3. And as ignorance and irreligion meeting with a melancholick Constitution, doth frame many persons to strange fancies both of fear and credulity: so when to these is added the teachings of those that are themselves under a most strong passive delusion, then of all others these become most strongly confident that they can perform admirable things. As when a person hath by education suckt in all the grossest fables and lyes of the power of Witches and familiar Devils, and therein becometh extremely confident, heightned with the fumes of black Choler, and so thinks, meditates, and dreameth of Devils, Spirits, and all the strange stories that have been related of them, and becometh maliciously stirred up against some Neighbour or other: And so in that malicious and revengeful mind seeketh unto, and inquireth for some famed and notorious Witch, of whom they believe they may learn such craft and cunning, that thereby they may be able to kill or destroy the persons or goods of those that they suppose have done them injuries. Then meeting with some that are strongly deluded, and confidently perswaded, that they have the company and assistance of a familiar Spirit, by whose help they believe they can do (almost) any thing, especially in destroying men or cattel, they are presently instructed what vain and abominable Ceremonies, Observances, Unguents, Charms, making of Pictures, and a thousand such fond, odd fopperies they are to use, by which they believe they can do strange Feats. And from this do proceed their bold and confident confessions of lyes and impossibilities, that notwithstanding have abused so many to take them for certain truths: so that according to the Proverb, Popery and Witchcraft go by Tradition: and we shall find none of these deluded Witches (if they must be so called) but they have been taught by others, that thought themselves to be such also. And this is a truth, if we may trust the confession of Alizon Denice at the Bar at Lancaster, who saith thus: “That about two years agone her Grandmother called Elizabeth Sotheres, alias Dembdike, did (sundry times in going or walking together, as they went begging) perswade and advise this Examinate to let a Devil or a Familiar appear to her, and that she this Examinate would let him suck at some part of her, and she might have and do what she would.”
But besides these two sorts of Witches, whose Existence we deny not, there is an acceptation of the word Witch in another sense, the Existence of which I absolutely deny, and that is this according to Mr. Perkins. “A Witch is a Magician, who either by open or secret League wittingly and willingly consenteth to use the aid and assistance of the Devil in the working of Wonders.”
But the full Description and Notion that the common Witchmongers give a Witch is this. “That a Witch is such a person to whom the Devil doth appear in some visible shape, with whom the Witch maketh a League or Covenant, sometimes by Bond signed with the Witches blood, and that thereby he doth after suck upon some part of their bodies, and that they have carnal Copulation together, and that by virtue of that League the Witch can be changed into an Hare, Dog, Cat, Wolf, or such like Creatures; that they can flye in the air, raise storms and tempests, kill men or cattel, and such like wonders.” This notion of a Witch may be gathered from the Writings of these persons, Delrio the Jesuit, Bodinus, Jacobus Springerus, Johannes Niderus, Bartholomeus Spineus, Paulus Grillandus, Lambertus Danæus, Hemmingius, Erastus, Sennertus, and many others. As also from the Writings of our own Country-men, Mr. Perkins, Mr. Bernard of Balcombe, the Author of the Book called Demonology, Mr. Gaule, Mr. Giffard, and divers others, who have from one to another lickt up the Vomit of the first Broacher of this vain and false opinion, and without due consideration have laboured to obtrude it upon others. Yet was it in a manner rejected by the most of the Learned, who had duly weighed the matter, and read the strong and convincing arguments of Wierus, Tandlerus, Nymannus, Biermannus, Gutierrius, Mr. Scot, and the like, until of late years Dr. Casaubon and Mr. Glanvil have taken up Weapons to defend these false, absurd, impossible, impious, and bloody opinions withal, against whose arguments we now principally direct our Pen, and after the answering of their groundless and unjust scandals, we shall labour to overthrow their chief Bulwarks and Fortifications.
CHAP. III.
The denying of such a Witch as is last described in the foregoing Chapter, doth not infer the denying of Angels or Spirits. Apparitions no warrantable ground for a Christian to believe the Existence of Angels or Devils by, but the Word of God.
Of Credulity and Incredulity, pag. 7.
Preface.
Having declared in what sense and acceptation we allow of Witches, and in what notion we deny them, lest we be misunderstood we shall add thus much: That we do not (as the Schools speak) deny the existence of Witches absolutè & simpliciter, sed secundùm quid, and that they do not exist tali modo, that is, they do not make a visible Contract with the Devil, he doth not suck upon their bodies, they have not carnal Copulation with him, and the like recited before, and in these respects, and not otherwise, did Wierus, Gutierrius and Mr. Scot deny Witches, that is, that neither they nor their supposed Familiars could perform such things as are ascribed unto them. And that Dr. Casaubon and Mr. Glanvil should charge those that hold this opinion with Atheism or Sadducism, is to me very strange, having no ground, connexion, or rational consequence so to do: yet doth Dr. Casaubon affirm it in these words: “Now one prime foundation (saith he) of Atheism, as by many ancient and late is observed, being the not believing the existence of spiritual Essences, whether good or bad, separate, or united, subordinate to God, as to the supreme and original Cause of all; and by consequent the denying of supernatural operations: I have, I confess, applied my self, by my examples, which in this case do more than any reasoning, and (the Authority of the holy Scriptures laid aside) are almost the only convincing proof.” And Mr. Glanvil is so confident (I might justly say impudent) that he styled his Book, A Blow at modern Sadducism, which, I confess, is so weak a blow, and so blindly levell’d, and so improperly directed, that I am sure it will kill or hurt no body: and tells us this boldly and roundly. “And those that dare not bluntly say, There is no God, content themselves, (for a fair step and introduction) to deny there are Spirits or Witches. Which sort of Infidels, though they are not ordinary among the meer Vulgar, yet are they numerous in a little higher rank of understandings. And those that know any thing of the World, know that most of the looser Gentry, and the small Pretenders to Philosophy and Wit, are generally deriders of the belief of Witches and Apparitions.” And the whole design of his Book is to prove those men to be guilty of Sadducism, that deny the existence of Witches understood in his sense, and this we oppose, and the state of the question we lye down thus.
That the denying the existence of Angels or Spirits; or the Resurrection, doth not infer the denying of the Being of God; nor the denying of the existence of Witches (in the sense before laid down) infer the denying of Angels or Spirits; and that they do unjustly charge the Authors of this opinion with Sadducism, we shall prove with irrefragable Arguments.
Argum. 1.