The Political History of the Devil

THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE DEVIL

was the Devil’s Craft, and so nicely did he bestir his ClovenHoof, that this Monarch died consolated (tho’ impenitent) in the Arms of the Church, and with the Benediction of the Clergy too, those second best Managers of the said Hoof in the World.

I must acknowledge, I agree with this Opinion thus far; namely, that the Devil acting by this Cloven-Foot, as a Machine, has done great Things in the World for the propagating his dark Empire among us; and History is full of Examples, besides the little low priz’d Things done among us; for we are come to such a Kind of Degeneracy in Folly, that we have even dishonour’d the Devil, and put this glorious Engine the Clo- ven-Foot to such mean Uses, that the Devil himself seems to be asham’d of us.

But to return a little to foreign History, besides what has been mention’d above, we find flaming Examples of most glorious Mischief done by this Weapon, when put into the Hands of Kings and Men of Fame in the World: How many Games have the Kings of France play’d with this Clo- ven-Foot, and that within a few Years of one another? First, Charles IX. play’d the Cloven-Foot upon Gaspar Coligni Admiral of France, when he caress’d him, complimented him, invited him to Paris, to the Wedding of the King of Navarre, call’d him Father, kiss’d him, and when he was wounded sent his own Surgeons to take Care of him, and yet three Days after order’d him to be assassinated and murther’d, used with a thousand Indignities, and at last thrown out of the Window into the Street to be insulted by the Rabble?

Did not Henry III. in the same Country, play the ClovenFoot upon the Duke of Guise, when he call’d him to his Coun-

301

DANIEL DEFOE

cil, and caus’d him to be murther’d as he went in at the Door? The Guises again plaid the same Game back upon the King, when they sent out a Jacobin Friar to assassinate him in his Tent as he lay at the Siege of Paris.

In a Word, this Opera of the Cloven-Foot has been acted all over the Christian World, ever since Judas betray’d the Son of God with a Kiss; nay, our Saviour says expresly of him, One of you is a Devil; and the sacred Text says in another Place, The Devil enter’d into Judas.

It would take up a great deal of Time and Paper too, to give you a full Account of the Travels of this Cloven-Foot; its Progress into all the Courts of Europe, and with what most accurate Hypocrisy Satan has made use of it upon many Occasions, and with what Success; but as in the elaborate Work of which I just now gave you a Specimen I design one whole Volume upon this Subject, and which I shall call, The compleat History of the Cloven-Foot; I say, for that Reason, and diverse others, I shall say but very little more to it in this Place.

It remains to tell you, that this merry Story of the ClovenFoot is very essential to the History which I am now writing, as it has been all along the great Emblem of the Devil’s Government in the World, and by which all his most considerable Engagements have been answer’d and executed; for as he is said not to be able to conceal this Foot, but that he carries it always with him, it imports most plainly, that the Devil would be no Devil if he was not a Dissembler, a Deceiver, and carried a double Entendre in all he does or says; that he cannot but say one Thing and mean another, promise one Thing and do another, engage and not perform, declare and not intend, and

302

THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE DEVIL

act like a true Devil as he is, with a Countenance that is no Index of his Heart.

I might indeed go back to Originals, and derive this ClovenFoot from Satan’s primitive State as a Cherubim or a celestial Being, which Cherubims, as Moses is said to have seen them about the Throne of God in Mount Sinai, and as the same Moses, from the Original represented them afterwards covering the Ark, had the Head and Face of a Man, Wings of an Eagle, Body of a Lion, and Legs and Feet of a Calf; but this is not so much to our present Purpose, for as we are to allow that whatever Satan had of heavenly Beauty before the Fall, he lost it all when he commenc’d Devil, so to fetch his Original so far up would be only to say, that he retain’d nothing but the Cloven-Foot, and that all the rest of him was alter’d and deform’d, become frightful and horrible as the DEVIL; but his Cloven-Foot, as we now understand it, is rather mystical and emblematick, and describes him only as the Fountain of Mischief and Treason, and the Prince of Hypocrites, and as such we are now to speak of him.

‘Tis from this Original all the hypocritic World copy, he wears the Foot on their Account, and from this Model they act: This made our blessed Lord tell them, the Works of your Father ye will do, meaning the Devil, as he had express’d it just before.

Nor does he deny the Use of the Foot to the meaner Class of his Disciples in the World, but decently equips them all upon every Occasion with a needful Proportion of Hypocrisy and Deceit; that they may hand on the Power of promiscuous Fraud thro’ all his temporal Dominions, and wear the Foot

303

DANIEL DEFOE

always about them as a Badge of their profess’d Share in whatever is done by that Means.

Thus every Dissembler, every false Friend, every secret Cheat, every Bearskin-Jobber has a Cloven-Foot, and so far hands on the Devil’s Interest by the same powerful Agency of Art, as the Devil himself uses to act when he appears in Person, or would act if he was just now upon the Spot; for this Foot is a Machine which is to be wound up and wound down, as the Cause it appears for requires; and there are Agents and Engineers to act in it by Directions of Satan (the grand Engineer) who lies still in his Retirement, only issuing out his Orders as he sees convenient.

Again, every Class, every Trade, every Shopkeeper, every Pedlar, nay, that meanest of Tradesmen, that Church Pedlar the Pope, has a Cloven-Foot, with which he Paw wa’s upon the World, wishes them all well, and at the same time cheats them; wishes them all fed, and at the same time starves them; wishes them all in Heaven, and at the same time marches before them directly to the Devil, alamode de Cloven-Foot.

Nay, the very Bench, the everliving Foundation of Justice in the World; how often has it been made the Tool of Violence, the Refuge of Oppression, the Seat of Bribery and Corruption, by this Monster in Masquerade, and that every where (our own Country always excepted)? They had much better wipe out the Picture of justice blinded, and having the Sword and Scales in her Hand, which in foreign Countries is generally painted over the Seat of those who sit to do Justice, and place instead thereof a naked unarm’d Cloven-Hoof, a proper Emblem of that Spirit that Influences the World, and of the Jus-

304

THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE DEVIL

tice we often see administred among them; human Imagination cannot form an Idea more suitable, nor the Devil propose an Engine more or better qualified for an Operation of Justice, by the Influence of Bribery and Corruption; it is this magnipotent Instrument in the Hands of the Devil, which under the closest Disguise agitates every Passion, bribes every Affection, blackens every Virtue, gives a double Face to Words and Actions, and to all Persons who have any Concern in them, and in a Word, makes us all Devils to one another.

Indeed the Devil has taken but a dark Emblem to be distinguish’d by, for this of a Goat was said to be a Creature hated by Mankind from the beginning, and that there is a natural Antipathy in Mankind against them: Hence the Scape Goat was to bear the Sins of the People, and to go into the Wilderness with all that Burthen upon him.

But we have a Saying among us, in Defence of which we must enquire into the proper Sphere of Action which may be assigned to this Cloven-Foot, as hitherto described: The Proverb is this; Every Devil has not a Cloven-Foot. This Proverb, instead of giving us some more favourable Thoughts of the Devil, confirms what I have said already, that the Devil rais’d this Scandal upon himself; I mean, the Report that he cannot conceal or disguise his Devil’s Foot, or Hoof, but that it must appear, under whatever Habit he shews himself; and the Reason I gave holds good still, namely, that he may be more effectually conceal’d when he goes abroad without it: For if the People were fully persuaded that the Devil could not appear without this Badge of his Honour, or Mark of his Infamy, take it as you will; and that he was bound also to shew it upon all Occasions,

305

CHAPTER VII

WHETHER IS MOST HURTFUL TO THE WORLD, THE DEVIL WALKING ABOUT WITHOUT HIS CLOVEN-FOOT, OR THE CLOVEN-FOOT WALKING ABOUT WITHOUT THE DEVIL?

In discussing this most critical Distinction of Satan’s private Motions, I must, as the Pulpit Gentlemen direct us, explain the Text, and let you know what I mean by several dark Expressions in it, that I may not be understood to talk (as the Devil walks) in the dark.

1.As to the Devil’s walking about.

2.His walking without his Cloven-Foot.

3.The Cloven-Foot walking about without the Devil. Now as I study Brevity, and yet would be understood too,

you may please to understand me as I understand my self, thus. 1. That I must be allow’d to suppose the Devil really has a full Intercourse in, and through, and about this Globe, with

Egress and Regress, for the carrying on his special Affairs,

307

DANIEL DEFOE

when, how, and where, to his Majesty, in his great Wisdom, it shall seem meet; that sometimes he appears and becomes visible, and that, like a Mastiff without his Clog, he does not always carry his Cloven-Foot with him. This will necessarily bring me to some Debate upon the most important Question of Apparitions, Hauntings, Walkings, &c. whether of Satan in human Shape, or of human Creatures in the Devil’s Shape, or in any other manner whatsoever.

2. I must also be allow’d to tell you that Satan has a great deal of Wrong done him by the general embracing vulgar Errors, and that there is a Cloven-Foot oftentimes without a Devil; or, in short, that Satan is not guilty of all the simple Things, no, or of all the wicked Things we charge him with.

These two Heads well settled will fully explain the Title of this Chapter, answer the Query mentioned in it, and at the same time correspond very well with, and give us a farther Prospect into the main and original Design of this Work, namely, The History of the Devil. We are so fond of, and pleased with the general Notion of seeing the Devil, that I am loth to disoblige my Readers so much as calling in question his Visibility would do. Nor is it my Business, any more than it is his, to undeceive them, where the Belief is so agreeable to them; especially since upon the whole ‘tis not one Farthing matter, either on one Side or on the other, whether it be so or no, or whether the Truth of Fact be ever discovered or not.

Certain it is, whether we see him or no, here he is, and I make no doubt but he is looking on while I am writing this Part of his Story, whether behind me, or at my Elbow, or over my Shoulder, is not material to me, nor have I once turned

308

THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE DEVIL

my Head about to see whether he is there or no; for if he be not in the Inside, I have so mean an Opinion of all his extravasated Powers, that it seems of very little Consequence to me what Shape he takes up, or in what Posture he appears; nor indeed can I find in all my Enquiry that ever the Devil appear’d (Qua Devil) in any of the most dangerous or important of his Designs in the World; the most of his Projects, especially of the significant Part of them, having been carried on another way.

However, as I am satisfied no Body will be pleas’d if I should dispute the Reality of his Appearance, and the World runs away with it as a receiv’d Point, and that admits no Dispute, I shall most readily grant the General, and give you some Account of the Particulars.

History is fruitful of Particulars, whether Invention has supply’d them or not, I will not say, where the Devil is brought upon the Stage in plain and undeniable Apparition: The Story of Samuel being rais’d by the Witch of Endor, I shall leave quite out of my List, because there are so many Scruples and Objections against that Story; and as I shall not dispute with the Scripture, so on the other hand, I have so much Deference for the Dignity of the Devil, as not to determine rashly how far it may be in the Power of every old (Witch) Woman, to call him up whenever she pleases, and that he must come, whatever the Pretence is, or whatever Business of Consequence he may be engaged in, as often as ‘tis needful for her to Pa wa for half a Crown, or perhaps less than half the Money.

Nor will I undertake to tell you, till I have talk’d farther with him about it, how far the Devil is concern’d to discover

309

DANIEL DEFOE

Frauds, detect Murthers, reveal Secrets, and especially to tell where any Money is hid, and shew Folks where to find it; ‘tis an odd thing that Satan should think it of Consequence to come and tell us where such a Miser hid a Strong Box, or where such an old Woman buried her Chamber Pot full of Money, the Value of all which is perhaps but a Trifle, when at the same time he lets so many Veins of Gold, so many unexhausted Mines, nay, Mountains of Silver, as, we may depend upon it, are hid in the Bowels of the Earth, and which it would be so much to the Good of whole Nations to discover, lie still there, and never say one Word of them to any Body. Besides, how does the Devil’s doing Things so foreign to himself, and so out of his way, agree with the rest of his Character; namely, shewing a kind of a friendly Disposition to Mankind, or doing beneficent Things? This is so beneath Satan’s Quality, and looks so little, that I scarce know what to say to it; but that which is still more pungent in the Case is, these Things are so out of his Road, and so foreign to his Calling, that it shocks our Faith in them, and seems to clash with all the just Notions we have of him, and of his Business in the World. The like is to be said of those little merry Turns we bring him in acting with us, and upon us, upon trifling and simple Occasions, such as tumbling Chairs and Stools about House, setting Pots and Vessels Bottom upward, tossing the Glass and Crokery Ware about without breaking; and such like mean foolish Things, beneath the Dignity of the Devil, who, in my Opinion, is rather employ’d in setting the World with the Bottom upward, tumbling Kings and Crowns about, and dashing the Nations one against another; raising Tempests and Storms, whether at Sea,

310