fright our Imaginations with the very Thoughts of them; and if they say true, ’tis our great Felicity that we cannot see any farther into it than we do, which if we could, would appear as frightful as Hell itself; but none of those Sages ever told us, till now, that half the People who converse with us are Apparitions, especially of the Women; and among them especially this valuable Part, the Woman of Figure, the fair, the beautiful, or patch’d and painted.
This unusual Phænomenon has been seen but a little while, and but a little way, and the general Part of Mankind cannot come into the same Notions about it; nay, perhaps they will all think it strange; but be it as strange as it will, the Nature of the Thing confirms it, this lower Sphere is full of Devils; and some of both Sexes have given strange Testimonies of the Reality of their pre-existent Devilism for many Ages past, tho’ I think it never came to that Height as it has now.