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 Plebæi; 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 assumes 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 Passion, 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 passes 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 illustrate 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 God, 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 God, 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 God 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 God’s sake; torture, murther, starve to Death, mangle and macerate, and all for God, and God’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 Hell-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 God 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 God’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 God make Assignations 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?