hath not forsaken God the Creator, and his Saviour, and hath not transferred the worship due to him above, upon the Devill, to whom he hath obliged himselfe. And assuredly, whosoever addicts himselfe to these magicall vanities and witch-crafts, doth it, either because hee doubts of Gods power, promises, study and great good will towards us: or else for that hee is madded with an earnest desire of knowing things to come; or else because disdaining poverty, hee affects and desires from a poore estate to become rich on the sodaine. It is the constant opinion of all, both ancient and modern, as well Philosophers as Divines, that there are some such men; which when they have once addicted themselves to impious and divellish arts, can by the wondrous craft of the Divell, doe many strange things, and change and cor∣rupt bodies, and the health & life of them, and the condition of all mundane things. Also experience forceth us to confesse the same, for punishments are ordained by the lawes against the professors and practisers of such arts; but there are no lawes ordained against those things which neither ever have beene, nor ever came into the knowledge of men: for such things are rightly judged and accounted for impos∣sibilities, which have never beene seene nor heard of.
Before the birth of Christ there have beene many such people, for you may finde in Exodus and Leviticus lawes made against such persons by Moses, by whom God gave the law to his people. The Lord gave the sentence of death to Ochasias by his Prophet, for that he turned into these kinde of people. We are taught by the scrip∣tures that there are good and evill spirits, and that the former are termed Angells, but the latter Devills; for the law is also said to be given by the ministry of Angels: and it is said that our bodies shall rise againe at the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of an Arch-angell. Christ said that God would send his Angells to receive the elect into the heavens.
The historie of Job testifieth that the Devill sent fire from heaven, and killed his sheep and cattell, and raised winds that shooke the foure corners of the house, and overwhelmed his children in the ruines thereof. The history of Achab mentioneth a certaine lying spirit in the mouth of the false Prophets. Sathan entring into Judas, moved him to betray Christ. Devils, who in a great number possessed the body of a man, were called a Legion, and obtained of Christ that they might enter into swine, whom they carried headlong into the Sea.
In the beginning God created a great number of Angells, that those divine and incorporeall spitits might inhabite heaven, and as messengers, signifie Gods plea∣sure to men, and as ministers or servants, performe his commands, who might be as overseers and protectors of humane affaires. Yet of this great number there were some who were blinded by pride, and thereby also cast downe from the presence, and heavenly habitation of God the creator. These harmefull and crafty spirits de∣lude mens mindes by divers jugling trickes, and are alwaies contriving something to our harme, and would in a short space destroy mankinde, but that God restraines their fury; for they can onely doe so much as is permitted them: Expelled heaven, some of them inhabite the aire, others, the bowels of the earth, there to remaine un∣till God shall come to judge the world: and as you see the clouds in the aire some-whiles to resemble centaures, otherwhile serpents, rocks, towers, men, birds, fishes, and other shapes: so these spirits turne themselves into all the shapes and wondrous formes of things; as oft times into wild beasts, into serpents, toads, owles, lapwings, crowes or ravens, goats, asses, dogs, cats, wolves, buls, and the like. Moreover, they oft times assume and enter humane bodies, as well dead as alive, whom they torment and punish, yea also they transforme themselves into angells of light.
They feigne themselves to bee shut up and forced by magicall rings, but that is onely their deceit and craft, they wish, feare, love, hate, and oft times as by the ap∣pointment and decree of God they punish malefactors: for we read that God sent evill angels into Egypt, there to destroy. They houle on the night, they murmure & rattle, as if they were bound in chaines, they move benches, tables, counters, props, cupboards, children in the cradles, play at tables and chesse, turne over books, tell mony, walk up & down roomes, and are heard to laugh, to open windowes & dores, cast sounding vessels, as brasse and the like, upon the ground, breake stone pots and