Satans Temptations in Three Parts, Part 1 · Chapter 6
CHAP. VI. Of Satan's Cruelty. Inſtances thereof in his dealing with wounded Spirits, in ordinary Temptations of the Wicked and Godly, in Perſecutions, Cruelties in Worſhip. His cruel handling of his Slaves.
HE that ſhall conſider his Malice and Power, muſt unavoidably conclude him to be cruel. Malice is always ſo, where it hath the advantage of a proportionable ſtrength and opportunity for the effecting of its hateful Contrivances: It baniſheth all pity and commiſeration, and follows only the dictate of its own rage with ſuch fierceneſs, that it is only limited by wanting power to execute. We may then ſay of Satan, That according to his Malice and Power ſuch in his Cruelty. The truth of this will be abundantly manifeſted by Inſtances: As,
Firſt, From his deſperate purſuits of Advantage, upon thoſe whoſe Spirits are wounded. The anguiſh of a diſtreſſed Conſcience is unſpeakably great, in ſo much, that many are (as Heman, Pſalm. 88. 15.) even diſtracted, while they ſuffer the Terrors of the Almighty. Theſe though they look round about them for help, and invite all that paſs by to pity them, becauſe the hand of the Lord hath touched them; yet Satan laughs at their Calamity, and mocks at them under their Fears, and doth all he can to augment the flame: he ſuggeſts dreadful thoughts of an incenſed Majeſty; begets terrible apprehenſions of Infinite Wrath and Damnation; he aggravates all their Sins, to make them ſeem unpardonable: every Action he calls a Sin, and every Sin he repreſents as a willful forſaking of God; and every deliberate Tranſgreſſion he tells them is the ſin againſt the Holy Ghoſt. He baffles them in their Prayers and Services, and then accuſeth their Duties for intollerable prophanations of God's Name; and if they be at laſt affrighted from them, he then clamours that they are forſaken of God, becauſe they have forſaken him: He (as a right Baalzebub) rakes in their Wounds, as Flies are ever ſucking where there is a Sore. Their Outcrys and Lamentations are ſuch Muſick to him, that he gives them no reſt; and with ſuch triumph doth he tread upon thoſe that thus lie in the Duſt, that he makes them ſometimes accuſe themſelves for that which they never did, and in deriſion he inſults over them in their greateſt perplexities, with this, Where is now thy God? and who ſhall deliver thee out of my hand? This were enough to evidence him altogether void of compaſſion. But,
Secondly; He ſhews no leſs cruelty in his uſage of thoſe that are his Slaves. The Service that he exacts of thoſe that are his moſt willing Servants, is no leſs than the higheſt cruelty; and not only (1.) in regard of the miſery and deſtruction which he makes them work out for themſelves, (which is far greater, than where Men are forced by the moſt brutiſh Tyrants, to buy their own Poyſon, or to cut their own Throats; becauſe this is unſpeakably leſs than the endleſs miſeries of eternal Torments): but (2.) alſo in regard of the very ſlavery and drudging toyl of the Service which he exacts from them; he is not pleaſed that they Sin, but the vileſt Iniquities, moſt contrary to God, and moſt abominable to Man, as the higheſt violations of the Laws of Nature and Reaſon, are the things which he will put them upon, where there are no reſtraints in his way: He drave the Heathens (as Paul teſtifies Rom. 1.) to affections ſo vile and loathſom, that in their way of ſinning, they ſeemed to act rather like Brutes than Men, their Minds becoming ſo injudicious, that they loſt all ſenſe of what was fit and comely. Neither (3.) doth this ſatisfie his cruelty that the worſt of Abominations be practiſed, but he urgeth them to the higheſt deſperateneſs in the manner of performance, and ſo draws them out to the front of the Battel, that they might contemn and out-dare God to his face; he will have them ſin with an high hand, and in the higheſt bravado of madneſs to ruſh into Sin, as the Horſe into the Battel. This cruelty of Satan were yet the leſs, if he only brought them forth preſumptuouſly, in ſome one or two ſet Battels upon ſpecial occaſions: But (4.) he would have this to be their conſtant work, the task of every day; upon the ſame ſcore that Achitophel adviſed Abſalom, to an open and avouched defilement of his Fathers Concubines, that ſo the breach 'twixt them and God might be fixed by a reſolute determination; and conſequently that their hands might be ſtrong, and their hearts hardned in rebellion againſt God. And (5.) That Satan might not come ſhort of the utmoſt of what Cruelty could do: We may yet further obſerve, that though Sinners offer themſelves willingly enough, to conflict againſt God in the high places of the Field, yet as not ſatisfied with their forwardneſs, he laſheth and whips them on to their work, and ſometime over-drives them in their own earneſtneſs. Haman was ſo hurried and overborn with violent hatred againſt Mordecai and the Jews, Eſther 5. 13.that his own advancement, and the marks of ſingular favour from the King availed him not, as to any ſatisfaction and preſent contentment. Ahab, though King of Iſrael, is ſo vehemently urged in his deſires for Naboth's Vineyard, that he covered his Face and grew ſick upon it. Thus, as Gally-Slaves, were they chained to their Oar, and forced to their work beyond their own ſtrength.
Thirdly, There is alſo a cruelty ſeen in his inceſſant provokings and force upon the Children of God, while he urgeth his loathed Temptations upon them againſt their will. When I conſider Paul's out-cry in this caſe, (Rom. 7. 15, 19.) That which I do, I allow not, the evil which I would not, that do I, &c.) my thoughts repreſent him to me, like thoſe Chriſtians that were tortured in the Trough, where Water was poured by a continued Stream upon their Mouths, till the Cloth that lay upon their Lips was forced down their Throats; or like thoſe that had ſtinking Puddlewater by a Tunnel poured into their Stomacks, till they were ready to burſt; and ſurely he apprehended himſelf to be under very cruel dealing by Satan, when he cryed out, O wretched man that I am! who ſhall deliver me? If we ſeriouſly conſider the mind and endeavours of thoſe Children of God, that are ſtriving againſt Sin, and have caſt it off as the moſt loathſom abominable thing, when Satan urgeth them to Evil with his inceſſant Importunities; it is as if they were forced to eat their own Excrements, or to ſwallow down again their own Vomit; for the Devil doth but (as it were) cram theſe Temptations down their Throats againſt their will.
Fourthly, If we caſt our Eye upon the Perſecutions of all Ages, we ſhall have thence enough to charge Satan withall, in point of Cruelty; for he, who is ſtiled a Murtherer from the beginning, ſet them all on Foot; 'tis he that hath filled the World with Blood and Fury, and hath in all Ages, in one place or other, made it a very Shambles and Slaughter-houſe of Men. (1.) Can we reckon how often Satan hath been at this work? that is impoſſible. His moſt publick and general attempts of this kind are noted by Hiſtories of all Ages. The Perſecutions of Pharaoh againſt Iſrael, and of the prevailing Adverſaries of Iſrael and Judah, againſt both or either of them, are recorded for the moſt part in Scripture: the Perſecutions of the Roman Emperours againſt Chriſtianity are ſufficiently known, and what is yet to come who can tell? A great Perſecution by Antichriſt was the general belief and expectation of thoſe that lived in Auſtin's time, and long before; but whether this be one more, to the ten former Perſecutions (that ſo the Parallel betwixt theſe,De Civit. Dei. …. 18. c. 52. and Pharaoh's ruine in the Red-Sea after his ten Plagues, might run even) be only to be looked for, or that others are alſo to be expected, he thinks it would be preſumption and raſhneſs to determine: But however, his particular aſſaults of this nature cannot be numbred: how buſie is he ſtill at this work, in all Times and Places? inſomuch, that he that will live Godly in this World, muſt ſuffer Perſecution. But (2.) if we withall conſider what inventions and devices of Cruelty and Torture he hath found out, and what endleſs variety of Pains and Miſeries he hath prepared, (a Catalogue whereof, would fill a great deal of Paper) we can do no leſs than wonder at the mercileſs fury, and implacable rage of him that contrived them. Satan the great Engineer, doth but give us the Picture of his Mind in all thoſe Inſtruments of deſtruction. And when we ſee amongſt Tyrants, ways of torturing every Member of the Body, and Arts of multiplying deaths, that ſo thoſe that periſh by their hands, might not have ſo much as the mercy of a ſpeedy diſpatch, but that they might feel themſelves to die, we may reflect it upon Satan, in Jacob's words to Simeon and Levi, Curſed be his Anger, for it is fierce, and his Wrath, for it is cruel. (3.) But if we conſider what Inſtruments he uſeth, and againſt whom, we ſhall ſee cruelty in an higher exaltation: had he uſed ſome of the Beaſts of the Earth, or ſome of his apoſtate Aſſociats, to perſecute and afflict the innocent Lambs of Chriſt, it might have been much excuſed, from the natural inſtinct or curſed antipathy of ſuch Agents: or had he uſed only the vileſt of the Children of Men to act his tragical fury, the matter had been leſs: But as not content with common revenge, he perſecutes Men by Men, though all of one Blood and Off-ſpring, and ſo perverts the ends of nature, making thoſe that ſhould be the comforts and ſupport of Men, to be the greateſt terrour and curſe to them; a thing which Nature it ſelf abhors, and in regard of which, (that the impreſſions of Pity might be more permanent, and efficacious) God forbad Iſrael to ſeeth a Kid in the Mothers Milk; nay, he hath prevailed with ſome of good Inclinations, and rare Accompliſhments (for ſuch were ſome of the perſecuting Emperours) to be his Deputies, for authorizing the Rack, for providing Fire and Faggot; and (which is ſtrange) hath prevailed ſo far with them, that they have been willing to open their Ears, to the moſt palpable Lyes, the groſſeſt Forgeries, the moſt unreaſonable Suggeſtions that known Malice could invent; and then after all, when they were drawn out to Butchery, and ſlaughter by multitudes, they have made ſuch Spectacles (which might make impreſſions upon an Iron Breaſt, or an Adamant Heart,) only advancements of their Jollity; and as Nero upon the ſight of flaming Rome, took his Harp and made Melody: ſo have theſe tormenting Furies fired (by the help of combuſtible matter) multitudes of ſuch harmleſs Creatures, and then taken the opportunity of their Light, for their night Sports. And yet (me thinks) the Devil hath diſcovered a keener Fury, when he hath made them rage againſt the Dead, and dig their Graves, and revenge themſelves upon their ſenſleſs Aſhes, and when they could do no more, ſeek to pleaſe themſelves by executing their rage againſt their Pictures or Statutes; which Actions, though they might be condemned for Follies, yet are they evidences of higheſt Fury, which commonly deſtroys the Judgment, and ſacrificeth Wit, Reaſon, and Honour, upon the Altar of Revenge. That the Devil ſhould ſo poyſon Mans Nature, that he ſhould thus riſe up againſt his Fellow, that carries the ſame ſpecifick Being with himſelf, ſhews enough of his temper againſt Man, but never more than when he prevails againſt the engagements of Kindneſs, Bloud, Affinity, and Relation, to raiſe a Mans Enemies out of his own Houſe, the Father againſt the Son, and the Son againſt the Father; the Daughter againſt the Mother, and the Mother againſt the Daughter: for this is little leſs, than an unnatural Mutiny of the Members againſt the Body.
Fifthly, We have yet a more viſible inſtance of his Cruelty, in his bloody and tyrannical Superſtitions. Look but into the Rites and Ways of his Worſhip, among the Heathen in all Ages and Places, and you will find nothing but vile and ridiculous Fooleries, or inſolent and deſpightful Uſages. In the former he hath driven Men to Villanous Debauohries, in the latter to Execrable Cruelties. Of the latter I ſhall only ſpeak, (though in the former, by debaſing Man to be his Laughing-ſtock, he is cruel in his Scorn and Mockery): Here I might mention his tyrannical Ceremonies of the lower order, ſuch as touch not life; ſuch were their tedious Pilgrimages, as in Zeilan their painful Whippings; as of the Youth of Lacedaemon at the Altar of Diana; of their Prieſts, and that with knotted Cords upon their Shoulders as at Mexico, and New-Spain; their harſh uſages in tedious Faſtings, ſtinking Drenches, hard lyings upon Stones, eating Earth, ſtrict forbearances of Wine,1 Kings 18. and Commerce, their torturings and manglings of their Bodies by terrible Lancings and Cuttings, for the effuſion of Blood; their diſmembring themſelves, plucking out their Eyes, mangling their Fleſh, to caſt in the Idols Face, ſacrificing their own Blood, as did the Prieſts of Bellona and Deaſyria; Tertul. Aolog. cap. 9.ſo did the Kings of New-Spain at their Election,Purchas. Pilgrim. Part. 1. l. 8. c. 10. as Montzeuma the ſecond, who ſacrificed by drawing blood from his Ears, and the calves of his Legs. In Narſinga and Biſnagar, they go their Pilgrimages with Knives ſticking on their Arms and Legs, till the wounded Fleſh feſterd.Idem Part. 1. lib. 5. cap. 11. Some caſt themſelves under the Wheels of the Waggon, on which their Idol is drawn in Proceſſion. Yet are all theſe but ſmall matters, in compariſon of the bloody out-rages committed upon Mankind,It higenia ſacrificata, de quae Sanguine …, veo…os & virgine caeſa. Virg. Plut. Paral. cap. 60. in the abominable cuſtom of ſacrificing Men to him. Of this many Authors give us a large account, the Lacedaemonians to avert the Plague, ſacrifice a Virgin; the Athenians (by the advice of Apollo's Oracle) ſent yearly to King Minos ſeven Males, and ſo many Females to be ſacrificed to appeaſe the wrath of the God, for their killing of Androgeus; the Carthaginians (being vanquiſhed by Agathocles King of Sicily) ſacrificed two hundred Noblemens Children at once; the Romans had every year ſuch ſacrifices of Men and Women (of each Sex two) for a long time; and this was ſo common among the wiſer Pagan Nations, that whenſoever they fell into danger, either of War, Sickneſſes, or of any other Calamity, they preſently (to expiate their Offences againſt their ſuppoſed incenſed Gods, and to clear themſelves of their preſent Miſeries or Dangers,) ſacrificed ſome mean Perſons,Godwin Moſes and Aaron. l. 3. c. 8. who for this reaſon were called foreign, Expiations; and to this doth the Apoſtle allude, in 1 Cor. 4. 13. (as Budaeus, Stephanus, Grotius, and many others think) as if he ſhould ſay, we are as much deſpiſed, and loaded with Curſings, as thoſe that are ſacrificed for publick Expiation. But what cruel uſage may we expect for the poor barbarous Nations of the World, where he had all poſſible advantages for the exerciſe of his bloody Tyranny? many ſad inſtances of this kind are collected by Purchas in his Pilgrimage, in his Diſcourſes of Virginia, Peru, Braſilia, Mexico, Florida, and other places, whoſe Stories of this Subject are ſo terrible, and occur ſo frequently, that they are almoſt beyond all belief; all which for brevities ſake I omit, contenting my ſelf to note one inſtance or two out of the Scripture, 2 King. 3. 27. The King of Moab took his eldeſt Son that ſhould have reigned in his ſtead, and offered him for a Burnt-offering upon the Wall: this he did (according to the cuſtoms of the Phoenicians and others,) being reduced to great ſtraits, as ſuppoſing by this means (as his laſt refuge) to turn away the wrath of his God. Of Ahaz 'tis recorded, 2 Chron. 28. 3. That he burnt his Children in the Fire, after the abominations of the Heathen. That this was not a Luſtration, or Conſecration of their Children (though that alſo was uſed) but a real ſacrificing,foreign. is without doubt to Joſephus, who expreſſeth it thus, He offered his Son as an Holocauſt. But whatever Ahaz did, 'tis certain the Children of Iſrael did ſo; They offered their Sons and Daughters to Devils, Pſal. 106. 37. And if the ſacrifices of the dead which they eat in the Wilderneſs (mentioned verſ. 28.) be underſtood of the Feaſts which were made at the burning of their Children, as ſome think,Lightfoot on Acts 7. 43. (though many underſtand it of their ſenſleſs dead Gods, or their deceaſed Heroes, or for their deceaſed Friends,) then this cruelty had ſoon poſſeſſed them: However, poſſeſs them it did,Godwin Moſes and Aaron. l. 4. c. 2. as appears alſo by the deſcription of their devouring Moloch, which the Jewiſh Rabbins ſay, was an hollow brazen Image in the form a Man, (ſaving that it had the head of a Calf,) the Arms ſtretched in a poſture of receiving, the Image was heated with fire, and the Prieſt put the Child in his Arms, where it was burnt to death; in the mean time, a noiſe was made with Drums, that the crys of the Child might not be heard, and hence was it called Tophet, from Toph, which ſignifies a Drum; ſo that the name and ſhape of the Image ſhews that it was uſed to theſe execrable Cruelties.
Theſe Scripture evidences, (if we were backward to credit what Hiſtories ſay of this matter) may aſſure us of the temper and diſpoſition of Satan, and may enable us to believe what bloody work he hath made in the World, which I ſhall briefly ſum up in theſe particulars.
Firſt, Theſe inhumane, or rather (as Purchas calls them) overhumane Sacrifices, were practiſed in moſt Nations, not only the Indians, Parthians, Mexicans, &c. but Aethiopians, Syrians, Carthaginians, Grecians, Romans, Germans, French and Britanes uſed them.
Secondly, Theſe Cruelties were acted not only upon Slaves and Captives, but upon Children, whoſe age and innocency might have commanded the compaſſions of their Parents for better uſage.
Thirdly, Theſe Sacrificings were uſed upon ſeveral occaſions, as at the ſprouting of their Corn, at the Inauguration, Coronation, and Deaths of their Kings and Noblemen, in time of War, Dearth, Peſtilence, or any danger; in a word (as the Prieſts in Florida and Mexico uſed to ſay) when ever the Devil is hungry or thirſty, that is, as oft as he hath a mind.
Fourthly, In ſome places the Devil brought them to ſet-times for thoſe Offerings, ſome were Monthly, ſome Annual. The Latines ſacrificed the tenth Child; the annual drowning of a Boy and a Girl in the Lake of Mexico; the caſting of two yearly from the Pons Milvius, at Rome into Tyber, are but petty inſtances in compariſon of the reſt.
Fifthly, We cannot paſs by the vaſt number of Men offered up at one time; ſo thirſty is Satan of Humane blood, that from one or two, he hath raiſed the number incredibly high; in ſome Sacrifices five, in ſome ten, in ſome a hundred, in ſome a thouſand have been offered up. It was the argument which Montezuma the laſt Emperour of Mexico uſed to Cortez to prove his ſtrength and greatneſs by, that he ſacrificed yearly twenty thouſand men, and ſome years fifty thouſand. Some have reſerved their Captives for that end, others have made War only to furniſh themſelves with Men for ſuch occaſions.
Sixthly, There are alſo ſeveral circumſtances of theſe Diabolical out-rages that may give a further diſcovery of his cruelty, as that theſe miſerable Creatures thus led to be butchered, have been loaden with all the Curſings, Revilings, and contumacious reproaches, as a neceſſary concomitant of their violent deaths. Thus were thoſe uſed, who were forced to be the publick foreign, or expiation, for the removal of common Calamities. Death alſo was not enough, except it had been moſt tormenting in the manner of it, as of thoſe that ſuffered by the embracements of Moloch, the joy and feaſtings of ſuch Sacrificings (which were in themſelves Spectacles of mourning and ſorrow) were Cruelties to the Dead, and a barbarous enforcement againſt the Laws of Nature in the Living. But the daſhing of the ſmoaking Heart in the Idols face, and the pulling off the Skins from the maſſacred bodies, that Men and Women might dance in them, were yet more cruel Ceremonies. And laſtly, In thoſe that have been prepared for thoſe Solemnities, by delicious Fare, gorgeous Ornaments, and the higheſt Reverence or Honours, (as was the manner of ſeveral Countries) yet was this no other than Satan's inſulting over their Miſeries, of which we can ſay no otherwiſe, than that his tendereſt Mercies are Cruelties.
Seventhly, I may caſt in to the account, that in ſome places Satan (by a ſtrange madneſs of devotion) hath perſwaded ſome to be Volunteers in ſuffering theſe Tortures and Deaths. Some have caſt themſelves under the Chariot-Wheels of their Idols,Purchas Pilgr. Part. 1. lib. 5. cap. 11. and ſo have been cruſhed to pieces. Some ſacrifice themſelves to their Gods, firſt they cut off ſeveral pieces of their Fleſh, crying every time, For the worſhip of my God, I cut this my fleſh; and at laſt ſay, Now do I yield my ſelf to death in the behalf of my God, and ſo kills himſelf out-right.
Eighthly, It is wonderful to think that the Devil ſhould (by ſtrange pretexts of Reaſon) have ſmoothed over theſe barbarous Inhumanities, ſo that they have become plauſible things in the judgments of thoſe miſerable Wretches. In Piacular Sacrifices, they believed,Pro vita hominum niſi vita hominis reddatur, non poſſe deorum numen placari, arbitrantur. Jean D'Eſpan. Popular Errors. cap. 19. that except the life of a Man were given for the life of Men, that the Gods could not be pacified. In other Sacrifices both Euchariſtical and for Atonement, they retained this Principle, that thoſe things are to be offered to the Gods, that are moſt pleaſing and acceptable to us; and that the offering of a Calf or a Pigeon, was not ſutable to ſuch an end. This Maxim they further improved by the addition of another of the ſame kind, that if it were fit to offer an Humane Sacrifice, it muſt alſo be innocent, and conſequently little Children are the fitteſt for ſuch a purpoſe. And ſome have alſo conjectured, that the Devil hath not been a wanting to improve the example of Abraham ſacrificing his Son,Vid. Lud. Capel. de voto Jephtae. §. 9. or the Law in Levit. 27. 28. or the Prophecies concerning the death of Chriſt, as the great Sacrifice of Atonement, to juſtify and warrant his Helliſh Cruelty.Vid. Pool Synopſ. Crit. on 2 King. 3. 27. In ſome caſes, Cruelty hath ariſen from the very Principles of Reverence and Love which Children have to Parents, and Friends to Friends, as in Dragoian, when any are ſick, they ſend to their Oracle to know whether the Parties ſhall live or die; if it be anſwered they ſhall die,Purchas Pilg. Part 1. l. 5. c. 16. then their Friends ſtrangle them, and eat them; and all this from a kind of Religious reſpect to their Kindred, to preſerve (as they imagine) their Fleſh from putrifaction, and their Souls from torment. The like they do at Javamajor, when their Friends grow old and cannot work, only they eat not their own Friends,Purchas ibid. but carry them to the Market and ſell them to thoſe that do eat them.
Laſtly, Let us call to mind how long the Devil domineer'd in the World at this rate of cruelty. When the World grew to a freer uſe of Reaſon, and greater exerciſe of Civility, they found out ways of mitigation, and changed theſe barbarous Rites, into more tolerable Sacrifices; as in Laodicea, they ſubſtituted an Hart to be ſacrificed inſtead of a Virgin; in Cyprus, an Ox was put inſtead of a Man; in Egypt, Waxen-Images inſtead of Men; Images of Straw at Rome were caſt into Tyber in the place of living Men; and the terrible burnings of Moloch, (which was not peculiar only to the Nations near to Canaan, Diod. Siculus. Bibli…th. l. 20. Lod. Vives on Aug. De Civ. Dei. l. 7. c. 19.but was in uſe alſo at Carthage, and found in the American Iſlands by the Spaniards; the like Brazen-Images were alſo found in Lodovicus Vives his time by the French, in an Iſland called by them Carolina.) Theſe were at laſt changed into a Februation, and inſtead of burning their Children, they only paſſed them betwixt two Fires; but it was long before it came to this. In the time of Socrates, Humane Sacrifices were in uſe at Carthage, and they continued in the Roman Provinces till the time of Tertullian, Euſebius and Lactantius: Though they had been ſeveraly forbidden by Auguſtus Caeſar, and afterward by Tiberius, who was forced to crucify ſome of the Prieſts that dared to offer ſuch Sacrifices, to affright them from thoſe barbarous Cuſtoms. In other places of the World, how long ſuch things continued, who can tell, eſpecially ſeeing they were found at Carolina not ſo very long ſince?
How impoſſible is it to caſt up the total Sum of ſo many large Items? when theſe terrible cuſtoms have had ſo general a practice in moſt Nations, upon ſo many occaſions, upon ſuch ſeeming plauſible Principles, when ſuch great numbers have been deſtroyed at once, and theſe uſages have been ſo long practiſed in the World, and with ſuch difficulty reſtrained, what vaſt multitudes of Men muſt we imagine have been conſumed by Satans execrable cruelty?
Sixthly, There remains one inſtance more of the Devils Cruelty, which is yet different from the former, which I may call his Perſonal Cruelties, becauſe they are acted by his own immediate Hand upon certain of his Vaſſals, without the help or interpoſure of Men, who (in moſt of the forementioned caſes) have been as Inſtruments acted by him. Here I might take notice of his fury to thoſe that are poſſeſſed, ſome have been as it were racked and tortured in their Bodies, and their Limbs and Members ſo diſtorted, that it hath been not only matter of Pity to the Beholders to ſee them ſo abuſed, but alſo of Admiration, to conſider how ſuch abuſes ſhould be conſiſtent with their lives, and that ſuch rendings and tearings have not quite ſeparated the Soul from the Body. In the Goſpels we read of ſome ſuch caſt into the Fire, and into the Water. Others, converſing with Tombs and Sepulchers in the cold nights without Cloaths, and all of them ſpoken of as Creatures ſadly tormented, and miſerably vexed. The Hiſtories of later days tell us of ſome, that vomited crooked Pins, pieces of Leather, Coals, Cloth, and ſuch like. Of others ſnatched out of their Houſes, and tired even to fainting, and waſte of their Spirits, as Domina Roſſa, (mentioned by Bodin,) with a great many more to this ſame purpoſe. We may take a view of his dealing with Witches, who (though he ſeem to gratify them in their Tranſportations from place to place, and in their Feaſtings with Muſick and Dancings,) are but cruelly handled by him very often; the very Work they are put upon (which is the deſtruction of Children, Men, Women, Cattle, and the Fruits of the Earth,) is but a baſe Imployment; but the account he takes of them, of the full performance of their Enterprizes, and the cruel Beatings they have of him, when they cannot accompliſh any of their Revenges, is no leſs than a ſevere Cruelty: He gives them no reſt, unleſs they be doing Hurt; and when they cannot do it to the Perſons deſigned, they are forced to do the ſame Miſchief to their own Children, or Relations, that they may gratifie their Tyrannical Maſter.Pag. 180. Bodin relates the Story of a French Baron, (who was afterward put to death for Witchcraft) that after he had killed eight Children, was at laſt upon a deſign of ſacrificing his own Child to the Devil: and if at any time they grew weary of ſo execrable a Slavery, or confeſs their Wickeneſs, they are ſo miſerably tormented, that they chuſe rather to die than live: And what elſe but Cruelty can theſe Slaves expect from him, when the Ceremonies of their Entrance into that curſed Service, betokens nothing elſe; for their Bonds and Obligations are uſually writ, or ſubſcribed with their own Blood; and ſome Magical Books have been writ with the blood of many Children, beſides the farewel that they have of him at their uſual Meetings, is commonly this thundering Threatning, Avenge your ſelves, or you ſhall die. All theſe particulars are collected from the Confeſſions of Witches, by Bodin, Wierus, and others.
But leaving theſe, Let us further enquire into Satan's Carriage toward thoſe, that in America, and other dark and barbarous Places know no other God, and give their devouteſt worſhip to him. To thoſe he is not ſo kind as might be expected, but his conſtant way is, to terrifie and torment them; inſomuch, that ſome know no other reaſon of their worſhip, but that he may not hurt them: And ſince the Engliſh-Colonies went into theſe Parts, theſe Americans have learned to make this diſtinction between the Engliſhman's God and theirs, that theirs is an evil God, and the other a good God; Porphyrius l. 2. De Abſtinent. Plutarchus. Lod. Vives in Aug. De Civ. Dei. l. 8. c. 13.though that diſtinction in other places, is in the general, far more ancient; where they acknowledge two Gods, one good, the other bad, and the worſe the God is, the ſaddeſt, moſt mournful Rites of ſacrificing were uſed, as in Caves, and in the Night, the manner of the Worſhip fitly expreſſing the nature of the God they ſerved. Our Countrymen have noted of the Natives of New-England, that the Devil appeared to them in ugly Shapes, and in hideous Places, a… in Swamps and Woods. But theſe are only the Prologue to the Tragedy it ſelf, for they only ſerve to impreſs upon the minds of his Worſhippers, what Cruelties and Severities they are to expect from him; and accordingly he often lets them feel his hand, and makes them know, that thoſe dark and diſmal Preludiums are not for nothing: for ſometime he appears to the Worſhippers, tormenting and afflicting their Bodies,Wonder working. prov. for N. E. lib. 1. cap. 10. tearing the Fleſh from the Bones, and carrying them away quick with him: ſometime ſix have been carried away at once, none ever knowing what became of them. By ſuch bloody acts as theſe, he kept the poor Americans in Fear and Slavery; ſo that as bad a Maſter as he is, they durſt not but pay their Homage and Service to him. All theſe particulars being put together, will ſhew we do the Devil no wrong, when we call him Cruel.