sooner come into the quire, towards morning, to say their matins, than this deputy-apparition of Magdalen took up her wonted stall, and was seen devoutly tossing her beads amongst her sisters; so as they thought the Visitors had surely freed her of the crimes objected, upon her vehement penitence: but, hearing that Magdalen was still fast caged in her prison, they acquainted the Visitors with what they had seen, the morning before; who, upon full examination, found, that she had never looked out of the doors of her gaol. The process was at last sent up to Rome; whence, since the confession was voluntary, she had her absolution. A story of great note and use, for many occasions; and too well known to the world, to admit of either denial or doubt, and ratified, as by the known consent of the time, so by the faithful records of Zuingerus, Bodin, Reney, Goulartius. Lord God, what cunning conveyances are here of the foul spirit! what subtle hypocrisy! what powerful illusions! enough to make sanctity itself suspected; enough to shame the pretence of miracles. He can, for an advantage, be a holy Nun, as well as an ugly Moor: he can be as devout at Matins, Sacraments, Processions, as the best: what wonder? when he can, at pleasure counterfeit, an Angel of Light? In that glorious form, did he appear to Simon Stylites of old; to Gertrude of Westphalia, not without the entertainment of her joy and devotion: till Hermanus of Arnsburgh descried the fraud; and taught her to avoid it, by a means no less advantageous to that ill spirit, than her former devotion. Yea, yet higher, to Pachomius, and to Valens the monk, as Palladius reports, he durst appear and call for adoration; and had it, under the form of the Lord of Life, blessed for ever. How vain is the observation of those authors, who make this the difference, betwixt the apparitions of good angels and evil: That the good make choice of the shapes, either of beautiful persons, or of those creatures which are clean and hurtless; as of the shape of a lamb to Clement, or a hart to Eustace, or a dove to Gummarus : whereas the evil put themselves into the forms of deformed men, or of harmful and filthy beasts; as of a goat to the assembly of witches, of hogs in the churches of Agatha profaned by the Arians; of serpents, dragons, toads, and other loathsome and terrible creatures, to St. Hilary and Anthony, as Athanasius and Jerome, in their suppositious relations, have reported: and that, if at any time he take upon him the shape of a man, yet it is with some notable defect and incongruity of limbs*; as with a right-foot cloven, or with a whole hoof; never entirely hunian: when we see that the very glory of angels escapes not their counterfeisance. We know how easy it is for the Almighty to ordain some such mark to be set upon the false shapes of evil spirits, for their better discovery but why should we rather suppose this to be done, in the case of human bodies, than of heavenly angels? why more, in the resem * Est hæc res mirabilis, nunquam visos esse dæmones utroque pede humano ullibi apparuisse. Forner, de Ang, Ser, ix, SECT. IX. HOW WE ARE TO PROCEED AGAINST EVIL SPIRITS. We may not yield to that Evil One. Our next thought must be, how to oppose him. Our skilful Leader hath prescribed a spiritual panoply, both for defence and victory: The helmet of salvation; the breast-plate of righteousness; the girdle of verity; the sword of the Spirit, and above all, the shield of faith, wherewith we may be able both to quench and beat back the fiery darts of that wicked one. These, well put on and well managed, shall both secure us, and foil our adversary. But the art of repelling several temptations, is a long work, and worthy of a just volume. How we ought to deal with evil spirits, in their bodily apparitions and possessions, may be seasonable for our present enquiry. Whereas, then, there is pretended to be only a double way of proceeding for their ejection; the one by pact, the other by command: as the former is disclaimed, by all faithful Christians; so the other is wont to be challenged and practised, by some, who lay no small claim to holiness. This we call exorcism or conjuration: a course so well approved of the Churches of the Roman Correspondence, as that they make this office one of the seven stairs, whereby they ascend to their highest order: but so disrelished by us, that we ordinarily place conjurers in the same rank of sorcerers, and professors of the black and damned arts; although, indeed, upon a strict inquisition, we shall find them far different; for conjuration or exorcism implies a kind of force and violence, whereas those, that are in league with Satan, go on as upon a set match in a way cursedly amicable. This latter is heinously sinful; as being directly against the Divine Law, and a professed affront to the Majesty of God: the former, unjustifiable; as being without divine warrant. It is most true, that the disciples of Christ and their primitive successors ejected devils, by command; and could rejoice to see those evil spirits subjected to their over-ruling charge: but, withal, the same persons healed all diseases, were perfect poison proof, spake divers languages. Why should any in these latter times challenge a right of succession in one of these, and not claim it in the other? All these were given, with one and the same breath; continued, by the same power; called in and stinted, by the same providence, with their fellow-miracles. And, if still this privilege were ordinarily left in the Church, it were not a work for puisues and novices, but for the greatest masters and most learned and eminently-holy doctors, which the times can possibly yield. And, if this were really done, as is commonly vaunted by them; yet, with how much difference from the apostolic practice and issue! With them of old, there was no more but a word of command, and sooner come into the quire, towards morning, to say their matins, than this deputy-apparition of Magdalen took up her wonted stall, and was seen devoutly tossing her beads amongst her sisters; so as they thought the Visitors had surely freed her of the crimes objected, upon her vehement penitence: but, hearing that Magdalen was still fast caged in her prison, they acquainted the Visitors with what they had seen, the morning before; who, upon full examination, found, that she had never looked out of the doors of her gaol. The process was at last sent up to Rome; whence, since the confession was voluntary, she had her absolution. A story of great note and use, for many occasions; and too well known to the world, to admit of either denial or doubt, and ratified, as by the known consent of the time, so by the faithful records of Zuingerus, Bodin, Reney, Goulartius. Lord God, what cunning conveyances are here of the foul spirit! what subtle hypocrisy! what powerful illusions! enough to make sanctity itself suspected; enough to shame the pretence of miracles. He can, for an advantage, be a holy Nun, as well as an ugly Moor: he can be as devout at Matins, Sacraments, Processions, as the best: what wonder? when he can, at pleasure counterfeit, an Angel of Light? In that glorious form, did he appear to Simon Stylites of old; to Gertrude of Westphalia, not without the entertainment of her joy and devotion: till Hermanus of Arnsburgh descried the fraud; and taught her to avoid it, by a means no less advantageous to that ill spirit, than her former devotion. Yea, yet higher, to Pachomius, and to Valens the monk, as Palladius reports, he durst appear and call for adoration; and had it, under the form of the Lord of Life, blessed for ever. How vain is the observation of those authors, who make this the difference, betwixt the apparitions of good angels and evil: That the good make choice of the shapes, either of beautiful persons, or of those creatures which are clean and hurtless; as of the shape of a lamb to Clement, or a hart to Eustace, or a dove to Gummarus: whereas the evil put themselves into the forms of deformed men, or of harmful and filthy beasts; as of a goat to the assembly of witches, of hogs in the churches of Agatha profaned by the Arians; of serpents, dragons, toads, and other loathsome and terrible creatures, to St. Hilary and Anthony, as Athanasius and Jerome, in their suppositious relations, have reported: and that, if at any time he take upon him the shape of a man, yet it is with some notable defect and incongruity of limbs; as with a right-foot cloven, or with a whole hoof; never entirely hunian: when we see that the very glory of angels escapes not their counterfeisance. We know how easy it is for the Almighty to ordain some such mark to be set upon the false shapes of evil spirits, for their better discovery; but why should we rather suppose this to be done, in the case of human bodies, than of heavenly angels? why more, in the resem Est hæc res mirabilis, nunquam visos esse dæmones ullibi apparuisse. Forner. de Ang. Ser. ix. their fury. No sooner is this living spirit of ours dislodged from the body, than it is presented, as in a Privy Sessions, to her Judge; from whom she receives a speedy doom, of life, or death. The sentence is instantly seconded, with an answerable execution. The good angels are glad actors, in the happy instalment of the just, in their glory the evil angels seize upon the guilty soul, and drag it to their hell. For any third place, or condition; let them take thought, that believe it: for me, I must profess I never saw any colour of ground for it, in the Sacred Oracles of God; and shall not easily believe, that a truth, mainly importing us, would have been concealed from our eyes. Woe is me, what a doleful, what a dreadful spectacle is this, which is now presented to my soul! the burning Tophet; the bottomless pit; the lake of fire and brimstone; the region of horror and death: wherein there is the perfection of all more-than-conceiveable anguish; the full consummation of the divine vengeance to sinners: exquisiteness, eternity of torment; despair and impossibility of release, or intermission; perpetual dying, perpetual living in a death that never can end. How are my thoughts at a loss in this place of confusion! whether shall I more tremble, O God, at the consideration of thy terrible justice, or be swallowed up with astonishment of these infinite and intolerable sufferings? I should not know thee, if I did not, with holy Chrysostom, believe, that the utter loss of thy presence alone, is as a thousand hells: to be for ever banished from thy sight, in which is the fulness of joy, what can it be less, than fulness of torment? But, alas, this is far from a mere absence. The very sin of the damned is no small part of their hell: for as all their powers, parts, faculties, are as so many subjects of their insupportable pain and torture; so, out of that insufferable extremity, they conceive a desperate indignation and hatred against God: not, as he is in himself, infinitely good, for goodness can be no object of hate; but, as he is to them, a severe, though most just, avenger of sin: to which is ever added a will obstinately fixed in evil; while they were in their way, they were in a possibility of reclamation; now that they are in termino, they can be no other than they are. As, therefore, the glorified souls are in a condition, like to the angels of heaven: so the damned are in the state of devils; not more capable of avoiding torment, than sin; equally reserved in everlasting chains of darkness, to the judgment of the great day when, woe is me! that, which seemed little less than infinite, shail yet receive a further aggravation of pain and misery ; when the addition of the body shall give a further extent to this woeful cruciation, without all possibility of release for ever. : Alas, what anguish do I feel in myself, to see the body of a malefactor flaming at a stake! and yet this is but the act of a few minutes: for the air, so vehemently incended, instantly stops the passage of that free breath, which should maintain life; and the Hesh, by opposition of that combustible matter which encompasses sooner come into the quire, towards morning, to say their matins, than this deputy-apparition of Magdalen took up her wonted stall, and was seen devoutly tossing her beads amongst her sisters; so as they thought the Visitors had surely freed her of the crimes objected, upon her vehement penitence: but, hearing that Magdalen was still fast caged in her prison, they acquainted the Visitors with what they had seen, the morning before; who, upon full examination, found, that she had never looked out of the doors of her gaol. The process was at last sent up to Rome; whence, since the confession was voluntary, she had her absolution. A story of great note and use, for many occasions; and too well known to the world, to admit of either denial or doubt, and ratified, as by the known consent of the time, so by the faithful records of Zuingerus, Bodin, Reney, Goulartius. Lord God, what cunning conveyances are here of the foul spirit! what subtle hypocrisy! what powerful illusions! enough to make sanctity itself suspected; enough to shame the pretence of miracles. He can, for an advantage, be a holy Nun, as well as an ugly Moor: he can be as devout at Matins, Sacraments, Processions, as the best: what wonder? when he can, at pleasure counterfeit, an Angel of Light? In that glorious form, did he appear to Simon Stylites of old; to Gertrude of Westphalia, not without the entertainment of her joy and devotion: till Hermanus of Arnsburgh descried the fraud; and taught her to avoid it, by a means no less advantageous to that ill spirit, than her former devotion. Yea, yet higher, to Pachomius, and to Valens the monk, as Palladius reports, he durst appear and call for adoration; and had it, under the form of the Lord of Life, blessed for ever. How vain is the observation of those authors, who make this the difference, betwixt the apparitions of good angels and evil: That the good make choice of the shapes, either of beautiful persons, or of those creatures which are clean and hurtless; as of the shape of a lamb to Clement, or a hart to Eustace, or a dove to Gummarus : whereas the evil put themselves into the forms of deformed men, or of harmful and filthy beasts; as of a goat to the assembly of witches, of hogs in the churches of Agatha profaned by the Arians; of serpents, dragons, toads, and other loathsome and terrible creatures, to St. Hilary and Anthony, as Athanasius and Jerome, in their suppositious relations, have reported: and that, if at any time he take upon him the shape of a man, yet it is with some notable defect and incongruity of limbs; as with a right-foot cloven, or with a whole hoof; never entirely human: when we see that the very glory of angels escapes not their counterfeisance. We know how easy it is for the Almighty to ordain some such mark to be set upon the false shapes of evil spirits, for their better discovery: but why should we rather suppose this to be done, in the case of human bodies, than of heavenly angels? why more, in the resem Est hæc res mirabilis, nunquam visos esse dæmones utroque pede humano ullibi apparuisse. Forner. de Ang. Ser, ix, |