The Political History of the Devil

THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE DEVIL

he chang’d Hands again, and went to work with the Clergy: To set the Doctors effectually together by the Ears, he threw in the new Notion of Primacy among them, for a Bone of Contention; the Bait took, the Priests swallow’d it eagerly down, and the Devil, a cunninger Fisherman than ever St. Peter was, struck them (as the Anglers call it) with a quick Hand, and hung them fast upon the Hook.

Having them thus in his Clutches, and they being now, as we may say, his own, they took their Measures afterwards from him, and most obediently follow’d his Directions; nay, I will not say but he may have had pretty much the Management of the whole Society ever since, of what Profession or Party soever they may have been, with Exception only to the Reverend and Right Reverend among our selves.

The Sacred, as above, being thus hook’d in, and the DEVIL being at the Head of their Affairs, Matters went on most gloriously his own way; first, the Bishops fell to bandying and Party-making for the Superiority, as heartily as ever Temporal Tyrants did for Dominion, and took as black and devilish Methods to carry it on, as the worst of those Tyrants ever had done before them.

At last Satan declar’d for the Roman Pontiff, and that upon excellent Conditions, in the Reign of the Emperor Mauritius; for Boniface, who had long contended for the Title of Supreme, fell into a Treaty with Phocas, Captain of the Emperor’s Guards; whether the Bargain was from Hell or not, let any one judge, the Conditions absolutely entitle the Devil to the Honour of making the Contract, viz. That Phocas first murthering his Master (the Emperor) and his Sons, Boniface should coun-

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tenance the Treason, and declare him Emperor; and in Return, Phocas should acknowledge the Primacy of the Church of Rome, and declare Boniface universal Bishop. A blessed Compact! which at once set the Devil at the Head of Affairs in the Christian World, as well Spiritual as Temporal, Ecclesiastick and Civil. Since the Conquest over Eve in Paradise, by which Death and the DEVIL, Hand in Hand, establish’d their first Empire upon Earth, the Devil never gain’d a more important Point than he gain’d at this time.

He had indeed prospered in his Affairs tolerably well for some time before this, and his Interest among the Clergy had got Ground for some Ages; but that was indeed a secret Management, was carried on privately, and with Difficulty; as in sowing Discord and Faction among the People, perplexing the Councils of their Princes, and secretly wheedling in with the dignified Clergy.

Also he had raised abundance of little Church-Rebel- lions, by setting up Hereticks of several Kinds, and raising them Favourers among the Clergy, such as Ebion, Cerinthius, Pelagius, and others.

He had drawn in the Bishops of Rome to set up the ridiculous Pageantry of the KEY; and while he, the DEVIL, set open the Gates of Hell to them all, set them upon locking up the Gates of Heaven, and giving the Bishop the Key; a Cheat which, as gross as it was, the DEVIL so gilded over, or so blinded the Age to receive it, that like Gideon’s Ephod, all the Catholick World went a whoring after the Idol; and the Bishop of Rome sent more Fools to the Devil by it than ever

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THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE DEVIL

he pretended to let into Heaven, though he open’d the Door as wide as his Key was able to do.

The Story of this Key being given to the Bishop of Rome by St. Peter, (who, by the way, never had it himself,) and of its being lost by Somebody or other, (the Devil it seems did not tell them who) and its being found again by a Lombard Soldier in the Army of King Antharis, who attempting to cut it with his Knife, was miraculously forced to direct the Wound to himself, and cut his own Throat; that King Antharis and his Nobles happened to see the Fellow do it, and were converted to Christianity by it, and that the King sent the Key, with another made like it, to Pope Pelagius, then Bishop of Rome, who thereupon assum’d the Power of opening and shutting Heaven’s Gates; and he afterwards setting a Price or Toll upon the Entrance, as we do here at passing a Turn-pike; these fine things, I say, were successfully managed for some Years before this I am now speaking of, and the Devil got a great deal of Ground by it too; but now he triumph’d openly, and having set up a Murtherer upon the temporal Throne, and a Church Emperor upon the Ecclesiastic Throne, and both of his own choosing, the Devil may be said to begin his new Kingdom from this Epocha, and call it the Restoration.

Since this time indeed the Devil’s Affairs went very merrily on, and the Clergy brought so many Gewgaws into their Worship, and such devilish Principles were mixt with that which we call’d the Christian Faith, that in a Word, from this Time the Bishop of Rome commenc’d Whore of Babylon, in all the most express Terms that could be imagin’d: Tyranny of the worst sort crept into the Pontificate, Errors of all sorts into

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the Profession, and they proceeded from one thing to another, till the very Popes, for so the Bishop of Rome was now called, by way of Distinction; I say, the Popes themselves, their spiritual Guides, profess’d openly to confederate with the Devil, and to carry on a personal and private Correspondence with him at the same time, taking upon them the Title of Christ’s Vicar, and the infallible Guide of the Consciences of Christians.

This we have sundry Instances of in some merry Popes, who, if Fame lies not, were Sorcerers, Magicians, had familiar Spirits, and immediate Conversation with the Devil, as well visibly as invisibly, and by this means became what we call Devils incarnate: Upon this account it is that I have left the Conversation that passes between Devils and Men to this Place, as well because I believe it differs much now in his modern State, from what it was in his ancient State, and therefore that which most concerns us belongs rather to this part of his History; as also because, as I am now writing to the present Age, I choose to bring the most significant Parts of his History, especially as they relate to our selves, into that Part of Time that we are most concern’d in.

The Devil had once, as I observ’d before, the universal Monarchy or Government of Mankind in himself, and I doubt not but in that flourishing State of his Affairs, he governed them like what he is (viz.) an absolute Tyrant; during this Theocracy of his, for Satan is call’d the God of this World, he did not familiarize himself to Mankind so much, as he finds Occasion to do now, there was not then so much need of it; he governed then with an absolute Sway; he had his Oracles, where he gave Audience to his Votaries like a Deity, and he had his Sub-

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Gods, who under his several Dispositions receiv’d the Homage of Mankind in their Names; such were all the Rabble of the Heathen Deities, from Jupiter the Supreme, to the Lares or Houshold Gods of every Family; these, I say, like Residents, received the Prostrations, but the Homage was all Satan’s; the Devil had the Substance of it all, which was the Idolatry.

During this Administration of Hell, there was less Witchcraft, less true literal Magick than there has been since; there was indeed no need of it, the DEVIL did not stoop to the Mechanism of his more modern Operations, but rul’d as a Deity, and receiv’d the Vows and the Bows of his Subjects in more State, and with more Solemnity; whereas since that, he is content to employ more Agents and take more Pains himself too; now he runs up and down Hackney in the World, more like a Drudge than a Prince, and much more than he did then.

Hence all those Things we call Apparitions and Visions of Ghosts, Familiar-Spirits and Dealings with the Devil, of which there is so great a Variety in the World at this Time, were not so much known among the People, in those first Ages of the Devil’s Kingdom; in a Word, the Devil seems to be put to his Shifts, and to fly to Art and Stratagem for the carrying on his Affairs, much more now than he did then.

One Reason for this may be, that he has been more discover’d and expos’d in these Ages, than he was before; then he could appear in the World in his own proper Shapes, and yet not be known; when the Sons of GOD appear’d at the divine Summons, Satan came along with them; but now he has plaid so many scurvy Tricks upon Men, and they know him so well, that he is oblig’d to play quite out of sight and act in

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CHAPTER II

OF HELL AS IT IS REPRESENTED TO US, AND HOW THE DEVIL IS TO BE UNDERSTOOD, AS BEING PERSONALLY IN HELL, WHEN AT THE SAME TIME WE FIND HIM AT

LIBERTY RANGING OVER THE WORLD

It is true, as that learn’d and pleasant Author, the inimitable Dr. Brown says, the Devil is his own Hell; one of the most constituting Parts of his Infelicity is, that he cannot act upon Mankind brevi Manu, by his own inherent Power, as well as Rage; that he cannot unhinge this Creation, which, as I have observ’d in its Place, he had the utmost Aversion to from its Beginning, as it was a stated Design in the Creator to supply his Place in Heaven with a new Species of Beings call’d Man, and fill the Vacancies occasion’d by his Degeneracy and Rebellion.

This fill’d him with Rage inexpressible, and horrible Resolutions of Revenge, and the Impossibility of executing those

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Resolutions torments him with Despair; this added to what he was before, makes him a compleat Devil, with a Hell in his own Breast, and a Fire unquenchable burning about his Heart.

I might enlarge here, and very much to the Purpose, in describing spherically and mathematically that exquisite Quality call’d a devilish Spirit, in which it would naturally occur to give you a whole Chapter upon the glorious Articles of Malice and Envy, and especially upon that luscious, delightful, triumphant Passion call’d REVENGE; how natural to Man, nay even to both Sexes; how pleasant in the very Contemplation, tho’ there be not just at that Time a Power of Execution; how palatable it is in it self, and how well it relishes when dish’d up with its proper Sauces, such as Plot, Contrivance, Scheme, and Confederacy, all leading on to Execution: How it possesses a human Soul in all the most sensible Parts; how it empowers Mankind to sin in Imagination, as effectually to all future Intents and Purposes (Damnation) as if he had sinned actually: How safe a Practice it is too, as to Punishment in this Life, namely, that it empowers us to cut Throats clear of the Gallows, to slander Virtue, reproach Innocence, wound Honour and stab Reputation; and in a Word, to do all the wicked Things in the World, out of the Reach of the Law.

It would also require some few Words to describe the secret Operations of those nice Qualities when they reach the human Soul; how effectually they form a Hell within us, and how imperceptibly they assimilate and transform us into Devils, meer human Devils, as really Devils as Satan himself, or any of his Angels; and that therefore ‘tis not so much out of the Way, as some imagine, to say, such a Man is an incarnate Devil; for

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as Crime made Satan a Devil, who was before a bright immortal Seraph, or Angel of Light; how much more easily may the same Crime make the same DEVIL, tho’ every Way meaner and more contemptible, of a Man or a Woman either? But this is too grave a Subject for me at this Time.

The Devil being thus, I say, fir’d with Rage and Envy, in consequence of his Jealousy upon the Creation of Man, his Torment is encreased to the highest by the Limitation of his Power, and his being forbid to act against Mankind by Force of Arms; this is, I say, part of his Hell, which, as above, is within him, and which he carries with him wherever he goes; nor is it so difficult to conceive of Hell, or of the Devil, either under this just Description, as it is by all the usual Notions that we are taught to entertain of them, by (the old Women) our Instructors; for every Man may, by taking but a common View of himself, and making a just Scrutiny into his own Passions, on some of their particular Excursions, see a Hell within himself, and himself a meer Devil as long as the Inflammation lasts; and that as really, and to all Intents and Purposes, as if he had the Angel (Satan) before his Face, in his Locality and Personality; that is to say, all Devil and Monster in his Person, and an immaterial but intense Fire flaming about and from within him, at all the Pores of his Body.

The Notions we receive of the Devil, as a Person being in Hell as a Place, are infinitely absurd and ridiculous; the first we are certain is not true in Fact, because he has a certain Liberty, (however limited that is not to the Purpose) is daily visible, and to be trac’d in his several Attacks upon Mankind, and has been so ever since his first Appearance in Paradise; as to

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his corporal Visibility that is not the present Question neither; ‘tis enough that we can hunt him by the Foot, that we can follow him as Hounds do a Fox upon a hot Scent: We can see him as plainly by the Effect, by the Mischief he does, and more by the Mischief he puts us upon doing, I say, as plainly, as if we saw him by the Eye.

It is not to be doubted but the Devil can see us when and where we cannot see him: and as he has a Personality, tho’ it be spirituous, he and his Angels too may be reasonably supposed to inhabit the World of Spirits, and to have free Access from thence to the Regions of Life, and to pass and repass in the Air, as really, tho’ not perceptible to us, as the Spirits of Men do after their release from the Body, pass to the Place (wherever that is) which is appointed for them.

If the Devil was confin’d to a Place (Hell) as a Prison, he could then have no Business here; and if we pretend to describe Hell, as not a Prison, but that the Devil has Liberty to be there, or not be there as he pleased, then he would certainly never be there, or Hell is not such a Place as we are taught to understand it to be.

Indeed according to some, Hell should be a Place of Fire and Torment to the Souls that are cast into it, but not to the Devils themselves; who we make little more or less than keepers and Turnkeys to Hell, as a Goal; that they are sent about to bring Souls thither, lock them in when they come, and then away upon the Scent to fetch more: That one Sort of Devils are made to live in the World among Men, and to be busy continually debauching and deluding Mankind bringing

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