Of The Name Of The Devil His Original And The Nature Of His Circumstances Since He Has Been Called By That Name
The Scripture is the first writing on earth where we find the Devil
called by his own proper distinguishing denomination, DEVIL, or the [5]
Destroyer; nor indeed is there any other author of antiquity or of
sufficient authority which says any thing of that kind about him.
Here he makes his first appearance in the world, and on that occasion he
is called the Serpent; but the Serpent however since made to signify
br />
the Devil, when spoken of in general terms, was but the Devil's
representative, or the Devil in quo vis vehiculo, for that time,
clothed in a bodily shape, acting under cover and in disguise, or if you
will the Devil in masquerade: Nay, if we believe Mr. Milton, the
Angel Gabriel's spear had such a secret powerful influence, as to make
him strip of a sudden, and with a touch to unmask, and stand upright in
his naked original shape, meer Devil, without any disguises
whatsoever.
Now as we go to the Scripture for much of his history, so we must go
there also for some of his names; and he has a great variety of names
indeed, as his several mischievous doings guide us to conceive of him.
The truth is, all the ancient names given him, of which the Scripture is
full, seems to be originals derived from and adapted to the several
steps he has taken, and the several shapes he has appeared in to do
mischief in the world.
Here he is called the Serpent, Gen. iii. 1.
The old Serpent, Rev. xii. 9.
The great red Dragon, Rev. xii. 3.
The Accuser of the Brethren, Rev. xii. 10.
The Enemy, Matt. xxiii. 29.
Satan, Job i. Zech. iii. 1, 2.
Belial, 2 Cor. vi. 15.
Beelzebub, Matt. xii. 24.
Mammon, Matt. vi. 24.
The Angel of light, 2 Cor. xi. 14.
The Angel of the bottomless pit, Rev. ix. 11.
The Prince of the power of the air, Eph. ii. 2.
Lucifer, Isa. xiv. 12.
Abbaddon or Apollion, Rev. ix. 11.
Legion, Mark v. 9.
The God of this world, 2 Cor. iv. 4.
The Foul Spirit, Mark ix. 5.
The Unclean Spirit, Mark i. 27.
The Lying Spirit, 2 Chron. xxx.
The Tempter, Matt. iv. 3.
The Son of the morning, Isa. xiv. 12.
But to sum them all up in one, he is called in the new Testament plain
DEVIL; all his other names are varied according to the custom of speech,
and the dialects of the several nations where he is spoken of; But in a
word, Devil is the common name of the Devil in all the known
languages of the earth. Nay, all the mischiefs he is empowered to do,
are in Scripture placed to his account, under the particular title of
the Devil, not of Devils in the plural number, though they are
sometimes mentioned too; but in the singular it is the identical
individual Devil, in and under whom all the little Devils, and all
the great Devils, if such there be, are supposed to act; nay, they are
supposed to be govern'd and directed by him. Thus we are told in
Scripture of the works of the Devil, 1 John iii. 8. of casting out
the Devil, Mark i. 34. of resisting the Devil, James iv. 5. of our
Saviour being tempted of the Devil, Mat. iv. 1. of Simon Magus, a
child of the Devil, Acts xiii. 10. The Devil came down in a great
wrath, Rev. xii. 12. and the like. According to this usage in
speech we go on to this day, and all the infernal things we converse
with in the world, are fathered upon the Devil, as one undivided
simple essence, by how many agents soever working: Every thing evil,
frightful in appearance, wicked in its actings, horrible in its manner,
monstrous in its effects, is called the Devil; in a word, Devil is
the common name for all Devils; that is to say, for all evil Spirits,
all evil Powers, all evil Works, and even all evil things: Yet 'tis
remarkable the Devil is no old Testament word, and we never find it
used in all that part of the Bible but four times, and then not once in
the singular number, and not once to signify Satan as 'tis now
understood.
It is true, the Learned give a great many differing interpretations of
the word Devil; the English Commentators tell us, it means a
destroyer, others that it signifies a deceiver, and the Greeks derive
it from a Calumniator or false witness; for we find that Calumny was
a Goddess, to whom the Athenians built altars and offer'd Sacrifices
upon some solemn occasions, and they call her Diabole from
whence came the masculine Diabolos which we translate Devil.
Thus we take the name of Devil to signify not persons only, but
actions and habits; making imaginary Devils, and transforming that
substantial creature call'd DEVIL into every thing noxious and
offensive: Thus St. Francis being tempted by the Devil in the shape
of a bag of money lying in the highway, the Saint having discover'd
the fraud, whether seeing his Cloven-foot hang out of the purse, or
whether he distinguish'd him by his smell of sulphur, or how
otherwise, authors are not agreed; but, I say, the Saint having
discover'd the cheat, and out-witted the Devil, took occasion to
preach that eminent sermon to his disciples, where his Text was, Money
is THE DEVIL.
Nor, upon the whole, is any wrong done to the Devil by this kind of
treatment, it only gives him the sovereignty of the whole army of Hell,
and making all the numberless legions of the bottomless pit servants;
or, as the Scripture calls them, Angels to Satan the grand Devil;
all their actions, performances and atchievements are justly attributed
to him, not as the prince of Devils only, but the Emperor of Devils;
the prince of all the princes of Devils.
Under this denomination then of DEVIL, all the Powers of Hell, all the
Princes of the air, all the black armies of Satan are comprehended,
and in such manner they are to be understood in this whole work;
mutatis mutandis, according to the several circumstances of which we
are to speak of them.
This being premis'd, and my authority being so good, Satan must not
take it ill, if I treat him after the manner of men, and give him
those titles which he is best known by among us; for indeed having so
many, 'tis not very easy to call him out of his name.
However, as I am oblig'd by the duty of an Historian to decency as well
as impartiality, so I thought it necessary, before I used too much
freedom with Satan, to produce authentick Documents, and bring
antiquity upon the stage, to justify the manner of my writing, and let
you see I shall describe him in no colours, nor call him by any name,
but what he has been known by for many ages before me.
And now, though writing to the common understanding of my Readers, I am
oblig'd to treat Satan very coarsly, and to speak of him in the common
acceptation, calling him plain Devil, a word which in this mannerly
age is not so sonorous as others might be, and which by the error of
the Times is apt to prejudice us against his Person; yet it must be
acknowledg'd he has a great many other names and sirnames which he might
be known by, of a less obnoxious import than that of Devil, or
Destroyer, &c.
Mr. Milton, indeed, wanting titles of honour to give to the Leaders of
Satan's Host, is oblig'd to borrow several of his Scripture names, and
bestow them upon his infernal Heroes, whom he makes the Generals and
Leaders of the armies of Hell; and so he makes Beelzebub, Lucifer,
Belial, Mammon, and some others, to be the names of particular
Devils, members of Satan's upper house or Pandemonium; whereas
indeed, these are all names proper and peculiar to Satan himself.
The Scripture also has some names of a coarser kind, by which the
Devil is understood, as particularly, which is noted already, in the
Apocalypse he is call'd the Great Red Dragon, the Beast, the Old
Serpent, and the like: But take it in the Scripture, or where you will
in History sacred or prophane, you will find that in general the Devil
is, as I have said above, his ordinary name in all languages and in all
nations; the name by which he and his works are principally
distinguish'd: Also the Scripture, besides that it often gives him this
name, speaks of the works of the Devil, of the subtilty of the
Devil, of casting out Devils, of being tempted of the Devil, of
being possess'd with a Devil, and so many other expressions of that
kind, as I have said already, are made use of for us to understand the
evil Spirit by, that in a word, Devil is the common name of all wicked
Spirits: For Satan is no more the Devil, as if he alone was so, and
all the rest were a diminutive species who did not go by that name; But,
I say, even in Scripture, every Spirit, whether under his Dominion or
out of his Dominion, is called the Devil, and is as much a real
Devil, that is to say, a condemn'd Spirit, and employ'd in the same
wicked work as Satan himself.
His Name then being thus ascertain'd, and his Existence acknowledg'd, it
should be a little enquir'd what he is; we believe there is such a
thing, such a creature as the Devil, and that he has been, and may
still with propriety of speech, and without injustice to his Character
be call'd by his antient name Devil.
But who is he? what is his original? whence came he? and what is his
present station and condition? for these things and these enquiries are
very necessary to his History, nor indeed can any part of his History be
compleat without them.
That he is of an antient and noble original must be acknowledged, for he
is Heaven-born, and of Angelic Race, as has been touch'd already: If
Scripture-evidence may be of any weight in the question, there is no
room to doubt the genealogy of the Devil; he is not only spoken of as
an Angel, but as a fallen Angel, one that had been in Heaven, had
beheld the face of GOD in his full effulgence of glory, and had
surrounded the Throne of the most High; from whence, commencing rebel
and being expell'd, he was cast down, down, down, GOD and the Devil
himself only knows where; for indeed we cannot say that any man on Earth
knows it; and wherever it is, he has ever since man's creation been a
plague to him, been a tempter, a deluder, a calumniator, an enemy and
the object of man's horror and aversion.
As his original is Heaven-born, and his Race Angelic, so the Angelic
nature is evidently plac'd in a class superior to the human, and this
the Scripture is express in also; when speaking of man, it says, he
made him a little lower than the Angels.
Thus the Devil, as mean thoughts as you may have of him, is of a
better family than any of you, nay than the best Gentleman of you all;
what he may be fallen to, is one thing, but what he is fallen from,
is another; and therefore I must tell my learned and reverend friend
J. W. LL. D. when he spoke so rudely of the Devil lately, That in my
opinion he abus'd his Betters.
Nor is the Scripture more a help to us in the search after the Devil's
Original, than it is in our search after his Nature: it is true, Authors
are not agreed about his age, what time he was created, how many years
he enjoy'd his state of blessedness before he fell; or how many years he
continued with his whole army in a state of darkness, and before the
creation of man. 'Tis supposed it might be a considerable space, and
that it was a part of his punishment too, being all the while unactive,
unemploy'd, having no business, nothing to do but gnawing his own
Bowels, and rolling in the agony of his own self-approaches, being a
Hell to himself in reflecting on the glorious state from whence he was
fallen.
How long he remain'd thus, 'tis true, we have no light into from
History, and but little from Tradition; Rabbi Judah says, the Jews
were of the opinion, that he remain'd twenty thousand years in that
condition, and that the World shall continue twenty thousand more, in
which he shall find work enough to satisfy his mischievous desires; but
he shews no authority for his opinion.
Indeed let the Devil have been as idle as they think he was before, it
must be acknowledg'd that now he is the most busy, vigilant and
diligent, of all GOD's creatures, and very full of employment too,
such as it is.
Scripture indeed, gives us light into the enmity there is between the
two natures, the Diabolical and the Human; the reason of it, and how and
by what means the power of the Devil is restrain'd by the Messias;
and to those who are willing to trust to Gospel-light, and believe what
the Scripture says of the Devil, there may much of his History be
discover'd, and therefore those that list may go there for a fuller
account of the matter.
But to reserve all Scripture-evidence of these things, as a Magazine in
store for the use of those with whom Scripture-testimony is of force, I
must for the present turn to other enquiries, being now directing my
story to an age, wherein to be driven to Revelation and
Scripture-assertions is esteem'd giving up the dispute; people
now-a-days must have demonstration; and in a word, nothing will satisfy
the age, but such evidence as perhaps the nature of the question will
not admit.
It is hard, indeed, to bring demonstrations in such a case as this: No
man has seen GOD at any time, says the scripture, 1 John iv. 12. So
the Devil being a spirit incorporeal, an Angel of light, and
consequently not visible in his own substance, nature and form, it may
in some sense be said, no man has seen the Devil at any time; all
those pretences of phrenziful and fanciful people, who tell us, they
have seen the Devil, I shall examine, and perhaps expose by
themselves.
It might take up a great deal of our time here, to enquire whether the
Devil has any particular shape or personality of substance, which can
be visible to us, felt, heard, or understood; and which he cannot alter,
and then, what shapes or appearances the Devil has at any time taken
upon him; and whether he can really appear in a body which might be
handled and seen, and yet so as to know it to have been the Devil at
the time of his appearing; but this also I defer as not of weight in the
present enquiry.
We have divers accounts of Witches conversing with the Devil; the
Devil in a real body, with all the appearance of a body of a man or
woman appearing to them; also of having a Familiar, as they call it,
an Incubus or little Devil, which sucks their bodies, runs away with
them into the air, and the like: Much of this is said, but much more
than it is easy to prove, and we ought to give but a just proportion of
credit to those things.
As to his borrow'd shapes and his subtle transformings, that we have
such open testimony of, that there is no room for any question about it;
and when I come to that part, I shall be oblig'd rather to give a
history of the fact, than enter into any dissertation upon the nature
and reason of it.
I do not find in any author, whom we can call creditable, that even in
those countries where the dominion of Satan is more particularly
establish'd, and where they may be said to worship him in a more
particular manner, as a Devil; which some tell us the Indians in
America did, who worship'd the Devil that he might not hurt them;
yet, I say, I do not find that even there the Devil appear'd to them
in any particular constant shape or personality peculiar to himself.
Scripture and History therefore, giving us no light into that part of
the question, I conclude and lay it down, not as my opinion only, but as
what all ages seem to concur in, that the Devil has no particular
body; that he is a spirit, and that tho' he may, Proteus like, assume
the appearance of either man or beast, yet it must be some borrow'd
shape, some assum'd figure, pro hac vice, and that he has no visible
body of his own.
I thought it needful to discuss this as a preliminary, and that the next
discourse might go upon a certainty in this grand point; namely, that
the Devil, however, he may for his particular occasions put himself into
a great many shapes, and clothe himself, perhaps, with what appearances
he pleases, yet that he is himself still a meer Spirit, that he retains
the seraphic Nature, is not visible by our eyes, which are human and
Organic, neither can he act with the ordinary Powers, or in the ordinary
manner as bodies do; and therefore, when he has thought fit to descend
to the meannesses of disturbing and frightning children and old women,
by noises and knockings, dislocating the chairs and stools, breaking
windows, and such like little ambulatory things, which would seem to be
below the dignity of his character, and which in particular, is
ordinarily performed by organic Powers; yet even then he has thought fit
not to be seen, and rather to make the poor people believe he had a real
shape and body, with hands to act, mouth to speak, and the like, than
to give proof of it in common to the whole World, by shewing himself,
and acting visibly and openly, as a body usually and ordinarily does.
Nor is it any disadvantage to the Devil, that his Seraphic nature is not
confin'd or imprison'd in a body or shape, suppose that shape to be what
monstrous thing we would; for this would, indeed, confine his actings
within the narrow sphere of the organ or body to which he was limited;
and tho' you were to suppose the body to have wings for a velocity of
Motion equal to spirit, yet if it had not a power of invisibility too,
and a capacity of conveying it self, undiscover'd, into all the secret
recesses of mankind, and the same secret art or capacity of insinuation,
suggestion, accusation, &c. by which his wicked designs are now
propagated, and all his other devices assisted, by which he deludes and
betrays mankind; I say, he would be no more a Devil, that is a
Destroyer, no more a Deceiver, and, no more a Satan, that is, a
dangerous Arch enemy to the souls of men; nor would it be any difficulty
to mankind to shun and avoid him, as I shall make plain in the other
part of his History.
Had the Devil from the beginning been embodied, as he could not have
been invisible to us, whose souls equally seraphic are only prescrib'd
by being embody'd and encas'd in flesh and blood as we are; so he would
have been no more a Devil to any body but himself: The imprisonment in a
body, had the powers of that body been all that we can conceive to make
him formidable to us, would yet have been a Hell to him; consider him as
a conquer'd exasperated Rebel, retaining all that fury and swelling
ambition, that hatred of God, and envy at his creatures which dwells now
in his enrag'd spirit as a Devil: yet suppose him to have been
condemn'd to organic Powers, confin'd to corporeal motion, and
restrain'd as a Body must be supposed to restrain a Spirit; it must, at
the same time, suppose him to be effectually disabled from all the
methods he is now allow'd to make use of, for exerting his rage and
enmity against God, any farther than as he might suppose it to affect
his Maker at second hand, by wounding his Glory thro' the sides of his
weakest creature, MAN.
He must, certainly, be thus confin'd, because Body can only act upon
Body, not upon Spirit; no species being empower'd to act out of the
compass of its own sphere: He might have been empower'd, indeed, to have
acted terrible and even destructive things upon mankind, especially if
this body had any powers given it which mankind had not, by which man
would be overmatch'd and not be in a condition of self-defence; for
example, suppose him to have had wings to have flown in the air; Or to
be invulnerable, and that no human invention, art, or engine could hurt,
ensnare, captivate, or restrain him.
But this is to suppose the righteous and wise Creator to have made a
creature and not be able to defend and preserve him; or to have left him
defenceless to the mercy of another of his own creatures, whom he had
given power to destroy him; This indeed, might have occasion'd a general
idolatry, and made mankind, as the Americans do to this day, worship
the Devil, that he might not hurt them; but it could not have
prevented the destruction of mankind, supposing the Devil to have had
malice equal to his power: and he must put on a new nature, be
compassionate, generous, beneficent, and steadily good in sparing the
rival enemy he was able to destroy, or he must have ruin'd mankind: In
short, he must have ceas'd to have been a Devil, and must have
re-assum'd his original, Angelic, heavenly nature; been fill'd with the
principles of love to, and delight in the Works of his Creator, and bent
to propagate his Glory and Interest; or he must have put an end to the
race of man, whom it would be in his Power to destroy, and oblige his
Maker to create a new species, or fortify the old with some kind of
defence, which must be invulnerable, and which his fiery darts could not
penetrate.
On this occasion suffer me to make an excursion from the usual stile of
this Work, and with some solemnity to express my Thoughts thus:
How glorious is the wisdom and goodness of the great Creator of the
World! in thus restraining these seraphic OUTCASTS from the power of
assuming human or organic bodies! which could they do, envigorating them
with the supernatural Powers, which, as Seraphs and Angels, they now
possess and might exert, they would be able even to fright mankind from
the face of the Earth, and to destroy and confound God's Creation; nay,
even as they are, were not their power limited, they might destroy the
Creation it self, reverse and over-turn nature, and put the World into a
general conflagration: But were those immortal Spirits embodied, tho'
they were not permitted to confound nature, they would be able to
harrass poor weak and defenceless man out of his wits, and render him
perfectly useless, either to his Maker or himself.
But the Dragon is chain'd, the Devil's Power is limited; he has indeed a
vastly extended Empire, being Prince of the Air, having, at least, the
whole Atmosphere to range in, and how far that Atmosphere is extended,
is not yet ascertain'd by the nicest observations; I say at least,
because we do not yet know how far he may be allow'd to make excursions
beyond the Atmosphere of this Globe into the planetary Worlds, and what
power he may exercise in all the habitable parts of the solar system;
nay, of all the other solar systems, which, for ought we know, may
exist in the mighty extent of created space, and of which you may hear
farther in its order.
But let his power be what it will there, we are sure 'tis limited here,
and that in two particulars; first, he is limited as above, from
assuming body or bodily shapes with substance; and secondly, from
exerting seraphic Powers, and acting with that supernatural force,
which, as an Angel, he was certainly vested with before the fall, and
which we are not certain is yet taken from him; or at most, we do not
know how much it may or may not be diminish'd by his degeneracy, and by
the blow given him at his expulsion: this we are certain, that be his
Power greater or less, he is restrain'd from the exercise of it in this
World; and he, who was one equal to the Angel who kill'd 180000 men in
one night, is not able now, without a new commission, to take away the
life of one Job, nor to touch any thing he had.
But let us consider him then limited and restrained as he is, yet he
remains a mighty, a terrible, an immortal Being; infinitely superior to
man, as well in the dignity of his nature, as in the dreadful powers he
retains still about him; it is true the brain-sick heads of our
Enthusiasticks paint him blacker than he is, and, as I have said,
wickedly represent him clothed with terrors that do not really belong to
him; as if the power of good and evil was wholly vested in him, and that
he was placed in the Throne of his Maker, to distribute both punishments
and rewards; In this they are much wrong, terrifying and deluding
fanciful people about him, till they turn their heads, and fright them
into a belief that the Devil will let them alone, if they do such and
such good things; or carry them away with him they know not whither, if
they do not; as if the Devil, whose proper business is mischief,
seducing and deluding mankind, and drawing them in to be rebels like
himself, should threaten to seize upon them, carry them away, and in a
word, fall upon them to hurt them, if they did evil, and on the
contrary, be favourable and civil to them, if they did well.
Thus a poor deluded country fellow in our Town, that had liv'd a wicked,
abominable, debauch'd life, was frighted with an Apparition, as he
call'd it, of the Devil; He fancy'd that he spoke to him, and telling
his tale to a good honest christian Gentleman his neighbour, that had a
little more sense than himself; the Gentleman ask'd him if he was sure
he really saw the Devil? yes, yes, Sir, says he, I saw him very
plain, and so they began the following discourse.
Gent. See him! See the Devil! art thou sure of it, Thomas?
Tho. Yes, yes, I am sure enough of it, Master; to be sure 'twas the
Devil.
Gent. And how do you know 'twas the Devil, Thomas? had you ever
seen the Devil before?
Tho. No, no, I had never seen him before, to be sure; but, for all
that, I know 'twas the Devil.
Gent. Well, if you're sure, Thomas, there's no contradicting you;
pray what clothes had he on?
Tho. Nay, Sir, don't jest with me, he had no clothes on, he was
clothed with fire and brimstone.
Gent. Was it dark or day light when you saw him?
Tho. O! it was very dark, for it was midnight.
Gent. How could you see him then? did you see by the light of the fire
you speak of?
Tho. No, no, he gave no light himself; but I saw him, for all that.
Gent. But was it within doors, or out in the street?
Tho. It was within, it was in my own Chamber, when I was just going
into bed, that I saw him.
Gent. Well then, you had a candle, hadn't you?
Tho. Yes, I had a candle, but it burnt as blue! and as dim!
Gent. Well, but if the Devil was clothed with fire and brimstone, he
must give you some light, there can't be such a fire as you speak of,
but it must give a light with it.
Tho. No, no, He gave no light, but I smelt his fire and brimstone;
he left a smell of it behind him, when he was gone.
Gent. Well, so you say he had fire, but gave no light, it was a
devilish fire indeed; did it feel warm? was the room hot while he was in
it?
Tho. No, no, but I was hot enough without it, for it put me into a
great sweat with the fright.
Gent. Very well, he was all in fire, you say, but without light or
heat, only, it seems, he stunk of brimstone; pray what shapes was he in,
what was he like; for you say you saw him?
Tho. O! Sir, I saw two great staring saucer eyes, enough to fright any
body out of their wits.
Gent. And was that all you saw?
Tho. No, I saw his cloven-foot very plain, 'twas as big as one of
our bullocks that goes to plow.
Gent. So you saw none of his body, but his eyes and his feet? a fine
vision indeed!
Tho. Sir, that was enough to send me going.
Gent. Going! what did you run away from him?
Tho. No, but I fled into bed at one jump, and sunk down and pull'd the
bed-clothes quite over me.
Gent. And what did you do that for?
Tho. To hide my self from such a frightful creature.
Gent. Why, if it had really been the Devil, do you think the
bed-clothes would have secur'd you from him?
Tho. Nay, I don't know, but in a fright it was all I could do.
Gent. Nay, 'twas as wise as all the rest; but come, Thomas, to be a
little serious, pray did he speak to you?
Tho. Yes, yes, I heard a voice, but who it was the Lord knows.
Gent. What kind of voice was it, was it like a man's voice?
Tho. No, it was a hoarse ugly noise, like the croaking of a Frog, and
it call'd me by my name twice, Thomas Dawson, Thomas Dawson.
Gent. Well, did you answer?
Tho. No, not I, I could not have spoke a word for my life; why, I was
frighted to death.
Gent. Did it say any thing else?
Tho. Yes, when it saw that I did not speak, it said, Thomas Dawson,
Thomas Dawson, you are a wicked wretch, you lay with Jenny S---- last
night; if you don't repent, I will take you away alive and carry you to
Hell, and you shall be damned, you wretch.
Gent. And was it true, Thomas, did you lye with Jenny S---- the
night before?
Tho. Indeed Master, why yes it was true, but I was very sorry
afterwards.
Gent. But how should the Devil know it, Thomas?
Tho. Nay, he knows it to be sure; why, they say he knows every thing.
Gent. Well, but why should he be angry at that? he would rather did
you lye with her again, and encourage you to lye with forty whores, than
hinder you: This can't be the Devil, Thomas.
Tho. Yes, yes. Sir, 'twas the Devil to be sure.
Gent. But he bid you repent too, you say?
Tho. Yes, he threatn'd me if I did not.
Gent. Why, Thomas, do you think the Devil would have you repent?
Tho. Why no, that's true too, I don't know what to say to that; but
what could it be? 'twas the Devil to be sure, it could be nobody else?
Gent. No, no, 'twas neither the Devil, Thomas, nor any body else,
but your own frighted imagination; you had lain with that wench, and
being a young sinner of that kind, your Conscience terrified you, told
you the Devil would fetch you away, and you would be damn'd; and you
were so persuaded it would be so, that you at last imagin'd he was come
for you indeed; that you saw him and heard him; whereas, you may depend
upon it, if Jenny S---- will let you lye with her every night, the
Devil will hold the candle, or do any thing to forward it, but will
never disturb you; he's too much a friend to your wickedness, it could
never be the Devil, Thomas; 'twas only your own guilt frighted you,
and that was Devil enough too, if you knew the worst of it, you need
no other enemy.
Tho. Why that's true, Master, one would think the Devil should not
bid me repent, that's true; but certainly 'twas the Devil for all that.
Now Thomas was not the only man that having committed a flagitious
crime had been deluded by his own imagination, and the power of fancy,
to think the Devil was come for him; whereas the Devil, to give him his
due, is too honest to pretend to such things; 'tis his business to
persuade men to offend, not to repent; and he professes no other; he may
press men to this or that action, by telling them 'tis no sin, no
offence, no breach of God's Law, and the like, when really 'tis both;
but to press them to repent, when they have offended, that's quite out
of his way; 'tis none of his business, nor does he pretend to it;
therefore, let no man charge the Devil with what he is not concern'd in.
But to return to his Person, he is, as I have said, notwithstanding his
lost glory, a mighty, a terrible and an immortal Spirit; he is himself
call'd a Prince, the Prince of the Power of the Air; the Prince of
Darkness, the Prince of Devils, and the like, and his attending
Spirits are call'd his Angels: so that however Satan has lost the
glory and rectitude of his Nature, by his apostate state, yet he retains
a greatness and magnificence, which places him above our rank, and
indeed above our conception; for we know not what he is, any more than
we know what the blessed Angels are; of whom we can say no more than
that they are ministring Spirits, &c. as the Scripture has describ'd
them.
Two things, however, may give us some insight into the nature of the
Devil, in the present state he is in; and these we have a clear
discovery of in the whole series of his Conduct from the Beginning.
1. That he is the vanquish'd but implacable enemy of God his
Creator, who has conquer'd him, and expell'd him from the
habitations of bliss; on which account he is fill'd with envy,
rage, malice, and all uncharitableness; would dethrone God and
overturn the thrones of Heaven, if it was in his power.
2. That he is man's irreconcilable Enemy; not as he is a man, nor
on his own account simply, nor for any advantage he (the Devil) can
make by the ruin and destruction of man; but in meer envy at the
felicity he is supposed to enjoy as Satan's rival; and as he is
appointed to succeed Satan and his Angels in the possession of
those glories from which they are fallen.
And here I must take upon me to say, Mr. Milton makes a wrong judgment
of the reason of Satan's resolution to disturb the felicity of man; He
tells us it was meerly to affront God his Maker, rob him of the glory
design'd in his new work of creations and to disappoint him in his main
design, namely, the creating a new species of creatures in a perfect
rectitude of soul, and after his own image, from whom he might expect a
new Fund of glory should be rais'd, and who was to appear as the triumph
of the Messiah's victory over the Devil. In all which Satan could not be
fool enough not to know that he should be disappointed by the same
Power which had so eminently counter-acted his rage before.
But, I believe, the Devil went upon a much more probable design; and
tho' he may be said to act upon a meaner principle than that of pointing
his rage at the personal glory of his Creator; yet I own, that in my
opinion, it was by much the more rational undertaking, and more likely
to succeed; and that was, that whereas he perceived this new species of
creatures had a sublime as well as a human part, and were made capable
of possessing the mansions of eternal Beatitude, from whence, he
(Satan) and his Angels were expell'd and irretrievably banish'd; envy
at such a rival mov'd him by all possible artifice, for he saw him
deprived of capacity to do it by force, to render him unworthy like
himself; that bringing him to fall into rebellion and disobedience, he
might see his Rival damn'd with him; and those who were intended to fill
up the empty spaces in Heaven, made so by the absence of so many
millions of fallen Angels, be cast out into the same darkness with them.
How he came to know that this new species of creatures were liable to
such imperfection, is best explain'd by the Devil's prying, vigilant
disposition, judging or leading him to judge by himself; (for he was as
near being infallible as any of God's creatures had been) and then
inclining him to try whether it was so or no.
Modern Naturalists, especially some who have not so large a charity for
the fair sex, as I have, tell us, that as soon as ever Satan saw the
woman, and look'd in her face, he saw evidently that she was the best
form'd creature to make a Tool of, and the best to make a hypocrite of,
that could be made, and therefore the most fitted for his purpose.
1. He saw by some thwart lines in her face, (legible, perhaps, to
himself only) that there was a throne ready prepar'd for the sin of
pride to sit in state upon, especially if it took an early possession:
EVE you may suppose was a perfect Beauty, if ever such a thing may be
supposed in the human frame; her figure being so extraordinary, was the
groundwork of his project; there needed no more than to bring her to be
vain of it, and to conceit that it either was so, or was infinitely more
sublime and beautiful than it really was; and having thus tickl'd her
vanity, to introduce Pride gradually, till at last he might persuade
her, that she was really Angelic, or of heavenly Race, and wanted
nothing but to eat the forbidden fruit, and that would make her
something more excellent still.
2. Looking farther into her Frame, and with a nearer view to her
imperfections, he saw room to conclude that she was of a constitution
easy to be seduc'd, and especially by flattering her; raising a
commotion in her Soul, and a disturbance among her passions; and
accordingly he set himself to work, to disturb her repose, and put
dreams of great things into her head; together with something of a
nameless Kind, which (however, some have been ill-natur'd enough to
suggest) I shall not injure the Devil so much as to mention, without
better evidence.
3. But, besides this, he found, upon the very first survey of her
outside, something so very charming in her mein and behaviour, so
engaging as well as agreeable in the whole texture of her person, and
withal such a sprightly wit, such a vivacity of parts, such a fluency of
tongue, and above all, such a winning prevailing whine in her smiles, or
at least in her tears, that he made no doubt if he could but once delude
her, she would easily be brought to delude Adam, whom he found set not
only a great value upon her person, but was perfectly captivated by her
charms; in a word, he saw plainly, that if he could but ruin her, he
should easily make a Devil of her, to ruin her husband, and draw him
into any gulph of mischief, were it ever so black and dreadful, that she
should first fall into herself; how far some may be wicked enough, from
hence, to suggest of the fair sex, that they have been Devils to their
husbands ever since, I cannot say; I hope they will not be so unmerciful
to discover truths of such fatal consequence, tho' they should come to
their knowledge.
Thus subtle and penetrating has Satan been from the beginning; and who
can wonder that upon these discoveries made into the woman's inside, he
went immediately to work with her, rather than with Adam? not but that
one would think, if Adam was fool enough to be deluded by his wife,
the Devil might have seen so much of it in his countenance, as to have
encourag'd him to make his attack directly upon him, and not go round
about, beating the bush, and ploughing with the Heifer; setting upon the
woman first, and then setting her upon her husband, who might as easily
have been imposed upon as she.
Other Commentators upon this critical Text suggest to us, that Eve was
not so pleased with the hopes of being made a Goddess; That the pride of
a Seraphic Knowledge did not so much work upon her imagination to bring
her to consent, as a certain secret Notion infus'd into her head by the
same wicked instrument, that she should be wiser than Adam, and should
by the superiority of her understanding, necessarily have the government
over him; which, at present, she was sensible she had not, he being
master of a particular air of gravity and majesty, as well as of
strength, infinitely superior to her.
This is an ill-natur'd suggestion; but it must be confess'd the
impatient desire of government, which (since that) appears in the
general Behaviour of the sex, and particularly of governing husbands,
leaves too much room to legitimate the supposition.
The Expositors, who are of this opinion, add to it, that this being her
original crime, or the particular temptation to that crime; Heaven
thought fit to shew his justice, in making her more entire subjection to
her husband be a part of the Curse, that she might read her sin in the
punishment, (viz.) he shall rule over thee.
I only give the general hint of these things as they appear recorded in
the annals of Satan's first Tyranny, and at the beginning of his
government in the World; those that would be more particularly inform'd,
may enquire of him and know farther.
I cannot however, but observe here with some regret, how it appears by
the consequence, that the Devil was not mistaken when he made an early
judgment of Mrs. Eve; and how Satan really went the right way to
work, to judge of her; 'tis certain the Devil had nothing to do but to
look in her face, and upon a near steady view he might easily see there,
an instrument for his Turn; nor has he fail'd to make her a Tool ever
since, by the very methods which he at first proposed; to which,
perhaps, he has made some additions in the corrupting her composition,
as well as her understanding; qualifying her to be a compleat snare to
the poor weaker vessel MAN; to wheedle him with her Syren's voice,
abuse him with her smiles, delude him with her crocodile tears, and
sometimes cock her crown at him, and terrify him with the thunder of her
TREBLE; making the effeminated Male Apple-eater tremble at the noise
of that very Tongue, which at first commanded him to Sin. For it is yet
a debate which the Learned have not decided, whether she persuaded and
entreated him, or like a true she-tyrant, exercised her authority and
oblig'd him to eat the forbidden fruit.
And therefore a certain author, whose name, for fear of the Sex's
resentment I conceal, brings her in, calling to Adam at a great
distance, in an imperious haughty manner, beckoning to him with her
hand, thus; Here, says she, you cowardly faint-hearted wretch, take
this branch of heavenly fruit, eat and be a stupid fool no longer; eat
and be wise; eat and be a God; and know, to your eternal shame, that
your wife has been made an enlightn'd Goddess before you.
He tells you Adam hung back a little at first, and trembl'd, afraid
to trespass: What ails the SOT, says the new Termagant? what are you
afraid of? did God forbid you! yes, and why? that we might not be
knowing and wise like himself! What reason can there be that we, who
have capacious souls, able to receive knowledge, should have it
withheld? take it, you Fool, and eat; don't you see how I am exalted in
soul by it, and am quite another Creature? Take it, I say, or, if you
don't, I'll go and cut down the Tree, and you shall never eat any of it
at all, and you shall be still a fool, and be governed by your wife for
ever.
Thus, if this interpretation of the thing be just, she Scolded him into
it; Rated him, and brought him to it by the terror of her voice; a thing
that has retained a dreadful influence over him ever since; nor have the
greatest of Adam's Successors, how light soever some husbands make of
it in this age, been ever able, since that, to conceal their terror, at
the very Sound; nay, if we may believe history, it prevailed even among
the Gods; not all the noise of Vulcan's hammers could silence the
clamours of that outrageous whore his Goddess; nay, even Jupiter
himself led such a life with a termagant wife, that once, they say,
Juno out-scolded the noise of all his Thunders, and was within an ace
of brawling him out of Heaven. But to return to the Devil.
With these views he resolv'd, it seems, to attack the woman; and if you
consider him as a Devil, and what he aim'd at, and consider the fair
prospect he had of success, I must confess, I do not see who can blame
him, or at least, how any thing less could be expected from him; But we
shall meet with it again by and by.