But if the Devil can prompt us to dream, that is to say, to think, yet if he does not know our Thoughts, how then can he tell whether the Whisper had its Effect? The answer is plain, the Devil, like the Angler, baits the Hook, if the Fish bite he lies ready to take the Advantage, he whispers to the Imagination, and then waits to see how it works; as Naomi said to Ruth, Chap. iii. 5, 18. Sit still, my Daughter, until thou know how the Matter will fall, for the Man will not be at rest until he have finished the thing. Thus when the Devil had whisper’d to Eve in her Sleep, according to Milton, and suggested Mischief to her Imagination, he only sat still to see how the Matter would work, for he knew if it took with her, he should hear more of it; and then by finding her alone the next Day, without her ordinary Guard her Husband, he presently concluded she had swallowed the Bait, and so attack’d her afresh.
A small deal of Craft, and less by far than we have reason to believe the Devil is Master of, will serve to discover whether such and such Thoughts as he knows he has suggested, have taken Place or no; the Action of the Person presently discovers it, at least to him that lies always upon the Watch, and has every Word, every Gesture, every Step we take subsequent to his Operation, open to him; it may therefore, for ought we know, be a great Mistake, and what most of us are guilty of, to tell our Dreams to one another in the Morning, after we have been disturb’d with them in the Night; for if the Devil converses with us so insensibly as some are of the Opinion he does, that is to say, if he can hear as far as we can see, we may be telling our Story to him indeed, when we think we are only talking to one another.
This brings me most naturally to the important Enquiry, whether the Devil can walk about the World invisibly or no? The Truth is, this is no question to me; for as I have taken away his Visibility already, and have denied him all Prescience of Futurity too, and have prov’d he cannot know our Thoughts, nor put any Force upon Persons or Actions, if we should take away his Invisibility too, we should undevil him quite, to all Intents and Purposes, as to any Mischief he could do; nay, it would banish him the World, and he might e’en go and seek his Fortune some where else; for if he could neither be visible or invisible, neither act in publick or in private, he could neither have Business or Being in this Sphere, nor could we be any way concern’d with him.
The Devil therefore most certainly has a Power and Liberty of moving about in this World, after some manner or another; this is verify’d as well by way of Allegory, as by way of History, in the Scripture it self; and as the first strongly suggests and supposes it to be so, the last positively asserts it; and, not to croud this Work with Quotations from a Book which we have not much to do with in the Devil’s Story, at least not much to his Satisfaction, I only hint his personal Appearance to our Saviour in the Wilderness, where it is said, the Devil taketh him up to an exceeding high Mountain; and in another Place, the Devil departed from him. What Shape or Figure he appear’d in, we do not find mentioned, but I cannot doubt his appearing to him there, any more than I can his talking to our Saviour in the Mouths, and with the Voices of the several Persons who were under the terrible Affliction of an actual Possession.
These Things leave us no room to doubt of what is advanced above, namely, that he, (the Devil) has a certain Residence, or Liberty of residing in, and moving about upon the Surface of this Earth, as well as in the Compass of the Atmosphere, vulgarly call’d the Air, in some manner or other: That is the general.
It remains to enquire into the manner, which I resolve into two Kinds;
1. Ordinary, which I suppose to be his invisible Motions as a Spirit; under which Consideration I suppose him to have an unconfin’d, unlimited, unrestrain’d Liberty, as to the manner of acting; and this either in Persons, by Possession; or in Things, by Agitation.
2. Extraordinary; which I understand to be his Appearances in borrowed Shapes and Bodies, or Shadows rather of Bodies; assuming Speech, Figure, Posture, and Several Powers, of which we can give little or no Account; in which extraordinary manner of Appearances, he is either limited by a Superior Power, or limits himself politically, as being not the Way most for his Interest or Purpose, to act in his Business, which is more effectually done in his State of Obscurity.
Hence we must suppose the Devil has it very much in his own Choice, whether to act in one Capacity, or in the other, or in both; that is to say, of appearing, and not appearing, as he finds for his Purpose: In this State of Invisibility, and under the Operation of these Powers and Liberties, he performs all his Functions and Offices, as Devil, as Prince of Darkness, as God of this World, as Tempter, Accuser, Deceiver, and all whatsoever other Names of Office, or Titles of Honour he is known by.
Now taking him in this large unlimited, or little limited State of Action, he is well call’d, the God of this World, for he has very much of the Attribute of Omnipresence, and may be said, either by himself or his Agents, to be every where, and see every thing; that is to say, every thing that is visible; for I cannot allow him any Share of Omniscience at all.