The displaying of supposed witchcraft

by John Webster

Observ. 4.

4. The stories that he relateth are either all to be taken to be true, or none of them; and if they be all alike equally to be credited, then it will undeniably follow, that they were all alike produced by natural causes, and so no need at all of the Devils assistance in performing of them, no more than by working upon the minds of such as used those natural means to a wicked and mischievous end. For first he giveth these instances of things that were very strange that were voided either by vomit or stool, by the ordinary power of nature, without suspicion of diabolical cooperation, as the voiding of the piece of the brass Cannon with its letters, with the Eele wrapped in its secundines: The Dragon that the Oxe voided by taking three herbs, with a tail like an Eele, a body like or of leather, with a Serpentine head, and not less than a Partridge: The knife that the Thieves forced a man to swallow, which he voided by an Apostume in the side, and was after sound: also the arrow head of three fingers broad strucken into the back, and after voided by stool, with diverse such which we recited before. And that these being solid bodies should have penetrated and passed through parts that are impatient of wounds, and in which a wound is mortal, must of necessity be very wonderful, and might as soon and upon as rational grounds be taken to be diabolical, as those that he enumerateth to be so: For from these it is manifest that either nature put to her last pinch doth make penetration of dimensions, or else so inlarge the pores, that those solid bodies may pass without wound, which (if seriously considered) is a stupendious operation and effect. And as there needeth no cooperation of a diabolical power, for the performing of these, no more needeth there any concurrence of Devils to the others, that to that purpose he relateth. Only here is all the difference: these are wrought by the ultimate endeavour of the Archæus to save life; without the concurrence of external causes; the others (that are therefore called diabolical) are commonly wrought for a bad end, namely to hurt or to take away life, and have an external cause, to wit, the force of the Witches imagination and strong desire of doing of mischief, which is stirred up to that end by Satan, and therefore in regard of the end are devilish, though they be both wrought by the agency of nature, the one in the body of the imaginant, the other in the body that the Witch intendeth to hurt by the force of her imagination and vehement desire, whereby a seminal Idea is created or formed, which is sufficiently operative to accomplish the end intended.

Observ. 5.

Syl. Syl. Cent. 10. p. 556.

5. The arguments that he bringeth to prove penetration of dimensions to be in nature, or something equivalent thereunto, seem to be strong and convincing. For in the generation of things, whosoever shall seriously and strictly mark, shall find (as he alledgeth) that the spirit of the Archeus (though not altogether incorporeal) doth in the seeds of things penetrate it self, and their parts one another, which he further maketh good by the instance of Gold generated of water; for it must of necessity be, that more than fifteen parts of water must fall in or penetrate one another, that from thence one part of Gold may be made, for weight is not of nothing, but argueth the matter ponderous in the Ballance. Therefore naturally the water must so oft penetrate its body as the Gold doth preponderate the water. And though it be granted that the water hath pores, yet notwithstanding it cannot contain so much as fourteen times, it whole. And therefore he irrefragably concludeth: Est ergo ordinarium in natura, quod aliquæ partes aquæ se penetrent in unicum locum. And this he backs with an unanswerable story of a Woman that longing for Muscles, did in greediness eat some of them with the shells twice or thrice broken with her teeth, and that she brought forth a child with the same half eaten shells, and a wound in the belly; therefore those shells had penetrated the stomach, womb and secundines, or otherwise the force of the Archeus had opened the pores and letten them pass in an unconceiveable manner. So that if these things be granted to be true (and we confess we know not how they can be answered) then there need no diabolical power be brought to solve the injecting of strange things into mens bodies, seeing nature is sufficient of it self, and therefore we can allow no power at all unto Devils in effecting these things (if they be truly done, and be not delusions) but only in drawing the minds of the Witches to these wicked and mischievous courses; and therefore the Lord Bacon said profoundly and wisely these words: Ut in operationibus illis earumq; causis error cavendus est, ita quoq; danda vel imprimis opera est, ne effecta nobis imponant, temere judicantibus talia esse, quæ eousq; nondum processerunt. Sic prudentes judices, præscripta velut norma, fidem haberi temere nolunt confessionibus sagarum, nec etiam factorum contra illas probationi. Sagas enim turbat imaginationis vertigo, ut putent se illud facere, quod non faciunt, populumq; hîc ludit credulitas, ut naturæ opera imputent fascino.

Observ. 6.

6. And to confirm this point he addeth far more stupendious matters of fact than the former, of things that were within, being taken to without or invisibly conveyed away, as the woman at Mechlin that saw the Souldier in a conflict lose his hand, and forthwith brought forth a Daughter wanting an hand, which was never found, and the wench died of the Hæmorrhage. Another at Antwerpe seeing a Souldier begging with his right arm shot off and bloody, forthwith brought forth a Daughter wanting the right arm whose bloody shoulder the Chirurgeon cured, and she was married after; and that the arm was never found, neither did there appear any bones or putrefied matter into which the arm might waste. Also another Woman going to see the Decollation of thirteen men; did soon after bring forth a mature Child with a bloody neck, the head no where appearing. I confess it would rack the judgment even of the most credulous to the highest pitch to believe these unparallel’d Stories; but the Author relating them as of his own knowledge, and being a person of unquestionable veracity, I cannot conceive how they can rationally be denied, especially finding M^r Boyle to affirm, that in those experiments (much more relations of matters of fact) that Helmont avouched upon his own knowledge, he durst be his Compurgator. Who would not believe but that these things could never have been done, but by a supernatural and Diabolical power, but that this Author (to which all judicious persons in reason may adhere) doth utterly deny, that the arm was either pull’d away or conveyed none can tell whither, by Satan, and therefore that in such a strange Paradox, trivial reasons are not to be allowed; and it were too much sloathfulness to ascribe all effects unto Satan, of which we are ignorant. And therefore if an hand, an arm, nay an whole head, could be separated from the rest of the body, and conveyed forth of the Womb by the Archeus or natural spirit, thereunto excited by the impression of horror and terror in the Women: In like manner by the same power of the natural spirit of man or woman, excited by a vehement and fierce imagination to revenge and to do mischief, may strange things be injected (if there can be any sound proof of such a matter of fact) into the bodies of such men or women as the Witches intend to do hurt unto, and yet Satan hath no more hand in it, but only as a spiritual agent to move the wills of those wicked and malicious people to do mischief unto those that they hate, though without cause. And the great secret of that which may be called Witching, is the learning of others, who likewise have had it by tradition, the great force of imagination, and the natural spirit with the ways and means how to excite it and exalt it; herein stands the mystery of all Magick, and it becomes only evil in the use and application, and they are to be condemned that use it to such devillish ends, even as those that use those good Creatures that nature doth produce to poysonous, wicked, and destructive purposes. And lastly, here we may note, that if things or bodies that are without may be injected into the bodies of others, by the force of exalted, imagination and a vehement desire, then the same power that doth inject them through skin, flesh and bones, must also be able to bring them near to the place, and need not at all the assistance of Satan, because it is far easier to carry them near the place, than to thrust them into the body; and so this Author hath here introduced the Devils aid to bring them to the place to no purpose, and never yet proved either by reason or matter of fact, that ever Satan did any such thing, and so is a meer supposition without proof.

Observ. 7.

De occult. nat. mirac. l. 2. c. 40. p. 325.

De Tumor. l. 6. c. 19. p. 158.