As to the Difference between the several Devils that appear, it relates to the Office of the Persons who employ them; as Conjurers, who seem to command the particular Devil that waits upon them with more Authority, and raise them and lay them at Pleasure, drawing Circles, casting Figures, and the like; but the Witch, in a more familiar manner, whispers with the Devil, keeps the Devil in a Bag or a Sack, sometimes in her Pocket, and the like, and like Mr. Faux shews Tricks with him.
But all these Kinds deal much in Dreams, talk with the Devil in their Sleep, and make other People talk with him in their Sleep too; and ’tis on this Occasion I mention it here; in short, the Devil may well take this Opportunity with Mankind, for not half the World that came into his Measures would comply, if they were awake; but of that hereafter.
And yet his thus insinuating himself by Dream, does not seem sufficient, in my Opinion, to answer the Devil’s End, and to carry on his Business; and therefore we must be forc’d to allow him a Kind of actual Possession, in particular Cases, and that in the Souls of some People, by different Methods from others; Luther is of the Opinion that the Devil gets a Familiarity with some Souls just at, or rather before their being embodied; as to the Manner and Method how he gets in, that is another Question, and may be spoken of by it self; besides, why may not he, that at Satan’s Request to enter into the Herd of Swine, said go, give the same Commission to possess a sort of Creatures so many Degrees below the Dignity of the Gaderenian Swine, and open the Door too? but as for that, when our Lord said go, the Devil never enquir’d which Way he should get in.
When then I see Nations, or indeed Herds of Nations set on Fire of Hell, and as I may say, enflam’d by the Devil; when I see Towns, Parties, Factions and Rabbles of People visibly possess’d; ’tis enough to me that the great Master of the Devils has said to him, go; there’s no need to enquire which Way he finds open, or at what postern Gate he gets in; as to his appearing, ’tis plain he often gets in without appearing, and therefore the Question about his appearing still remains a Doubt, and is not very easy to be resolv’d.
In the Scripture we have some Light into it, and that is all the Help I find from Antiquity, and it goes a great Way to solve the Phænomena of Satan’s appearing; what I mean by the Scripture giving some Light to it, is this; ’tis said in several Places, and of several Persons, God came to them in a Dream, Gen. xx. 3. God came to Abimelech in a Dream by Night, Gen. xxxi. 24. And God came to Laban the Syrian in a Dream, Matt. ii. 13. The Angel of the Lord appear’d to Joseph in a Dream; short Comments are sufficient to plain Texts, applying this to my Friend when he wanted to be satisfied about the How, relating to his Dream (viz.) how he should come to Dream such wicked Things? I told him, in short, the Case was plain, the Devil came to him in a Dream by Night: How and in what manner he form’d the wicked Representations, and spread debauch’d Appearances before his Fancy, by real Whispers and Voice, according to Milton, or by what other Methods, the Learned are not arriv’d to any Certainty about it.
This leads me necessarily to enquire whether the Devil or some of his Agents are not always in our Company, whether they make any visible Appearances or no? For my Part I make no Question of it, how else could he come at the Knowledge of what we do; for as I can allow him no Prescience at all, as for many Reasons I have observ’d already, he must be able to see and know us, and what we are about when we know nothing of him, or else he could know nothing of us and our Affairs, which yet we find otherwise; and this gives him infinite Advantage to Influence our Actions, to judge of our Inclinations, and to bring our Passions to clash with our Reason, as they often do, and get the better of it too.
All this he obtains by his being able to walk about invisible, and see when he is not seen, of which I have spoken already; hence that most wise and solid Suggestion, that when the Candles burn blue the Devil is in the Room, which great Secret in Nature, that you may more fully be convinc’d of its imaginary Reality, I must tell you the following Story which I saw in a Letter directed to a particular Friend, take it Word for Word as in the Letter; because I do not make my self accountable for the Facts, but take them ad referendum.
Sir,
We had one Day, very early in the Morning, and for the most Part of the Day a great deal of Rain with a high Wind, and the Clouds very thick and dark all Day.
In the Evening the cloudy thick Weather continued, tho’ not the Rain, when being at a Friend’s House in —— Lane London, and several Ladies and some Gentlemen in the Room, besides two or three Servants (for we had been eating) the following Interlude happen’d for our Entertainment: When the Cloth was taken away, two large Candles were brought upon the Table and plac’d there with some Bottles and Glasses for the Gentlemen, who, it seems, were intending to drink and be very merry; two large Wax-Candles were also set on another Table, the Ladies being going to Cards, also there were two large Candles in Sconces over or near the Chimney, and one more in a Looking-Glass Sconce, on a Peer by the Window.