^^ =f ''S<%„. 
 
 
 ■i^Ml^iXi 
 
 
/r 
 
 :/ 
 
A N 
 
 ENQUIRY 
 
 Into the Meaning of 
 
 DEMON JACKS 
 
 I N T H E 
 
 m 
 
 :?ldBi 
 
 New Teilamenfc'^^ 
 
 JJcints ol ^io) T^y l^vm ^aifiona,. 
 
 Pfalm xcv. 5, 
 
 By T.RA.P.O.A.B.I.T.CO.S. 
 
 ^"•. T -V' n u r- n ^ n Is v 
 
 L ON D O N: ' 
 
 -w^ 
 
 Printed for J. R o B e r t s in JVarwick Lafis, 
 MDCCXXXyil. 
 
 ( Price One Shilling. ) 
 
T O T H E 
 
 READER. 
 
 TH E Defign of the following Enquiry is to 
 clear up a Difficulty which naturally arifes 
 In moft Men's Minds, upon reading the Cures done 
 by our Saviour upon Perfons that were pojjejjed by 
 Devils, There are but few thinking People, I 
 imagine, who do not experience in themfelves, 
 what the pious and profoundly learned Mr. Jofepl) 
 Mede declares that he had experienced — ^to mar^ 
 vel how thefe Demonlacks fiould fo abound in and 
 about that Nation which was the People of Gody 
 {whereas in other Nations and their Writings we 
 hear of no fuch,) and that too, as it Jhould f'cm, 
 about the 'Time of our Saviour s being on Earth on- 
 ly , becaufe in the T'inie before we find no mention of 
 them in Scripture. The Wonder is yet the greater, — - 
 not to have been accounted then by the People of the 
 yews any ftrange or extraordinary Thing, but as 
 a Matter ifual. Vid. Mr. Mede'?, Difcourfe on 
 fohn X. 20. The true Solution of this Difficulty 
 is attempted to be fliewn in the following Papers. 
 Whether the Reafons ufually affigned by Men 
 of Learning will prove, that Perfons were ftrid:- 
 ly and properly pojfcjj'ed with the Devil, viz. 
 That Devils fpake out of the polTefTed Perfons ; 
 that they vjtxtfnt out of them, and they entered 
 into the Herd of Swine ; that perfonal A6lions 
 as well as Speeches are afcribed to them, which 
 can never be afcribed to meer Phrenfy and 
 Madnefs, ^cl' muft be left to the Judgment 
 pf the Reader. If he is defirous of feeing that 
 
 Sida 
 
To the R E A D E R* 
 
 Side of the QuefUon fet in the ftrongeft Light, I 
 know of none that has treated it with greater 
 Accuracy, than Dr. Whitby, in his General Pre- 
 faces to his Atmotations. Vid. Vol. I. p. xviii. and 
 Vol. II. p. xxvi' — ^xxxi* 
 
 Whether the Solution which I maintain, or that 
 of Others, be judged to be true, the Caufe of 
 Chrift is not afFeded. For in both Cafes a real 
 Miracle is done; the Perfon affedted is cured; 
 and the Evidence arifing from Miracle for the 
 Truth of Chriilianity, is equally ilrong. The 
 Miracle is the fame, if the Perfon be curedj 
 whatever is the Caufe of his Diftemper, whe- 
 ther it proceeds from uficlean Spirits^ and their 
 Operations upon Human Bodies; or from any 
 Defed, or from any praeternatural and extraordi- 
 Jiary Motions in them. 
 
 My prefent Deiign carries me no further than 
 to conlider the Cafes of Demoniacks in the New 
 Teftament, and to produce fuch Authorities as 
 were neceflary to make them underftood. Per- 
 haps I may proceed to explain what the Firjl 
 Chrijiians meant by their Demoniacks ; and then I 
 Ihall diftindily conlider what 'Jufiin, Origen^ 
 ^heophiluSj T^ertiillian, Cyprian, Minutiiis Felix^ 
 LaBantius, 6cc. have faid upon this Subjedl. And 
 it is for this Reafon that I have faid nothing here 
 about the Expuliion of Demons from Altars, or 
 of the Conjejpons made by them, when exorcifed by 
 Chriftians; This being the proper Subjed: of a 
 diftind: Enquiry into the Meaning of Demoniacks 
 in the firil Ages after Chrift. 
 
 AN 
 
( I ) 
 
 A N 
 
 ENQUIRY 
 
 Into the Meaning of 
 
 DEMONlJCKS 
 
 IN THE 
 
 New Teftament. 
 
 THERE is not any one Inflance of 
 Miracle in the New Teftament, 
 which more excites the Curiofity of 
 People, than the Cure of thofe who were pof- 
 feffed by Devils. Every one is apt to enquire 
 
 What thefe Poffeflions were ? How comes 
 
 it to pafs that we read of fo many Perfons, juji 
 at that particular T^ime^ under the Power of De- 
 vils ? Whence is it, that we feem fo rarely to 
 m.eet with Accounts of the fame Diforders a- 
 mongfl: Men, either before or after the Times of 
 JefusChrift? Whence was it that God permitted 
 
 B fo 
 
( 2) 
 
 fo much Power to fuch unclean Spirits, who 
 delight in doing Mifchief ? Thefe are reafona- 
 ble Enquiries, and deferve a ferious Anfwer ; 
 and therefore I ihall attempt impartially to 
 confider them. 
 
 In order to this, it will be neceffary to ob- 
 ferve 
 
 Firjl^ That the general Notion of T)emo7i$ 
 amongft the ancient Greeks^ was not the No- 
 tion which Chriftians have ufually now adays 
 to the Word Devils ; but They meant by it in 
 general, the Souh of departed Men. Hejiod 
 tells us, that in » the " Golden Age, when 
 " Satur?i reigned in Heaven, Men lived like 
 " Gods, free from Evils, and died jufl as if 
 " they had fallen afleep : Thefe were made 
 " Demons, Good Beings, the Guards of 
 " mortal Men ; They obferve the Good and 
 " Evil done here; and cloathed with Air, 
 " they are every where on Earth, number- 
 " lefs," &c. Thefe were Good Beings, and 
 the Authors of Good to Mankind. The Souls 
 
 Oi yjiv IttI Kpova hd'ctv 'or lipciva ifjwecuriMvir 
 
 When this Race died, 
 To* f/jiv AxifA/OVii iia-i, Aioc, fXiiyxXa .oid fiaXoii;, 
 
 'Ecr6?iOi, iTTtX^OVlOi, (P'jXUKiq ^VVjTU'J UvCfUTTUV 
 
 Oi px (pvXciosatTiv Ti ^Uxq i^ o^irMx spy*, 
 ' Hipcc iastx,[B{joi, 'jroiiTYi ^oirZvrii sV mmv. 
 Again, 
 
 ASctvoiTot Zjjvo?, (pwA«x£5 STJjrav oi\)6pu7rwi 
 
 'Oif'x ^vXeio^n^rlv, 8cc, Hefiod O'^T. x. 
 
 of 
 
(3) 
 
 of thefe Men, after they were removed from 
 this earthly Life, were made the Infpedors 
 of Human Affairs, and as they dijpenfed good 
 Things to Men, they were called Demons. O- 
 ther Writers have made Demons the Difpenfers 
 of "^ evil Things as well as good j the Plagues 
 and 'Terrors of Mankind, and the Authors of 
 much Evil to them. 
 
 Secondly, Homer makes Minerva, after fhe 
 had advifed Achilles to lay alide his Anger 
 
 againfl Agamemnon, He makes Minerva I 
 
 fay, retire to Heaven to the Palace of Jupi- 
 ter *^ to the other Demons, or Gods. And who 
 they were is plain, viz. Apollo, Vulcan, &c. 
 The Scholiaji fays, that '^ he calls the Gods, 
 Demons, either as knowing all Things, or dij- 
 tribiiting all Things [ both good and bad ] to 
 Men 5 and he likewife obferves, that Hefiod 
 calls thofe Demons ( as Proclus likewife ^ had 
 obferved) T8$ ex, T8 (^yfv |UeTct7-a.vTaj) Such as 
 are removed from this Life. 
 
 '* Tlxfoe. TO dUlivxi rot, zeivTXj I] /Xiiftl^uv rx uyxSot ;^ kukx reii uv- 
 CfOiTroii, Proclus in Hefiod. cu ■^a.^u, ro dktifjt/oycci thui ce.^x 
 
 TTCtfOi TO Oitf/jUtVitV, OTTSal sV« ^oQiii^Xl )Cj ix.<Poti'iVy SeCifAiOVXC TiV««5 
 
 nfo<r<pvuii ovofjbtkiCi&xi. Eufeb. Prze. Ev. 1. 3. c. 5. 
 ' A&if/jxr' ic, xi'/io^oio Aio^, ujtrx ^xiUiovx^ u^i^i. 
 
 Iliad I. V. 222. 
 Ipli putatis eos efle Deos quos nos diemones fcimus. 
 
 Tcrtu/. ad S caput. 
 " Auii/jovxi TcxXu T»5 ©£K?, vi7oi o'xiifJbovxi' tfjbTTiteoi y> to j'Jhsj 
 ^xvruv xvToi (KTHi, « on 2^AtT>]Tui e«rt Kj aloijtyiTxi, toiv xvffUJiuv. 
 
 *= Proclus his Words are, Touc, |W/t^(s-«^ti/if5 tk ^^f, eVra? h 
 (pvXXKXc, t5 /3i« rm eivSfUTrm ^xifAovxc, kx?,u. 
 
 B 2 Thirdly, 
 
(4) 
 
 'Thirdly^ Though Hefiod reckoned his De- 
 tmns to be fuch only as lived on Earth in the 
 Golden Age, in Satunis Tirpe, yet Minerva^ 
 Apollo, Vulcan, &c. were reckon'd likewife 
 Demons by Homer, though tliey were born 
 fomewhat later. For Apollo was the Son of 
 'Jupiter and Latona, and therefore two Ge- 
 nerations later than Saturn. Vulcan was 'Ju- 
 piter % Son by Juno. Minerva was the Daugh- 
 ter, fome fay, of Jupiter , Others of Nep^ 
 tune. Mars was the Son of Jupiter : and 
 He6e his Daughter. And thus we may 
 trace the Origin of others who are called 
 Demons. 
 
 Fowthly, This Notion of Demons, that 
 they were the Souls of fuch as once had lived 
 upon Earth, is fo univerfally allowed by Jews 
 and Chriftians as well as by Heathens, that 
 fcarce will any one difpute it. Jujlin Martyr 
 fays ^ T^he Gods of the Heathen are Demofis : 
 and more exprellly ftill he calls them » 'The 
 Souls of the deceaj'ed. And defining what he 
 meant by Demoniacks, he fays, ^' They, who 
 are feized by the Souls of deceafed Perfons, 
 are fuch as all Men agree in calling Demoni- 
 
 ^ Axtf/,ovt;6 u(rfj o< Sioi ram t^vuv. JuHin Mar. c. Tryph. 
 p. 310. ^ 
 
 g ■i'v^/,x^ cf:7di:Vovr6iv Tlpol. 2. 
 
 iio>MT,; m « - y.K/Atri 7;ciiTic, Ibid. 
 
 acks* 
 
(5 ) 
 
 acks. Jofephus calls them ^ the Souls of wick- 
 ed Men. 
 
 We find it thus a common Notion that 
 Demons, and the Souls of departed Men, were 
 imagined to be the fame : But whether they 
 had any Powers committed to them over 
 Mankind, notwithftanding it is fo frequently 
 ajj'erted, yet I do not find it any where fatif- 
 fadtorily proved : Nor do I think that any one 
 could prove, that Jupiter, or Apollo, or 'Nep- 
 tune, or any of the Good Men of the Golden 
 Age, after they were departed this Life, (and 
 much lefs wicked Men,) had any ftrid: and 
 proper Powers over the Race of Mankind. 
 It is one Thing to ajjert fuch a Notion ; it is 
 another to make it good : and they that at- 
 tempt it, mufl prove with Certainty, that 
 the Heathen Gods and Goddefles, Neptune, 
 Hecate, Ceres, Apollo, &;c. were the real Au- 
 thors of fuch Adlions as were imputed to 
 them. 
 
 However, Whether Demons were the 
 Souls of Good or Bud Men, or whether it 
 can or cannot be proved that they had Power 
 over Mankind, yet 
 
 Fifthly, The Notion generally, if not 
 univerfally, prevailed, that thofe who were 
 called Gods and Demons, were the Authors 
 
 ' AcKf/jcvM, TxuTM TTowifai sfii' xyffCiiTrav /F)nuf/t,*T». Jofeph. dc 
 Bello Jud. 1. 7. c. 23, 
 
 and 
 
(6) 
 
 and true Caufes of extraordinary Diftempers 
 amongft Mankind. It was ^ Apollo that fent 
 the Plague upon the Grecian Army, in Ho- 
 mer. And hence Celfus very juftly obferves, 
 that * in thofe T'imes they attributed Difeafes to 
 the Anger of the immortal Gods, and were 
 wont to defire their AJjiJlance to cure them. 
 It muft be obferved in the 
 
 Laji Place, That when any particular 
 Dijiemper had extraordinary and out of the 
 way Symptoms attending it j fuch as violent 
 Diftortions, or Agitations, or fuch Sort of 
 
 Affe^ions as they could not account for, 
 
 They imputed fuch Difeafes diredily to their 
 Demons^ e. g. The Epilepjy, or Falling Sick- 
 nefs^ (which JEfculapius fays, was co?iceived juji 
 betwixt the Time of the Old and New Moon, 
 as Serenus Samoiticus tells us, 
 
 Ipfe Deus memorat dubias per tempora Lunx- 
 Conceptum) 
 
 The Epilepfyy I fay, was looked upon as a 
 Sacred Dtjeafe^ and was fuppofed to have its 
 Origin immediately from fome or other of 
 
 ^eTisos 'AvoXXav 
 
 E^£t' s3"!*r ciZUiiivh vim, fAjiroc. a ten iy,x.t 
 
 E«^', oini di Trvfixi nauuv kciiovto ^o(,j/jiton. Iliad I, 
 ' Morbos turn ad iram dcorum immortallum leiatos effe, ct 
 ab itfdem opem pofci folicam. Ccljus Prof. 
 
 the 
 
(7) 
 
 the Gods, according as its Symptoms were 
 ftronger, or lefs fo j and thence it was called 
 Lues deifica, and Morbus facer. 
 
 Hippocrates has treated at large of this Dif- 
 temper, and has endeavoured to fliew, that 
 there was nothing in it that ^peculiarly inipli^ 
 ed that any divine Being was the Caufe of it ; 
 or that there was any Thing elfe in it but what 
 was natural to Man. In the Introdudlion to 
 the Treatife upon this Difeafe, he tells us 
 what it was that induced him to write upon 
 this Subject : 'viz. That there were a Pack of 
 Empiricks and ^acks and firollifig Fellows, 
 who pretended to have a more than ordinary 
 Regard for the Gods, ajid who, covering their 
 own Ignorance with the Veil of Deity, decla- 
 red this Difeaje to proceed from That as the 
 Caufe ; and therefore pretended to make uje of 
 Expiations, Charms^ and magick Tticks to 
 cure it. The divine Old man could not bear 
 the Thought of fuch Cheats and Impoflors ; 
 and therefore wrote his Book to {hew, that 
 really and in the Truth of Things, Their 
 ■ Notions a?id PraBice was ifnpious and wick- 
 ed^ however fpecious it might feem, or full of 
 Honour to the Gods : nay^ though they pretended 
 
 "^ fij-S fJUYlKiTl TO 6i~0V UiriOV UvXiy 0C,»^X T» Oi.v6fCi)^iV6V. HlpDOC. 
 
 de Morbo facro. 
 
 yrifi pvasiQiiti^ f^uX^ev, >^ u^ oi S'jo* cjrji Jir*. To T£ £vj-£«£5 ^ ^iiCf)l 
 Jipruv, uFiQif >^ itycKTiov W'v- Ibid, 
 
(8) 
 
 fo much Phfy and Regard for them, yet their 
 very Piety was Wickednefs, and even Atheifm. 
 He then proceeds to fhew that This was a 
 mere natural Diforder, and to be refolved into 
 the natural Courfe of Things, as other Dil^ 
 tempers were ; and that it ought by no means 
 to be imputed to any Gods^ or Goddejjes, or 
 Heroes. 
 
 Thofe artful Cheats, who made fuch Pre- 
 tences purely to get a Livelyhood, afcribed to 
 fome God or other this Diftemper, according 
 as the Symptoms were. ** If, fay they, the 
 difordered Perjbns imitate a Goat, if they 
 grifid their Teeth, if their right Sides are con- 
 vulfed, then The Mother of the Gods is the 
 Caiife of the Dijorder, If the Patient fpeaks 
 fharper and flronger than ordinary, they corn- 
 fare him to a Horfe, ajid fay that Neptune is 
 the Caiife. If he does 7iot retain his Excre- 
 ments, which often happens to thofe who are vi- 
 olently affeBed with this Difeafe, they derive 
 this Cafe from Hecate Enodia. If the Party 
 fpeaks fhrilly and quick, as Birds, then Apollo 
 
 " Klyu, f/,if/jZvTUi, XK,» ^^vxMVTui, xnV Tot oi^KH <r7rZ]iTXi, M-ijrnfu, 
 B-im (^cia-i ciiTiy)v ihxf «i' <^4 o^uTifov, iC^ ivrovurifov ^6iyf/>TXi, Ittttm 
 iiKoi^ovTi, }^ (px(rl Ilo<rti^aJy» onrtov thai. viV ^s y^ rvis kott^bv t« jr«- 
 e<>j, TToMxKn; rt<n yt¥iTcn X:zso rvic, voirn fiiatp i^^oiinv , 'EvootH iXpaV- 
 
 ''Ap^? Till/ (itTi/jv sp^sf 'Oyjxroe, o'i o'n lAjara vvxro^ 7r<x.^i^cit,rxi, id (piSot, 
 y^ TTXfecyoiXi, }^ cc.'J0C7rr,^<riUi ^a t«5 H.Xivi}i;^ y^ <povrirfi», f^ <^£t/|£«5 i|«, 
 i.y.xri]<i (pxtriv tivxi i^cifXcci, >^ 'Hp**** i<Po2'il<i- Ibid. 
 
 Nomius 
 
( 9 ) 
 
 Nomius is the Caiife : If He foams at Ms 
 Mouth, and kicks with his Feet, Mars is 
 the Caufe. And indeed, wherever there are 
 great Fears and 'Terrors in the Night, 
 and People are befides them/elves, and jump 
 Cut of Bed, and are vehemently terrified, 
 and are for ruiming out of Doors, they 
 fay thefe are Snares which Hecate lays for 
 them, and that the Heroes have taken Fojfef 
 fion of them. 
 
 But though Hippocrates fpeaks with great 
 Indignation againft thefe Fellows, who made 
 life of Charms and jugUng Tricks to impofe 
 on People, and to drive out thefe Demons, 
 I find Aretceus Ipeaks more mildly, p Some 
 think, fays he, that this Dijeafe comes upon 
 thofe who are Sinners againfi The Moonj and 
 therefore they call it The Sacred Difeafe. O- 
 thers thinkf that it has its Name from other 
 Fretences ; cither the Greatnefs of the Evil^ 
 for whatever is great, is called Sacred ; or clfe 
 becaufc it cannot be cured by Man, but by fome 
 divine Power ; or elfe, becaufe it is believed 
 that ■ fome Demon has taken Poffeffion of the 
 Man. 
 
 Now, If the Mother of the Gods, if Nep- 
 tune. Mars, Apollo, Hecate, and the Heroes^ 
 
 fA,iyi6o<i tS x-cckS, Ucov yoip to f/jiyec- r, I'licri©^ crrx, ecv^^uTUr,^, ot^M 
 
 C were 
 
( lo) 
 
 were Demons, in the Senfe of the Antients ; 
 i. e. Souls of departed Men ; if the pretended 
 Authors of the Epilepfy were Perfons who 
 once had lived upon Earth, and whom the 
 Heathen World had foolifhly or ignorantly 
 ^ Deified j if Aretceuss faying that the Epi- 
 lepfy was called Sacred by fome, from a Sup- 
 polition that a Demon had entered, and taken 
 
 PolTeffion of, the difeafed Perfon If this 
 
 be a good Comment to explain Hippocrates^ 
 
 ^We have a plain Reafon why Epileptic 
 
 Perfons fhould be called Demoniacks. For if 
 the "" Souls of departed Men were ufually called 
 Demons, and by that Word was meant. Such 
 Beings as were no more ^ ?nortal, * being 
 tranjlated out of this Life ; and if Diftempers 
 were conceived to fpring from ^hefe Beings, 
 
 then the Perfons who had fuch Difeafes, 
 
 might very properly derive a Name from the 
 fuppofed Catfe of them, and be filled Demo- 
 niacks. We fliall meet with Inftances here- 
 after, of Perfons who were thus named from 
 the fuppofed Caufe of their Diftempers. 
 
 1 Aciif/jovM iia-i 01 .9-so* rZi) 'iBvu*. Jufl. Mart. c. Trypho. 
 p. 310. 
 
 ^ "iv^x) i.7reSeivlniT&)v. Juft. Mart. Apol. 2. Toe KxXiSf3/;cc (^». 
 
 f/jOvmt TToy/jfiZv EfiK CCvl^^OlTTUV TTViO^dTU,. Jofcph. dc Bcllo Jud. 1. 7. 
 C. 2^- 
 
 f Lasixt oiCxvxToi;, S'lc^ 'xf/tQ^oT'^, evx. \ri ^vjjtos. Pyth. Au-- 
 
 rea Carm. 
 
 ' M£^*f«^ot t5 ^(Jc. Proclus in Hefiod. 
 
 It 
 
f 
 
 ( " ) 
 
 It is not the Defign of this Enquiry, to 
 enter into an Examination, whether the Souls 
 of departed Men (be they good or bad) have 
 any real Power to infli<5l Difeafes upon us ; or 
 whether they are i?i Fa5l appointed as Guards 
 to us J or whether they can do us either good 
 or evil Offices. My Bufinels is only to conlider 
 what the Notions of the Antients were : and 
 it plainly appears that they imagined, (but never 
 proved^) thefe Demo?is to be invilible Beings, en- 
 dued with fpiritual Powers, and living in the Air, 
 and attending conflantly upon particular Perfons. 
 and doing them much Good or Evil. " They 
 inflicl, fays 'Tertullian^ upo?2 Men's Bodies, 
 Difeafes ; and are the peculiar Authors of Jbtne 
 Sorts of very grievous Mi [chances ; but as to 
 the Soul, they are the Authors of Mens going 
 fuddenly and extraordinarily be fides themjelves. 
 The Subtlety and Finenefs of their Make ena- 
 bles them to enter into both the Body and Soul 
 
 of Men. By Means of their bei?ig Spirits 
 
 they have great Powers ^ Jo that they can aSl^ 
 though they are invifible and uncapable of be- 
 ing felt ; and you miifi judge by the EfFed: 
 
 " Corporibus quidem et valetudines infligunt, et sliquos cafus 
 acerbos; animas veio repentinos et extraoidinarios per vim ex- 
 cefTus. Suppetit illis ad utramque Subftantiam hominis adeun- 
 dam fubtilitas et tcnuitas fua. Multum Ipintalibns viribus licet 
 ut invifibiles et infenfibiles in cffeftu potius quam in adu llio 
 appareant. Tertul. Apolcg. c- 22. 
 
 C 2 Upon 
 
( 12) 
 
 upo7i Men, rather than by their Ad:, which is 
 injenfible. 
 
 Having now a clear Account of what was 
 meant by Demons, We may advance a Step 
 further in our Enquiry ; and if it appears to 
 be impoffible to be proved, that Neptune, or 
 Mars, or Hecate, &c. have fuch Powers as 
 were ufually imputed to them ; or if it can 
 be proved, that many of the Heathen Deities 
 to whom Diftempers were attributed, were 
 nothing but mere imaginary Beings, who 
 never did in Fad: exift at allj then it 
 follows, that in the former Cafe, no Evi- 
 dence can be given, that thofe Demons to 
 whom a Difeafe was imputed was really the 
 Caufe of it ; and in the latter Cafe, that that 
 Being to whom the Diftemper was attributed, 
 was abfolutely not the Caufe. In both Cafes, 
 a mere Hypothefis is maintained ; and therefore 
 if we meet with any Diftemper imputed to 
 Demons, or to the Gods, among the Antients, 
 we have nothing to do but to examine what 
 fuch Diftemper is, what the Symptoms of it 
 were, and how the Perfons under it were af^- 
 feded ; fince we know that whatever was 
 the Caufe, it was but an Hypothefis ithat the 
 Gods were the Caufe of it. And if we find 
 that there is nothing in it but what may be 
 the Effed of mere natural Diforder in an hu- 
 man 
 
f 
 
 ( 13 ) 
 
 man Body, it is abfurd to introduce ^ a Deity 
 into the Affair. Thus. e. g. 
 
 The Epilepjy was imputed, as is evident 
 from the Citation from Hippocrates, to Ceres^ 
 or Apollo, or Mars, or Neptune, or Hecate^ 
 &c. Hippocrates does not indeed attempt to 
 prove that there were no Jiich Beings as thefe ; 
 but he fhews very judicioufly, that in that 
 Diftemper, there was nothing but what might 
 arife from natural Caufes, without the Inter- 
 polition of the Gods. And fo if any one 
 were now to confute the Notion of the God 
 Apollo % cauiing the Epilepfy, he would fhew 
 with Eafe, that Apollo was no God ; that his 
 pretended Power was what could not be pro- 
 ved -y and confequently that He, who could 
 not be proved to have Power, could not be 
 proved to be the Caufe of fuch or fuch Difor- 
 ders. For though any one fliould contend that 
 the Soul of Apollo, &c. did exiji after his Death, 
 yet it will not follow, that He had any Power 
 over Mankind, or that He was the Caufe of 
 any Diforder upon Earth. Call therefore the 
 Epilepfy the Sacred Dijeafe, or the Lues dei- 
 Jica ; yet thefe Names imply no more than 
 the Hypothefis by which Ibme attempted to 
 account for the Diforder, and not the tme and 
 
 W HfS f/lYIKiTt TO !filOV UlTiOV iiVUi, Oi.'^X Ti OivS^OITTiyOi, I"IlppQ« 
 
 grates de Morbo facro. 
 
 Mec Deus interiit, nifi dignus viiidice Aodus. Horat. 
 
 proper 
 
( 14 ) 
 
 proper Caufe of it, which was no more than 
 Ti cLvbpcoTCim, fomething that was the Effed of 
 mere natural Diforder in human Bodies, as 
 Hippocrates has fliewn. And fo likewife 
 when the Romans imputed to certain Spirits 
 certain Diforders, The Names of fuch Difor- 
 ders only implied their Philofophy, or Hypo- 
 thefis ; not the true Caufes of the Diilempers 
 meant by thofe Najites. e. g. Their Cerriti 
 and Larimti had certain Diforders which they 
 fuppofed to come from Ceres, or their Lares, or 
 LarijcB, But yet if Ceres could not be pro- 
 ved to be the Caufe ; or if there be no har^ 
 *ua J or if there be, yet that they have no 
 Power, or cannot be proved to have any ; 
 we may be fure that the Name implied no 
 more than their Hypothefis, and not the true 
 Caule of the Diftemper. 
 
 But fince it was cuftomary to impute cer- 
 tain Diftempers to the Gods or Demons, it will 
 be worth while to examine what particular 
 Difeajes thefe were ; becaufe it is poiiible that 
 hence we may gain Jbme Light to the Subjecfl 
 we are enquiring into. The Epilepfy, as we 
 have feen, was one Cafe which was deemed 
 to owe its Rife to Them. The Accounts we 
 have of the Cerriti and Larvati will likewifo 
 help rs to another Sort of Difeafe, where 
 the Gods were deemed concerned. To un- 
 deriland their Cafe, we need only to conli- 
 
 der 
 
 1 
 
( IS ) 
 
 der what Plaufus has faid in two or three 
 Places. 
 
 Me?i^chmiis in the Comedy pretends him- 
 felf to be difordered in his Senfes, and falls a 
 raving very violently. Upon this. The Old 
 man goes for a Fhyjitian^ and meeting with 
 him, the Phyjitian afks him, 
 
 Quid eflet illi morbi dixeras ? narra Senex* 
 Num larvatus aut cerritus f fac fciam, 
 
 Prefently they fee Mencechmiis ; and the Phy- 
 jitian puts certain Queftions to him : Upon 
 which the Old ma7i obferves that Mencechmiis * 
 
 begins to he mad he talks like one befides 
 
 himfelf -y and afks the Phylitian, why he 
 would not inftantly prefcribe, or give himjome 
 Potion y before he was jlark Jiaring mad. The 
 Phyjitian then afks Mencechmiis^ y are your 
 Eyes wo7it to be fliff or hard ? do you fleep all 
 Night ? can you fleep lying along ? Prefently 
 after, Mencechmiis begins to fcold at the Old 
 
 man ; Upon which, ^ Don't you fee, 
 
 fays the Old man, that the Man is mad? 
 And the Phyfttian^ icWs him, ^Tll make 
 
 ^ OccjEptat /V^72//-£— — deliramenta loquitur. 
 
 Quid ceiTas dare potionis aliquid priufquam percipit Infanta. 
 
 y Solent tibi unquam oculi duri fieri? Unquam inteiUna 
 
 tibi crepant ?- Pcrdormifcbi ufquc ad lucem? facilen' ta 
 
 dormis Cubans. 
 
 ^ Non vides hominem infanirc ? 
 
 * Elleborum potabis faxo aliquos vjginti dies. 
 
 you 
 
{ i6 ) 
 
 you drink }^^^ovc for Jome twenty Days, Be- 
 fore this Phyfitian was called, whilft the Old 
 man and his Daughter were talking o^Mencech- 
 miiSj fhe defcribes him thus, ^ Don t you fee how 
 his Eyes glare ? How he looks yellow about his 
 temples and Forehead I How his Eyes Jparkle ! 
 
 Here then we have the Symptoms and Cafe 
 of a Perfon whom the Latins call Cerritus or 
 Larvatus ; and thefe Effe(fts they imputed to 
 Ceres, or to the Larvce^ which they imagined 
 to be mifchievous and wicked Spirits : where- 
 as in Truth the difordered Perfon had nothing 
 elfe but fuch a Sort of Madnefs, as had the 
 Symptoms abovementioned, and which the 
 Phyfitian propofed to cure by Hellebore. 
 
 Yon have another Inftance of the like Kind 
 in Plaiitus\ Amphitruo. Ainphitruo^ after a 
 long Abfence, comes Home to his Wife, and 
 ^ofia his Servant with him. Jupiter in the 
 mean Time had put himfelf in the exad; 
 Shape of Amphitruo, and had lain with Alc- 
 mena. At length, Amphitruo coming Home 
 to his Wife, a Difcourfe arifes, and flie fays 
 to him, "^ Do you deny that you went front 
 
 ^ Viden' tu illi occulos virere \ ut vlridis colos 
 
 Ex temporibuo atque frontc ! ut oculi Icintillant f — 
 
 Vlaut. Mencech. Ad. II. Sc. 2, 4, 5. 
 * Ale. Tun' te abifle hodie hinc negas ? 
 
 Am. Nego enimvero, et me advenire nunc primum aio ad 
 
 te domum. 
 Ale. ObfecrOjetiamne hoc negabis, te auream pateram mihi 
 
 Dcdifle dqno hodic,— 
 
 Am. Necjiie *dipol dcdi. ." 
 
 hence 
 
( 17 ) 
 
 hence this Day ? Am. / do deny if, ojid fay 
 that this is the rery fir ft Infant that I cam^ 
 to you. Ale. And will you deny that you gav^ 
 me this very Day a golden Bowl ? Am. No^ I 
 
 never gave you one. Alcmena perfiRing in 
 
 what flie faid, Sofia advifes Amphitruo, ^ Pray 
 order her to be luftrated, as ( i. e. to be treated 
 as they were wont to treat) a Mad woman. 
 Amphitruo replies, Indeed it ought to be done^ 
 for in good Truth fle is full of the Larvcc. 
 i. e. She is entirely poiTeffed by the Larvae. 
 
 It may not perhaps be eafy to r «efine exa(3:- 
 ly the Difference betwixt the Cerriti and 
 Larvati. Plautus treats them as if they were 
 the fame, unlefs you make the Cerritus to be 
 one that is more mad^ and more outrageous, 
 than the Larvatus j fo much more fo, as to 
 be thought Larvarum plenus. This feems to 
 be the Cafe, if one may judge from another 
 Paffage in Plautus^ where fome Advocates are 
 introduced, walking flow and grave, and de- 
 fending themfelves for not running along the 
 Streets, left the People fould throw Stones at 
 them as Cerriti^ i. e. quite mad. 
 
 Hand quifquam noftrum currit per vias 
 
 Neque nos populus pro cerritis infecflabit la- 
 pidibus. Pern. Ad. III. Sc. i. 
 
 ^ Qursfo qii'rt tu ifthanc jubes 
 
 Pro cerrita circumferri. Jrn. Quin faflo cil opus; 
 2s!am haec quidem a;dipol larz'anim plena eft. 
 
 Plant. Amphitruo Aft. II. Sc 2. 
 
 D But 
 
( i8) 
 
 But to return. See how feme Luftratlons 
 were made in the ■= Margin. The Ufe of thefe 
 Paflagcs in Plautus to our Purpofe is, that 
 this Sort of Madnefs, whatever was the Caufe^ 
 was imputed either to Ceres, or Spirits ^ and 
 the Diftemper was named from Them, 
 as if They were the proper Caiifes of it : 
 whereas in Truth, only certain Symptoms 
 could be really expreiTed by thofe Terms, 
 lince it does not appear that there was any 
 fuch Perfon exifting as Ceres^ nor any fuch 
 SpeBres as tlie Larvc^. 
 
 Apideiits, in his Book De deo Socratis, ex- 
 plains what the ordinary Notion concerning 
 thefe LarvcE was. ^ T'hey ivere Spirits or Hu- 
 man Souls, who on Account of their Ill-deferts 
 in Life, were punijhed as it were by a Sort of 
 Banijh?nent, by their havi?7g no good Place of 
 Abo ad, but always rambling about, vain Ter- 
 rors to Good men, but to Evil men noxious. 
 Where therefore People, through the Force of 
 any Diilemper, were under fuch violent Fears 
 and Horrors as to be not Mailers of their 
 Reafon at all, there they were faid to be Lar- 
 
 7r\iUtnv, [-viz. Eggs and Brimllone, &'<r.) j^ t«v fVwJijii iKiii/iiv vzxe- 
 7av6ofi(rci^. Lucian. Necuomant. v. Caiaubon in Theophiaftum. 
 p 292. 
 
 *" Propter p.dvcrfa Vita merita, nullis bonis fedibiis, incerta 
 vagatione, feu quodam exilio punitur, inane Terriculamentum 
 bonis liomin'bus, ca;terum malis noxium, himc plentjue Lar- 
 VAM perhibcnt. Apideha de Deo Socratis. 
 
 vati: 
 
( 19 ) 
 
 vati : where it came to Outrage and dlre<fl 
 Madnefs^ they were deemed Cerriti. Now, 
 in the fame Manner, and in the fame Pro- 
 priety of Language, as difordered Perfons 
 among the Romans were called Cerriti^ and 
 Larvati, though their Diforders did not arife 
 from Ceres ^ or harva-y Perfons may be called 
 T>emoni licks ^ though Demons are not the Caufe 
 of their Dillemper. Who ever imagines the 
 Diforders of the Cerriti or Larvati to be ow- 
 ing to the Mother of the Gods, or to Spe&res ? 
 Or when they are faid to be larvariim pleni, 
 that therefore they had Legions of SpeBres in 
 them f 
 
 There were likewife a Sort of Madmen, 
 ililed by the Komans^ hymphatici ; by the 
 Greeks^ Nu/x(poA)]'7rToLi j as there were . thofe 
 whom P//;zy mentions to be « NoBurnis Diis 
 Faunifque agitati : by all which they plainly 
 meant nothing but certain Diflempers ; and 
 to which certain Medicines were applied. 
 Had they conceived real Spirits poffeffing 
 fuch miferable Wretches, how abfard would 
 it have been to have ordered for their Cure 
 ^ RhadiJJj and Ellcbore prepared in a certain 
 Way ; or ^ Horfe-pifs^ and the Water of a 
 Smith's Forge ; "^ or the Tongue, Eyes, Gall, 
 
 5 Pliny Nat. Hift. lib. xxv. c. 5. '' Ibid, lib xxviii. c. 16. 
 [ Ibid. lib. xxix. c. 4. ^ IbiJ. lib jcxx. c. io. 
 
 D 2, and 
 
{ 20 ) 
 
 and Inteftines of a Dragon ; or ^ the Blood of 
 a Mole ; "" or Diamonds ; " or Amber F Or on 
 the contrary, how could they conceive that 
 the drinking the Juice of a certain Herb, 
 viz. '^ T^halajfegle ^ could caufe Men to be 
 fojj'ejjed with Demom^ Whatever the Word 
 was by which they named this Diforder, (for 
 this was a Diforder of the whole Body\ as ap- 
 pears by Plijiy) and notwithftanding the 
 Name might imply that it arofe from fome in- 
 vifible Beings, yet fuch a particular Species of 
 Difor'der is the only thing to be regarded in 
 thofe Names. 
 
 From the Greeks and Komans^ Let us next 
 conlider the 'Jews. Here we have no great 
 Light one Way or other, except what we 
 can derive from a lingle Inftance in the 
 Old Teftament, and from a very few Places 
 in Jojephus, where he exprefHy mentions Dt'- 
 moniacks. The only Inflance of a Diforder 
 mentioned in the Old Teflament as arifmg 
 from an e^-oil Spirit^ is That of Saul : and 
 this is exprellly imputed to an evil Spirit 
 from Godj i Sam. xvi. 14 — 16. c. xviii. 10. 
 Tlie proper Way to judge of this Cafe is, to 
 
 •' Plin. Nat. Hift. lib. xxx. c. lo. ■" Ibid. lib. xxxvli. c. 4. 
 " Ibid. lib. xxxvii. c. 3. 
 
 " Thalafu;glen circa Indum anincm inveniii,qua: ob id nomine 
 alio Potainautis nppcllatur. Hac pota Ly7/iJ>/jari homines, obfcr- 
 vantibus miraculis. ibid. 1. xxiv. c 17. Nails taken out of a 
 Ciiavc, and fixed into, a Threfhold, were good againlt noJiurnas 
 L\vi^hatkni$. lib. xxxiv. C. I 5 ■ 
 
 lay 
 
( 21 ) 
 
 lay together the Paflages which relate to SauJ^ 
 and from them to fee how he was aifedied, 
 'The Spirit of the Lord went away from Saul, 
 and an Evil Spirit frotn the Lord troubled^ 
 or terrified him. And Saul's Servants /aid 
 
 unto him^ an Evil Spirit from God trou- 
 
 bleth thee. Let our Lord now command thy 
 Servants to feek out a Man who is a cun- 
 ning Player on an Harp, A?id it Jhall come 
 to pafs^ when the evil Spirit from God is upon 
 thee, that he fiall play with his Hand, and 
 thou fialt be well. This Advice was taken, 
 and David was thought of, and brought to 
 the King ; Afid it came to pafs when the Spi- 
 rit of God was in [or at or iipoii]^ Saul, David 
 took an Harp, a7id played with his Hand, and 
 Saul was refrelhcd, and was well, and the 
 Evil Spirit departed yro;;? hijn, v. 23. This 
 is the frft Place where this Diforder is menti- 
 oned : The fecojid has in it an Account of 
 Saul's Condud: towards David. When Goli- 
 ah was (lain, and the P hi li (lines routed. The 
 Women came out with Inllruments of Mufic 
 to meet Saul, and as they played, they faid, 
 Saul hath fain his thoufands, and David his 
 ten thoi funds. And Saul was very wroth, 
 and the Saying difpleafed him, and he faid, 
 They have ajcribed anto David ten thoufands, 
 and to me they have afcribed but thoufands: 
 and what can he have more, but the Kingdom f 
 
 And Saul e\ed David from that Day. And 
 
 it 
 
(22) 
 
 it came to pafs on the morrow, that the Evil 
 Spirit from God came upon Saul, ajid he pro- 
 phefied in the midji of the Houfe. And David 
 played with his Hatid as at other lUmes. And 
 
 Saul caji the Javelin at David and David 
 
 avoided out of his Frefence twice, i ^am. xviii. 
 7 — 12. and c. xix. 9, 10, 11. 
 
 From thefe Places thefe Things may be 
 obferved. ift. That we have no Circumilan- 
 ces how this E,vil Spirit afFedled Saul, ex- 
 cepting only that he was troubled, or terrified 
 very much ; and that he prophefied in the 
 midft of his Houfe. What is here called 
 Frophefying, was adling as a mad man, a(ft- 
 ing as the Vates or Prophets are ufually de- 
 fcribed by the Antients. Saul was not infpi- 
 red as the true Prophets of God were influ- 
 enced, in a rational Manner, nor indeed at 
 all J but as appears by the Hiftory, his Mind 
 was alienated, and his Imagination diilurbed. 
 This was the ufual Diforder, either real or 
 pretended, of the Heathen Prophets ; who are 
 feldom or never mentioned as prophefying, 
 but with Circumflances of Rage, and Fury, 
 and Madnefs. The true prophetical Spirit is 
 rational and conliftent : the falfe one is all tu- 
 multuous and mad. It is obfervable therefore, 
 that the Chaldee Paraphraji fays that Saul was 
 mad^ or aBcd as a Mad man in his Houfe : 
 iind it is probable, that from Ibme Similitude 
 
 of 
 
( 23 ) 
 
 of Clrcumftances that carelefs and prophane 
 Men treated the befl and truejft Prophets as 
 falfe ones, imputing that to Fhrenjy^ or Me- 
 lancholy^ which in Truth proceeded from a di- 
 vine Afflatus. Hence it was, that when £//- 
 jJda fent a Prophet to anoint 'Jehu^ Ahab's 
 Servants faid to "Jehu^ Wherefore came this mad 
 Fellow to thee? 2 King. ix. 11, And Jere- 
 miah has joined together the Idea oiMadnefs to 
 that of Prophefy^ c. xxix. 26. For every Ma?i 
 that is mad, and maketh himfelf a Prophet. 
 
 There certainly muft be fomething in the 
 true Prophet common to him with the falfe 
 Prophet, from whence this Notion mufl arife, 
 that Madnefs and Prophefying fliould be ufed 
 by very good Writers as fynonomous. One 
 cannot but obferve that fully has ufed the 
 Words, f Vaticinari^ and Injcmire^ as fignify- 
 ing much the fame thing. And whenever the 
 Poets fpeak of Prophets, it is always of Per- 
 fons under an Alienation of Mind. The Si- 
 byl in Virgil is defcribed as under violent 
 ^ Agitations, and foaming, and raging, Lu- 
 
 P Eos qui dicerent, dignitati efle fcrviendum, reip. confu- 
 lenduin, officii rationem in omni vita, non commodi, effe du* 
 cendam, fubeunda pro patria pericula, vulnera excipienda, 
 mortem oppetendam ; niaticinari atque infanire dicebat. Cic. 
 Orat. pro Sextio. 
 
 ^ At Phoebi nondum patiens, immanis in antro 
 Bacchntur vates, magnum ^\ pcdtore poffit 
 Excuffiife Deum, tanto magis illc fatigat 
 
 O.s rabidum, fera corda doraaos > 
 
 Vv-g, ^r.els. 6. 77 — 80- 
 
 can 
 
' 24 ) 
 
 can in the fame Manner defcrlbes a PrieAels 
 as filled with Fury, 'her Hair flanding an 
 End, and flie all burning within, and foam- 
 ing, and panting, whilfl fhe delivered the 
 Oracle. And Euripides obferves, ^ that Mad^ 
 nefs has a good deal of a prophetick Faculty 
 in it : and that Mad men could foretell fu- 
 ture Things. It is probable that this Notion 
 arofe from hence, that when the true Prophet 
 received the divine Influx, his Senfes were 
 as it were thrown cijleep^ and ceafed ; and his 
 Mind fo taken up, that he attended to no- 
 thing elfe but what was revealed. Thus * A- 
 barbejiel fays fl'om Maiinonides^ and proba- 
 bly veiy juftly. Hence came falfe Prophets 
 to afFed; a like Abfence of their Faculties j 
 and as this was common amongft fuch as 
 were mad with a * divine Influx, or Infpira- 
 tion, hence Perfons, who by Reafon of a na- 
 
 -Bacchatur demens aliena per antrum 
 
 Colla ferens, vittafque Dei, Phcebeaq^ue ferCa 
 
 Ereftis difcufla comis 
 
 -Magnoque exasfhiat igne. 
 
 Spumea tunc primum rabies vefana perora 
 Effluit, et gemitus, et anlielo clara meatu, 
 Murmura. \ Lucan. Lib. ^. 
 
 ^ To fAjciViCohc, f/jXVTlx.:)V TTo^y.v i^H' 
 "Ora,i Y^ 5'£05 £('5 TO trZ^' sA^ij jroAv; 
 Asys'" '■0 i/ji>^ov ris? i/ji;Mnvorcic, TToiii. Eiirip. Bacch. 
 * A tempoie Prophetia?, Facultates Prophetx funt obfopita?, 
 fenfus cJLis ceflant, et anima occupata eft in apprehenfione fua, 
 indicatque hominibus quid viderit, vel audiveric, line ulla ope- 
 ratione voluntatis et arbitrii ejus proprii circa id quod videt vel 
 prophetat. Vid. Lib. Cozri. p. 413. 
 " &sS TtvecuTi iyjyjcivi7i, Eur'ip. BdCch. 
 
 tural 
 
( 25 I 
 
 tural Diforder, Phrenfy, Melancholy, ^c* 
 were alienated in their Minds, were faid to 
 prophefy. It will appear prefently what Saul's 
 Diftemper was ; and this Circumftance of his 
 Prophejying, or ading as a mad Man, will be 
 a confiderable Argument in Point. I obferve 
 2dly, The Cure of him \^^as by a known Me- 
 thod. Let thy Servants feek out a amning 
 
 Player on a Harp And he Jlmll play 
 
 with his Hand, ajid thou fialt be well. 3^/y', 
 The Cure was to be eife(5ted, and it was con- 
 ftantly effected, by Mufick and by That alone^ 
 Had it been to be cured by Prayer, or any 
 thing that was devotional^ Saul's Servants, 
 would have defired a Prophet^ or a Priejl, not 
 a Muftcian, to be fent for. ^thly^ When Da- 
 vid played upon the Harp^ Saul was refrejh- 
 ed^ and was well, and the Evil Spirit depart- 
 ed from him. When therefore the Evil Spi- 
 rit was upon him, Saul was in a State oppoiite 
 to what is here called Kefrejlwient^ and beijig 
 well. Now the original Word '^ fignifies to 
 Breathe J or draw one's Breath comfortably and 
 well. The Septuagint tranflate the Verfe 
 thus, I Sam. xvi. 14, An Evil Spirit from 
 the Lord "^ fuffocated him : And when David 
 played, he refrejhed him. And Jojiphus tells 
 
 ^ n^l rcfplrare, relaxatiorii fj/e, Motum 'vel (Jgitatioftem inclw 
 dit, fays Mercer. 
 
 E us. 
 
( 26) 
 
 us, y that grievous Diforders proceeding from 
 Demons, attended Saul, which often were rea^ 
 dy to fuffocate ajid ftrangle him^ Jo that the 
 Phyfitians could think of no other Cure for him 
 but this^ that ivhen the Demons came to him 
 and difturbed him. One fiould jland at his 
 Head and fmg. S^hly, When the Evil Spirit 
 was upon Saul^ i. e. when he was in the Dif- 
 order which thus affedted him, when in fo- 
 fephus's Language, ^ the Dejnon difturbed 
 and troubled him^ it was then that Saul at- 
 tempted to kill David. The Women with 
 their Songs had made Saul look upon David 
 with an Evil Eye ; they had raifed his * E7ivy 
 and Hatred -, and thefe Paffions, joined to the 
 Diftemper he had, made him mifchievous, 
 and twice ftrive to murder David with his 
 own Hand. 6thly, From the Cure propofed, 
 it is evident that this Evil Spirit from the 
 Lord was fome natural Diftemper. For what 
 Relation has the Sound of a Hajp to the Ex- 
 piiljlon of Spirits ? What makes them fo much 
 afraid of Mufick as to leave the Body they had 
 
 y "ZuaMv S'i Tshi^if^iTo TTu&n ^u'/in >^ axifAivtx, TT^iy (jtiisc, ctCrm >^; 
 ■ei-KyfocXcct^ mipspovrct.- • OTroTccv ecurea jrporo) rat oUif//evtx >c. tx- 
 
 fxriot, 7ron7> vzuiP Ki(p»Mi i^ccurx -^xX^iiJi. Antiq. Jud. Lib. 6, 
 C. lO. 
 
 ^ To eaiuioviov UofvZn y^ (rvvBTK.fX'fis. Ibid. C. I 4. 
 
 *' <l>6ovo\i K. f/j7<r(S^. Ibid. c. II. 
 
 And when Jonathan interceded with Saul for Damd, 2oi 
 
 Ibid. Lib. 6. c. 13. 
 
 pofTefTed, 
 
(27 ) 
 
 pofleiled, upon hearing the Sound of Hartm- 
 ny ? Or why do they fly from exa^i and good 
 Mulick, more than from inharmonious jar- 
 ring Difcords ? For from the Hiftory it appears 
 that a skilful Mufitian was required to cure the 
 King's Diforder. From whence I cannot but 
 infer, Jthly^ That we are not to be influen- 
 ced by the mere Words, an Evil Spirit, to 
 imagine that fome wicked Being entered Saul's 
 Body, and caufed thofe grievous Dijbrders 
 which he laboured under, any more than we 
 can infer in the Inftances of the Cerriti and 
 Larvati before mentioned, that they were 
 under the Influence of Ceres or the Larva\ 
 ^thly. From the Circumftances of Saul's Cafe, 
 viz. being terrified ?nuch ; being refrefied by 
 Muftck, and thence growing well ; from the 
 Diforders being not perpetual upon him, but 
 returning at Times j and if we take in from 
 the LXX and Jofephus, his being ready to be 
 
 firangled QxJufiocated\ From thefe Circum- 
 
 flances, I fay, his Cafe feems to be nothing 
 but deep Melancholy. It is one of Hipfocra- 
 tes's Aphorifms, '' where Fear or Sadnefs con- 
 tinue long, it is a Sign of Melancholy. The 
 Returns of this Diflemper are ufual *■ in Spi'ing 
 ^nd Autu?nn, fays Hippocrates. The Symp- 
 
 ^TS f/it'iv «p®- Tet fXtUVMoi j^ roc, f/jiXocy^tXtKci T£ JV ^SivoTTi-fX 
 
{ 28) 
 
 toms of it are, as Sydenham well obferves, 
 thefe ■ l^hey yield them/elves up a Prey to 
 
 Anger, Jealoufy, Sufpicion, &c. Now 
 
 they love one to Excefs, and injiantly they hate 
 the fame Ferfon as immoderately. They refolve 
 in one Infiant to execute fome Defign, and in 
 the ?2ext, they make another and perhaps 
 contrary Refolation. It fometimes produces 
 dreadful Co7ivulfions, refembling the Epilepfy, 
 the Belly and Entrails fwelling upwards to- 
 wards the Throat, &c. Let me add in the 
 Lajl Place, that the Antients were wont to 
 apply Mujick to the Cure of Diftempers, and 
 in particular thought it an excellent Remedy 
 againft this very Diforder. T^heophraftus, m 
 his Book of Enthufiajm, tells us, that ^ Mujick 
 cures many Diforder s of both Soul and Body, 
 e. g. Fai?iti?igs, Fears, lojtg continued 
 T)ijdrders of Mind. T'he Playing upon the 
 Pipe cures the Sciatica, and Epilepfy. And 
 Martianus Capella has a great deal to this 
 Purpofe in his gth Book : where he introduces 
 Mufick as faying what flie had done, *"/ have 
 
 cured 
 
 ixrfioitv xxSuTTip Miz-c?v[X>nx,v, ftO BOYS, >^, rot", S5r» fZ/ccKfiov yr/veM,£- 
 vu.^ 7-)j§ AiuvoM^ iKo^ciiriii;. tciren yx^ ii y-HTccuXTitric, ivictax x^ ith- 
 A-/i7r(n'i/.v. Theophraftus apud Apollonium. c. 48. 
 
 ® Pcrturbationibus animomm, corporeifque morbis, medica- 
 bile crebrius carmen inlbnui. Nam Phre7ieticos Symphonia cu- 
 
 ravi.- Febrem curabant vulneraquc veteres cantione. J^ 
 
 ciepiades item Tuba furdijimis medcbatur. Ad, affeJIiones animi 
 
 tibi'as 
 
( 29) 
 
 cured Madmen by Symphony. The Anti- 
 
 ents cured the Fever and Wounds by finging. 
 Alclepiades cured the very deafejl by a Trum- 
 pet, and madmen by Symphony. Theo- 
 phraftus applied Pipes to the AffeBions of the 
 
 Mind. Xenocrates freed thofe that isjere 
 
 troubled with Spirits by inftrumental Mufick, 
 &c. 
 
 Saul's Evil Spirit then does not fignify the 
 real proper Cauje of his Diforder, iince it ap- 
 pears that his was nothing elfe but natural Me- 
 lancholy, which foft Accents and melodious 
 Sounds were wont conilantly and regularly to 
 affwage. What Connection is there betwixt 
 the Sound of a mufical Inftrument, and De- 
 vils or Evil Spirits ? How could thofe about 
 Saul think of Mufick, to expel a Spirit? 
 Whereas fuppofing his Diftemper the EfFedl 
 of Matter and Motion, and like other Dif- 
 tempers, it was natural to have Recourfe to 
 the then ufual Means of curing them, and 
 accordingly they fucceeded. For can any 
 thing be more natural than to procure a skilful 
 Mufitian to divert Melancholy ? And will not 
 fuch a one always comfort and refrejlj the Pa- 
 tient, and make him well? The LXX and 
 
 tlbias Theophrajlus adhibebat. Xenocrates organicis modulis 
 
 Ijmphaticos liberabat. Martia. Capella. Lib. g. 
 
 Cenforinus fays, Jfcleplades medicis phreneticorum mentes, mor- 
 bo turbatas, fajpe per Symphoniam fuie naturae reddidit, c. 12. 
 </(• die vf^talj. 
 
 fofephus 
 
( 30 ) 
 
 yofephus have added Circumftances which arc 
 very common in Hypocondriacal Cafes, I 
 mean his being Jiiffocated when the Evil Spirit 
 was upon him. And this may help us to 
 conceive what they imagined to be his Cafe, 
 and what exadly anfwers in every Circum- 
 ilance. And though they all agree in the 
 Word Spirit^ yet ftill the Thing was no more 
 than natural Dijorder. Accordingly Maimo- 
 nides obferves, that the Jews ^ call every Sort 
 of Melancholy an Evil Spirit: and explains 
 Evil Spirit J by Difeaje. 
 
 We meet with nothing of Demomacks^ 
 excepting the Cafe of Said^ in the Old Tef- 
 tament. But yet JofephuSy ( who profefles a 
 ilrid Regard to the Sacred Writings, ) menti- 
 ons certain Charms which Solomon left behind 
 him, by which they could s cure Dijeafes^ and 
 fo expel Demons, that they Jhould no more re- 
 tuni : and this Manner of Cure^ fays he, co?!- 
 tinues amongfl us even to this Day. Upon this 
 he relates a remarkable Story upon his own 
 Knowledge J of one Eleazar\ cafting out De- 
 mons in the Prefence of Vefpafian, and his 
 Sons J and OJicers, and Abundance of Soldiers. 
 
 ^ Rambanus. Ojhtic genus Melancholiae vocant Spiriwm ma- 
 lum. Atque alibi; Spiritus Malus, i. e. Morbus^ Lightfoot 
 Hor. Heb. in Luc. c. 13. j i. 
 
 SUV Ti-^rp. 'H-xu^^ot,^ Ti (rwTx^xfSf.©^ cii<; 7raf)}yopii'rxi ra ve(ri- 
 
(31 ) 
 
 The Story, and the Manner of Cure, was 
 thus. ^ Applying a Ri?ig having a certain 
 Root under the Seal-, viz. one of thofe Roots 
 that Solomon taught the Virtues of. He drew 
 out the Devil through the Nofe of him that 
 fmelt it : and prefently the Man falling down^ 
 he mentioning Solomon, a?id reciting the 
 Charms which he had invented, adjured the De- 
 vil never to return into him. Eleazar being 
 willing to fatisfy the By-Jianders that he had 
 this Power, he placed a little Way from them 
 a Cup full of Water, or a little VefTel that 
 they wafied their Feet in : and then he com- 
 manded the Devil as he went out of the 
 Man to overturn that Vejjel, and thus make 
 the Spectators fenfible, that he had left the 
 Man. This is the Account of a Demoniack 
 in yofephus's Days, difpolTelTed by this Elea- 
 zar. The Root which did this wondrous 
 Feat, is that, I fuppofe, which he mentions 
 in the Seve?ith Book of the fewijlj Wars, the 
 Story of which is ftill more ridiculous than 
 the Account of pulling out the Demon through 
 the Nofe of the Perfon that was poffelTed. 
 
 7*1 a-(p^xyiei piC,«ii srstra iznAKif otr(ppciivofXii>a> 2da. rmy f/j'jx.rr)- 
 
 fun TO ^uiyjovn»>. >d 7:i<rot7®^ iu$u^ t3 ccvOpdiTTH, f/jy,y.ir' n'i cvrlv Ittx- 
 
 ttX6i7v eofKH. I m ^axi)^'^ oi ^U(r(X,i~- on rxvmv t^n Tur i%^, 
 
 tTiBu [/jtKfov i[jtj7rpo(Qiy Trer^fiov TtXr.^t^ iexr®^, » TroeoviTTTfov, f^ r^ 
 ictif/toviUTroevrirciriiv i^tovTirS ocvB^uTra rxZr' uvxTpi'-Ycci, }^ fTxfx^tT* 
 imymvoti rove, epuQ-n, ot< x«t<»AjAo;;tj to» uvPpuTToy, Jofeph. Antiq. 
 Lib. 8. C. 2. 
 
 However 
 
1 32 ) 
 
 However Til relate it fince it concerns De- 
 mons. " ' There is a Valley on the North of 
 " Mach(£rus^ in which is a Place called Baa- 
 " ras^ which bears a Root of the fame Name : 
 " It is of a flame Colour, and about Evening 
 " time it fhines very bright. It is not eafily 
 *' caught by them that would willingly ga- 
 " ther it ; but it withdraws itfelf, and does 
 " not flay, unlefs one pours the Urine of a Wo- 
 " man, or menftruous Blood upon it. And 
 " even then it is certain Death to them that 
 " touch it, unlefs you happen to carry the 
 " Root itfelf hanging down from your Hand. 
 " There is another Way of getting this Root 
 " free from Danger, and it is this. They. 
 " dig quite round it, fo that the very leaft 
 *' bit of the Root is left in the Ground: 
 " then they tye a Dog to it, and the Dog at- 
 
 tcura. kurnj (pXoyl fo^ tuv Xf^"^" '*'«"'*• ''■*/'» « '"«i5 ia-Trifx^ (TiXcCi 
 itTTcci^tuTrTXtrot.' roTi ^' sVtStrt x^ fiovMfO^voii; XaQiTv oiVTyiv, cine i^lt 
 
 vot,ix.c^^ V, TO if/jf/jnivoy oufjijct X^n kcct' otUTttq. 'Ov ///})>, ccTi^cc to tots 
 
 tTriviyKoif^''®^ Tuv p'l'i^ctv C/x. Tviq pc^ipe^ ct7riif)Tt)^'t)v. os,Xt<rx.iToci dt xk6' 
 iTicov TDOTiov ocKivdiivui; , 0? sV' 7-o«oiro£. xvkXo) TTxiTM xuryio 'ZSG^ep'joJis- 
 
 CJV, &I5 iTvm TO K^VTTTO 10^1,0)1 TI55 p'j<^>}4 /ifX^OTXTOV. iW i| XUT'ii(; ^JTjJ^- 
 
 0"* Mvx, KXx,iiv}i tJ ^yi<rxvTi (TovstJceAsflav 0fiJt/yirxvr<^, it fjuiv 'hina-TTci' 
 TXt p«Ji(w?. B-vyi(rx,ii ^' £(/('('? o y.6m, arTTip xvTi^oSui t5 fjtJi>i^ovT(^ 
 7yiii /^cracvtiv xvxipyi(rx(Qxi. <po/i®^ yx^ ioin; rcTi /^J? TXurx AxfXiQetyn- 
 <riv. 'Ef« ^i ^ roa-aruv Kivouvuy Sikj^. fjuixv io^w^'rvk^dva^Xf®-'. tx 
 •yxp rcxXa (Jijjx exijjjovix, txZtx oi 7rovm(o\i i^lv uvSouTruv TTviUf/jxrXf 
 Toic, CfiXTiv iitrov'n f^.x y^ xru'vovrx Toy? fio>i6iiX<; fAivt rvy^xvoiTXi;, xv- 
 T-/) rx^sui i^iXxuvii, Kxv TTfoTivs^fn lA/Ciov Toic, vea-iiri, Jofep. de 
 
 Bell Judaic. Lib. 7, c. 23. 
 
 *' tempting 
 
(33) 
 
 "^^ tempting to follow him that tied him, the 
 " Root is eaiily pulled up. But then the 
 " Dog dies Inftantly, as it were in the Stead 
 " of him who would get the Plant. ^ There 
 " is no Fear to them who fhall afterwards 
 " take it. This Root is very defireable for 
 '* one Virtue it has, notwithftanding fo many 
 " Dangers in getting it. For Demons as 
 " they are called, (thefe are the Spirits of 
 " wicked Men) entering into the Living, and 
 " killing thofe that have no Help, this Root 
 " prefently expels them, even though it be 
 " only brought near thofe that are ill." 
 
 How ridiculous foever thefe Stories are, 
 both that of Eieazar, and this of the Root 
 BaaraSj yet Jojephus plainly thought that 
 there were properly Demonidcks^ or Perfons 
 into whom the Souls of wicked Men entered. 
 He gives us no Symptoms of the Diforders 
 thefe Men had : but only that they were kiU 
 led if they had not Flelp, and that Eleazar 
 pulled out the Demon through the Noje of the 
 Perfon to whom he applied this Root. I can- 
 not but think "Jofephus^ Demoniacks to be the 
 fame with the Cerritus of Seremis SamonicuSj 
 whom ^dreadful Smells would often cure. 
 
 ^ So the Cynocephaie, or Ofyritis in Egypt, is prefent Death 
 to him that pulls it up, and ii excellent good againft all Witch- 
 craft. Plin. lib. XXX. c. 2. 
 
 [ Cerritum fspe horrendi iiiedicantur Odores. Scren. Samon. 
 
 F Serenui 
 
( 34) 
 
 Seremis is fpeaking of a Cafe where through"* 
 Jbme Fault of the Brain a raving Madnejs arofe t 
 and as the Cerriti were Mad men^ and cured 
 by jlrong Smells^ juft as yofephuss Demoni- 
 acks, it is very probable they were Both under 
 the fame Sort of Diforders. It will always be 
 afked, How Jofephus knew, that thefe Per- 
 fons had in them the Souls of wicked Men 
 deceafed ? How he knew, that thefe wicked 
 Spirits killed Men ? What has the Smell of a 
 Root do do with wicked Spirits ? Or how can 
 that expel them ? To fay, that he faw the Fa£i 
 done ; and to add that he faw the Demon over- 
 turn a Bafon of JVater^ at his going out of a 
 Man, is only affirming one incredible Thing 
 in order to prove another. For what Evi- 
 dence is there that this was done by a De- 
 mon ? It is agreed that the Philofophers of 
 Old talked much of thefe Spirits^ or Demons-, 
 but how did they know that thefe Demo?2s 
 were the Spirits of Evil Men ? He might fay 
 perhaps, becaufe the Perfon that was diforde- 
 red, was agitated^ and thrown down, and 
 fuff'ered much Mifchief But thefe EfFecfls 
 might have nothing m.ore in them than what 
 was natural and ordinary, as I have already 
 fliewn. Leaving therefore thefe Inftances of 
 fewifj Exorcijisy and the Charms which So- 
 lotnon is fiid to have left, Thofe idle romantick 
 Tales of jfofephus, which fhew how eafily he 
 
 "* Ex vitio Cerebri Phrenefis furiofa movetur 
 Amiflafcjue refert frendem amentia vires. 
 
 was 
 
(35 ) 
 
 was impofed on himfelf, or how ready he was 
 to impofe on others ; 
 
 I proceed in the next Place to confi- 
 der what the New 'Teftaf?ie?it Writers have 
 faid upon the Subjed: of Demoniacks. 
 And in order to fliew what was meant, we 
 muft compare the feveral Relations together ; 
 and when we meet with plain and eafy Ac- 
 counts of things, we muft make them the 
 Standards or Tefts by which we ought to un- 
 derftand the more difficult Places; and not 
 'Dice verfa^ interpret eafy Texts by thofe which 
 are intricate and hard. It muft be remem- 
 bered likewife, that Demon in none of the 
 Inftances already produced, figniiics what we 
 in Ejiglifj call Devil, but always is applied 
 to • the departed Souls of Dead Men. And 
 laftly, that Epilepfy and Madnefs were the pe- 
 culiar Diforders attributed to the Gods. 
 
 Thefe Things being already proved, it is 
 neceffary to obferve, that when our Saviour 
 began to preach, he went about all Galilee, 
 preachi?ig the Gojpel of the Kingdom, and heal- 
 ing all Manner of Sick?iefs, and all Manner of 
 Difeafe among the People, and his FAME 
 went throughout Syria j and there followed him 
 great Multitudes of People from Galilee, and 
 fro?n Decapolis, and from Jerufalem, and 
 
 " Te6uT«4 TempSK fVif ooi^^coTTuv TDiiVftjarct, Jofepli. "iuj^Ki ^otj- 
 iamTui. Juft. Mart, z Apol. 
 
 F z from 
 
(36) 
 
 from Judea, and from beyond Jordan, Matt. iv. 
 23 — 25. From hence it appears that He was 
 much known ; and that the Dodrines he 
 preached were likewife known ; and what he 
 was imagined to be, was well known in all 
 thofe Parts. This was fo notorious, that they 
 brought unto him all fick People that were ta- 
 ken with divers Difeafes and Torments ; and 
 thofe which were pofleffed with Devils [De- 
 mons] and thofe which were Lunatic, and thofe 
 which had the Palfy. Perhaps this might bet- 
 ter be tranflated, even thofe who were pof 
 fefed, &c. for thefe are the particular and 
 eminent Inftances of Perfons who had Difea- 
 fes and Torments. What thefe Perfons pojjejfed 
 with Devils [or Demons] were, is now to be 
 coniidered. 
 
 ^t. John^ c. X. 20, gives us an Account 
 of a Controverfy amongft the Jews on Occa- 
 iion of fome Things which our Saviour had 
 faid. In this Debate, ma?iy faid he hath a 
 Devil, and is mad. Others faid^ thefe are 7iot 
 the Words of him that hath a Devil : can a 
 Devil open the Eyes of the blind f Madjiefs is 
 here imputed to our Saviour j and the imagi- 
 nary Caufe is, he hath a Devil. Thefe were 
 fo connecfted together in their Minds, that 
 Both Sides reafoned in the fame Manner : and 
 both Sides took for granted that that particular 
 Diforder proceeded from fome Evil Spirif 
 that pofleiied hirn. They therefore that 
 
 thought 
 
( 37 ) 
 
 thought he fpoke the Words of Sobriety, re- 
 plied, can he that is under the Influence of a 
 ivicked Spirit, i. e. a Mad man, either Jhy or 
 do fuch Things as this Man does ? 
 
 It is exadtly in the fame Senfe that the 
 Jews anfwered our Saviour, John vii. 20, 
 when he charged them with going about to 
 
 kill him, They /aid, T'hou hafi a Devil. 
 
 The Meaning of which was T^hou aj^t 
 
 mad, who goeth about to kill thee ? He charged 
 them with an Ad: which they difclaimed ; and 
 they immediately replied, that he had a De^ 
 vil 'j ufing the Caufe, the imaginary Caufe, for 
 a vifible Effed, which they conceived naturally 
 to flow from it. 
 
 Again ; when John came 7ieither eating nor 
 drinking, they fay. He hath a Devil, Matt. xi. 
 18. i. e. When he appeared in that aufl;ere rigid 
 Manner, living in the Wildernefs, and preach- 
 ing ftrid: Repentance as he did, and uflng fe- 
 vere Mortification, they looked upon him to 
 be tnad. To name one Infliance more. 
 
 Our Saviour having told the Jews, John 
 viii. 48 — 52, that they were not of God, they 
 faid unto him, Say we not well that thou art 
 a Samaritan, and hafl: a Devil ? Jefus anfwered, 
 
 I have not a. Devil, but Ihojtour my Father^ If 
 
 a Man keep my Saying, he flail never Jce Death. 
 'T'hen [aid the Jews unto him, no%v we know, 
 that thou hafl: a Devil. Abraham is dead, 
 and the Prophets, and thou fayefl^ If a Man 
 
 keep 
 
(38) 
 
 keep my Saying, he jJoall never taft of Death, 
 The Meaning of all this is very plain : " Do 
 " we not fay very juftly, that you treat us 
 " jufl: as the Samaritans do, w^ith Rancour 
 " and Malice j and that you are really jnad" 
 He replies, " I am not mad, but know what 
 " I fay and mean ; my Defign is to honour 
 " my Father, and with a View of promoting 
 *' this good Deiign I tell you, He that obeys 
 " what I fay fiall live for ever." They in- 
 flantly reply, " Now it is evident you are 
 " f?iad : Abraham is dead, and the Prophets; 
 *' and yet you tell us that he that obeys your 
 " Dodrines jfhall live for ever : Whom makefi 
 thou thy felfl 
 
 Had not St. fohn, in the Palfage firft ci- 
 ted, explained fo particularly what was meant 
 by having a Devil, (or Demon, for fo it is al- 
 ways to be read) we fliould probably have un- 
 derflood thefe Places of Madnefs, or of a difor- 
 dered Underftanding : Becaufe fo many Inftan- 
 ces might be produced out of heathen Authors, 
 where thofe who were called Cerriti or Lar- 
 vati, or Lymphatici, and were fuppofed to be 
 jifFe6ted by, or to be under the Direction or 
 Influence of Demons, were all in their Degree 
 mad. But as the Words are explained in the 
 Gofpel itfelf, it is eafy to fee upon what 
 Grounds the Jews faid to our Saviour, 
 l^hou haft a Devil. They had neither feen 
 nor heard any Demon in him^ nor in fohu the 
 
 Baptif I 
 
( 39 ) 
 
 Baptiji', and yet inftantly they charge thenn 
 with having one. Whence did this proceed ? 
 Or why do they fay a Devil, rather than any- 
 thing elfe ? They faw indeed, what they 
 thought to be Madnefs, and nothing elfe. 
 From this vifible EffeB then they prefently 
 imagined a T)emon (or Devil) to be the Caiiji\ 
 and therefore charged him with what they 
 did ?20t fee, arguing from the Eifed: to the 
 Caufe. And therefore when "Jojepkiis, or O- 
 thers, call fuch or fuch Perfons Demoniacks, 
 they may do it merely from certain Symptoms 
 of which they fitppojed Demons to be the 
 Caufe, though no Evidence of fuch Demons 
 appeared. And indeed it was cufiomary for 
 the Jews to attribute to Evil Spi?'its certaiji 
 great Diforders, which either difiorted the Bo- 
 dy, or occafioned Phrenfy, or Diftra5lion of the 
 Mind: as Dr. Lightfoot has well obferved.** 
 
 The Paflages already produced, which make 
 the havi?jg a Devil and Madnejs to be the 
 fame thing, will help us to underftand fome 
 others, which at firfl Sight may appear more 
 intricate. Thus for Inflance ; in St. Matthew, 
 c. xvii. 1 5, there came a certain Man to our 
 Lord, who kneeled down and faid. Lord have 
 Mercy upon my Son, for he is lunatick, and 
 
 ° Judasisufitatiflimumeratinoibosquofdam graviorcs, eos prse- 
 fcrtim qiiibus vel dillortum eft corpus, vel mens turbara, et agi- 
 tata Phrenefi, nialis Spiritibus attribuere, Lightfoot Hot: heb. 
 Matt. xvii. 15. 
 
 fore 
 
f46) 
 
 fore vexed : for oft-times he falleth into the 
 Fire, and oft into the Water. The other E- 
 vangelifts give us a more particular Account 
 of this young Man's Cafe. St. Mark, c. ix. 
 17, 18, makes the Man to fay to our Savi- 
 our, / have brought unto thee my Son, 
 
 which hath a dumb Spirit ; and where foever he 
 taketh him^ he teareth him, and he foameth, 
 and gnailieth with his Teeth, and pineth 
 away. When the young Man was brought 
 to our Lord, v. 20, the Spirit tare him, and 
 he fell on the Ground, ajid wallowed, foaming. 
 In St. Luke, the Cafe is reprefented thus, 
 c. ix. 39. A Spirit taketh him, and he fiid^ 
 denly crieth out, [or fhrieks] and it teareth him 
 that he foameth again, and bruifing him, 
 hardly departeth from him. This Man was 
 plainly, what 'Juftin Ma?'tyr defcribes thofe 
 which were ^ feized by Demons to be, ' thrown 
 upon the Ground ; and he is plainly a Demoni- 
 ack, for in curing him Jefus rebuked the De- 
 vil, Matt.y.v\\. 18. From the Symptoms he 
 had falling into the Fire, or Water, tear- 
 ing himjelf gnaping with his 'Teeth, foafnijig, 
 wallowing on the Ground, being bruifed, and 
 then the Fit leaving him, his Cafe was Epi- 
 leptick. Celfiis obferves of fuch Perfons, ' The 
 
 P A«j^ov<o?i!)jrr«j, •^v)(,a!%ii UTreSxycvruv ^^xyjOxvofv^i, Juft. Maft. 
 q 'Ptjrrs^oi. Ibid. Apol. 2. 
 
 ^ Homo fubito concidir, ex ore Spumse moventur, ho* 
 
 minem coniuaiit. Ce/J'us Lib. 3. c. 23. 
 
 Man' 
 
( 41 ) 
 
 Man all of a fudden /?? falls down, foams at the 
 Mouth, and when the Dijiemper is new upon hlm^ 
 it makes him pine away. Hippocrates has given 
 us the Symptoms of the Epilepjy more accurate- 
 ly, ^ " He becomes uncapabie of fpeaking, 
 " and is fuffocated, and Fcani runs out of the 
 " Mouth, his Teeth gnafli, the Hands are 
 '* clofe f!mt^ the Eyes are difiorted^ they under ^ 
 " ftand nothing : — he falls down, he kicks with 
 " his Feet." After this particular Account of 
 the Symptoms, he explains the natural Caufe 
 of each ; and fays ^ Thus is this Dijiemper to 
 young People j He adds, "" When the T>iforder 
 is of long Handing, it is not curable. This is 
 a dired: Expolition of the Cafe before us, and 
 fliews the Man to be plainly Epileptick. 
 
 You will fay perhaps then, that Madnefs is 
 not the fame as having a Devil^ but Epilep-^ 
 Jj\ which is a different Diilemper. But the 
 Circumftances will clear up this Point. As 
 
 i/?, It is obfcrved that this Diftemper had 
 been lo?jg upon him. How long, fays our Sa- 
 viour, is it ago fmce this came unto him ? And 
 he faidy Of a Child, Mark'ix. 21. 2dly^ I 
 
 c-vv/i^Kxa-i, >^ M ;k'^P^? (rv(r7rcdyroi.t, y^ ra, oyiiUjy.Ttt, ^ti.c^ii^ayTa.i, >^ 
 
 ihy (ppoffW* — — :Tfo(r/Ti^rsf Xxy.Ti<!^u Toio-t TConv. De morbo 
 
 facro. 
 
 ' Tdio-i f/iiiv Bi/ TtdtsloKTtv ara ytvirat. Ibid. 
 
 " 'Okotoiv y,pcv^ yinrcii t^ ycrc-i, qtx 6Ti lK<riUi(^ yivircn. 
 Ibid. 
 
 G nuifl 
 
(42) 
 
 muft obferve from Hippocrates, * Melancho- 
 lick Perfons are very often wont to be Epilep- 
 tick, and Epileptick Perfons Melancholick. 
 Each of thefe Difiempers prevail, as the Difor- 
 der inclines to either Body or Mind: If to the' 
 Body, they are Epileptick ; if to the Mind, 
 they are Melancholick. 3^/v, It muft be ad- 
 ded from the fame Author, that where the 
 Epilepfy * has grown up with a Perfon from 
 his Childhood, (as was the exprefs Cafe of the 
 Perfon before us) the Cure is very difficult, 
 /^thly, St. Matthew expreflly calls him a Lu- 
 natic. He is Lunatic and fore vexed, ^thly, 
 I cannot but obferve, that Alexander Trallia- 
 nus gives us an Account of a Cure of the 
 Epilepfy, which he learjit in Hetruria from a 
 Countryman, who cutting, fays he, wild Rue 
 hi a Field, his Fellow Servant creA)i'/iax,o5 ojv, 
 'i'KifJi'i, being a Lunatic, was feized with a Fit 
 of Epilepfy. Alex. 'Trail. Lib. i. Exadtly 
 in St. Matthew'^ Language. 
 
 Thefe Things being confidered, it appears 
 that this Young man was Epileptic : His Epi- 
 lepfy had brought him to be Melancholick, 
 which is the natural Turn of the Diftemper -, 
 and his Melancholy had made him mad, 
 
 o< iXiXmruoi iAii?ii>cy^oMKol' Tutccv a'i ix-ocn^ov yjoi^.ov ytviTXi- i^' 
 iTTorifX ecu piv(rvj thto to ocf^ui^/ifjLiot,'. 'He yjiv Ic, to (raf/jci, tTtiXWfoii 
 s( ^s iyrl Try ja/rtKowv i/ji>My^oXixo\. Hippoc. de Morbis popular. 
 Lib 6. 
 
 ^ '-OtW eCTiO ffXt^iH trW>lV^iTXl . 1 I kfTKXXX^ii KHXiTTYl yiViTCtt. 
 
 From 
 
f 43 ) 
 
 From hence St. Matthew, in his Account, ex- 
 prcflly calls him Lunatic. The other Two 
 Evangelifts take Notice, the One of the dumb 
 spirit which he had, the Other, of the Spi- 
 rity but fay not a Word of his Madnefs^ 
 which was implied in the Term, Spirit : 
 And then they defcribe at large the Symptoms 
 of the Epilepfy, St. Matthew defcribes the 
 Epileptic Fits, as foon as he had faid that the 
 Young man was Lunatic : The two other 
 Evangelifls defcribe the Epileptic Fits, as foon 
 as they had faid that he had a Spirit, or a 
 dumb Spirit, Therefore Lunatic and Demo- 
 niack, or having a Spirit, or a Devil, muft 
 be the fame. 
 
 I am feniible how difficult it is to account 
 for every Expreffion on thefe Occafions, where 
 we often know not the exadt Ideas to which 
 fome particular Words were applied. We 
 muft be often left to Uncertainty and Con- 
 jecture, and he that gue/Je$, not irrationally^ 
 ought to be eXcufed if he varies from com- 
 mon Sentiments, when common Sentiments 
 are not at all intelligible. In the Procefs of 
 the Hiftory of this Young man, it appears 
 that the Djfciples of our Lord could not cure 
 him. The Father of him tells our Saviour, 
 1 /pake to thy Dijciples that they Jhould 
 caji him out, and they could Jjot, Mark ix. i8. 
 or as St. Matthew has it, / brought him to thy 
 Difciples, and they could not cure him. Our 
 G 2 Saviour 
 
( 44 ) 
 
 Saviour curing him fo eajily^ his Difciples af^ 
 terwards afked him privately^ or apart ^ Why 
 could not we cajl him out ? His Anfwer, as it 
 
 lies in St. Mark^ is only thus —'Tljis Kind^ 
 
 can come forth by nothings but by Prayer and 
 Fajiing, c. ix. 29. But in St. Matthew, the 
 Anfwer is much larger and fuller, and from 
 thence perhaps we may be able to conjed:ure 
 at the Meaning of thefe Words. Jefus Jaid 
 unto them, becaufe of your Unbelief. For ve- 
 rily I fay unto you, if ye have Faith as a 
 Grain of Muftard-feed, ye fiall fay unto this 
 Momtfain, Remove hence unto yo?jder Place, 
 and 'it fimll remove, and nothing jhall be un^ 
 fojjible for you. Howbeit, this Kind goeth 
 not out but by Prayer a7id Parting. I obfer- 
 ved. before, that this was an Epileptick Cafe ; 
 and it was an Epileptick Diforder of long 
 ilaiidiiig : and confequently either incurable, 
 or very hard fo be cured by any Means of Art. 
 The Determination of the Old Phyfitians is, 
 ^'TJjat neither Broths, ;2(?r even Meats that are 
 light and eafy of Digeftion, nor Flefh of any 
 Sort, a'nd particularly Hog's FleJJj, is ?iot good for 
 this Sdrt of People, '^ou are not to give fuch 
 {ijiy Food at all till the third Day after the 
 
 y Clbum poll diem tertiuni -dare. Neque forbitiones 
 
 his aut alioqui moiles et &ciles cibi, neque caro, mininieque fu- 
 jl!a convenir, — et ubi teitio die cibus datuf efl intermittere 
 (ji'.artiim, et invicem alterum queinque——* donee quatuoidc' 
 Cim dies tranie.int. Cclfn's Lib. t,. c. 23. 
 
 Fit; 
 
(45 ) 
 
 Fit ; and when he has taken fome Suftenance 
 on the third Day, you mujl leave it off the 
 
 fourth, and fo on every other Day^ till 
 
 fourteen Days are pafl. When great Exercife 
 is prefcribed, yet ftill the Rule is ■ Let him 
 have but little Vi(5luals ; or let liim abftain al- 
 together from Flefh. 
 
 I know not whether this may help us to 
 folve the prefent Difficulty. The Difciples 
 afk, why they could not cure this young man. 
 Our Saviour's Anfwer to them is, " Becaufe of 
 " your Unbelief For had you Faith equal to 
 " the Advantages you have, you fhould be 
 " able to do the mofl difficult Things, nay 
 " nothing which is neceflary to gain Credit to 
 " your Authority or Dod:rine, (hall be im- 
 " poffible." This contains a full Anfwer to 
 their Queflion : and what follows, about the 
 Neceffity of Fafiing and Prayer, may not re- 
 
 ^ Paulum cibi affumat. Jbid. 
 
 KpsSv 'TTcn.vTtXac, x.ci>icv i^iv ciTtiy^i&oci oXtyov Xxf/jQuvircu, y^ 
 
 IXtyuMii. It is good to abflain from Flefli entirely. But if he 
 
 defires fome let him take but little, and leldom. Again. Tx 
 
 h\ Kfiot. TrcifotiriTi&cii f/jiXf^ TiXaai; aTTxXXoiytit;- He ought to abftain 
 from Flefli //// he is quite cured. And then follow a great many 
 Cautions about what the Epileptic ought to cat and drink. 
 yllexand. T^rallimius. Lib. i. 
 
 » Oivis oXr/e^otrn], Xivx.5, MTTTt, iXct^xveuv i<p6av, okoo-x if 
 
 ^vvci[/,iv Jf)(^u/£«4. Let him be kept altogether from Flefli : hut if that 
 lannot be, let him be kept fo during the Cure. Let him drink 
 
 but little Wine, 'white, thin. Let him eat thofe boiled 
 
 Herbs, 'which are as fharp as poJJ:ble, Sec. Aretseus B-epxTrtM 
 
 latg 
 
(46) 
 
 late to the Difficulty which they propofed. 
 A miraculous Power was neceflary to cure this 
 Diforder in the Way which Jefus cured it. 
 Is a miraculous Power to be attained by Faji- 
 ing and Prayer I* Or cannot a fiiper natural 
 Power cure a Diforder, fuppoling it to be 
 granted to Men as it was to the Apoftles, un- 
 lefs they fafi and pray for the Removal of the 
 Diforder ? I cannot conceive that our Saviour 
 meant, that the Per/on who would expel this 
 Kind of Devil, (or would cure an Epilepfy of 
 long Cofitinuance) muft neceflarily faji and 
 pray, or elfe that he could not pojftbly cure it : 
 For our Saviour himfelf did neither fail nor 
 pray, notwithflanding he cured the Youth j 
 nor did he blame his Difciples for not fajling 
 or praying ; nor did he charge them with any 
 thing but Unbelief, as the Reafon why they 
 did not, or could not, cure the Diforder. Nor 
 did the Difciples afterwards ever fafl and 
 pray ( that we read of) in order to cure any 
 Diflempers, or to caft out any Devils. Nor 
 was Failing and Prayer required of the 
 diftempered Perfon by our Saviour in order to 
 his Cure, lince our Saviour fhewed his Power 
 in curing him inftantaneoully, and without 
 the Means which the Phyfitians were wont 
 to prefcribe. 1 charge thee to come out, and 
 enter no more into him. Nor, laftly, can I 
 think, that our Saviour gave this Direction, 
 '' to inform his Difciples, that this miraculous 
 
 *' Faith 
 
(47 ) 
 
 " Faith, being the fpecial Gift of God, was 
 " to be fought for by flagrant Devotion, that 
 " it might never be wanting to them." 
 
 An ingenious Phyfitian, to whom I propo- 
 fed this Difficulty, offered me this critical 
 Emendation of the Place ; inftead of h 'Trpo- 
 <riv)0 y^ vy\TiioLy to read h '7CfiO(Ji')^ii ni^i^iicL-i in 
 conjiant Fajlijig^ juft as all the Phyfitians were 
 wont in this Cafe to prefcribe. If this were 
 the true Reading in St. Mark, St. Matthew 
 muft be corredled in the fame Manner, fince 
 it is agreed, that the Verfe was not at all 
 originally in St. Matthe%v, but inferted into his 
 Gofpel from Mark, as Dr. Mills has rightly 
 obferved. If this be the Cafe, the Meaning 
 
 of the Words is " You could not cure 
 
 " this Man becaufe of your Unbelief: But 
 " yet you fee how cafy this Diftemper is re- 
 " moved ; though it be a Diftemper, which 
 " when of long Continuance, is allowed by 
 " all to be hard to be cured, and for which is 
 *' ufually prefcribed a long Courfe of Fafting." 
 
 This indeed would folve the Difficulty ; 
 but as no various Reading will countenance 
 the Emendation, it may perhaps be thought 
 to be cutting the Knot. 
 
 I am apt to think, that the Phrafe, by Faft- 
 ing and Prayer, is proverbially ufed, and im- 
 plies great Difficulty only. For as neither 
 Fafting nor Prayer were here ufed on this 
 Occcifion by either our Saviour, or the diftem- 
 
 pered 
 
( 48 ) 
 
 pered Perfon, the Words muft be taken not 
 in too ftri(5t a Senfe. I conceive therefore 
 that our Lord defigned to oppofe to the ufual 
 Length of Time and Difficulty of Cure, the 
 Speed and Eafe with which he had removed 
 this Diftemper; " This is the Diftemper that 
 *' All People make fo great Difficulty in cu-^ 
 " ring it ! yet you fee how eafily it is done 
 " by me." Our Saviour fays that it was be- 
 cauje of their Want of Faith, that the Difci^ 
 pies could not cure this Perfon : nor does he 
 blame them for not Fafiing, but juftifies them 
 in not Fafling in other Places : Had they 
 therefore had Faith^ they might have cured 
 this Diftemper. This plainly ihews, that in 
 this Place, the Words are not to be taken 
 too rigidly ; but as when it is faid one cannot 
 obtain a Thing, nee paece, nee pretio, no 
 more is meant, than that one in vain attempts 
 
 to get it ; So here This Ki?2d goeth not 
 
 out but by Prayer and Fafting, no more is in- 
 tended than, that this Diforder is very hardly 
 or naturally impoffible to be removed. But 
 this I refer to the Reader's Judgment ; and 
 fhall readily fubmit to better Information. 
 
 There is another Inftance of a Demoniack^ 
 Mark V. I. (St. Matthew fays there were Two 
 of them, c. viii. 28.) which will require a 
 particular Difcuffion. Immediately there met 
 him out of the Tombs a Man with A n unclean 
 
 Spirit, 
 
( 49 ) 
 
 Spirit, ivho had his Dwelling among the Tomhs^ 
 and no Man could bind him, no not with 
 Chains, becauje that he had been often bound 
 with Fetters and Chains, and the Chains had 
 been plucked afunder by him, and the Fetters 
 broken in Pieces, neither could any Man tame 
 him. And always Night and Day he was in 
 the Mountains, and in the Tombs, crying, and 
 cutting himfelf with Stones. St. Matthew fays 
 there were Two that met him, exceeding fierce, 
 Jo that no Man might paj's by that way, c. viii. 
 28. St. Lukes Account is thus, c. viii, 
 27 — 29. There met him one which had Do-vUs 
 a long Time, and ware no Cloths, neither 
 
 abode in any Houfe but in the Tombs. 
 
 The unclean Spirit oftentimes /^^^ caught himy 
 and he was kept bound with Chains, and in 
 Fetters ; and he brake the Bands, and was dri- 
 ven of the Devil into the Wildernejs. 
 Mark and Luke agree in this, that when our 
 Saviour afked Him [the Man] his Name, 
 H E anfwered, Legion : The Reafon of this 
 Anfwer is in St. Mark, for we are many ; in 
 St. Luke, the Reafon is, becaufe many Devils 
 were entered into him. Laftly, When the 
 Man was cured, the People found him • in 
 his right Mind, fay both Mark^ c. v. 15. and 
 Luke c. viii. 3 5, 
 
( so ) 
 
 From thefe Accounts of this unhappy Man^ 
 we mufl obferve 
 
 ly?, Here was a Perfon, not in his right 
 Mind J runriing about naked^ plucking afun- 
 der his Chains or Fetters j no one could tame 
 him ; living in the Mountains like a wild 
 Man ; roaring out ; cutting himfelf ; fierce ; 
 mifchievous to Pallengers. Thefe are all or- 
 dinary Symptoms of Lunacy^ or Madnefs, if 
 the Perfon be fuffered to ramble out in a ra- 
 ving Condidon. 
 
 2dly\ It is faid, no Man could bind or tame 
 him. Hence it appears that his Cafe w^as 
 Madnefsy and not Bpileptick, fince Epileptick« 
 are not wont to be bound with Chains, 
 
 'T^dJy^ This was a Perfon with an unclean 
 Spirit^ Mark v. 2. and he is, before his Cure, 
 conftantly treated by our Saviour, and by 
 Mark and Luke, as poffeffed by One only Spir- 
 rit. Come out, ihou unclean Spirit, v, 8, 
 He was fojj'ejfed with a Devil, v. 15, 16, 
 
 And fo St. Luke, —He commanded the 
 
 unclean Spirit to come out of the Man, for 
 oftentimes it had caught him, c. viii. 29, 
 Our Saviour then faying in the fingular, Come 
 mit Thou uticlean Spirit, at the Time he 
 cured him ; and not in the Plural, -Ye un- 
 clean Spirits,- — — notwithftanding the Man had 
 faid he had a Legioii in him, it follows that 
 this Account of many Devils was nothing 
 dft \>\i% the Man's IiuaginatioUj and not the. 
 
 Truth 
 
(51) 
 
 Truth of Things : For to call out one "Devil^ 
 when a Legion was in him, was really do- 
 ing no Service to the Perfon afflicted. 
 
 ^thl)\ In St. Mark and Luke, where we 
 have the Cafe of this Man at large defcribed, 
 we hear of no more than 0«^ miclean Spirit^ 
 till Jefus afked the Man his Name. Now as 
 to have a Devil and to be ?nad is the fame 
 thing, this Man was confidered merely as a 
 Madman. And fo all that follows is confift- 
 ent. Our Saviour afks the Man his Name : 
 His Anfwer was that of a mere Madman^ 
 that his Name was Legion, for many Devils 
 were entered into him. 
 
 ^thly. Taking him for a Madman, could 
 any thing be more natural than what paiTed. 
 He addrefles our Saviour openly, and without 
 any Fear or Care ; calling him the Son of 
 God, and proclaiming him what he was. 
 What have I to do with thee, fefiis thou Son 
 of God moft high t It was eafy for him to 
 k7iow Jefus, fince his Fame was fpread in all 
 thofe Parts j and that made him addrefs him 
 in the Manner he did. And it was as natural 
 for him, ccnfidering him as a few, in his 
 mad Fit to afk that the Devils which were in 
 him might be permitted to enter into the 
 Herd of Swine which he faw juil before him. 
 The Sight of them would naturally put the 
 odd Image into his Head : And when Jejiis 
 is faid to permit them, or give them Leave ; 
 H 2 ©r 
 
(52) 
 
 or in St. Matthew\ Language to lay Go, 
 
 All this is no more than not concerning 
 
 himfelf with the fantaftic Humour of a Mad^ 
 man, but humouring him whilfl he cured 
 him. 
 
 But the main Difficulty is ftill behind. 
 'The\\ i. e. the Devils, when they were come 
 out, wejit i?ito the Herd of Swine, a7id be-* 
 hold ! the whole Herd of Swine ran 'violently 
 down a fleep Place into the Sea, aiid were 
 drowned. Matt. viii. 32. All the Three Evan- 
 gellfts agree in telling us, that the Devils en- 
 tered the Swine. But yet we mufl obferve, 
 that all this Legion of Devils was nothing but 
 the Madman ^ Talk. If therefore by any Ac- 
 cident the Swine ran down the Precipice, 
 whilfh the Man or Men were under Cure, 
 whether drove down, or frighted down by the 
 Madmen, This would fully anfwer all the 
 Storv. For as to the Reoueft itfelf That was 
 nothing but the mad Difcourfe of one difor- 
 dered in his Senfes : Juft as I my felf met with 
 a Woman who told me of Numbers of Devils 
 in her ; and conliftent with that Principle, flie 
 told me what This or 'T'hat particular D^^'//faid; 
 and what they defired to be done ; and fhe afked 
 me, if I did not hear or fee the Devils. 
 
 But fuppoiing this Conjecture, that the Mad- 
 man drove or frighted the Swine down a fteep 
 Place into the Sea, will not fufficiently account 
 for the Expreffions of the Evangelifls, I con- 
 ceive 
 
(53) 
 
 ceive that there can be no greater Difficulty 
 in this Cafe, than there is in one Man's Dit 
 temper pafling into another Man, The Mad- 
 nefs therefore of this Man may be conceived 
 to pafs into the Swine, juft in the fame 
 Manner as the Leprofy of one Man could be 
 transferred into another. The Leprofy of 
 Naaman was to cleave to Gehazi^ and to 
 his Seed for ever, 2 Kings v, 27. Which 
 way foever this is to be accounted for, I ap- 
 prehend that by the fame Method the In- 
 ftance before us may be refolved without any 
 Difficulty, the like Effed: being imputable to 
 a like Caufe. I fhall have a further Occafion 
 to conlider fome other Circumftances of this 
 Story by and by. In the Interim, I cannot 
 but be furprized at a Calculation lately made 
 of how mafiy Devils entered into each 
 Hog. Had Mr. Wooljlon, In his Defign to ex- 
 pofe Chriftianity to Contempt and Ridicule, 
 calculated in fuch a Manner ; I dare fay, that 
 thofe who were fo zealous to inflid: Punifh- 
 ments upon the Man for his Banter, would 
 have pitched upon tliis very Inftance, as one 
 of the mofl flagrant of all, 
 
 I know not whether there is a fingle In- 
 ftance of a Demoniack, which may not fairly 
 and juftly be explained by Epilepfy or Mad- 
 nefs. The Cafe of the Pytlmtefs, Ad:s xvi. 
 16 — 18, is that of a Perfon that pretended to 
 tell Fortunes j and engaged the Attention of 
 
 the 
 
(54) 
 
 the People, by fpeaking inwardly.' This vt^af 
 called a Spirit of Divination j and when fhe 
 was difcovered, (he was difabled from playing 
 this Trick ';any longer, by St. Paurs faying to 
 
 her, 1 cofnmand thee to come out of her. 
 
 No more was, or could be meant, than to 
 put a Stop to the Trick the Woman ufed. 
 She was not a Demoniack in the Senfe of 
 thofe that are mentioned in the Gofpels ; no 
 more than the Woman whom St. Luke men- 
 tions c. xiii. II — 1 6, who is faid to have had 
 a Spirit of Infirmity eighteen Tears^ and to be 
 boiuid by Satan fo long. She was never repu- 
 ted a Demojjiack j but only to be fo bent in 
 her Body, as not to be able to Hft herfelf up. A 
 Spirit of Infirmity is nothing but an itjfirm 
 Dijpofition or Habit ^ in the Jewifh Phrafeolo- 
 gy : and the Chriftian Writers are full of the 
 fame Manner of Expreifions, applying to eve- 
 ry Vice, and every Paffion, and every Dif- 
 pofition, the Name of Spirit. And as to the 
 
 other Expreffion, Satan hath hound her, 
 
 That Word would have been ufed, what- 
 ever was the true Caufe of this Indifpofition, 
 or whatever was the Obilrud:ion to her Health. 
 Satan is nothing elfe but Adverfary^ and is 
 to be underilood according to the Subjed; to 
 which it is applied. Thus Matt. xvi. 23, 
 Our Saviour fays to St. P(ter, Get thee behind 
 me Satan, thou art an Of once unto me, i. e. 
 Vou are an Adverfary to the Means by which 
 
 God 
 
( 55 ) 
 
 <Jod intends to eredl his Kingdom, and you 
 talk as fuch. Peter here is called Satan^ 
 from his oppofing the Means of the Chriflian 
 Difpenfation. And fo to be boimd of Satan, 
 when applied to an Infirmity^ means no more 
 than that which was an Adverfary to Health, 
 be it what it would. The Woman here, 
 feems to be a devout, religious, good. Wo- 
 man : She was in the Synagogue before her 
 Cure, and as foon as {he was cured, flie glo^ 
 rified God. Our Saviour bears this Teftimo- 
 ny to her, that She was a Daughter of A~ 
 braham -, by which he meant to commend 
 her for her Faith, and good Difpofition of 
 Mind. Why then fliould we imagine the 
 Devil, or the Trince of Devils, to have 
 been in her fo many Years ? Might not 
 one have Grounds to think that he would have 
 perverted her Mind, and not her Body; or 
 have diftorted her Soul, and not have made 
 her Carcafe crooked? 
 
 That it was cuftomary for the Jews to ap- 
 ply the Term, Satan, to any Enemy, is plain 
 from 2 Chron. xxi. i. compared with the 
 2 Safn. xxiv. i. In the former it is faid — — - 
 Satan food up againft Ifrael, and provoked 
 David to 7iiwiher Ifrael, In the latter it is 
 
 faid' 'The Anger of the Lord was kindled 
 
 againft Ifrael, and H e tnoved David againfi 
 them, to fay. Go number Ifrael. Not that 
 God moved David to do as lic did, for then 
 th^re had b^Qn no Fault : but it was fome- 
 
 body 
 
( 56 ) 
 
 body that was an 'Enemy of the Ifraelkes m 
 the Event. And fo 2 Sam. xix. 22. David 
 fays to Abijhay What have I to do with you, ye 
 Sons of Tferujah, that ye JJoould be Satan to 
 me? i. e. that ye fliould be fuch deadly Ene- 
 mies to me. So here in the Cafe of this //z- 
 Jirm Woman J Satan had bound her : whatever 
 was the Caufe of her Infirmity, whether it 
 proceeded from a natural Caufe, or from fome 
 malicious Blow, or any other mifchievous Ac- 
 cident, which in the Event proved fo fatal 
 to her, the Jews would fay, that Satan bound 
 
 her. yudceis ufitatijjimum erat morbos 
 
 quibus dijiortum eji corpus malis Spiritibus 
 
 attribiiere. Lightfoot on Matt. xvii. 15. 
 
 This Cafe then was mere Infirmity : But 
 every Iniliance of Perfons called Demoniacks 
 are Inflances of Epilepfy, or of Madnefs. Thus, 
 yj[^s viii. 7. ^he People attended to Philip, who 
 cafi out unclean Spirits cryi?ig with a loud Voice ; 
 /. e. he cured Men that were raving. And fo 
 Matt. ix. 32, 33. T^jey brought unto him2i dumb 
 man, poiTelTed with a Devil: and when the Devil 
 was caft out, the dumb fpake. Again, Matt. 
 xii. 22. 'They brought unto him One poflefled 
 with a Devil, blind and dumb, and he healed 
 hiniy info much that the blind and dumb both 
 fpake and faw. The PoJJlfiion being the fame 
 as being ?nad^ the Circumftances which attend- 
 ed it Ihew how the Man was afFeded. E. g. 
 In the Cafe jufl meptionedj the Madman was a 
 
 blind 
 
(57) 
 
 blind Man, and duml^j either through natural 
 Infirmity, or elfe fullen through his Diftem- 
 per. And if at any Time a determinate 
 Number of Devils are faid to have pofleiTed 
 any Perfon, e. g. Mary Magdalene, out of 
 whom we fit Seven Devils, Luke viii. 2. Mark 
 xvi. 9. — The Meaning is, that fhe had affirm- 
 ed in her Mela?icholy^ that (he had fo many 
 Devils in her, juft as the Madman faid that 
 he had a Legio?i of Devils in him. This will 
 eafily fliew us the Meaning of what is faid in 
 the A5ls^ c. xix. 13 — 16, concerning the va- 
 gabond Jews who took upon them to call over 
 them which had evil Spirits the Name of the 
 Lord Jefus, faying. We adjure you by Jefus 
 
 whom Paul preacheth. And the Evil Spirit 
 
 anjivered and faid, Jefus / knoav, and Paul / 
 hiow, but who are ye ? And the Man iJi whotn 
 the Evil Spirit was, leapt on them, and over- 
 came them, and prevailed againjl them, fo that 
 they fed out of that Houfe naked and wound- 
 ed. The mad man fell upon them, and tore 
 their Cloaths off their Backs, and wounded 
 them. Thefe Vagabond exorcifts pretended by 
 certain Charms to cure this Diforder. They 
 finding that the Apoftles, endued with fuper- 
 natural Powers from on high, did in the 
 Name of Jefus eafily and inftantaneoufly cure 
 any Difeafe ; They, I fay, likewife pre- 
 tended to this Power ; and being able by their 
 their Charms, or Exorcifms, to do nothing, 
 
 I they 
 
( 58 ) 
 
 they fuffered juftly the Demerit of their Rafh^ 
 nefs and Folly. 
 
 It will be worth our while on this Occafi- 
 on to confider a litde the Pradices of thefe 
 'vagabond Jews, thefe ftrolling Cheats. St. Luke 
 here defcribes them as ^ Strollers^ taking upon 
 them to expel Devils by the Name of the Lord 
 J ejus. This was a new Trick they had taken 
 up : for the ufual Pradlice among them had 
 been to do it in the Name of the God of A- 
 braham, and the God of Ifaac, and the God of 
 Jacob. When fujlin Martyr, and Origen^ 
 fpeak of fews and Gypfies driving away De- 
 vils, they do it as if there was found to be a 
 lingular Force or Charm in thofe Words.* 
 If you exorcife, fays fuftin againfl T'rypho, 
 in the Name of any of your Kings, or fuji 
 men, or Prophets, or Patriarchs, none of the 
 Devils [or Demons] will obey you : But if indeed 
 any of you exorcife by the God of Abraham, and 
 the God of liaac, and the God of Jacob, pro- 
 bably he will obey. However, it is obfervable, 
 ^ that thefe Exorcifs did not dare to reft the 
 
 ^ 'Eoiv ;c.ciTU vayroq oyofjt^otT©^ tZ> iT«p' uf/Ziv yiytnijfAiivuf in /Sao*;- 
 Tccy^ia-iTut i^iv rav S'et.iUioviuv' ^>iX' £« oipci i^ofKi^oi vk^ Ij/juv x.uto6 
 Juftin cont. Tryph. p. 311. 
 {Aitii x^wTcti, Ibid. 
 
 Even 
 
( 59) 
 
 Event upon the Charm they ufed ; but they 
 had Recourfe to Art : they ufed Chai?is to fe- 
 cure, as well as ftrong Scents to expel the 
 Demon out of, the Demoniack. 
 
 Origen feems to impute the whole Cure to 
 the mere Soimd of the Words which thefe 
 Strollers ufed ; and He is of Opinion that the 
 
 Sounds The God of Abraham rightly 
 
 fpoken, were effedlual to drive away Devils. 
 I fay rightly fpoken : For the jfewt/h Strollers 
 and the Gypfes^ were not to ufe the Greek 
 Words, nor did they in their Charms : But 
 they took Care to pronounce Hebrew Words, 
 the better to impofe upon the ignorant People. 
 * The Egyptians, fays he, who did not know who 
 Abraham was, yet ufed the Words the God of 
 Abraham ; and fo they did, Ifaac and "Jacob 
 and Ifrael ', and imputed to, ixnd promifed great 
 Wonders from thofe Hebrew Sounds ; and 
 made it a Part of their Secret. Some- 
 times the Jews faid in their Charms, ^ The 
 God of Ifrael, the God of the Hebrews, the 
 God that drowned the King oj the Egyptians, 
 
 ■ "^ HoAAot Tm Iffei^ovTU* occtfAovccq j^fmrcti 1/ rot^ Xo'/oiq ttuTav rS, 
 B'ioi A^Dctd///. CCTK iTTiToifd^oi ai Ti4 i^tv Q A'Kifiulct/j. T» J" ecu- 
 Tot XiKTioy }^ 9rift rS Iitouck, t^ TTifi t2 'Iccy.uQ, ^ tth^I tS ItrpsttiPi, ctTiiot 
 of/joXoya^ivuc, E^fxicc Ivrct, cvoyjxru ^roMctxS To7<i 'AiyvTrnoi^ i/Tuy- 
 fiXMfAiyoii^ hifynx* tivx iyitrTTctfrui fj^aO^fAeia-t, Orig. c. CqK. 
 
 ^ 'O B'lo^ rSla'peftiA, >u i H^io^ rm Ebpotjfciv, >^ o S'to; o x«t«t«i/- 
 TKfTU^ tv t5 EuvSdu 3-««A«w»fTav Aiyv~ri6jv (iafTi^toi, >^ TK5 AtyvTrTiHiy 
 Vo>i.XctK(i ovof/joi^iTen ft»D»/.xfj(/^ctyofif/^(^ kxtu oMUiDiwi. Ibid. 
 
 • 4- P- '84- 
 
 I a and 
 
(6o) 
 
 and the Egyptians, in the Red Sea : And thi 
 was of mighty Influence againft Demons, a* 
 Origen tells us. Book 4. p. 184. 
 
 One may well wonder, whence it is that 
 fuch impudent Vagabonds with nothing but 
 hard Names in their Mouths, {hould be able 
 to gull and impofe on fo many as they did. 
 But one would more wonder that Men of 
 Learning, fuch as Origen was, fhould contend 
 for the Power and Efficacy of fuch Sounds 
 upon real Diftempers. The Sons of Sceva might 
 pretend to cafl out evil Spirits by a new Charm 
 as they thought ; and they might pretend to 
 vye with St. Pauly in the miraculous Cure of 
 diftempered Perfons, in the Name rf J ejus. 
 But for Men of Senfe to endeavour to account 
 for thefe Pra<^ices of Cheats, I mean for Won- 
 ders and prodigious Cures done, by Sounds^ and 
 Charms of Words, and fuch Sort of magical 
 Operation, is methinks to promote the Cheat, 
 and to encourage the World to confult In- 
 chanters, and "Witches, and Wizards, and Ne* 
 cromancers, notwithftanding it is faid fb 
 expreflly, that they which do fuch Things are 
 an Abomination to the Lord, Deut. xviii. 12. 
 
 The Place where thefe Sons oi Sceva pretend- 
 ed to caft out Devils by the Name oi'Jefus, viz. 
 EpheJiiSy puts me in Mind of the Epheftan 
 Letters which Plutarch in his Sympofmcs ^ys, 
 * the Magicians commanded fuch as were poffef- 
 
 ?rpi twTiie, Kxrtchiyuv 5<^ o>e[Ai>!,'^n?. Plot. Sympqf. Lib, vii. c. 5. 
 
 Jed 
 
(6i ) 
 
 fed by Devils to read over^ and pronounce^ 
 when they were by thtmjehes. Ridiculous 
 Words ! Senfelefs Sounds ! fit to cheat the ig- 
 norant with ! They are of the fame Stamp with 
 the famous Abracadabra^ or Abraxas^ and a 
 thoufand others. The Reader may fee the ori- 
 ginal Ephefian Words, (for fome Cheats had af- 
 terwards added others to them, ) in Hejichyus^ 
 A(Tx.i, KcLToi(TX,if Ai^, TiTfxsL^i Aot|U-vot,|Ufcyeu5, Ataiov, 
 They are juft fuch Cant Words as now our {trol- 
 ling Gypfies ufe : by^Ao-x-t they meant Darknejs, 
 KoLrdffKiLighty by aI'^j He; Aot/^vat/^2veu$ fignifi- 
 ed the Sun^ and Aio-iof, True ; as for TerpocJ, it is 
 not explained. This will fhewfufficiently, what 
 Etifebius has obferved in his Frceparatio Evan- 
 gelic a^ Lib 3. c. I. That thefe Impoftors 
 when they did any thing, « made ufe of certai?i 
 Charms with unintelligible, inarticulate, and 
 barbarous Sounds. 
 
 It is eafy from the Inftances produced to 
 underfland any other Cafe which the New 
 Teftament Writers mention. Their Demo-' 
 niacks are much the fame with the Cerriti, 
 or Larvati, or Lymphatici, of the antient 
 Romans, or with thofe whofe Diforders are 
 mentioned by Hippocrates, as coming from 
 the Gods. Not that any of the Antients could 
 
 Hefychius. 
 
 2 M.ITU, Tw®- ua-^iAiit )^ (3»f'«etfuwA tfTiff^trtaii. Euf. Prae. Evan. 
 I. 3.?. I. 
 
 prove. 
 
(62) 
 
 prove, that thofe whom they called DemOfiJ-^ 
 ach^ or Ccrriti, or Larvati, were really pof- 
 feffed by the Souls of Ceres, or Apollo, &;c. or 
 by the Larvce. Thefe Terms might imply an 
 Hypothecs originally, in order to account for 
 certain Diforders ; but they do not the Truth 
 of Things. And when once Words are applied 
 to fuch or fuch Diforders, every Man that fpeaks 
 of fuch Cafes muft ufe the tecnical Terms, 
 and cannot with any Juftice be deemed to 
 approve the Hypothefis, becmufe he ipeaks as 
 Cuitom has made it neceflary. 
 
 But againft this Way of interpreting the 
 Scripture, it is objected 
 
 Firji, That the Scriptures and Ecclefiaftical 
 Writers make a conftant and a plain Diilinc- 
 tion betwixt thefe two things, the curing of 
 Difeafes, and the cajiing out Devils. Thus 
 Matt. iv. 24, They brought to him all Jick Peo^ 
 pie that were taken with diverfe Dijeafes, and 
 thofe which were pojjejfed with Devils; and 
 thofe which were Lunatick, and thofe that had 
 the Falfy. So likewife, Matt. x. i. He gave 
 to the Difciples Power agaittf unclean Spirits 
 to cafi them out, and to heal all Manner of 
 Si chiefs and Difafes. And Mark i. 34. Our 
 Saviour healed jnany that were lick of diverfe 
 Difafes, and cafe out many Devils. And 
 thus too Luke iv. 40, 41. All they that had 
 any fick with diveyfe Difafes brought them wj^ 
 to him y and he laid his Hands on every one of\ 
 
 theiii 
 
(63) 
 
 them and healed them, a7id Devils alfo came 
 out of many crying out and faying, Thou art 
 Chrif the Son of God. To all this the An- 
 fwer is obvious, 
 
 That what is ufually called Fojfeffon of T)e- 
 'vils, is no more to be diflinguifhed from Dif- 
 eafe, or Sicknefs, than the Paljy is, which in 
 the very firft Citation from St. Matthew is 
 put in the fame Manner as Lunacy is, and is 
 contradiflinguifhed from Difeafes. In truth, 
 the proper Rendring is, He cured all that were 
 taken with diverfe Difeafes, even Demoniacks, 
 Lunaticks, and Paralyticks. In the other 
 Paflages the Senfe is very clear : He gave the 
 Difciples Power over unclean Spirits, and not 
 only that Power, but likewife to heal all other 
 Diftempers. As to Himfelf, our Saviour cu- 
 red the fick, and likewife all Sorts of Luna- 
 cy. Lunacy or Madnefs is a Difeafe which 
 appears in different Shapes : ^ SojJie are merry, 
 fo?}ie are i2A,fome are eafily kept within Bounds ^ 
 and are only mad in their Words -, others are 
 furious and outragious, and of thefe feme only 
 offend in ifmg Violence, others apply Arts, 
 and look and a£l as if they were in their Senfes 
 
 ^ Alii hilares, alii trifles funt, alii faciliuscontincntur, et in- 
 tra verba defipiunt, alii infurgunt, et violenter quaedam manu. 
 faciunt, atque ex his ipfis alii nihil nifi impetu peccant, alii e'i- 
 am artes adhibent fummamque fpecicm fanitatisincaptandis ma- 
 ■ lorum operum occafionibus prsbent, fed exitu deprehenduntur. 
 Cdfus iib. 3. c. 18. 
 
 only 
 
(6+) 
 
 only td catch an Opportunity of doing Mifchief: 
 The Difference betwixt them is dtfcovered by 
 the Event ; as Celjiis has rightly obferved. It 
 is very hard to cure this Diftemper by natural 
 Means ; and fo it is to cure the Palfy : They 
 who are affli<5led with it ^feldom are brought 
 to he well again^ and generally drag on a mife- 
 Table Life^ lofing their Memories : Sometimes 
 it is acute in particular Members j often it is 
 a long Difeafe -j commonly it is an incurable 
 one. Celfus lib. 3. c. 27. The Meaning there- 
 fore of thefe PafTages is, That our Saviour 
 healed all Sorts of (ick Perfonsj even thofe 
 that were moft difficult to cure. 
 
 If it be faid, that the Scriptures not only 
 make a Diftin6tion betwixt curing Difeafes^ 
 and cafiing out Devils ; but likewife in this 
 Paflage of St. Matthew betwixt thofe that 
 were poffeffed with Devils^ and thofe that were 
 Lu?iaticks. I might anfwer, 
 
 That TheophylaSl did not read in his Copy 
 thofe Words, And thofe which were poffef- 
 fed with Devils : And it is plain they are 
 wanting in fome MSS. v. Mills in loc. In 
 
 feme Copies which have the Words And 
 
 thofe which were poffeffed with Devils the 
 
 following ones And thofe which were Lu- 
 
 ^ Raro ad lanitatem perveniunt, et plcrumque mifcrum fpiri- 
 tum trahunt, memoria quoque amiffa. In partibus nonnun- 
 quam acutus ; fepe longus ; fere infanabilis clt morbus. Ibid. 
 I 3. c. 27. 
 
 naticks 
 
( 65 ) 
 
 natlch — -^are omitted. But fay that the 
 common Reading is the true one, it amounts 
 to no more than this, That our Saviour cured 
 all Sorts of Madnefs, whencefoever it arofe, 
 whether it were from Melancholy, or from 
 any other Caufe. It is objedled, 
 
 Secondly y " The Difference betwixt Demo- 
 ** niacks and Lunaticks is evident from the 
 " Circumftances relating to the Devils to be, 
 *' or that adually were, cafl out. e. g. Chrifl 
 " fuffered not the Devils to Jpeak, becauje 
 " they knew him to be the Chriji, Mark i. 34. 
 " Luke iv. 41. They faid, T'hou art the 
 " Chrijij the Son of God : They expoftulate 
 " with Chrifl, faying, JVhat have we to do 
 " with thee f Art thou come to torment us be- 
 " fore the T'ime ^ and pray that he would not 
 " torment them : They afk his Leave to eii- 
 " ter into the Swine ; and being entered, they 
 " hurried them into the Sea j and beg that 
 " they may not be Jent out of the Country -, 
 " They acknowledge that their Name was 
 " Legion. Now to make all thefe Sayings 
 " the Effects of a Difeafe, or to conceive that 
 " Chrifl /poke thus to a Difeaje, is too great 
 " an Evidence of one that is himfelf Difea- 
 " fed." 
 
 As this is the principal Objection, I mufl 
 be more particular in my Anfwer. And 
 
 F/r/?, It is faid that Chrifl fuffered not the 
 
 Devils to fpeak hecaufe they knew him to be the 
 
 Chrijl, The plain Meaning of thefe Texts is, 
 
 K that 
 
(66) 
 
 that he checked the Demonlacks whom he cu- 
 red, juft as he did likewife his immediate Dif- 
 ciples and Followers, if at any time they pub- 
 lickly and openly declared him to be the 
 Chrifl. It would be foreign to the prefent 
 Purpofe to confider the Reafon of this Con- 
 duct in our Saviour ; and it has been fully and 
 fatisfad:orily fhewn by Others. When a pof- 
 feJJ'ed Perfon, /. e. a Lu?iatick, declared Jefus 
 to be the Chrifl, and with an Unguardednefs 
 ufual to fuch Men faid, what might expofe 
 him to Danger, and even Death, before his 
 Time was come, it was right to rebuke them, 
 and not to fuffer them to talk in that Manner. 
 
 Again, 'Tis faid, Jefus rebuked the Devils, 
 Luke iv. 41. Now to conceive that he Jpoke 
 to a Difeafe, is abfurd. 
 
 The Anfwer is very obvious > fince the fame 
 Manner of Expreffion, nay the fame Word, cTre- 
 Tifx'yiaij is applied to a Dijeafe but two Verfes be- 
 fore, which is here applied to Devils ^ i. e. Madnefs, 
 He rebuked the Fever in Peters Wife's Mother, 
 is no harder to be underftood, than He rebuked 
 Mad7iejs^ the one being as much a Difeafe as the 
 other. If by rebuking Devils, or Demons, be 
 ' meant, His not fuffering them to fay Who he 
 was, This has already been confidered. But I ' 
 muft add, that the Romans confidered Fever ^ 
 as a certain Being to which they ^ built Altar i 
 
 ' Ara vetus ftat in Palatio Febris. Cicero de Legibus. '?ufAa7- 
 01 UvfiTYi St/Wt. Clemens Protrept. 'iij sf p'^y/^jj trvpsTS /itof^oi 
 i-ji. Arrian, in Epi^. 1. I. c. 19. 
 
 and 
 
 i\ 
 
(67) 
 
 <ind facrificed. In this Cafe, to rebuke a Fe^ 
 *ver is exad:ly the fame with rebuking a Devil. 
 Each was in reality nothing but a Dijeaje ; 
 and yet each was confidered, and treated a» 
 if it were a Perjbn. 
 
 It is faid, That the Devils cryed out, 'Thou 
 art the Chriji the Son of God. Anf. If the 
 Man that was pofTefled, or 7nad^ made fuch 
 Declarations in Confequence of his Diftem- 
 per, it may I think in the fame Propriety be 
 attributed to the Diilemper, as when St. Paul 
 fays, Rom. vii. 17, 20. It is no more I that do it, 
 but Sin that dwelleth in me. The Madmen fpoke 
 what Fafne had fpread : For the Fame 0/ Jefus 
 very foon went throughout all Syria, a?id great 
 Multitudes of People followed him from Galilee, 
 and from Decapolis, and jro7n Jerufalem, and 
 from Judea, and from beyond Jordan. Matt. 
 jv. 24, 25. Now as this Imprudence, in 
 faying what our Saviour's Circumftances would 
 not admit, was the EfFe6t of Diflemper in 
 thefe mad men, and the Diftemper was im- 
 puted to Demons, it was not unnatural to 
 forbid thefe Demons, i. e. the Man who was 
 difordered, to publifh what was fo unfit and 
 improper to be publiflied. Wherever Difeafes 
 are treated as Pcrjons, or Virtues or Vices are 
 confidered as fuch, it is always ufual to fpeak to 
 them in perjonal Charadlers. Thus, not to re- 
 peat what I juft now obferved about the Goddefs 
 F^ver^ The Goddefs Fides had a Temple built to 
 K 2 heti 
 
(68) 
 
 her ; and fee how fhe is addreffed in Flaufus\ 
 Aulularia, A6t. IV. Sc. 2. Euclioizys^ ^Take 
 heed, O Faith, and do not Ihew any one that 
 my Gold is there. And Strobilus hearing him, 
 fays, O Faith, Do not you be more faithful to 
 him than to me, &c. I (hall prefently take 
 Notice of an Inftance, where That is directly 
 imputed to a Devil, which could belong only 
 to the Man that was difordered. 
 
 It is added in the Objedlion, That the 
 Devils expojiulated with Chrift, faying. Let 
 us alone. What have we to do with thee, thou 
 Jefus of Nazareth : j4rt thou come to deftroy 
 U S ^ I know thee who thou art, the Holy one 
 of God, Luke iv. 33, 34. Mark i. 23- — 26. 
 At another Time, 'They cried out faying. 
 What have we to do with thee, Jefus thou Son 
 of God F Art thou come hither to torment us 
 before the Time ? Matt. viii. 29. 
 
 In the firft of thefe Places, I cannot but 
 take Notice of a very extraordinary Change of 
 
 •^ Euclio. Tu modo cave cuiquam indicaffis, aurum metini 
 eft ifthic, Fides. 
 
 • Verum id te quaefo ut prphiheilis. Fides. 
 
 Vide, Fides, etiam atque etiam nunc, falvam ut aulam 
 
 abs te auferam. 
 Tuas Fidei concredidi aurum : in tuo luco et fano moda 
 eft fitum. 
 
 Strob. Fides, 
 
 Cave tu illi fidelis, quzefo, potius fueris, quam mihi. 
 
 perfcrutabor fanum, ft inveniam ufpiam 
 
 Aurum, dum hie eft occupatus: fed ft repperero, O Fides, 
 Mulfi congialem plenara faciam tibi iideliam. 
 
 Plaut. Julul. AEt.'iv.Sc.z, 
 
 Ferfons^ 
 
(69) 
 
 Perfons, The Man which had A Spirit of 
 an unclean Devil^ fays, Let us alone^ What 
 have ^ E to do with thee f Art thou co?ne to 
 dejiroy U s ? I know thee ^vho thou art. And 
 Jefus rebuked H i m^ faying^ hold Thy Peace, 
 Would any but a mad man have reafoned 
 thus? Had he nothing to do with the Holy 
 one of Gody who was already fo famous for 
 his curing all Manner of Difeafes ? Or why 
 is it faid, Art thou come to dejiroy Us, fince 
 the Man had but One unclean Spirit ? If it be 
 faid, that the Word Us, relates to the Man, 
 and the unclean Spirit^ in what Senfe did the 
 Holy one of God come to dejiroy the Man f I 
 add 
 
 2. That the Evangelifts fometimes impute 
 that to the Caufe of a Difeafe which is proper 
 and peculiar only to tiie Man who is diftem- 
 pered : They impute that to Devils which 
 the Man alone could do. And therefore if it 
 be faid in fome Places, that Devils expoftu- 
 lated with Chrift, That may be underftood 
 of the Man expoftulating ; juft as when that 
 is imputed to Devils which does not, or can- 
 not, belong to them. e. g. St. Mark fays, 
 c. iii. 1 1. Unclean Spirits when they saw him. 
 Fell down bfore him, and cried Jaying^ 
 'Thou art the Son of God. Ujiclean Spirits 
 faw him, and fell down! No. The Perfons 
 who had the Diforders imputed to unclean 
 Spirits did fo. Jufl in the fame Manner as 
 
 Devils 
 
( 70) 
 
 Devils fall down before him, did they cry out, 
 or expoftulate with Chrift j i. e. The Perfons 
 who were fo or fo afFedled did fo. 
 
 It was a Remark made at leafl as long ago 
 as the Author of the ^leflions and Anfivers to 
 the Orthodox, ufually annexed to Jujlin Mar- 
 tyr, ^ That the Scripture attributes to the De- 
 fno7iiack the Works of the Demon. The Re- 
 verfe of this is as true, That the Scriptures 
 attribute to Demons the A6ts of the Demoni- 
 ack : which ihews, that in thefe Cafes, we 
 are not to regard the Letter, but the real and 
 exad: Meaning of the Sacred Writers. 
 
 To account fully for all the Difficulties in 
 the Other PafTage, Matt. viii. 29, and the 
 correfponding Places in the Other Evangelifts, 
 is fomething more hard. It has been already 
 obferved, that when the Man faid, that a 
 Legion of Devils was in him. This was nothing 
 but the Anfwer of a Madman to our Saviour 
 that afked him his Name. It is generally fup- 
 pofed that in this Story, it was the Devils 
 
 which cryed out, Art thou come hither to 
 
 torment us before the T^ime. But there is no 
 Neceffity for this Conftrudion ; and it is 
 plain that both St. Mark and St. Luke expreff- 
 \y afcribe this Declaration to the Man himfelf. 
 St. Mark's Words are, ch. v. 6, 7, When [the 
 
 QLiefi. et Refp. ad Orthod, Quae. 41. 
 
 Man|. 
 
(71 ) 
 
 Man] He faiv Jefus afar off, he ran and 
 worjhipped him, and cryed out with a loud 
 
 Voice, and faid / adjure thee that thou 
 
 torment me not. St. Luke exprefTes himfelf 
 
 in the very fame Manner When He jaw 
 
 Jefus, he cried out, and fell down before him, 
 and with a loud Voice faid. What have I to do 
 
 with thee 1 befeech thee torment me not, 
 
 Luke viii. 28. St. Matthew relates this of 
 T'wo Men ; and therefore confiftently with his 
 
 Narration, he fays Art thou come hither 
 
 to torment Us. The Reafon of the Man's, 
 or Men's, making this Requeft, feems to be, 
 that they remembred the ill Ufage they had 
 formerly met with, when they were bound 
 with Chains and Fetters : and conliftent with 
 that Notion, they beg of Chrift that he would 
 not, /Soto-ctv/crccj, torment, or vex them. Boco-ot- 
 viWj, which we interpret to torment, fignifies 
 not only to torment in the way of Punifli- 
 ment, or to extort the Truth, but is ufed in 
 general in any way to vex, or put to trouble ; 
 And figuratively it is ufed in Cafes where it 
 fignifies no more than trying any thing as with 
 or by a Touchfi:one. In this place the Senfe 
 is plain J The Men who had felt the Pain 
 and Angulfli arifing from being fetter d and 
 chained, defire that fefus would not put them 
 to that Torment again. 
 
 There is another Difficulty in Relation to 
 this Story 3 and that is, It is faid that the 
 
 Devils 
 
{ 72 ) 
 
 I)evils bejought him, that he would not command 
 them to go into the Deep, Luke viii. 31. St 
 Mark fays, He, that is, the Man, bejought him 
 much that He [Jefus] would not Jenditi^va away 
 out of the Country, ch. v. 10. In fome Copies 
 
 of St. Mark it is that He would not fend 
 
 him, i. e. the unclean Spirit, out of the Country. 
 The Lunatick had faid that his Name was 
 Legion ; that he had mafiy Devils in hitn -, and 
 he had defired that thofe things which he cal- 
 led Devils, might enter into the Herd of 
 Swine. Thefe were Inftances of exceffive 
 Madnefs, and that the Diforder was in a high 
 Degree upon him. The Requeffc here made 
 was another Inftance of the fame Kind, that 
 Chrift would not command them to go into the 
 great Abyfs. Had he been in a right Mind 
 at this Time, would he have defired the 
 Company of fuch malicious Beings near him- 
 felf, or near his Neighbours ? Or would he 
 not have defired them to be fent iiito the deep, 
 or any where elfe rather than condnue in his 
 Country ? The Hiftory of this Cure therefore 
 feems to me to be thus. When This Man, 
 who was not in his right Mind, faw Jefus, 
 he ran and worfhipped him. Jefus upon this 
 commanded the Diforder to ceafe : Before this 
 EfFed was produced, or whilft the Madman 
 was before our Saviour, He requefted that ye- 
 Jus would not command the Devils (which 
 were, as he faid, many that were entred into 
 
 him) 
 
f 73 ) 
 
 him) to go into the Deep-y And feeing the 
 Swine there, he befought him that he would 
 fufFer the Devils to go into Them. This was 
 all the Effed: of high Madncfs ; and natural 
 upon that Suppofition : It was as natural for 
 fuch a Man, or Men, to run amongft the 
 Herd and drive them down the Precipice. 
 And when this Mifchief was thus done by the 
 Madmen^ could any thing, after they were 
 brought to a right Mi7id^ be more natural, 
 than for them to delire to be taken along with 
 JefuSy when he left that Country ? 
 
 Another Difficulty in relation to this Cure 
 is, That Matt. viii. 29. The Madmen fay 
 to Chrift, Art thou come hither to torment U s 
 before the time? When it is alked, What 
 I'ime? the common Anfwer is, Before the 
 time of the Day of Judgment ^ until which 
 the 'Evil Angels are referved in Chaiyis under 
 Darknefs. 2 Pet. ii. 4. Jude 6. I am apt to 
 think, that this Paffage may more juftly and 
 confiftently be accounted for thus. When 
 the Men faw our Saviour, ( known fufficient- 
 ly thereabouts, and famed for curing all Dif- 
 orders) they cried out. Art thou cojne S^i hi- 
 ther ^ viz. into the Country of the Gergejenes^ 
 ""ccsS ^<=^^fi, ante tempuSy i. e. unfeafonably, 
 fooner than was expeded or defired, to vex us ? 
 Or it may be, Art thou come""^ thus, after 
 
 ^ Tl^oufov, TTfo xxi^S. Helych. 
 
 ^ ' V-ht OwT»5, tie, T»Toy rey Tfo'-ei'. Htj^vh, 
 
 h this 
 
( 74) 
 
 this manner, untimely, to torment us? In this 
 Senfe <zs^ JccLifi will be oppofed to h x,attp§, 
 or W) jcctipS, or iU xoLipQV^ which fignify op- 
 fortimcl)\ or feajonably ; and will be the fame 
 as ^Zc^copos, or ctx.a,;p?, imti?nely, imjeajbnably, 
 But this I fubmit, as I do whatever I have 
 faid on this Subjedt, to the Judgment of the 
 candid Reader, who will take the trouble of 
 examiriing and conlidering all the Circum- 
 ftances of this Cure, which on all imaginable 
 Schemes muil be allowed to be attended with 
 fome Difficulties. 
 
 A 'Third Obje6tion is taken from hence, 
 That Chrift fometimes puts Queftions to thefe 
 Demons, aiking their Names : Sometimes he 
 commands them to be filent : and fometimes 
 to come out of a Man, and enter no more into 
 him. V. Mark'i. 25. Ltikeiv. 31. Mark'ix. 
 
 The Anfwer to thefe Difficulties is eafily 
 coiledied from what has been already faid. 
 e. q-. He did not aik the DeviL but the difor^ 
 dered Maji, his Name : When the Man fiw 
 Jefas, He cryed aloud And Jefus faid un- 
 to Hi my what is Thy Name. When in St* 
 Luke it is faid. Devils ca??ie out of ma- 
 ny ^ crying out and faying^ Thou art Chrifi 
 the Son of God; and he rebuking them^ fiiff'^^' 
 ed them not to fpeak, or to fay that they knew 
 
 him to he the Chrift^ The Meaning is, 
 
 He rebuked the Pevfcns who l^ad fuch Difor- 
 
 ders 
 
( 75 ) 
 
 ders upon them, wlieii he cured them ; nor 
 would lie fuffer them to publifli openly that 
 he was the Chrijl. When it is faid, that Devils 
 were commanded to come out of a Man, it is 
 the fame Sort of Language with rebiikiiig a 
 Fever : which if any one fliould take too ri- 
 gidly, it would imply the Fever likewife to be 
 an intelligent Being, or a Goddefs as the Romans 
 made it. The Meaning therefore of fuch Ex- 
 preffions is no more than, " Be thou cured; or 
 " be free from this Diforder/' Thefe Diforders 
 being fuppofed to arife immediately from De- 
 mons reliding in, and working upon the Body, it 
 was natural enough to fpeak as to them, and to 
 command them : Whereas when now thofe 
 Cafes are looked upon as proceeding from dif- 
 ferent Caufes, the Language muft neceilarily 
 be changed, and it muft found harfli to our 
 Ears. When the Gods were fuppofed to in- 
 habit any Statue, the People made no Scruple 
 of addrelhng them as in that Statue ; they ipoke 
 to them in that ^ and worfhipped them in 
 that ; and implored their Aid from that j and 
 Cuftom made it eufy and familiar to them to 
 do fo. But to Us the Language and the No- 
 tion being rare, we think it harfli to talk of 
 rehukijig a Fever, or to fpeak to Demons, 
 when we know that the Difordcr is owing to 
 rjuite a different Caufe. 
 
 L 2 A Fourth 
 
( 76 ) 
 
 A Fourth Objedion is, that theje Demoni- 
 acks were of fuch Strength, that no Chains or 
 Fetters could bind them. Mark v. 3. Nor is it 
 poffibie for Difeafes to fear to be deftroyed^ or 
 fent out of the Country^ or mto the Abyfs by - 
 Chrift, fince this is an Abfurdity that ftrikes 
 one at the firft Sight. 
 
 It is eafy to anfwer to this that thefe Ex- 
 preflions, no Man could bind him^ no not with 
 Fetters, can mean no more than this, that the 
 difordered Perfon had been often bound with 
 Fetters and Chains^ and he had often broke 
 loofe. There needs no {training of Words to 
 anfwer this \ And as to the other Part of the 
 Objection, it is founded upon miftaking the 
 Texts, as has been Ihev/n. 
 
 I know not by what Authoritythe Author 
 of the ^eftions and Anjivers to the Orthodox 
 afferts, that ^ the Demon did not enable the 
 Man to break his Chains ajid Fetters^ but the 
 Demon himfrlf broke the?n. This is owing to 
 an Hypothecs, which has been fliewn fuffici- 
 ently to be groundlefs. 
 
 But the Laft Objecftion appears to have fome 
 Weight in it, vix. Why v/ould fefus counte- 
 nance fuch a Notion as this, if there were really 
 no fuch things as Demons, nor Perfons poffefTed 
 
 yfct^n rJ ^aifAc^/ioivrt 7rpc(rr,-^i tS JsnyiAc;^ tx '/pyes- Qucft. et 
 Rcip. ad Orchodoxoi. Refp. 41. 
 
 by 
 
(77) 
 
 by them ? Why would he not rid Men of 
 fuch pernicious Opinions, and plainly tell 
 them, that thefe Fojj'ejjmis were nothing elfe 
 but Lunacy or Epilepfy, or whatever other 
 Name the Diforder had ? 
 
 To this I anfwer, that no Man conceives the 
 Defign of the facred Writings to be to correft 
 the Miftakes of Men in Phyjick^ more than it 
 is in AJironomy, or any other Art : No nor is 
 it its Delign to guard againft wrong Notions 
 of God himfelf It fpeaks of God in the 
 Language of the Vulgar, in a figurative man- 
 ner, and fuppofes all Men to have fuch com- 
 mon reafonable Notions of him, as not to 
 underftand literally what is faid of his Handi 
 and Ears and Eyes. It fpeaks of the Motioa 
 of the Sun, and the Reft of the Earth ; and 
 yet it is now univerfally known that that is 
 all Miftake. And fo here ; It was the mira- 
 culous Cure which our ' Saviour did, the Cure 
 of all Sorts of Diftempers, whatever they 
 were, and how long foever they had continu- 
 ed, which was the thing by which he evinced 
 what he was : But as to the Caiife of fuch Dif- 
 orders, it was of no Confequence to his De- 
 fign to explain them. This was what indeed 
 the Philofophers of old expected : T'hey feek 
 after Wifdom^ fays Si. Paul, i Cor. i. 22. But 
 what was foreign to our Saviour's Purpofe he 
 very wifely avoided, content with what would 
 
 prove 
 
(78) 
 
 prove hitn to be Chrijl the Power and the JVif- 
 dom of God. 
 
 And now to refume the Queflions propo- 
 fed at firft, the Anfwer to them is very eafy. 
 How comes it to pals that we read of fo ma- 
 ny Perfons juft at the particular Time of our 
 Saviour's Appearance under the Power of De- 
 vils ? 
 
 Anjwer. We meet with no more at thai 
 Time, than we meet with now j or than were 
 in Being at all T'imes equally, and will be al- 
 ways, when their Cafe is rightly underftood. 
 
 ^ Whence is it that we fo rarely meet 
 with Accounts of the fame Diforders amongfl 
 Men, either before^ or after, the Times of 
 our Saviour ? 
 
 ^. The Inftances produced of Perfons fup^ 
 pojed to be poifelTed by the Gods, {hew that 
 there were always fuch like Cafes in the 
 World. The Philofophy of the Antients led 
 them into Miftakes in thefe Matters j and now 
 thofe Miftakes are made the Foundations of 
 the prefent Confufion in Men's Minds. 
 
 ^ Whence was it that God permitted fo 
 much Power to fuch unclean Spirits, who 
 feem to delight in doing Mifchief ? 
 
 A. God did not permit in Fad: any fuch 
 Power as is imagined to imclea?i Spirits : nor 
 was there any Inftance of unclean Spirits ha- 
 ving 
 
(79) 
 
 ving fuch Power over the Bodies of Men, when 
 die Cafe comes to be examined thoroughly. 
 
 ^ What then were thofe Pojeffiojis which 
 are fo frequent in the New Teflament ? 
 
 A. They appear all to be Cafes of Mad^ 
 7iefs, or of Epikpfy, which all the Antients 
 agreed in imputing to their Gods, or Demons. 
 The New Teflament Writers made ufe of the 
 Terms and Language ufual in their Times : 
 And as the Hypothefes they then had in Phi- 
 lofophy equally ferved the Purpofe of our Sa- 
 viour in his great Deligns, as the very exad:efl 
 Truth would have done, it had been to no 
 Purpofe for him to have engaged in Diiputes, 
 or to have oppofed the received Notions. His 
 Caufe would not have been in a better Way j 
 nor would the Caufe of the One God in Op- 
 polition to Idolatry ; or of Religion and Vir- 
 tue in Oppofition to Vice, have been better 
 promoted, by refuting the T>emonology then 
 received, than by ufing the common ordinary 
 Language : it was enough that our Saviour 
 fliewed a Power over all that was before Him, 
 and cured the Difeafes with a Word^ which 
 to every body elfe were incurable. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
A N 
 
 E S S A 
 
 i^'ioF ?m 
 
 r^ J Tr 1 'UN 10 1. 
 
 Towards Vindicating the< ^ 
 
 LITERAL SENSE 
 
 F T H E 
 
 D E MONI AC K S, 
 
 1 N T H E 
 
 New Teftament; 
 
 III anfvver to a late inquiry into tlx^ 
 Mea?ti?ig of them. - ^•'^"'^ 
 
 'ES'SCt^p^v Toy (Tctjctvav ag ciT^Tryiv c/k ni i^va 
 Tna-cvja,. Luke x. i8. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed by J. B e T T e n H a M, 
 
 And Sold by J. Roberts, near the Oxford-- 
 Arms in Warwick-Lane, Mdccxxxvii. 
 
[3] 
 
 A H 
 
 ESSAY 
 
 Towards Vindicating the 
 
 LITERAL SENSE 
 
 Of the D E M o N I A CK s in the! 
 
 New Testament, &^c. 
 
 IT is, no doubt, a very commendable, Em- 
 ployment, and a very ufeful Defign,- to' 
 endeavour to clear up the Difficulties of 
 Scripture J to let in Light to any of its dark Paf- 
 fages, to folve the Doubts, and anfwer the Ob- 
 jedions, which may have been raifed, concern- 
 ing them. And it is as unqueftionably our Du« 
 ty to receive fuch Interpretations, as contribute 
 moft to thefe Ends. *S/ mifquam occulta eJJ'et 
 Scriptura^ no7i te exercsret. For thefe, as well 
 as other Reafons, God might pkafe to leave 
 A z fom© 
 
[4] 
 
 fome Difficulties in the Sacred Writings, to ex- 
 ercife our Diligence in enquiring, and to try our 
 Honefty, in adhering to what, upon Enquiry, 
 appears beft. 
 
 It is more to be delired, than expeded, to be 
 able, in every Cafe, to hit on an Interpretation, 
 which is perfedly fatisfad:ory, and which leaves 
 no juft room for any farther Contention. 
 There are Places capable of feveral Senfes, for 
 all of which a great deal may be faid ; and yet 
 not one of them raife in the^ Mind fo full an 
 AlTent, as to put an end to all Doubt. Here, it 
 muil: be reafonable to examine carefully each 
 Meaning, to weigh impartially, their feveral 
 Difficulties and Advantages, and receive that, 
 which, on the whole, we find attended with 
 feweft Objections, tho' it may not be free from 
 all. Where we cannot come at abfolute Cer- 
 tainty, we mufl be content with the beft Light 
 v^ e can get, and embrace what appears moft 
 probable. This will often happen in our Study 
 of tt^ Scriptures, of thofe Parts of them, which 
 do not immediately relate to Articles of Faith, 
 or Rules of Life. 
 
 In general, I believe it muft be allowed, that 
 the Prefumption lies on the Side of the literal 
 Meaning of any Book. This will ever firft oc- 
 cur to the Mind of the Reader, and feems to 
 claim his Attention, unlefs it be contrary to any 
 allowed Principles, inconfiftent with the rea- 
 foning in the fame Place, or with the clear Senfe 
 of the fame Book in any other part. Indeed,. 
 
 if 
 
( 5 ) 
 
 Si common Sentime7its be not at all intelligible, no 
 one wants an Excuje, for varying from them, 
 Enq. p. 43 ; and we are at liberty to feek oat 
 for, or even to guefs at, another Suppolitioii 
 which is fo. And if this Suppofition be alfo 
 rational, we are obliged to receive it. But there 
 is a wide difference between a Meaning's being 
 entirely unintelligible, and its being attended 
 Vfith Difficulties. Our Ignorance of the Reajon is 
 no fort of Argument againft the FaB. There are 
 few Truths, which we can perfectly account for. 
 Tho' therefore the plain literal Meaning fliould 
 have fome Difficulties, ftill it may ftand, and 
 thefe not be confiderable enough to difprove it. 
 I own, if another Senfe can be found out clear 
 of all fuch, or, which has much fewer and light- 
 er, on the Comparifon, it is to be chofen. But 
 the Letter ought always to be adhered to, where 
 the Difficulties are equal, and much more, 
 where they are greater on the Side of the Fi~ 
 giire. 
 
 I am led into thele Reflediions by reading a 
 late.Tra<5t, entitled. An Enquiry into the Me an^ 
 ing of Demoniacks in the New T^eftcfnent. The 
 Author, or * Authors of which have, with 
 Learning and Ingenuity, with Serioufnefs and 
 Modefty, endeavoured to remove and to clear up 
 a Difficulty, which is faid naturally to arije in 
 
 * I mention this, merely, becaufe the unufual Number of ini- 
 tial Letters in the Title Page may denote feveral Hands concern- 
 ed. For the future, I beg leave to fpea^ of the Author^ or to ap- 
 ply to him, in the Sing,ular» 
 
 7nOjl 
 
( 6 ) 
 
 fnojl Mett$ MmJsy upon reading the Cures doni 
 by our Saviour onfuch. (Pref.) I am fo far a 
 Friend to Freedom of Debate, that I think, En- 
 quiries made in fuch a Temper and Spirit, well 
 deferve the Attention of the Publick, and the 
 Confideration of ferious and thinking Men. 
 And I flatter my felf, that this Gentleman has 
 the fame regard to Liberty, and will excufe mcy 
 if I make ufe of it, to examine his Reafons, and 
 to differ from his Sentiments. 
 
 The Difficulty was raifed by the tmly pious 
 and learned Mr. Mede, and is in efFedt this. If 
 the Demoniacks were really Perlbns pojfeffed b^ 
 Devils J whence came it to pafs, that we hear of 
 them in no other Nation or Age, but in Judea^ 
 and there too, about the Time of our Saviour's 
 being on Earth, only ? And farther, that then 
 this was not looked upon as any ftrange or ex- 
 traordinary Thing ? In order to avoid this, Mr.- 
 Mcde imagined, that by Demoniacks in the 
 New T^ejiament, we are not to underftand Per- 
 fons properly poffeffed^ but fuch as were affli<5led 
 with fome particular Diftempers, which the 
 World, milled by Prejudices, looked upon as 
 proceeding from Demons-, fuch as Madnefs^ 
 the EpilepJ\\ and fuch like* This Scheme the 
 Author op the Enquiry has proceeded upon, ch 
 pcned at large, and applied to the moft remark- 
 able Cafes of this fort in the New T'ejiament. 
 And indeed, it effediually deftroys the general 
 Difficulty, and puts an end to all the Wonder 
 which can arife from thence, But the Quefliori 
 
 3 
 
( 7) 
 
 i5, Whether it be not liable to other Difficulties, 
 jnore in Number, and harder to be got over ? 
 The common Sentiment here is very intelligible^ 
 and ought therefore to keep its Ground againfl 
 any ConjeSiureSy which may be offered ;n itg 
 room, if thefe are not lefs exceptionable. 
 
 Before I go farther, it may be proper to tefti- 
 fy my Satisfa(5tion in this Gentleman's Reafbn- 
 ing, in his Preface j where he fays, that " the 
 '' Caufe of Chrift is not affefted " by this Dif- 
 pute. ^' For " on both Suppolitions, " a real 
 ** Miracle is done j the Perfon affedied is cured ; 
 " and the Evidence ariiing from Miracles for 
 *' the Truth of Chriflianity is equally ftroiig. " 
 But then I muft add, and I believe this Author 
 will agree with me, on a View of what I fhall 
 advance, thatif it be true, we have an additio- 
 nal Evidence of our Religion. So that, by his 
 Scheme, our Faith is not hurt, by the com- 
 mon one, it is necefTarily confirmed. 
 
 The better to compare both together, and to 
 range what I have to fay in fome Order, I pro- 
 ceed to confider them diftindlly ; and, in exa- 
 mining his Interpretation, will, firjft, view what 
 he has urged in Defence of it, and then propofe 
 fuch Objedlions, as occur to me, againft it. 
 
 The Enquiry J Pag. 2. begins with fome Ob- 
 fervations about the general Notion of Demom 
 a7Jio?ig the ancient Greeks ; which I can't think 
 to the prefent Purpofe of fettling the Meaning 
 of the Demoniacks in the New 'Ttfiament. For, 
 however indifferent the Ufc of the Word a«/- 
 
( 8 ) 
 
 fjtav might be among thofe, yet AcLifjLmcv in Scrip- 
 tiire^is always, when defigned tofhew theOpinion 
 of the facred Writers, ufed in abadSenfe, and ap- 
 plied to the Devil, or to Idols, as has been obfer- 
 ved by Criticks ancient and modern*. It is there- 
 fore probable,that this differentAcceptation of the 
 Word will and muft occafion a peculiar Accep- 
 tation of that derived from it ; and that we can- 
 not have any Light from the general Senfe of 
 AcJjuLMv among the Greeks, to determine thei 
 Senle of ^ot,iixovi^oix,ivci in the New I'ejiamenf. 
 
 Indeed this Gentleman tells us, P. 4. that 
 *' this Notion of De?no?is, that they were the 
 " Souls of fuch as once had lived upon Earth, 
 " is fo univerfally allowed by Jews and Chri- 
 " flians, as well as Heathens, that fcarce any 
 
 * To C el/us, who pleaded, that Demons, as well 3S Godf, de- 
 fcended from Heaven for the Service of Men, Qrigen anfwers, 
 
 bn c^ujv, ort To Tfijn eenf/jotuii otofjua mis fAtcrov Sffv, 6); to rav av^cu- 
 TTaii, 19 c'ii rivi? f/bsv cc?iiot, t(v£? oi (pctvMi siVdi — oes» ot tTt) riuit 
 <pxii?,m i|» rS 7ix)(,vTi^ii n-Mfji/oi,']!^ diivxiA,i6)v TCi<rirtT»i to tuv oUtu-o- 
 vup ovofjbx, ^Xuvojvlav x^ TTifio-TTciiiluv ry; dv^^an^q, t^ KxBi^x,ov1af 
 ei^o tQ ©£8 >i Tiyv ItJifB^xviiov i^l rot T^Oi Treaty ^jCi]*. L. C. Ed. 
 
 Cantab, p. 234. 
 
 Nosautem, ficut S.Scriptura loquitur, fecundum quann Chriftiani 
 fumus, Angelos quidem partim bcnos, partim malos, nunquam 
 vero bonos daemones legimus. Sed ubicunque illaruni literarum 
 hoc nomen pofitum reperitur, five dasmones, five daemonia dican- 
 tur, non nili maligni fignificantur Spiritus. Jug. de Civ. Dei. 
 L. 9. c. 19. T<VL-eIPi Crit. Exam. Part i. p. 116. H. Steph. 
 Lex. in voce Axi/Ajuy. Warren's Jlnfn»er to Plain Account, Part 2. 
 p. 7, &c. Vid. etiam Du Ftene GloJJ. V. 2. in 'voc. Deem, 
 Jitguji. ubi fupra, adds, that not even the Heathens ever faid, 
 D/rmovem habes, but by waycfCurfe, and Reproach. Grotius 
 on Matth. iv. 24. obferves, That the Hellenip ufed £^xIijijuv in an 
 ii! Senfe, as the Hebreivs did .SiJ^/j tho' both originally indiffe- 
 rent in their Signification. 
 
 *' one 
 
(9) 
 
 '* one will difpute it. " But if he means, that 
 this is the proper Notion of the Scripture De- 
 mons^ I apprehend he is miftaken, and will find 
 but few that affirm it. He quotes Jujiin Mar- 
 tyr, and jfofephus. As to the former, what 
 wonder can it be, that one bred up in the 
 Schools of the Platonick Philofophy, fhould not 
 be able to get rid of all the Notions he learned 
 there, and fhould ftill retain a Prejudice, which 
 could have no very ill Confequence ? And that 
 the other, to recommend his Hiftories to the 
 Heathens, for whofe Sake he wrote them, 
 fhould probably have adopted one of their Mi- 
 flakes, and given an Explication of the Word 
 Auifjcoviov, which they had been ufed to ? How- 
 ever this be, it is certain, that this is not the 
 Scripture Senfe of this Wordj which there de- 
 notes either Idols, or Devils. Thus, Pf. xcvi. 
 
 brew Word is □''V^'tk, which Lev. xxvi. i, is 
 by the LXX rendered ;^g;oo;7-oi'>jT<*> and which 
 is derived from bVs which fignifies, nothijig, 
 agreeably to what St. Paul fays, iti)i li'^coKov cv 
 xcV^«, I Cor. viii. 4. Vid. Kev. ix. 20. That 
 the Scripture confiders the Gods of the Heathen as 
 Devils, I believe wants no Proof, no more 
 than that they were fo looked upon in the Pri- 
 mitive Church \ of which more hereafter. 
 
 The next Point propofed to be confidered in 
 the Enquiry, is, ij^ag. 5.) " Whether" thefe De^ 
 
 B mens 
 
( lO ) 
 
 mons, or xht Souls of departed Men, " had any 
 " Powers committed to them over Mankind ? " 
 This the Gentleman does not think has been 
 " fatisfadlorily proved, " . and imagines, that 
 " they that attempt to " do this, " muft prove 
 ** with Certainty, that the Heathen Gods and 
 " GoddefTes, Neptune, Hecate, Ceres, Apollo y 
 " &c. were the real Authors of fuch Adiions^ 
 " as were imputed to them." 
 
 Here alfo I am obliged to differ from the Au^ 
 thor. I can't think it at all neceffary to do fo. 
 Upon the prefent Foot of our Debate, it ap- 
 pears fufficient to prove, that the Devils, the 
 Scripture Demons, had fome " Powers commitr 
 " ted to them over Mankind." And this, I be- 
 lieve, this Gentleman will not deny. And I 
 can't but add, that the general Notion oiFof- 
 fijjions, whether juft or not, feem to imply as 
 much. The yews certainly had no Notion of 
 Neptune, Hecate, &c. And yet we find the 
 Belief of Poff'eJJions as ftrong in them, as in the 
 Greeks. How to account for a Belief fo uni^ 
 verjally prevailing, will perhaps be difficult ; 
 unlefs we, at leaft, have recourfe to fome tra- 
 ditionary Account of evil and mifchievous Spi- 
 rits fuffered to range about the World. The 
 Prejudices andSuperflitionof the Heathens here 
 are owned. I would beg to know, from whence 
 they proceeded ? If it be faid, from their Fears, 
 the Queftion returns, What gave occafion to 
 thefe ? Surely either Experience, or Tradition. 
 Men do not ufe to fear what they have never 
 
 feen 
 
{ II ) 
 
 feen or heard of, and what they have noReafon 
 to imagine. — - If their Ignorance of the true 
 Caufe of any Diftemper be pleaded as the Rea- 
 fon of their afcribing it to their Z)£';>^^;2j', — This, 
 I own, is not improbable, if we firft fuppofe 
 them acquainted with the Nature of thefe Spi- 
 rits. But from whence had they this Know- 
 ledge? Probably, from what they faw, and 
 from Tradition, which being by degrees corrup- 
 ted, and mixed with Fable, and like their Pro- 
 phecies, obfcuris vera invohens, might come 
 to be, what the Heathens efteemed it. This 
 however, is offered only as a Conjecflure. That 
 the Devils had a ftrici and proper Power over 
 Men, and that they exercifed this Power under 
 the Names of the Heathen Deities^ is what the 
 Scripture fuppofes, and is all that my prefent 
 Argument requires. 
 
 The Author of the Enquiry next obferves, 
 Pag. 6, 7. that fome particular and extraordinary 
 Diftempers " were imputed dire<5tly to their 
 *' Demons^ He firfh mentions the Epilepjy^ which 
 was thence called lues deijica^ and morbus Jacer, 
 And from Hippocrates he (hews, that fome 
 Quacks pretended to cure it by Expiations, and 
 Magic Charms, P-J-, 8, 9, 10. Now, beiides 
 that this concludes nothing againft the Demo- 
 niacks of Scripture, the Sentiments and Lan- 
 guage of which can't be fuppofed to have been 
 borrowed from the Greelis, we fhould take no- 
 tice, that this is not one of the Cafes, which 
 were generally thought DemoniacaL To go 
 B 2 no 
 
( 12 ) 
 
 no farther than to P. 9. of the Enquiry^ we 
 find from a PafTage of Arijiceus there quoted, 
 that there were feveral Opinions about this Di- 
 ftemper, and that this was but one Reafon, (a- 
 mong others which he afligns) for its being 
 called Sdcred, Suppofe then thofe, who gave 
 this Reafon, were miftaken in this Particular, 
 as I can eaiily grant they were — what follows? 
 That there were no Perfons in thofe Times 
 properly pojfepd, becaufe thefe were by fome 
 fallly faid to be fo ? — No furely. — Nay the 
 contrary may rather be concluded from hence. 
 For if there were no realFoJj'eJjiom^ whofeSymp- 
 ■ toms or Appearances were known, and with 
 which the Cafe of the Epileptick could be com- 
 pared,, 'tis hardly probable, that anyone would 
 have thought of reprefenting this as a Poffejpon. 
 Nor can any Thing be drawn from the Im- 
 pojlors which appeared then, or from Hippo- 
 crates Ipeaking with Indignation againft them, 
 to prejudice my prefent Argument. That there 
 fliould be Cheats, who took hold on the Preju- 
 dices of the People, and impofed on their Ig- 
 norance ; and that fo excellent a Phylician 
 - fliouid difcover and expofe them, both out of 
 Kindnefs to the People, and in Vindication of 
 his Profeffion ; there is furely nothing wonder- 
 ful in this. We fee the like happen every Day. 
 But from fuch Miftakes and Impoftures, the 
 • Confequence will be only a PoJ/ibility of other 
 Cafes being fuch. We have not yet the |eaft 
 Proof, that they were a5lually fo. 
 
 From 
 
( 13 ) 
 
 From what has been faid, we fee a ready 
 Anfwer to the Argument in the two next Pages, 
 Enq. p. II, 12. It is here fuppofed that Tertul- 
 lian meant by De??i07is, the Souls of departed 
 Men : Whereas it is plain from what we fliall 
 have occafion to cite hereafter, that he under- 
 flood Devils, or evil Spirits, which the Gentiles 
 worfhipped. And as to the Pafifage before us, 
 every Word is as applicable to thefe, as to the 
 others. * P. 12. proceeds on a like Miftake, 
 that Neptune, Mars, Sec. can't be proved to 
 " have fuch Powers as were ufually imputed 
 " to them." And that " Many of the Hea- 
 " then Deities, to whom Diftempers were at- 
 " tributed, were nothing but mere imaginary 
 " Beings." And therefore that " in both Cafes, 
 " a mere Hypothejis is maintained," that thefe 
 were the Caufe of fuch Diftempers. But what 
 then ? If thefe were " Imaginary Beings," are 
 the Devil and his Angels alfo " Imaginary Be- 
 " ings ?" Have thefe no Exiftence, or no Power 
 over Mankind ? And may it not be fomething 
 more than " a mere Hypothefis," That thefe 
 exercifed this Power in fuch a manner, and were 
 the Occafion of Difeafes ? Thefe are the only 
 Scripture Demciis, whofe PcffeJJiofis I am con- 
 cerned to defend, and who were the Authors 
 
 * Corporibus quidem et valetudines infligunt, &• aliquos cafm 
 acerbos j Animas vero repentinos et extraordinarios per vim ex- 
 ceffus. Suppetit illis ad utramque fubltaDtiam hominisadeundam 
 fubtilitas et tenuitas fua. Multum fpiritalibus vinbus licet, ut 
 invifibilps et inrenfibiles in efFedu potius quam in adu fuo appa- 
 reant. Tertu/. Apologet, c. 22. 
 
 and 
 
(14) 
 
 and Objects of the Heathen Worflblp, under 
 the Names of Mars, Pluto, Hecate, &c. -f- 
 
 The Paragraph I am examining concludes 
 with the following Rule, which, however plau- 
 iible it appears, I can't think univerfally true. 
 " If we find there is nothing in [any Diftem- 
 ** per] but what may be the Effedt of mere 
 "natural Dilbrder in an human Body, it is ab- 
 ^* furd to introduce a Deity into the Affair." 
 This is confirmed by that Line of Horace, nee 
 JDeus inter fit, &c. The Poet certainly proves 
 nothing here, as he fpake of a quite different 
 Matter. And as to the Rule itfelf, though it 
 ihould be allowed to hold in Cafes, where we 
 have no Reafon to believe any PopJ/ion, yet 
 it cannot hold againft Evidence of Pojejions, or 
 be fafficient to fet it a fide. Who can pretend to 
 an exact Knowledge of the Extent of the Power 
 of evil Spirits ? Who can fay, that they can't 
 infiid: even natural Difeafes ? If they can, then, 
 tho' nothing more than mere natural Diforders 
 appear, it may not be abfurd to introduce them 
 into the Afiair. And, if we have fufficient ex- 
 ternal Teffimony, that llich Diforders did pro- 
 ceed from them j in fuch Cafe, it is not abfurd, 
 
 \ " Becaufe thofe, whom the Gentiles took for Demons, and 
 *• fur deified Souh of their Worthies, were indeed no odier than 
 *' e-jil Spirits, counterfeiting the Souls of Men deceafed, and 
 " masking rhemfelves under the Names of fuch fuppofed De- 
 *' mons, under that Colour to fcduce Mankind ; therefore the 
 *' Scripture ufeth the Name Demons, for that they were indeed, 
 " and nn for what theyfeemed to be " Medes Works, p. 635. 
 Vid. II. Gi'ol. de Verit. L. IW . Scft. III. 
 
 to 
 
( 15 ) 
 
 to introduce them j or rather, it is abfurd, not 
 to introduce them. As Scripture muft be owned 
 by Chrijliam to he^fufficwit Tejiimcjiy, this can 
 be no juft Rule for examining into the Cafes 
 mentioned therein. Where this afcribes any 
 Diforders to Devils, however * natural the 
 Eifeds of fuch Diforders may be, yet the Per- 
 fons labouring under them, are to be efteemed 
 Demoniacks. 
 
 The firft Inflance the Enquiry, P* ^S* gives 
 of the Application of this Rule, is that of the 
 Epilepjy, the Cafe of which is reaffumed. But 
 I need not repeat v, -\at has been faid about this. 
 We are no way c ^cerned to vindicate the Hea- 
 then in any Miflakes. It is acknowledg'd, that 
 They Mdthout Grounds afcrib'd this Diilemper 
 iu general to their Gods. This Hippocrates very 
 judiciouily and juftly confuted, by fhewing it 
 in general to be ri clvS-^coTnvov, -naturally incidejit 
 to Man. But they gave him no Occalion to 
 proceed any farther. Had they affign'd any 
 particular Cafes, and been able to produce as 
 
 * That Devils had a Power in thofe Days to inflift Difeafes, is 
 owned by Dr. Hammond, on Mat. x. i. xvii. 15. So V Enfant, 
 on I Cor. V. 5. " Soit mis dans la puiffance du Diable, pouren 
 " etre tourmente, aiflige de maladies, & de peines tempore! Ics, 
 " jufqu' a la mort meme, fi Dieu le permit." Mr. Locke's Opi- 
 nion is much the fame, — " Deliver the Offender up to Satan, that 
 " being put thus into the Hands and Power of the Devil, his 
 " Body may be affliftcd and brought down, ^f." On St. Paul's 
 Epijl. Sec aifo Dr. Ca've''s Primiti'ue Chrifiianity, p 449. 
 
 " Why may not the Operation of an evil Spirit on the Body 
 " create Dillempers, as well as the Operation? of many Natural 
 *• Subflances ?" Difcoiirfe of our Saviour'' i miraculous Ponver of 
 Healing, &c. 1730. p- 24. 
 
 X'^--^ 4 fufficient 
 
( i6 ) 
 
 fufiicient Evidence, as Scripture is to us, that, 
 in thefe, the Diftemper was owing to evil Spi- 
 rits -y I apprehend, it would not have been fiifr 
 ficient for him to have pleaded, that the EfFedls 
 of the Diforder were natural ; And he muft, 
 notwithftanding this, have admitted fuch Per- 
 fons to have been real Demoniacks ; unlefs he 
 could have proved thofe Spirits to have had no 
 Exiftence, or no fuch Power. Which, I ht- 
 \icwc, Hippocrates would hardly have undertaken 
 to do. 
 
 The Cerriti and Larvati come next to be 
 confider'd, of whom the A'^thor treats pretty- 
 largely. Enquiry^ p. 14—19. f'^-'^ving from Plan- 
 tus,y that Madmen had thofe Titles given them, 
 and concluding " That in the fame maniver, and 
 " in the fame Propriety of Languao;e, ^ as dif- 
 " order'd Perfons among the Romans were 
 " called Cerriti and Larvati, tho' their Difor- 
 " ders did not arife from Ceres, ovLarvce; 
 ** Perfons may be called Demoniacks, tho' 
 " Demons are not the Caufe of their Diftem- 
 " pers." p. 19. Were all this granted, I cannot 
 fee how it would affed: the Point I am defend- 
 ing. The Queftion is not whether Madmen, 
 &c. Jnay be called Demoniacks ? But whether 
 they are the only Demoniacks, or the Demoniacks 
 of the New T^ejlatnent t This will by no means 
 be allowed to follow from the other. Thus, 
 to ufe the fame Inflance, Madmen were called 
 Cerriti. But were they the only Cerriti ? 
 No. Calepin informs us, that this Word origi- 
 nally 
 
( ^7 ) 
 
 nally lignifies c?ie tormented by Ceres ; for tht 
 Priefts in performing her j acred Ceremonies^ 
 were fcizd with Madnefs, And he fubjoins 
 another Inftance very appofite to this Purpofe ; 
 And as from Bacchus comes the Word B ace bans, 
 Jo from Ceres that of Ceritus *. 
 ^ The truth of the Cafe, in fliort, is this. 
 •*rhe Myfteries of the Heathen Gods, and the 
 Ceremonies of their Worfhip, were perform'd 
 in fuch a diforderly tumultuous manner, that 
 it had much more the Appearance of Madncfs, 
 than ReI''gio?u Hence the Cuilom of giving the 
 fame Names, or fuch as were derlv'd from them ; 
 to all Peribns, who, whether thro' Misfor- 
 tune, or otherwife, adled in a lii;e manner. 
 Thus the Word Bacchor, came to iignify to 
 rage, in general : Thus Cerrkiis : Thus ^cn- 
 {jiovcico^ (the firfl Senfe of which is to h& poff'-'jfed 
 with a Demon ^) * from the furious Ad:ions 
 ufually obferv'd in fuch, came to be ufed for 
 to be mad. Thefe fecondary Senfes then may 
 be allowed, but ought not to exclude or preju- 
 dice the primary ori2;inal InterpreiatJcns ; on 
 which they are wholly grounded, and which 
 indeed they greatly confirm -f*. 
 
 * Ceritus, hoc eft Cereris ira et indignatione vexatur, vv(t.<po- 
 >ijVref. N;\m in Cereris Sacris furore corripiebantur. Et ficut a 
 Baccho b;:'. :hantem dicimus, fic a CetereCeritam. Calepin. DiJ. 
 
 * a'xifzjiv/ji v/to Actiutttoi; xeiTE}^iTcn. Helych. 
 
 \ Thus alio the Author of the Enquiry himfelf, p. 22, 23. 
 affords us an [nftance of this in the Words, Fates y & 'vaticinari, 
 which were applied to Madnefs and Madmen, without deilroying 
 the Reality of the PtopJpetSy or the Ufe of tire Words, in this their 
 firft Meaning. 
 
 C Thus 
 
( i8 ) 
 
 Thus alfo Larvafus was ufed for a Madman, 
 But from whence arofe this Senfe ? H. Steph, 
 in his 'ThefauruSy tells us, from Fejius^ Larva- 
 fus, mente motus, q^uasi a larvis exterritus. 
 This fliould ieem to imply, that there had 
 been Inftances of Perfons really fo affrighted. 
 And I hope I fhall not be thought fuperftitious, 
 if I think it probable there were fuch. For if 
 the Larvce were indeed, what the Author of 
 the Enquiry, p. i6. owns they were imagined 
 to be, " mifchievous and wicked Spirits j" then 
 they were fomething more than SpeBres, and 
 there is no Difficulty in believing, that they 
 might terrify and torment Men. And I am 
 confirmed in this Suppofition, by obferving, , 
 how nearly the Account we have, p. 1 8. from 
 Apuleius, of " the ordinary Notion concern- 
 " ing thefe Larvce,'' correfponds with the 
 Scripture Account of evil Spirits *. Are 
 thole faid to be puniJJjed on Account of their ill 
 Deferts in Life f So St. Peter fpeaks of thefe, 
 2 Ep. U. 4- 5 ®^°? dyyiXuv <ifA,eLpTyi<rctvTcov ^x. 
 i^sio-oLTo. Are they puniJJoed with a fort of 
 BaniJJjtnent, always rambling about ? Exactly 
 the fame is the Account of the Devil, Jobi. 7. 
 I Pet. V. 8. Were they vain Terrors to good 
 Men, but to evil Men noxious ^ It would be 
 needlefs to cite particular Texts to juflify this 
 
 * Propter adverfa vitas merita, nullis bonis fedibus, incerti 
 vagatione, feuquodam exilio punitur, inane terriculamentum bo- 
 nis hominibus, casterum malis noxium, hunc plerique Larvam 
 perhibent. Jpuleias de Dm Socrads. 
 
 4 Compa- 
 
( 19 ) 
 
 Comparifon. —The whole Charadler of evil 
 Spirits in Scripture makes it good. — We 
 fee then, how probable it is, that the Larvce 
 were imagined to be, what they really were ; 
 that they were not mere SpeSlres^ but adtual 
 Beings, whofe Nature prompted them to do 
 Mifchief, and who might be permitted, in fome 
 Meafure, by the Supreme Beifig^ to do it. Nor 
 can it be any Objection to this, that they were 
 known by thefe Names ; that their Natures 
 might be a little mifunderftood ; or that they 
 gave Occafion to a real Diftemper's being 
 called after them. 
 
 As to the wixOoXyiTTToiy or Lymphatici, which 
 are mentioned in the Enquiry^ p. 19. I find 
 great Difference about the origin of the Word. 
 We faw thsit Calepin made them the fame with 
 the Ceriti. Hejychius's Interpretation is, Per^ 
 Jons poff'efsd with the Nymphce, and Prophejying 
 under their adiual Influence *. 
 
 Others derive it from the poetical Stories of the 
 Nymphs, and from fome, who were reprefented 
 as feized by Madnefs, for having feenthem com- 
 ing out of the Water -f-. Others make it only a 
 moft particular fort of Madnefs, when Men have 
 fuch a Terror of the Water upon them, that 
 they can't forbear plunging into it §. And it has 
 
 f Dicitur vvfji.<pioti furore corripi ob vifam Numplias effigiem, 
 feu fpeciem e fonte. //. Steph. Lex. 
 
 § Alii autem Lymphatos dici exiftimant eos, qui metu et hor- 
 rore quodam aquae afficiuntur, adeo ut fe faepe in earn praecipitent : 
 Quos Graci i/Jpef e'^as appellant. IbU. 
 
 C 2 been 
 
( 20 ) 
 
 been obferved, tbat Arijlotle applied the Word ^ 
 vvf^Cpi'dco to Mares. So that amidft fuch a Va- 
 riety of Interpretations, it may be hard, to fay, 
 whether any Popffion, ftridly fpeaking, was 
 intended by thefe Expreffions, or not. The 
 Gentleman thinks " they plainly meant no- 
 *' thing but certain Diftempers, and to which 
 *' certain Medicines were applied." And he 
 goes on to mention from Pliny feveral of thefe 
 Remedies, mofl of which indeed are ridiculous 
 enough. But from their being fo ridiculous, 
 it may be concluded, that fomething more than 
 mer^' Aladnrfs was conceived to be the Cafe. For 
 by far the greatefl Part of thefe Medicines are 
 equally as unfuitable to this, as to real PoJfeJ^ 
 fion. If this be fuppofed, Siiperjlition will eafily 
 account for the Abfurdity of ordering fuch 
 things ; fince nothing is fo ridiculous, which 
 Superjiitlon will not lead Men to. But if 
 t'lefe v^QXQ. cv\\y conceiv dto becommonDiforders, 
 iiothing could be more abfurd, than to apply 
 fome of thefe Remedies. I will mention only 
 one we find, Eiiq. p. 20, in the Margin, 
 *' Nails taken oui; of a Grave, and fixed into a 
 " Threfhold, were good again ft «(?^7«r;z^jZyy ;w- 
 " phationesy This has evidently the Face and 
 Appearance of a Chartn^ and could never have 
 been thought of, as a Remedy againft Madnejs, 
 or any other natural Dijlempcr -f-. 
 
 We 
 
 ■f'Much the fame may be faid of the Lujiratiins mentioned, jE/?^. 
 j>. 1 8- If it Ihould be here objeded, that Charms have been ufed 
 
 to 
 
( 21 ) 
 
 We have now gone through, what this Au- 
 thor has urged about the Notion the Greeks and 
 Romans had of Demo?2S, and their Po/JeJ/ions. 
 And, I hope, it has been made appear, that 
 the Objedlions he has brought, do not deftroy 
 our Belief of fuch, or force us to think all Cafes 
 of this Nature mentioned by them to be no 
 more than Natural Diforders. Nay, I hope, 
 it has been fhewn to be probabk\ that evil Spi- 
 rits exercifed fome Power over the Bodies^ as 
 well as the Minds of Men, among them, and in 
 thofe Times. The Certainty of this I might 
 now proceed to fhew from the Teftimonies of 
 fome of their wifefl Men, who can't be 
 thought to have wanted Sagacity enough to 
 have (ttn through the Opinion of the Vulgar, 
 if it had been all a Miftake. But this will fall 
 more properly under a future Head. At prefent 
 I will only mention one publick Inftance, which 
 I can't but be furprized the Author of the En- 
 quiry has neglected to take notice of ; and this 
 is that of the Heathen Oracles. The univerfal 
 Regard paid to thefe is as well known as any 
 Fad: whatever. 'Tis impoifible to imagine, 
 that the Accounts are all falfe, or that here was 
 nothing more than natural Diforders : And 
 that the Perfons who delivered them were 
 really poffejjedj or proper Demoniacksy I think, 
 
 to cure Difeafes, I anfwer, in the Words of Grotius, in Mat. xii. 
 22. A dremonibus ad morbos mos tranjiit. Nor is there any other 
 good Account to be given of their Original, And perhaps thefe 
 Difeafes mught be then imputed to e'vii Spirits. Seealfo Dr. Freind's 
 liift.of Phyf. V. I. p. 122, 123. 
 
 there 
 
(22 ) 
 
 there is no room to doubt. The antient Fa- 
 thers dk^x^. rank them with fuch, and ipeak of 
 them as aBuated by Devils. Thus yujiin 
 Martyr having mentioned feveral Kinds of 
 Necromancy and Divination^ adds, and Perjbns 
 Jeized and thrown down by the Souls of dead 
 Meny who are called by all AAifjtovioX^TTTot 
 DemofiiackSy and Madmen, and what you call 
 the Oracles of Amphilochus, and Dodona^ and 
 Delphi, &c. * So St. Cyprian faid of evil Spi- 
 rits, thefe are they who infpire the Breajls of the 
 Prophets, who are the Authors of Oracles^ - 
 who creejnng into Mens Bodies, raifefecret Ter- 
 rors in their Minds, difiort their JLitnbs, dejiroy 
 their Health, and caiife Diflempers •\. Arm- 
 bins, having mentioned our Lord's Power in 
 curing Difeafes, in a pious flrain of Rhetoric, 
 asks, Was He one of us, the Prefcnce and Sight 
 of whom the Devils which had entered into hu- 
 man Bodies could not bear, but frightened with a 
 new Power, yielded their PoJfeJ/ion ? — Whofe 
 "Name once heard puts the evil Spirits to fight, 
 f knees the Prophets, and makes the Diviners 
 
 * 'SiKVifJiix*lii'cit fXiiv yap* 'i? *' et^ict<f>6ofu» iBrxiaiur irreTzliv 
 
 r/eiq oi'Jipo5To'fA!Te< x^ 'Cia.'psJf/o* x^ 0/ i^v^m; ccTtofiuvovluf XacjiA- 
 
 xaA«(r* 'STccii'ln, x^ ra cr«p' iijuh M'/of/jivx /AXilux Af*^<>.o';^if, x^ Aw- 
 J^«v>!?, x^ tTt^a?, y^ oa-ct ciWot rciuuroc iin. Apol. 2. Vid. Lallan. 
 
 de Orjg. Error. 1. 2. c. 16. 
 
 •\ Hi Spiritus Afflatu fuo vatum pedora infpirant — Oracula 
 
 cfRciunt Irrepentes etiam in corporibus occulte mentes terrene, 
 
 membra diftorquent, valetudinem frangunt, morbos lacefTunt. 
 Deldolor. Vanit, Ed. Ox. p. 14. 
 
 foolifi 1 
 
( 23 ) 
 
 foolifi * S Ladfantim follows his Mafler In the 
 fame Sentiment. Let there be Jet before us oney 
 who, it is certain^ is pojeffed by a Defnon^ and 
 theT>d^h\c Prieft or Prophet, we fi all fee them 
 both in the fame manner terrified at the Najne of 
 God i and Apollo will with the Jajne hafie der 
 part out of his Prophet, as the Spirit will out 
 of the Demoniack •\, Eufebius is my next 
 Witnefs. In his Prceparat, Evangelic, we find 
 one Chapter with this Infcription, ^hat the 
 Heathen Prophecies and Oracles pi'oceed from 
 evil Spirits ||. St. Augujii?is Teftimony {hall 
 clofe this Account. He tells us, that amo?ig o- 
 ther Things, Apuleius^^o refers to the Demons the 
 Divinations of the Augurs, Soothfayers, Pro- 
 phets, and Dreams §. 
 
 We fee here theSenfe o^th&priniitive Church 
 concerning the Gentile Oracles, that the Fathers 
 fpoke of thefe as of diabolical P off effions, attribut- 
 ed them, as well as other Detnoniacks, to the 
 
 * Unus fuit e nobis, cujus praefentiam, cujus vifum, gens ilia 
 requibat ferre merforum in vifceribus Dsmonum, conterritaq; 
 vi nova membrorum pofTeffione cedebat ? — — Cujus nomen 
 auditum fugat noxios Spiritus ? Imponit filentium vatibus? Ha- 
 rufpices inconfultos reddit ? Jrnob. adv. Ge?it. L. i . p. 26. 
 
 f Si conftituatur in medio &■ is, quern conltat incurfum Dae- 
 monis perpeti. Si Delphici Apollinis Vates, eodem mode Dei 
 nomen horrebunt ; & tarn celeriter excedet de Vate fuo Apollo, 
 quam ex homine Spiritus ille Dsemoniacus. Lail. de vera Sapi- 
 ent. L. IV. Ed. Spark, p. 399. 
 
 §. Inter CEtera etiam dicic [Jpu/elus'} ad eos [Dasmones] per- 
 tinere divinationes Augurum, Arufpicum, Vatum, atq; Som- 
 niorum. J^g. de Civ. Dei, L. B. c. 16. \id..Minuc. Fel. 
 OilU'v. Ed. Lugd. Bat. p. 20, &c. 
 
 farrie 
 
( 24 ) 
 
 ^ame evil Spirits^ and declared, thatagainll both 
 Cafes, the fame Means were equally fiiccefsful* 
 Whatever Miftakes therefore there might be ia 
 other Inftances, tho' I fee no Reafon to fuppofe 
 fuch in all ; thefe appear to be fuch, as can't 
 well be denied, without deftroying the Faith of 
 Hiftory, in general. If it fhould be afked, fot 
 what Reafon God permitted the Devils to have 
 this Power then ? I know not enough of 
 his Divine Counfels to anfwer this, nor am I at 
 all concerned that I am not able to anfwer it. 
 If plain Facfls are to be denied, becaufe we are 
 ignorant of the Reafons, why they were per- 
 mitted to happen, we (hall, I believe, be obli-^ 
 ged to deny almoft every Thing we hear, or 
 fee. 
 
 ' I now follow the Author of the Enquiry^ 
 and proceed, as he does, P. 20, to " confider 
 " the Jews" and firft, the Inftance of Saul j 
 'which he dwells upon fome time, and offers fe- 
 veral Coniiderations to prove it to be nothing 
 but deep Melancholy. Now here it may be 
 faid, with Probability, that we are not obliged 
 to believe any Pofjejioji, in the Cafe, and that 
 the Hiftory feems to intend no more, than 
 that, the evil Spirit, by ordinary Infligations, 
 jftirred up the Mind of Saul to Env)\ Malice, 
 and Fury *. Thefe are the chief EfFeds we 
 find mentioned of his coming upon, or affault- 
 ing, him j and thefe, we know, denote fome- 
 
 * In this manner it is faid, that Satan entered into "Judoi. 
 Luke xxii.3. yo/6. xiii. 2,27, 
 
 thing 
 
( 25 ) 
 thing very difeent from our Notion of his Jel- 
 zing^ ov poff'ejjtng any human Body. 
 
 Or, by an e'vil Sph-it may be meant nothing 
 elie, but the Temper and Affedions of his Mind, 
 Thus, we read of the Spirit ofWifdom andUn- 
 derftanding: And, as this may properly enough 
 be called a good Spirit^ fo we may as properly 
 fpeak of the Spirit of Sadnefs, or Fear, or R^ge^ 
 under the Notion of an evilone^. In this Senfe, 
 the Inftance oi Saul is very far from being pa- 
 rallel to the Demoniacks of the GcJpeL The 
 Language here may be thought not to point 
 out to us any Thing more than common, which 
 can never be faid of thofe, with the leafl Juflice, 
 Since whatever the real Cafe of thefe was, they 
 are plainly, and ftrongly reprefented, as actua- 
 ted by Devils. 
 
 I mention thefe Interpretations, out of regard 
 to fome learned Men, who chufe in one of thefe 
 Ways to avoid the Difficulty. But as I think 
 this not fo formidable, and as the literal Senfe 
 appears moil agreeable to the whole Hiftory, I 
 Ihall, with the generality of Commentators, 
 and, as it is faid, with all the ancient Chriflian 
 Writers, fuppofe Saul to have been a real De^ 
 moniack'j and accordingly go on to reprefent 
 what I take to be the true Account of this Mat- 
 ter, and then to vindicate it from the Objections 
 of the Enquiry t 
 
 * Pofllbly the Jenvs might mean fomewhat like this, when 
 they called all kinds oi Mtlamholy, an fvil Spirit, 
 
 D Among 
 
{ 26 ) 
 
 Among fome other .Predidions, which Sa- 
 muel made to Said on his firft anointing him 
 to the Kingdom, we read, i Sam. x. 5, 6. 
 that he fhould meet a Compa?iy of Prophets coming 
 down from the High Place ^ with a Pfaltery, 
 and a Tabret^ and a Pipe^ and an Harp before 
 them ; and that the Spirit of the Lordjhoidd come 
 upon him^ and that he fhould prophejy with 
 them^ and fhould be turned into another Man. 
 Whatever might be the particular Confequences 
 of this Spirit^ whether Wifdom, or Courage, 
 or Goodnefs j it appears paft Difpute, that it 
 dejcendedfrom above ^ and was fupernaturally deri- 
 ved upon him. We find in the9thandiothVer- 
 fes, that this Prophecy was fulfilled. And we have 
 Reafon to believe, {yid. ch. xi. v. 6.) that this 
 Spirit did not abide continually with him, but 
 came to his Support and Affiftance, on fuch 
 proper Occafions, as called for it. However, 
 it was not long before he difobeyed God, and 
 forfeited His Favour: And then we read, [ch. 
 xvi. "J. 14.) ih-At the Spirit of the Lord departed 
 from Saul^ and an evil Spirit from the Lord 
 troubled him. The A?itithejis in thefe Words is 
 very obfervable; the one part tends greatly to 
 illuftrate the other. As, by the Spirit of the 
 Lord, which he had forfeited, we mufl under- 
 ftand fome extraordinary Influences and Com- 
 munications; fo, hy xh& evil Spirit, as oppofed 
 to that, what can be meant, but fome uncom- 
 mon AfTault of the fpiritual Enemy ? Let us 
 next obferve the different Eifedts of thefe. The 
 3 Fruits 
 
C27D 
 
 Fruits of the Spirit of God are Lovl\ jfoy^ 
 Chearfulnefs, and Confidence. Thofe of the Spi- 
 rit of Darknefs, are Envy^ V/rath, 'Terrors, and 
 Fears. Thus God fuffered Satan to polTels 
 Saulj afflicting him with divers Difeafes and 
 Torments, fuch as Melancholy, Diilradtion, 
 &c. and driving him to the greateft ExcefTes of 
 Rage and Diforder. All the Relief he could 
 get, in thefe deplorable Circumflances, was 
 from Mufick, which often gave him Eafe and 
 Rfrcjh??ienty and made the evil Spirit depart frcfn 
 him-, till his Envy brought him again. Vid. ch. 
 xviii. ver. lo, ii, 12. C'/6. xix. -t;. 9. -j- 
 
 This, on a diligent Examination of the whole, 
 I take to be the true State of this Story. We 
 fee now how Saul was affected. Nothing in- 
 deed more than natural Diforders appear. But 
 thefe the Scriptures afcribe, not to his natural 
 Conftitution, but to an evil Spirit from th^ 
 Lord, by His Permiffion, * troublifig, cr *" ter- 
 rifying, or ^fizing, or ^ fir angling him. It 
 may be queftioned, whether this his Melancholy 
 gave occafion to the evil Spirit to enter into 
 
 T riokjjpa Jr!.'£t'|Wiat']©^, lu rm oliif//CH6iv iiKecSt(^ofji,etiiit ret m,£» 
 
 «|iC«A£». Jofeph. Antiq. L. 6. c. 13. 
 
 * In thefe feveral Ways the ancient Interpreters have ex- 
 pounded this Paffage. Vulg. exngitabat cum, & arripuerif. 
 Chaldee Paraph, terrified. Syfiack, njexed, and innjaded. So 
 the Aiabick, LXX fVviyjv, Jofephus, ^v*y|M«a? dvtu tdj «-p«;'VaX«i 
 ink<^m-i\ct. And how agreeable thefe Aftions are to the Nature 
 of fuch vvicked Spirits, appears from £«y^^'aj's derivation of the 
 
 Word o'tif^uv ; Sy^A^ TO ^ifAiCivnt, oiTtp Sf ( (poCtT^ tCj iK<PcQiiv, okt- 
 
 fuomiTiiui nP02<t>YnS cVef*(»(^£t'^. Prsp. Evang. L. 4. p. 5. 
 
 P 2 him 3 
 
C 28 ] 
 
 him * ; or, whether it was a neceflary Confe- 
 quenceofthe 6//r/V^GoD, the Author of Joy 
 and Chearfiilnefs, departing from him ; or, whe- 
 ther it was, with the other Diforders, firft rai- 
 ied and occafioned by the evil Spirit. But, 
 whether there was any evil Spirit concerned in 
 the Affair, for my part, I can make no doubt. 
 The laft of thofe Sappofitions is, I think, moft 
 confonant to the facred Text, which makes 
 all the Diforders of Saul confequential to the 
 evil Spirit^ coming upon him. And, as was 
 obferved before, 'tis very e;fy to imagine, that 
 the Devil may be permitted by God, to exercife 
 a Power 'of inflicting common Difeafes on the 
 Bodies of Men. 
 
 Let us now confider what the Author of the 
 Enquiry urges again ft this Interpretation. Saul, 
 P. 22, is faid to propheJj\ i. e. "to adt as a 
 " Madman, acting as the Vates^ or Prophets, 
 ** are ufually defcribed by the Ancients. " All 
 this I own, and yet, according to what has been 
 faid, he might, ftridtly fpeaking, have been a 
 Demoniack. And tho' Vates came to fignify 
 Madmen^ yet it alfo retained its original Mean- 
 ing, and fignified Prophets too, both good and 
 bad, in the trueft Senfe. And, from a Sentence 
 of Euripides quoted, P. 24, we find the Hea- 
 thens had a Notion of a fort of Madnefs, occa- 
 
 ♦ " Dieu permit, qu'il fut agite par un mauvais Efprit, qui 
 ** fe fervant de la mauvaife difpofition des humeurs de ce 
 •* Prince, & de fa melancholie, I'agitoit et robfedoit." Cornet 
 J)td. in SauL 
 
 fioned 
 
(29) 
 
 |5oned by Divine Infpiratiorty ©eP TrvoaHcri ifju^ar 
 viig* And to this only, not to all Madnefs, in 
 general, he attributes ** a good deal of a pro- 
 " phetick Faculty. " His Words are thefe, 
 Madnefs has much of a prophetick Power ; for 
 when a powerful God enters into the Bod\\ he 
 makes the Madman foretell what is to come *. 
 
 The Gentleman's 2d Obfervation is, " that 
 " the Cure o^[Sau[\ was by a known Method." 
 Here I apprehend the great Objedion lies. He 
 afks afterwards, P. 26. " What relation has 
 " the Sound of a Harp to the ExpuWon of Spi" 
 *' ritsV And much the fame, P. 29. Tho* 
 there be no dired or immediate Connexion be- 
 tween thefe, yet we may eafily conceive, how 
 one might, in a great meafure, be affeded by the 
 other. If we fuppofe Saul'?, Melancholy and 
 Diforders inflided by the evil Spirit ; flil! thefe 
 are the fame in kind with other Cafes of this 
 Nature, tho' they were different, with regard 
 to their Original. And natural Diforders, from 
 whomfoever they proceed, may be leflened, (and 
 Saul does not appear to have been perfedtly cu- 
 red) by natural Methods. As therefore " a fkil- 
 " ful Mufician will always comfort and refrefh 
 " the [melancholy] Patient :" Sauh Servants 
 might eafily think of this Remedy ; and Mufck 
 might naturally raife his Spirits, and chear his 
 
 * To fjittmuafq fJbaHiKrit toA>»7\ hj^i* * 
 
 Orav y<«p e ©105 «'? to rdft/ iaSoj t«^w<, 
 
 Eurlp. Bacch, 
 
 Heart, 
 
( 3° ) 
 Heart, and in forrie degree chafe away thofe 
 Fears, and that Sadnefs, which the evil Spirit 
 had raifed within him. 
 
 2dl)\ * If we imagine Saul's Melancholy prior 
 to his Poff^mi, and that the Devil made ufe of 
 the ill Temper of his Blood and Spirits to afflict 
 him J then, 'tis not difficult to be conceived, 
 that what contributed any wife to drive away 
 iuch Diforder, and to enliven and glad the 
 Heart, as Miijick undeniably does, muft, in fuch 
 proportion, contribute to difappoint the great 
 Enemy of Men's Happinefs, and to relieve 
 them Irom tbefe his Torments. Since it is ac- 
 tually depriving him of the Means, if I may 
 fb fpeak, by which he torments them. But, 
 
 Laftly, what difficulty is there in imagining, 
 that Mufick might be propofed to Saul, as one 
 way of inviting the Spirit of the Lord to come 
 upon him again, and to drive out the evil Spi- 
 rit, which had been fuffered to trouble him ? 
 Tho' this be not exprefly mentioned in the 
 Text, yet neither is it there excluded : Nor 
 
 * Muiica naturaliter pellit melancholiam, qua Dsmon ute- 
 batur ad cruciandum Saulem. Nullus enirn humor hoc oppor- 
 tunior eft Diabolo, ut homines vexet, tentet, incitetq; ad moe- 
 rorem, invidiam, iram, defperationem. Quare eo utitur Dae- 
 mon (qui per caufas naiurales agit) ad homines adigendum in an- 
 gores, icrupulos, odia, caedes. A Lapid. apud Synopf. Critic, in 
 1 Sam. xvi. i6. Hac ergo melancholica dirpofidone ut gaudet 
 Daemon, ita, ea fublata, per accidens & indirefte vel abigitur, 
 vel impeditur. Ibid. Mufica quidem nihil poteft in Daemonem 
 diiefte, cum Spiritus fit, poteft tamen per accidens, quia mitigativ 
 affeftibus, per quos in animos noftros Diabolus fe infinuat, etiam 
 ipfc pelficur. .^Bochart. ibid. 
 
 does 
 
( 31 ) 
 does it feem at all improbable. That the Pro- 
 phets, among the Jews, then ufed this Method 
 is paft Difpute. Saul himfelf appears firft to 
 have experienced the good EIFeds of this, and 
 might therefore be not unwilling to try it a 
 fecond Time. EUJha^ having been ruffled by 
 the Prefence of a wicked King of Ifrael^ takes 
 the fame Way of calming his Mind, and of fit- 
 ting it for the Reception of the Divine Influ- 
 ences. Bring 7716^ laid he, 2 Kings iii. i j-.. ^2: 
 Minjirel. And it came to paj's when the Min- 
 Jirel played^ that the Hand of the Lord ca?ne up- 
 on him. 
 
 Indeed, it is hard to believe, that ever the 
 Spirit of God came upon Saul as before: But 
 this is no Proof, that neither he, nor his Ser- 
 vants had fome fuch Hopes, and View. And 
 tho' it did not pleafe God to grant him any 
 more extraordinary Favours, yet he might let 
 the Method have its natural Force and Power; 
 or if this was necelfary, enjoin the Devil for a 
 Tinle to leave him. Or thofe about 6'^?//mio-ht 
 delign no more than the prefent Relief of their 
 Mafter j and at the lame Time think, that, 
 what was ih well known to be an Inftrument 
 of inviting agcod Spirit into Men, might prove 
 as effedual in driving out a l^ad one^ There is 
 nothing in any of thefe Suppofitions, but what 
 is very conceivable. On either of them, the 
 Objedion of the unfitnefs of Mufck* to call 
 
 * Cbryfodome calls DanjitT^ Harp, Aottfi/itut (pvyxS'turmov. 
 Ed. Par. 1636. Tom. p. 41. 
 
 out 
 
( 32 ) 
 
 out an evil Spirit, appears lufficiently anfwef- 
 ed. And therefore I fhall venture to put down 
 Saul, as he is defcribed by the only ancient 
 Hiftories we have of his Life, the Scripture 
 and JcJt'phiiSy for one true and undoubted In- 
 jftance of real Pojfejion. 
 
 The Author of the Enquiry, P. 30, &c. 
 next conliders the Charms, which Jofephus 
 mentions ; and which indeed he has great room 
 to ridicule and expofe. But ftill this is not e- 
 nough to.difprove the Fad: in queflion, the re- 
 ality of Pojfejfions among the 'Jews *. Nayy 
 I think this is rather hereby confirmed. For 
 if there had been no fuch PoJj'eJjiQns, 'tis unac- 
 countable, whence, the general Belief of them 
 arofe : And if there had been no fuch general 
 Belief, we can never imagine, that thofe 
 Charms would have been invented, or have 
 been ufed, among them. Whereas, on the 
 other hand, we need no longer wonder : Su" 
 perjlitfo??, as has been obferved, will account 
 for every Thing cf this Nature. It is not there- 
 fore necellary to the Vindication of De?nc7ziacks, 
 that we (hould allow every Remedy that was 
 pradiifed againlt them: But it is difficult to fay, 
 how thefe came to be ever thought on, on 
 any other Scheme, than the Suppofitionof fuch 
 Demoniacks. 
 
 * *' The Targum on Pf. xci. 6." wh'ere the LXX is aVa 
 
 Axif/jonn ixio-TifjbQ^nS ^ " numbers Troops of Demotis, among thofe 
 " who inflid Plagues, and Deaih upon Men." Whitby on Luke 
 xiii. i6. 
 
 How-* 
 
(33 ) 
 
 However, yofephus is not the only Author^ 
 who gives us an Account of thefe, and of the 
 Jewtjh Manners of exorcifing them. We have 
 Relations of both as ferious, as his appears to 
 be ludicrous. Jufiin Martyr feems to have 
 made * no doubt that the Devils might be fub- 
 je(ft to thofe among them, who would caft 
 them out, in the Name of the God of Abra- 
 ham, and the God of Ijaac, and the God of 
 Jacob, "f* This we have confirm'd by Irenceus^ 
 whofe Teftimony is fo ftrong, that I beg leave 
 to fet it down at length. All things are Jub- 
 je5i to the Name of the Supreme, Omnipo- 
 tent Being : By calling upon whom, even 
 before our Lord's coming, Men were delivered 
 from the ?7wjl evil Spirits, from every Ki?id 
 of Demojis, and from all Apofiacy : Not that 
 any earthly Spirits or Devils had ever feen Him ; 
 but knowing Him to be God over all, they trem- 
 bled at his Name. — For this Reafon, the JewSy 
 even to this Day, put the Devils to flight by this 
 
 * The Word "o-w^in the following Citation does not neceflarily 
 imply Doubt fiilmfs in Jujlin. H. Stepherrs in his Lexicon having 
 obferved, that in Arijiotle and others, inter dum adhiheri locis ubi 
 alioqui de re jnifiime dubid agitur. And accordingly Grotius ren- 
 ders 'ia-cx;, quoting this very Place, by Credo, in Mat.x'u. 27. 
 
 looy^Tiloii a(5fv rSy ^citfjotnuv. uX>C ti a fat t^efxi^oi rn; I/Ujuv Kotrct 
 r5 0£w \Cfsikuj, K^ ©la Itrccem, t^ 0ja Wkco^, ''ISi^S hxo]u,y>)(ri\xi. 
 ij'Jij iJjif ret 0/ it l/fjuuv ivofKii-ut Trf reX'Yi, u<rzis y^ toc. thti, %?«- 
 /xsvet f'l'pKk^aa-*, x^ %fjutu'fA,U(n >cj xctlxhtTi/jOK; x^iHActi, uTor. Juji. 
 
 Dial, cum Gryphon. Ed. Paris, 1636, p. 3U. Vid. Orig. L. 4- 
 Cont. Celf, p. 183, 184. 
 
 E very 
 
(34 ) 
 
 n^ery Invocation, becaufe every thing fear the 
 Name of their Creator §. 
 
 Nay, it is not difficult to colleft this from 
 the New l!eftament itfeif. When the Pharijks 
 afcribed our Lord's Cures to Beelzebub^ he 
 asks them, by ' whom then J9 your Sons caft 
 them out ? Alluding to fomething well known 
 among them, and, as I think, moft evidently 
 implying, that fuch Miracles had been unde- 
 niably performed by the Difciples of the Phari- 
 fees. For, as to the Suppoiition, that by your 
 Sons here, were meant any of the Twelve^ or 
 the Severity, though it has the Countenance of 
 fome very learned Men ; I cannot think it pro- 
 bable. Becaufe, our Saviour plainly fpoke of 
 fome Cures, which the Pharifees could not 
 deny, but were obliged, on their own Princi- 
 ples, to admit. Whereas there is but little 
 Probability, that they would allow thefe Mira- 
 cles, in the Difciples of Chrif^ to be In- 
 ftancesof a Divine Power, any more than they 
 did, in * Hiinfef. St. ferotu^ Commentary 
 on this Verfe, appears very juft. " By the 
 
 § Altiffimi et Omnipotentis appellationi omnia fubjefta 
 
 flint : Et Hujus ipvocatione, etiam ante adventum Domini noftri, 
 falvabantur homines, et jl fpiritibus nequifiimis, et a Daemoniis 
 unjverfis, & ab apollafi^ univerfa : Non qaafi vidiflent eum terre- 
 ni fpiritus aut Da^mones, fed cum fciient, quoniam elt, qui eft 
 
 iuper Omnia Deus, cujus et invocationem tremebant Et propter 
 
 hoc judsej cfque nunc hacipfa adfatione Dasmonas efFugant, quando 
 •omnii timeant invocationem Ejus qui fecit ea. Irenee. Adv. hasref. 
 •L, -2. c. 5. 
 
 * Matth. X. 25. Bi Tcv cix.oh(r7:o%v /SsjX^s^aA ixcdMceiy, iixoa-^ 
 ^5Me» Ttff o'lKiotKiii dvlu i Vid. G to f, in Matth, xii. zj' 
 
 . ' ' Sons 
 
( 35 ) 
 
 Sons of the yews is ftgnified. either the ufuah ex^ 
 orcijis of that Nation^ or the Apofiles^ who were 
 born of their Race. ^ the exvrcijisy who cafi 
 out Devils by Inijocation of God, then our Lord, 
 by a prudent ^lejiion, farces' them to conjefs, 
 that His Cures w^vQthe work of the Holy Ghoft. 
 For, Jays He, if when your Sons coft out Devils, 
 you afcribe this, not to Devils, but. to God, 
 why may not the fame Works, when performed 
 by me, be imputed to the fame Caufe -f-? We fee 
 then, that our Lord fuppofed the Reahty of 
 fome fuch Cures among the Jews, and fpake 
 of them,, as he fpake of his own, § without 
 the ieaft Intimation, that they were only pre- 
 tended ones, or that they had no better Foun- 
 dation, than the Prejudices of the Pharijscs : 
 Which I cannot think he would have done, if 
 this had been the Cafe. But of this I purpofe 
 to fpeak more hereafter. 
 
 There is one feeming Objection againft this, 
 which I find very firongly urged by a prefent 
 very learned Prelate of our own Church, and 
 which I therefore beg leave to iet down in his 
 Lordiliip's Words. 
 
 f Filios Judaeorum, vel exorciftas gentfs illius ex more fignifi- 
 cat, vel Apoftolos ex eorum ibipe generates. Si exorciftas, qui 
 ad invocationem Dei ejiciebant Dzemonc-', coartat interrogatione 
 prudenti, ut confiteantur Spiriliis Sanfti efle opus. Quod fi ex- 
 puifio D^emonum, inquit, in filiis veltris Deo non Daimonibus 
 deputatur, quare in me idem opus non ean.'.cm habeat Cauiam ? 
 Hieion. Com. in Mat. c. xii. v. 27. Vid. Whitby, in locum. 
 
 5 Hac voce quid magls portendit, quam in eo ejicere fe, in quo 
 ctfilii eorum ? In virtute fcilicet Creatoris. Teyiul. 
 
 After 
 
( 36) 
 
 § After he had mentioned " the Accounts, 
 '* given by the feveral Evangelifts of the extreme 
 " Surprize of the Jews^ that were Eye-witnef- 
 f ' fes of the feveral DifpofTeflions of evil Spirits 
 ** by our Lord ; which AJloniJhment of them 
 " is not capable of any natural Explication, 
 " on Suppolition that the DifpofTeffion of De- 
 f ' vils was an iinufual Practice among the 'Jewi 
 " in our Saviour's Time, independently of his 
 " Authority."— His ly^r^j//* goes on to obferve, 
 • ' it is not eafy for any one that pays a due 
 ** Veneration to the Divine Authority of the 
 " Gofpels to perfuade himfelf, that the cajling 
 *^ out of Devils was before cuftomary among 
 
 ** xhtjews It is clear too, that not merely 
 
 ** tho, People confider'd our Lord's DifpoJJeJ/ion of 
 ^* Devils as a new thing, but the Fharifees 
 " themfelves, as malicious and learned as they 
 ** were, are* not found to derogate from thofe 
 ^' Fad:s, as if they were things ufually pradifed 
 ** among them, and that confequently gave 
 ** fefus no peculiar Authority." 
 
 Now I readily own, that fuch Inftances of 
 Dlfpofjefjions were not ufual, or frequent, and 
 therefore the Surprize of the fews is no more 
 than natural. As Men are too apt to degene- 
 rate into Superftition^ the generality of the 
 Exorcifs among them depended on Magical 
 Charms and Incantations^ the Succefs of wliich 
 we have no Reafon to contend for. The Fa<ft 
 
 5 Bifhop Smalbroke's Vindic. of Miracles^ &c. V. L p. 192, ISc 
 
 is 
 
( 37 ) 
 
 is not only certain from yojephusy if his Autho- 
 rity here be worth any thing, but from Juftin 
 Martyr f who tells us, that they made ufe of 
 Arts and Methods, to this Purpofe, in com- 
 mon with the Heathens^ Vid. Supra. And 
 probably, thofe yewijh Vagabonds^ the Exor- 
 cijis, mentioned ^(^i xix. 13. (who, without 
 any regard to our Saviour, only having ob- 
 ferved the Succefs of St. Paul, prefumed to ufe 
 the Name of Jesus, as a Charm,) were of this 
 Number. We may therefore fuppofe there 
 were very few left, though Jome Chrift feems 
 to imply in the forementioned Qudlion, who 
 called on the Name of God, and thus caji out 
 Devils §. And it is not difficult to imagine, 
 that thofe who were Eye-witnefTes of this Mi- 
 racle in our Saviour, might not have feen any 
 Inftance of this Power : And then how natu- 
 rally does that Speech, it was never Jo feen in 
 Ifrael, fall from People in their Circumftances 1 
 A little Allowance will ferve to explain this^ 
 without taking it in the ftrift and rigorous 
 Senfe. 
 
 Not but I believe and allow a real Difference 
 between our Lord's DifpojjeJJions and theirs, 
 which will juflify even this Senfe, and fuffici- 
 ently account for that AJlQniJhment of the 
 
 § Grotius on Mat. xii*. 27. gives fome Jnftancesof the Name of 
 the God of Abraham being ufed in exorcilms, among \.\\q Egyp- 
 tians, and other Nations. See zUo Hammond on Mai. xii. 27. 
 
 N. B. Ue Enquirer, p. 58. to lejjen our Notion of thefe Egyp- 
 tians, calls them Gypfies, ^which 1 think is too k-iv for one 6f 
 his good Senfe, 
 
 Jews, 
 
( 38 ) 
 
 'Jews^ which they exprefTed by laying, what 
 new Dodirtne is this ? for with Autho-^ 
 RiTY commandeth He even the unclean spirits, 
 and they obey Him^ Mark i. 27. Thefe Words 
 plainly point out to us fome Superiority in our 
 Lord's Cures, above any they, had feen ; 
 and this probably coniifted in His performing 
 them, Vv'ithout any of thofe folemn Invocations 
 and Ceremonies^ which they had been accuf- 
 tomedto, and by His bare /F(?r<^ alone, M^^.viii. 
 16. which may be the thing denoted by xar 
 't^aa-icf.Vy qiiafi Kccr i^aa-tay i^ictv» But this I 
 fubmit to the learned Reader ; and conclude 
 thefe Remarks, fo far as they relate to the 
 yews, with the Words of the Right Revcroid 
 Author juH: now mentioned. — •" The Difpof- 
 " feffions of evil Spirits performed by our Lord 
 *' were not only the immediate Effects of one 
 *' commanding Word, by which he extorted 
 " the plaineft Acknowledgments of His Divinity 
 
 " ixom. all manner of evil Spirits that were 
 
 *' difpofTeifed by him with greater Efficacy, 
 *' and in greater Numbers, than was ever 
 *' known before ; but He likewife communi- 
 *' cated the fame Power to others of cafting out 
 " Devils in His own Name, and thereby evinced 
 " that He was that Mejjiah, whom He profef- 
 " fed Himfelf to be. For fuch Difpoffeffions 
 *' were not only made perfonally by Himfelf, 
 " but by others in His Name, as they are fup- 
 ^^ pofed to have been before performed ifi the 
 " Na}ne of the true God. And confequently 
 
 '^ the 
 
( 39 ) 
 " the Pretenfions of Jesus to the Mejjiahjhip 
 " and Divine Authority, were not only other- 
 ** wife well fupported, but received fome 
 *' fort of Confirmation from the laid Suppo- 
 " fition *." 
 
 And thus at lafl: we are fallen upon the proper 
 Subjed; both of the Enquiry, and of the prefent 
 Etfjay, the Q2&& of , the Denvmiach mentioned 
 in the N€W Tejlamnt, In entring on which, 
 p, 35, the Gentleman I am oppoling lays down 
 a Rule to which I readily agree, " when we 
 " meet . with />Z3/« and f^y^ Accounts of things,^ 
 *' we muft make them the Standards or Tefls, 
 *' by which we ought to underftand the more 
 '■' difficult Places." And, for the fame Rea- 
 fon, jorced aptd laboured Con ft ructions are ne- 
 ver to be chpfen without an abfolute Neceffity, 
 being very feldom the true Senfe of the Au- 
 thor. I fhould now. examine the Inflances he 
 mentions as plain and eafy^ and fhew that no- 
 thing can be coUecfled from them, in favour of 
 his Scheme : But it may be neceilary firft to 
 obviate a Pretence or two, which may lye in 
 our way, and the Error of which has been 
 fully fhewn. *' De?mn in none of the Inftances 
 " already produced fignifies what we in En- 
 '' g!ific2i\\ Devil." And, p. 38. '' a Devil or 
 " Demon, for fo it is alwavs to be read." In no 
 Scripture Inflance, it fignifies what this Gentle- 
 
 * Ibid. p. 197, 198. 
 
 3 man 
 
( +o) 
 
 man particularly means by Demons \ the Souls 
 of departed Men ; but, always, where it is put 
 for any Beings at all, it is ufed, in the Opinion 
 of the facred Writers, for Devils properly fo 
 called. " The Epilepfy and Madnefs were the 
 " peculiar Diforders attributed to the Gods. " 
 That Mcidnefs in general^ every kind of Madnefs, 
 was attributed to the Gods, or that the Epilepfy 
 was iiniverfally, and by all, fo attributed, has 
 not yet appeared, but rather the contrary. — * 
 *' Thofe, who were called Cerriti, or Larvati^ 
 *' or Lymphatici, and were fuppofed to be af- 
 " feded by, or to be under the Diredion of 
 *' Influence of Demons, were all in their de- 
 " gree mad. " P. 38. Thefe have been feverally 
 confidered. And it appears, that they were not 
 common Madmen, but were ad:uated by De^ 
 vils "f*. 
 
 The firft Text infifted upon in the Enquiry, 
 P. 36. is fob. X. 20. He hath a Devil, and is 
 mad. Others faid, theje are not the Words of 
 him that hath a De-vil : Can a Devil opeit the 
 Eyes of the blind? Here this Gentleman owns, 
 " that both Sides took for granted, that that 
 " particular Diforder proceeded from fome e^ 
 " vil Spirit that polTelTed him. " But, tho* 
 
 * This Notion o{thc Scuh of Men being turned into Devils, 
 Dr. Hammond c^Ws a 'vait: Perfuajzon. On Matt.viil. 28. 
 
 f This is the Opinion of the great Grotius, who thus explains 
 the Word J«//t/joK^«|tt.fta(;, non quovis modo infanientes, fed impuro- 
 rum fpirituum vi majore correptos, atq; agitatos, quales erant 
 <juos Grsci tti/*^e>i»)V1a?, Latini Larfatos, Centos, Lymphaticos 
 vocabant. In Matth. iv. 24. 
 
 they 
 
[ 41 ] 
 
 they were undoubtedly wrong In the particular 
 Application to our Saviour, yet I fee no Reafon, 
 why they were not right in the ^^;7^r^/ Senti- 
 ment, that Madnefs might be imputed to a De~ 
 vil. But here you will lay, the Notion of ha- 
 ving a Devil is explained by the following 
 Words, and is inadi I ani wer, that it could 
 not be the Intention of thofe,. who fpoke them^ 
 to explain them fo, who are acknowledged to 
 have believed a real Po[Je/]io?i. Neither could 
 this be the Defign of the Evangelift^ who had 
 the fame Prejudice, and that, fo far from be- 
 ing removed by our hord^ that it was confirm- 
 ed by him, Nor indeed do the "Words imply 
 fo much. Nay, from this very Text, a late 
 learned and excellent Critick has thought, that 
 to have a Devil^ and to be mad, were tivo di- 
 ftinB Cafes, with both which the Jews charged 
 our Lord *. But fliould we allow the utmofi' 
 that can be coUefted from hence, that every 
 Demoniack was mad^ the Notion of real Fof- 
 fejjions would remain the lame, Madnfs may 
 be here reprefented as one Attendant, or Sign, 
 or Effed:offuch Poffeffio?!-, but it will not there- 
 fore follow, that it was the wfjvle of it -f-. Both 
 iacred and prophane Writers fpeak of Madnefs 
 
 * Mr. f-'jL-cIli's Crit'.cai Examinaiion, &r. Part ift P. 97. 
 
 ■f To u,xUi^ igitur pro effeilu potias in !^«:(W;cn(^'ji*5C(i) haben- 
 dum ell, quam uc totus ille llatus mania conftjtiffe exilliinctur: 
 Wolf. Cur.£ Vhilolog. Thus alfo Tertutlian makes this Madnefs 
 to proceed from the Devil, Compar exiUn furoris ^ una ratio eji 
 inlligatiom!.. Apologet, XXIII. So Minutim Fil. Ed. Lugd. 
 B.it. p- 30. 
 
 F very 
 
C 42 ] 
 
 very frequently, without the leail Intimation of 
 a Demojt j which {hews, that, asfiich^ it was 
 looked upon as a common Dijbrder, and nothing 
 more ||. To confirm what I have faid, I fhall 
 add the Words of an Author of great Learning 
 and Judgment. " The Truth is, that they ^wj 
 *' reckoned this one fort of Madfiefs^ and the 
 " worfl fort ; but they diftinguifhed between 
 *' this, and what we properly call M-^^^v^f/y, a- 
 " rifing from fome Diftemper of the Body: So 
 " that tho' they called all Perfons pofTefied by 
 *' the Devil, by the Name of Madmen, yet 
 " they did not give to all Madmen the Name 
 *' of Perfons thus pojefjed: And they diilin- 
 " guifhed very rightly in the Caie;,," C?*r. §. 
 
 We faw before many parallel Inftances of 
 this. The Author of the 'Enquiry helps me to 
 another, P. 22. " The true prophetical Spirit 
 " is Rational and Confiflent, the falfe one is all 
 " Tumultuous and Mad." But can any one 
 gather from hence, that it was nothing more 
 than mere Madnefs ? The Paffages cited from 
 Virgil^ Lucan, and Euripides, P. 23, diredlly 
 forbid fuch a Suppolition. And the ancient 
 Fathers made Raving and Extafies, one Crite- 
 rion oi diabolical Pojjejjion, I (hall only men- 
 tion the Cafe of Montanus^ as defcribed bv fome 
 Author in Eiijebius^ " he gave the j^dver/ary an 
 " entrance into himfelf, and being hurried a- 
 
 H Afls xxvi. 24. Mxir/i nuu>i!, X, T, A. 
 
 i Miracles of J ejus Vindicated, 1729. Part 2d. P. 32, 
 
 " way 
 
{ 43 ) 
 
 " way by the Spirit^ he began to be feized 
 *' with a fudden Poffejjioji and Madnefs — Some 
 *' rebuked him as one aBiiated by the Devi J ^ 
 " and in the Power of the spirit of Error*." 
 
 As to the Queftion, Can a Devil open the 
 Eyes of the Blind ^^ Tho' it may be underilood 
 of a Madman^ it has much more Force and 
 Strength, when applied to an evil Spirit. For 
 as the Powers of thefe are hmited, the yewi 
 might well think this a Miracle fuperior to them, 
 and a certain Mark of a divine Authority. Or, 
 as they are fubjeil to God, it might with Rea- 
 fon be imagined, that he w^ould not permit 
 them to work fo clear and undeniable Miracles, 
 as could not but deceive the befl and moil cau- 
 tious of Men. 
 
 The next plain and ea/y Text we find P. 37. 
 It is yoh. vii. 20. Tlou hajl a Devil^ who go- 
 eth about to kill thee? "The Meaning of which,'* 
 fays this Gentleman, v/as, " thou art mad, &c. 
 " ufing the Caufe, the imaginary Caufe for a 
 *' vifible Effect, which they conceived natu- 
 " rally to flow from it." But this Interpreta- 
 tion is unfupported by any Proofj and therefore 
 it will be fufficient to oppofe to it, that of Dr. 
 Whitby^ which I think more probable, and 
 more agreeable to the Occafion of the Anfwer. 
 
 * — Ao'i/loj Ttait^nS'w ui; toivrhv rw ciiliKtii/JnJ , 7rvivi/jecro<Pefy,^^i/oii rt 
 
 eTTtrifAoit. Hift. Eccl. L. V. c. 16. See Stillmfleei's Anfwer to 
 Crefy, p. 63, S-'C. 
 
 F 2 " Thou 
 
( 44 ) 
 
 " Thou art pojfejjed with a lying Spirit y* who 
 goefbj Sec. 
 
 '" To Matth. xi. i8. When John came neither 
 eating nor drinking, they jay, ke hath a Devil. 
 \ anfwer, " they looked upon him to be" more 
 than " mad," or at leaft they intended to repre^ 
 fent him as Poffeffed. For refolving not to 
 hearken to, or believe him, and not knowing 
 any other Ground of Accufation, they took oc- 
 cafion from his living in fo peculiar a manner*, 
 to throw out a random Reproach, and to repre- 
 fent him as a Demo?iiack. That by this Charge, 
 they intended fomething worfe than Madnejs, 
 is very clear from St. Mark, iii.2 1, 22. " When'' 
 yejtis's " Friends" or Relations " heard of" his 
 gathering Difciples, (5c. " they went out to 
 *' lay hold on him, for they faid, en i^i^rr,, he 
 " is bejide himf'lf. And the Scribes which 
 *' came down from 'Jerujalem faid, '(>r\, miXlfi^K 
 iX^y he hath Beelzebub.'' Here we fee a mani- 
 feft difference, between thefe two Expreflions. 
 Our Lords Friejids at that Time no more ap- 
 proved of his Adions, than the Scribes did : But 
 the former accounted for them in a favourable 
 manner || ; the others in the moft malicious one, 
 
 that 
 
 * Perh:ips, yohnh Iivingjin x\\tWilderneJi might give them a 
 fpccious Occafion. For thus we find St. Z-«i^ ddcribing one cer- 
 tainly thou2,ht/'^(^d', Ch. viii. V. 29. i^>\xvvt'l3 vri 7id iV^ff^oyoi; 
 
 tic, TCX.^ ff'-'Jf/j--^. 
 
 ' ■ II There is anotlier Interpretation of the Word ly-svi to be feen 
 in Groilus and Dr. Whitby, which is, that he nvas faint. But 
 this fecnis aot to agree with the Circumftances of the Story fo 
 ^ - ■■ well 
 
^ ( 45 ) 
 that they could think of. The one Imputed 
 them to Misfortune, the others to the greateft 
 Crime. And it is very probable, that they de- 
 figned to throw the fame Difgrape, in the fame 
 Senfe, on the Baptiji, who was alfo an Object 
 of their Envy and Hatred 3 and confequently, 
 " they " did not " look upon him to be" merely 
 or commonly " mad." 
 
 Let us next conlider 'Jah. viii. 48—52. " Say 
 " we not well, that thou art a Samr.ritan^ and 
 ^' haft a Devil^ J^f^^ anfwered, I have not a 
 " Devil, but I honour my Father^ and ye do 
 
 •' dijhonour me -Verily, verily, I fay unto 
 
 " you, If a Man keep my Saying, he fliallne- 
 *' ver fee Death. Then faid the Jews unto 
 " Him, now we know thou haft a Devil, " 
 &c. Here again the Gentleman, P. 38, in a 
 Paraphrafe reprefents the Jews, as charging our 
 Saviour with Madncfs. But furely, ifweftiould" 
 allow, that having a Devil was merely an ima~ 
 ginary Caufe of Madnefs, yet it was what they 
 believed, in the ftridl literal Senfe; and there- 
 well as ourTrannation. The plain Oppcf.tion between the Ac- 
 counts of our Lord's Friendi and of the ^'rr/^f j is alfo here entirely 
 lort. And, tho' Chrift had given no fign o^ Madnefs to raife an 
 Opinion of this, in his Relations, (which was what fwayed the 
 learned Ds^or to chufe this Interpretation) yet, as 'St. ^0^/ in- 
 forms us, that it was feme time before His Brethren belie<ved in 
 Him, they might be apt to fear fonie Diiorder in His Head, from 
 tfis extraordinary Proceedings ; or, at leail, when they knew no 
 other Way to excufe Him, they might do it in this Way. 2 Cor. 
 V. 13. £?iV»M/£» is oppofed to o-&<^(.o»>^fv. Vide Hammond on 
 Jl^ari iii. 2t. 1 can't omit the Reaibn Erafmus £,i/es heie 
 for the common Senfe, " Id ell agnatorum, [ut comprelienderent 
 pm] ii quis mnmita mentis eflc cceperit. 
 
 fore 
 
( 46 ) 
 
 fore 'tis hard to conceive, that they meant to fay 
 no more, than that you are really mad., when 
 they faid, thcu haji a Devil. I therefore (hall 
 beg leave to offer another Paraphrafe, more 
 conliftent with their Sentiments. *' Can we 
 ** be juflly blamed for laying on you thefe Re- 
 '^ proaches, as fevere as they are ? After yoii 
 *' have fo bitterly accufed us of being ihe. Sons' 
 " of the Devil ^ oi doing his Worh., and of re- ' 
 ** fafing to hear God's IVords, [See Verfes,. 
 " 44, 47] are we not in the right in faying You 
 *' are a Samariiariy an Enemy to our Nation 
 " and Worilup, accurfed of God; and that 
 " you are po/jeffed with, feme evil Spirit, who 
 " pulhes you on thus to diihonour God, and 
 " to build lip his own Glory, by the Means of 
 " yours? The former Accufation our Lord 
 *' thought it not v/orth his while to reply to ; 
 ** but as this laft might prejudice the Belief of 
 ** his MifTion, he not only denies, but confutes 
 ** it, by anfwering them, that neither his own, 
 ** nor Satan?,., but God's Honour alone was 
 " His End and Aim ; and therefore, lays He, 
 ^' you dijhomur me^ by this Charge. However, 
 *' notwithftanding this, T will not leave off 
 '' teaching yon, that keeping my Saying is the 
 " only Means to bring you to Life and Happi- 
 " «r/i, to prevent your feeing eternal Death ; 
 " Ver. 51. The y^^wj, mifunderflanding this 
 " Speech, and refenting more Chrifk's making 
 " himfelf fupcrior to Abraham and the Fro- 
 " -phcts^ who had all died, with greater Con^ 
 
 iidence 
 
■( 47 ) 
 fidence renew their Charge, Now we know 
 thou haft a Devil : For nothing but his Li/li^ 
 gatioji and PofteJ/ioriy could make thee guil- 
 ty of fuch intolerable Affurance and Blafphe- 
 my, fo far to exalt thy felf above the bed of 
 Men in all A;>;es. In anfwer to this, our 
 Lord refers to God, who had honoured 'Himt 
 and confirmed all His Pretenfions." 
 And indeed, if the jews had efteemed 
 Christ as a Af^<^/;?^2;^ only, 'tis amazing, that 
 they would enter into fo long a Converfation 
 with Him, and ftill more fo, that they fhould 
 at laft attempt to ft one Him /or Bla/pbemy. 'Tis 
 fomewhat unufual to deal with fuch unfortunate 
 People, in either cf tliele Vv''ays. 
 
 To the literal Scnfe it is objected, E?iq. P, 
 38, 39; that the yews " had neither /.V;/ nor 
 " heard any Tiemon in Hirn^ nor in yohn the 
 " Bapfift^ and yet inftantly they chaige them 
 *' with /6^7i7/jg one. Whence did this proceed? 
 " Or why do they fiy 2i Devil y rather than any 
 " Thing elfe ? They faw indeed what they 
 " thought to be Madnefs^ and nothing elfe. 
 " From this viiible Rft'c5l then they prelently 
 " imagined a D^/???;;?, or /)/'i;/7, to be the C^z^/^, 
 *' and thereforie charged Him with what they 
 *' did iwt f:ey arguing from \hQ Effe5f to the 
 *' Cnufer But what will not Malice and Pre- 
 judice prompt Men to ? Is this the only Cafe, 
 where a good Perfon has been accufed without 
 (iifficient Reafon or Evidence ? Can it be denied, 
 that the Scribes^ &c. were guided by Envy and 
 3 ^age 
 
( 48 ) 
 
 Rage agalnft our Saviour f Why then fhould 
 not thefe Paffions have, in them, their ufual 
 natural Conlequences? And, farther, what could 
 they fee in our Saviour, or in John the Bapti/i, 
 which could give them the leaft Reafon to think 
 either of them Madf All their Words and Acfions 
 were thofe ofT^ruth, and Sober7ieJs. There was 
 therefore no fuch vijible EffeB, as the Gentle- 
 man fuppofes. In fhort, if they would have 
 taken pains to have formed a right Judgment of 
 both, they would have accufed neitherof being 
 Mad, or Poff'effed: As it is certain, they did 
 not take fuch pains, 'tis equally eafy, on this 
 account, to believe their accufing them of the 
 one, as of the other *. 
 
 I have been the longer on the foregoing 
 Texts, becaufe they are the '\ plai?i and eajy 
 ones, which the Author of the Enquiry fays, 
 P. 39, " will help us to underftand fome o- 
 " thers, which at firft fight may appear more 
 " intricate.''' They are, I muftfuppofe, fuch, 
 as he thought cleareil in Proof of his Suppofi- 
 tion. We have ittn, that they are fairly on 
 our Side. And therefore I now go on with 
 
 * This Gentleman quotes Dr. Light f-'of, that the Je-ws attri- 
 buted certain great Disorders to e^vil Spirits. If they went too 
 far herein, the Ufe I would make of this their Error is, to caution 
 us not only againit ir, but againfl: the other extreme, of attempt- 
 ing to bring every Thing down to natural Caufes. 
 
 -f N. B. r call thefe the /)A?/« and eafy ones, purely in compli- 
 ance with this Author. For, in fair Conftrudion, thofe Cafes 
 are molt flain, and moft fit to be made the Standards of Interpre- I 
 ration, which are related at large, with the greateft Number of! 
 CircumllanGes, Whereas thefe are the fhortsil. 
 
 more 
 
(49 ) 
 
 more Courage to examine feme others, which 
 he produces, and thinks ought to be explained 
 by thefe. 
 
 And the firft that occurs, is Matth, xvii. 1 5. 
 the Cafe of the Lunatink^ which is handled in 
 
 the Enquiry^ />. 39 48. But it is, I think, 
 
 univerfally agreed, that this was Epileptick, and 
 ibme confiderable Criticks deny that there was 
 any Madnefs in it * : Which makes me wonder 
 that this Gentleman fhould, on the Strength of 
 the Englifi Word Lunaticky and the Ambigui- 
 ty of the Greek creKrjn(x.l^cf/.2vog^ contend, that 
 the young Man was MaJj as well as EpHepiick, 
 />. 42, 43. Surely, he cannot but know, that 
 the Word o-sAj^i'i^fciJj^M.gi'os-, is ufed for all Diilem- 
 pers, on which the Mcon has nny Influence. As 
 therefore here was no lign of Madnefs^ the bare 
 Word will not be fufficient to imply it. If then 
 any Thing can be colledled from this Place, to 
 exclude the Agency of the Spirits we muft lay, 
 that not " Lunatick and De?tio?iiack^" but Epi~ 
 leptick and Demoniack^ " muft be the fame." 
 
 But, (hall we then fay, that this was nbmore 
 than a common Epilepjy .^ By no means. All 
 the three Evangelifts^ who relate this Cure, a- 
 icribe it to a Devil, or dumb Spirit. Many of 
 
 * 'Zi>i}'ix^ou.ivi!i vertunt vulgo Lu^a/kos : fed alia morbi fpcdes 
 defignatur, Epilepjia videlicet, five morbus comit'ialis. Caulas iunt 
 quse videntur perfuadere : Lunatki enim vulgo lie dicli non h.jbent 
 fymptomata ilia, qv.z Maeth. xvii. 14. f/Z/^p// / aiitem habent. 
 Hi enim fa^pius in ignem cadunt, f5V. Siulut. apud /.f.'^i Crit. 
 Sacr. So alfo Dr. Hammond, in locum. 
 
 G the 
 
( 50 ) 
 
 the ancient Verfions do the fame, not fo much 
 as mentioning any particular Diftemper *. In- 
 deed, we muft own, that very early the hea- 
 then Phyficians were for reducing this Cafe to 
 mere Matter and Motion^ and for reprefenting 
 it as a natural Diflemper. But how does Ori- 
 gen exert himfelf a gain ft fuch ? " Let the Phy- 
 licians/* fays he, " difpute about the Nature of 
 " Things, imagining that here was no unclean 
 " Spirit concerned, but a bare bodily Difor- 
 
 " der. But we, who believe the Gofpel, 
 
 ■" that this Difeafe was vifibly raifed in the Pa- 
 " tients by an unclean, deaf, and dufnb Spirit, 
 " —will affirm, that this unclean Spirit watch- 
 " es the Configurations of the Moon,'' &c. -[- 
 And a Chrifcian Phylician, tho' he defends the 
 Pofition, that the Moon has an effed: on human 
 Bodies, yet allows this Cafe to be Demoniacaly 
 and attempts to account for it on this Princi- 
 
 
 
 * Verf. Perfic. ^ia filiunt haheo, in quern damonium potefia- 
 iem obtinet, Sc graviffime laborar, &c. Jrabic. ^ia cum Da- 
 inone eji, ^ 'vexa/ur 'vaUein principiis ^lemluniortim. — Ferf. yE"- 
 thiop. Malus Damon prehe7tdit eufitt & murmurctre eum facit . Vid. 
 Walton, Poiyglot. 
 
 4 'IxIf'oJ |*e» a» <pvtn«Xoyiirutrciv^ art yufipi CLKx^ufloi) TrnZfAitt 
 jtveii yeuA(^r.v']i<; xarcc Tct rozov, a,>^Xa. <ruiA,x']iK(.v trufAleofAct ——— 
 SjlKiSK ^ ci jc^ Tw iVcc'/yihitJ 7riTSuov']t<;, on to tda-nfAcc tSto ci^i 
 TtvtvfJi/tiroc, «)c<«S«'pTa, «^*A8,x^ xa'^s kf ror? jra^ao-*!- a.vT» S^tttiptirxi 
 imyefi^itcv „ :m (pijVcjxiv, x, t, A. Origin. Com. in Matth. Ed. 
 Muet. V. I . p. 3 1 r . 
 
 I Pravis Corporis noftri humorlbus Dsemones fe immi- 
 
 fcent, & Lunas quadras appofite fequuntur, uc addifti corporali 
 fubftantis, humorum uempe orgafmo, & apparatui niorbifico, 
 
 niuUo 
 
[ 51 1 
 
 This therefore appears plainly to be an Epi" 
 kpjy^ occalionedby the Operation of an evilSpi^ 
 rit. The Diftemper, in kind, was natural : Yet 
 the Man was properly a Demoniack. It can then 
 be no wonder, that this Ihould anfwer fo exact- 
 ly the Defcription the Phyficians have, given of 
 that Diftemper. Nor can it follow from hence, 
 that this is all we are to underftand by Pof- 
 fijjicns. 
 
 The Gentleman, Ejiqim-y ^. "^^^ is " fenli- 
 " ble how difficult it is to account for every 
 " Expreffion on thefe Occaftons," &c. and in- 
 deed on his Hypothelis, he had Reafon to be 
 apprehenfive of this. Take the common Sup- 
 pofition, and there will be very little difficulty. 
 Why therefore fhould we indulge any forced 
 and ftra.ned ConjcSliires, and only involve our- 
 felves iv}n\ovQ Uncertainty^ This, I fear, will be 
 the Confequence, if we leave the literal Mean- 
 ing, and follow him in his new Criticifms on 
 Ver. 2 1. Hoii'beit this kind goeth not out, but 
 hy Prayer and Fajiing. This St. Mark expreily 
 reprefents as our Lori^ Anfwer to that Quefti- 
 on of His Difciples, ivhy could not we caft him 
 out ? And yet, becaufe St. Matthew makes this 
 only one part of His Anfwer, and prefixes to it 
 a Sentence, importing the Neceffity and Pre- 
 valence of Faith, this Author imagines the A?:- 
 
 multo facilius aegrotos divexent, corpora contorqueant, & ani- 
 worum falfa imaginatione in abfurda pia^cipitent. Gulidm. 
 Ader. de Morbh E'vang. Enar. IV. Apud Critic. Sa:r, Tom. 9. 
 P- 3366. 
 
 G 2 Jwer 
 
C 5^ 1 
 
 fhver flops here, and that, what " follows a- 
 " bout the Neceffity of Fnjiing and Prayer^ 
 *' may not relate to the Difficulty they propor 
 " fed," P. 45, 46. But if it did not, can we 
 think St. Mark would have wrote only this^ 
 and dropt the whole of fo proper and ufeful art 
 Anfwer, to a Queftion of fuch Confequence ? 
 And what Inconfiftency is there in thefe two 
 Conditions, that they can't both " relate to the 
 *' Difficulty ? " Is Faith, that which qualified 
 them to ejeft Devils ? And, may not Prayer 
 and Fajiing be the Means to procure an increafe 
 of Faith ? On the other hand, is it to thefe Du- 
 ties, that this Miracle was owing ? And, could 
 they be performed rightly without Faith ^ Do 
 not they derive all their Virtue and Acceptance 
 with God from this Divine Principle ? But let 
 St. Matthew explain himfelf, Ch. xxi. ver. 21, 
 22. Howfoon is the Fig-tree withered away f 
 Jesus anjwercd and /aid unto thtin. Verily I 
 Jay unto you, if ye have Faith and doubt not, 
 yejldall not only do this which is done to the Fig- 
 tree, but alfo, ifyefbailfay unto this Mountain^ 
 be thou removed, and be thou caji into the Sea ; 
 it Poall be done. And all T'hings, whatjbever ye 
 fiall aJkin^RAYT^K, Believing, ye Jhall re- 
 ceive. We fee here Faith and Prayer joined to- 
 gether, and both made the Grounds of a Pow- 
 er to work the moft difficult Miracles. And, as 
 for Fafiing, we know this is in Scripture re-, 
 prefented as an Attendant of fervent, effediual 
 Prayer. But this Gentleman, p. 44, feems to 
 ". 4 think, 
 
( 53 ) 
 
 think, that this Fafiing was to be pradtifed by 
 the Patient *. Elle, to what end is he fo par- 
 ticular in giving us the Determinations of the old 
 Phyficians, that Fafting is of Service in Epilep- 
 tick Cafes? 
 
 Now let us confider, what we find urged a- 
 gainfl the common Interpretation, Enq. p. 46. 
 ''^h. miraculous Power was neceffary to cure 
 " this Diforder in the Way which Jesus cured 
 " it. Is a miraculous Power to be attained by 
 " Fafting 2iV\6. Prayer? Or csLunot a. /i^pernatu- 
 " ral Power cure a Diforder, fuppofing it to be 
 " granted to Men, as it was to the Apoflles, un- 
 " lefs thty ffjl and pray for the Removal of 
 " the Diforder ? " The Queftion is not, what 
 a ^Supernatural Power can do, or in what man- 
 ner it may work Cures ? But, whether the Au- 
 thor of Supernatural Power did not lay down 
 thefe Duties, as Conditions neceffary to the at- 
 taining it, or to the due Exercife of it ? The 
 Gijh of Healing were certainly miraculous Pow- 
 ers. And yet we learn from St. yames^ that 
 thefe very Conditions were required, without 
 which thofe Powers were not u&d. Ihe Pray- 
 er of Faith ^ flmll f'ave the Sick-^^ v. 15. . 
 
 " Our Saviour Him/elf did neither faft nor 
 " pray, notwithftanding He cured the Youth." 
 
 * Indeed, p. 46. He denies tha^ Fajllng and Prayer was re- 
 quired of the dijlempered 'Ptdon, in order to his Cure. But Jlil! 
 1 am at a lofs to account for all thofe Citations, where Fujling is 
 prefcribed. 
 
 f Vid, Whitby in Loc. 
 
 Thefe 
 
( 54 ) 
 
 Thefe might be necelTary in the Difciples, tho* 
 they were not fo in Him 5 unlefs they could 
 pretend to Divine Power, in the fame manner, 
 that He had it j or unlefs they were as fure that 
 their Faifb would never fail. — But " He char- 
 " ges them with Unbelief only, and not With 
 " negie<fl oi Fafiing and Fraying as the Rea- 
 " fon, why they did not cure the Diforder. " 
 Tho' Unbelief he firft and mcft plainly charged, 
 yet the others follow, and are fufficiently men- 
 tioned. " Nor did the Difciples afterwards 
 
 " ever frjl and prny (that we read of) in order 
 " to cure any Diflempers, or to caft out any 
 •' Devils." We read, that St. yc'rwa exhorted 
 fck Perfons, to call for the Elders of the Churchy 
 that they might ^r^^ over them ^ and to this he 
 encourages them, bypromifing, that ^/jd" Pr^^vr 
 of Faith fk all fave tie Sick *. At leaft therefore 
 they prayed io " cure Diflempers. " And they 
 might ufe this Means in cafting out Devils too ; 
 for the Silence of Scripture in thefe Circumftan- 
 ces, will hardly be allowed to prove the contra- 
 ry. Befides, are v^e obliged to fuppofe, that 
 Prayer and Fafting were immediately neceflary 
 before fuch Cures ? Perhaps, they were fo. 
 For my own part, I believe them generally to 
 have been fo. Bat the Objedion vanifhes, if 
 we fuppofe them only to have been antecedently 
 necelTary to procure, and to keep up, that m.ira- 
 
 * In this manner is St. Peter related to x^'ikTabitha to life ; he 
 kneeled down aiid grayed , and turning to the Bodjt /aid, &c. -A^s 
 ix. 40. 
 
 culous 
 
( 55 ) 
 
 culous Faith, which is the fpecial Gift of God, 
 In this Senfe, we are fure the Apoftles compHed 
 with thefe Conditions. Nor can I fee, what 
 hinders this Gentleman's thinking, " that our 
 " Saviour gave this Diredlion to inform His 
 " Difciples, that this Faith — was to be fought 
 *' for by flagrant Devotion, that it might 
 " never be wanting to them." This is Dr. Whit^ 
 by% Interpretation : And fuch a Defign is per- 
 fedly agreeable to Iiifinite WifdoJUy and to the 
 Occafion of the Diredlion itfelf. 
 
 The Conjedure of the Phyfician at firft 
 View looks ingenious enough, ci/ Tr^oa-ix^'i vyi<TeiA 
 in conjiant fafting, inftead of b> Tr^oa-ivx^ ^ v»;- 
 ^eiu. But Fafting and Prayer are too often 
 mentioned together in Scripture to allow us to 
 think of altering the Text, without any Au- 
 thority, or Neceffity. Nor will even this be 
 an Anfwer, as St. Mark makes this Sentence 
 to be, to the Queftion propoied by the Difci- 
 ples. 
 
 But this Gentleman choofes to drop his 
 Friend's Emendation, and propofes a new In- 
 terpretation of his own, which is, " that the 
 " Phrafe, by Fafting and Prayer, is prover- 
 " bially ufed, and implies g?'cat Diffculty only, 
 " and that our Lord defigned to oppofe to the 
 " ufual length of Time, and Difficulty of 
 " Cure, the Speed and Eafe, with which he 
 " had removed this Diftemper." P. 47, 48. 
 As he " refers thii to the Reader's Judgment," 
 I hope I fliall not give any Oifence by declaring 
 
 mine . 
 
( 56 ) 
 
 mine j that it is a flrained Expofitlon ; that it 
 is hardly to be reconciled with the Relation in 
 St. Matthew, and not at all with St. Mark's ; 
 and that, if the common literal Senfe be not 
 abfolutely unintelligible, there is no room to 
 confider, whether one fo foreign fhould be 
 received. It might have been expelled, that 
 fo learned and ingenious a Writer fhould have 
 given us fome Authority, one Inftance at 
 leaft from any Author of Credit, of this Phrafe's 
 being fo ufed. But this he has not done, and 
 I believe would be much puzzled to do. For, 
 as to the Proverb, nee preee^ nee pretio, it is far 
 from fimilar or parallel ; preee here no more 
 fignifying what thtSeriptures mean by Prayer^ 
 than pretio does fofting. We have an E?igliflj 
 Proverb, not unlike this Latin one. We fay a 
 thing can neither be goty^r Love, nor Money, 
 Words, which carry a very different Idea, from 
 a Diflemper not being cured by Prayer -nor 
 Fq/iirig., " • 
 
 - The next Inftance of a Demoniack we ar€ to 
 view, is that mentioned by St. Matthew, St. 
 Mark, 2inASt.Luke,^ with but little Variation ; 
 out of whom the Legion of Devils were caft, 
 and fuffered to enter into the Swine. This the 
 Author of the Enquiry confiders, p. 48. — 5^. 
 And indeed, if he can reconcile this to his 
 Scheme, I think, we muft be obliged to yield 
 lip the Point. " For in the Inftance of this 
 '*^ Miracle before us, we find, that the Devils 
 
 * Mat. viii. 28. Mark v. 2. Luke viii. 37. 
 
 fpake 
 
( 57 ) 
 
 *' fpake out bf the poireffed Perfons, they were 
 " fent out of them, and they entered into the 
 " Herd of Swine : Perfonal Acftions as well 
 " as Speeches are afcribed to them^ which can 
 *' never be afcribed to mere Phrenzy and Mad- 
 " nefs: For had there been nothing more thari 
 " Madnefs, then, when it ceafed in the Menj 
 " it wojild have had no Influence on the Swine ; 
 " whereas that, which went out of the one, and 
 " entered into the other, muft have a diftind: 
 " Being and Exiilence of its own *." Thus 
 are the Circumftances of this Story (hortly and 
 excellently fummed up by a Writer, from 
 whom I took the liberty to borrow a Paflage 
 before. And if thefe Difficulties can be an- 
 fwered to Satisfaction, I believe all others may 
 be more ealily got over : There being no other 
 Account, where the Operation of evil Spirits 
 is fo plainly and particularly defcribed. Let 
 us therefore examine, what we find objedied 
 againfl the literal Me ailing^ and what is reply'd, 
 in Anfwer to the feveral Queflions, which will 
 arife from the whole Hiflory. 
 
 From the Accounts " of this unhappy 
 " Man," this Gentleman " obferves, ift, 
 " here was a Perfon not in his right Mind-, 
 " running about ;?^^f^ ; plucking afunder his 
 ** Chains or Fetters j no one could tame him • 
 " — Thefe are all ordinary Symptoms of Lii~ 
 " nacy or Madnefs^ &c." I grant, that this 
 De}no?iiackj fuppofing him really fuch, might 
 
 f Miraclet of Jefus Vindicated, ubi fupra. 
 
 H weU 
 
( 58 ) 
 
 well be faid to be not in his flight Mind : But I 
 deny, that it therefore follows, that he was a 
 mere Madman. Enough has been faid already, 
 to difprove any fuch Confequence. Nor " are 
 ** thefe all ordinary Symptoms of" common 
 " Lunacy^ Surely, whether Madmen can be 
 cured or not ; if once taken, they may be 
 bound with Fetters, If they can't be^ tamed -, 
 yet there is no fuch Difficulty in confining them. 
 And therefore I think the Author of the ^ef- 
 tions and Anfwers to the Orthodox, in the 
 Works of Jujlin Martyr, had good Reafon to 
 attribute this extraordinary Degree of Power, 
 which appears in the Inftance before us, not to 
 the Ferfon poffeffed, but to the Devil him/elf *. 
 But we are told, p. 76. " That thefe Expref- 
 ^* fions, Jio Man could bind him^ hq not with 
 ** Fetters, can mean no more than this, that 
 *' the difordered Perfon had been often bound 
 " with Fetters and Chains, and he had often 
 ** broke loofe." Yes, certainly, they may mean 
 more, .and, in their plain Meaning, do mean 
 more. And though the Senfe this Gentleman 
 gives might take Place, in cafe the literal one 
 were unintelligible ^ yet, when there is no fuch 
 
 • ^teft. XLI. *^,iC- it be the Property of God to give 
 
 ** Strength, how could the Devils enable the Man to break his 
 •' Chains,^'' &c.F We (ee, ihe ^e^ion {appoks {oms Supernaturai 
 Power. The Anfrjoer is, 'Ov ru c^fAxli 'ufa.^ea-^i* i ^x\ft.»* »»)» 
 ^V«f*«», Zj^o<i To e^vccaSxi cv/lfiQm y^ Oicippiia-<rtiv tcc oiarijuct x^ Ttt? 
 «?ii/o:«f, aAAflS duloi e A«»M<»i' orvtir^iQi x^ ^^iBfpijfrirt rat ^trfJboc xj 
 
 rit 'ig}«. 
 
 Difficulty, 
 
(59 ) 
 
 Difficulty, there can be no Neceffity to allow 
 it. However even here the Objedion returns. 
 What mere Madmen do we hear of, who, hav- 
 ing /^^<?;z OFTEN bound with Fetters, and Chains, 
 have Strength enough as often to phick ajimder 
 the Chains, and to break the Fetters in Pieces ? 
 It is natural to imagine, that if he had got 
 loofe once or twice (as we have known a late 
 Inftance of this in one not mad) by the Means 
 of human Strength or Art : This could not 
 have been^ often done; and it muft have put 
 his Keepers, when once they had got him again, 
 upon furer Means to have fecured him effedu- 
 ally. :irii >ii, lainvv 
 
 The Enquirer, p. ^gfdr'la'ys a good deal of 
 Strefs on the Obfervation, that the Man, into 
 whom many Devils had entered, is fometimes 
 reprefented, " as pofleffed by one only Spirit." 
 But, for my own Part, I can't fee, what 
 this has to do with the prefent Debate, or what 
 real Ufe it can have. By the Evangelijis 
 fpeaking fo indifcriminately, we muft fuppofe, 
 that they did not imagine it a Point of fuch 
 Confequence. Thefe Variations are, in them- 
 felves, trifling ; and fuch, as few of the beft 
 Writers are entirely free from *. As this is no 
 Prejudice to the Miracle, which it was the Bu- 
 finefs of the GoJpel\ to record and teftify ; fo 
 neither is it to the literal Senfe of it, . which it 
 
 * We have many iRftances of this change of Number, in 
 Bfit. xii. 
 
 Ha is 
 
( 6o ) 
 
 is my Defign to vindicate and fupport. Our 
 Queilion is not, whether cne or more Devils 
 were cafl out ? But, whether there were any 
 at all? 
 
 - But, from hence the Gentleman colled:s, 
 " That this Accoiint of many Devils was no- 
 " thing elfe hut the Man's Imagination, and 
 ^' not the Truth of Things : For to call out 
 *' one Devi\ when a Legion was in him, was re- 
 " ally doing no fervice to the Perfon afflidled.'* 
 Still I mufl confefs my felf at a Lofsto under- 
 jftand, what can be the Purpofe of this Re- 
 mark, or what could induce him to make it. 
 For was only c;2<? D^-'u// called out? But, every 
 one of the Eva?2gelifts^ when they record their 
 being cajl out, fpeak of them in the Plural. 
 And St. Mark V. 12. fays, all the Devils be- 
 fought Him, &c. How then was " The Account 
 "of many D evils ^ not the Truth of Things ?" 
 How could it have been more plainly fet down, 
 even on Suppofition, that it had been the Truth 
 of Things ^ And I obferve farther, that this is ^ 
 fo far from being " nothing elfe but the Maji's 
 " Imagination," That /^S/. Lw^^" recites it, not 
 as the Man's Words, but as his own Reafon or 
 . Explication of the Name Legion. For thus 
 we read in his Gofpel, viii. 30. ^nd Jesvs 
 asked hirn^ what is thy Name ? And he f aid Le- 
 gion : Becaufe many Devils were entered into 
 Him. 
 
 In the 4th Obfervation, p. 51. There are 
 two or three Miftakes, which have been evi- 
 dently 
 
( 6i ) 
 
 dently confuted already. On the Strength 
 therefore of what has been faid, I (hall venture 
 to contradid: them, and to aflert, that " to 
 " have a Devil and to be mad is" not " the 
 " fame thing;" that " this Man was" not 
 " confidered merely as a Madman-^' and that, 
 when he faid his Name was Legion^ this was 
 not " the Anfwer of a mere Madman^' but 
 the involuntary Confeffion of njcicked Sph'its. 
 
 " Taking him for a Madman^ could any 
 " thing be more natural, than what pafTed ?" ' 
 The Anfwer is eafy. Many Particulars of his 
 Conduct have no Relation to Madnefs : And 
 others, which might poffibly have proceeded from 
 this, are much better accounted for, on theSup- 
 pofition of his being a Demo?iiack. Of this 
 laft Sort we have an Inftance in this Page. " It 
 " was— —natural for him, confidering him as 
 " a JeWy in his mad iit, to ask that the Devils, 
 " which were in him, might be permitted to 
 " enter into the Herd of Swine, which he 
 ** : faw jull: before him. The Sight of them 
 " would naturally put the odd Image into his 
 " Head." Not to infift upon the learned Dr. 
 Lighffoofs Reafons for believing him to have 
 been a Gadaren, and not a Jew, -f- we will 
 fuppofe this a probable Account. But is it not 
 more fo, to imagine this a Petition of evil Spi- 
 rits ? What can be more fiaitable to their Na- 
 ture and Difpolition, than a Delight in doing 
 Mifchief ? What ftronger Picture can we have 
 
 f Vid. ^'/^Z/^j on Mark v. 2. 
 
 of 
 
(62) 
 
 of this Temper, than this before ug ; that when' 
 they were going to be deprived of the Power 
 of hurting Men's Bodies^ they defire leave to; 
 damage them, in their PoJfeJJions? Befidesthe 
 excellent Obfervations of I'heophylaB on this 
 Hiftory, and Dr. Hammonds Reafons for 
 Chrift's not forbidding the Confequences, tencf 
 fo much to the Honour of God's Power, an(i 
 Juflice, andGoodnefsj that they, of themfelves, 
 mightily incline us to believe, that Senfe to be 
 the true one, from which they are drawn -f-. 
 
 We have alfo in this Page two Paffages^ 
 which, I apprehend, are very unnatural and un- 
 intelligible, if we take the afflided Perfon to be 
 nothing more than a Madman. The firft is, 
 \{\s worfiipping Jesus, and faying, what have 
 I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God mojf 
 High ? I kefeech thee torment me not. Now 
 thefe Words, if afcribed to an unclean Spirit 
 are eafy and plain. "The Devils knew him to be 
 the Chrijl. They knew him alfo to be come to , 
 deftroy them utterly ^ and to have often dif. 
 played His Power in calling them out. This 
 muft be granted, if we allow them no fiiperior 
 Knowledge to Men. But then how natural is 
 it for Beings in thefe Circumflances, confcious 
 of their Guilt, and feeing their Deftroyer, to 
 be apprehenfive of Punifliment? And how 
 well do thefe Words exprefs at once their Con- 
 vi(5lion and Fear? Whereas if we put thefe 
 in the Mouth of 2, mere Madman, there will be 
 
 f See thefe in ^i-zV^j, on.Mariv. 14. 
 
 this 
 
(63 ) 
 
 this glaring Inconfiftency, that we fuppofe fuch 
 a one, in the fame Breath, declare his Belief 
 in the true Nature and Bulinefs of our Lord^ 
 and his utter Ignorance thereof. Which Con^ 
 traditiion 'tis very hard to imagine even a Mad- 
 man guilty of. The firft Part, it is certain, 
 betrays no Diforder : Nothing can be more 
 confident and rational. What Authority or 
 Warrant have we therefore to interpret the 
 Words, which immediately follow, in fuch a 
 Senie, as nothing but the moft exceffive Raving 
 can juftify ? Do but take the whole of this 
 Cafe. Our Lords Miracles had raifed a Fame 
 of him. A Man, who had been long afflided, 
 and who had heard this Fame^ and thence 
 knew him to he the Chrijl^ met Himy fell down 
 at His Feety worfloipped Him, declared his 
 Knowledge, and Convid:ion, and yet in the 
 fame Moment, faid, he had nothing to do with 
 Him, and begged Him not to torment Him. 
 Imagine this Affliction to have been Madnefs, if 
 you will. Yet, this was not upon him, whea 
 he firfl met our Saviour. Nor is here the leaft 
 Intimation, that it afterwards fo jiiddetily feized 
 him. He muft be fuppofed at firft to come 
 with Hopes and a Defire of being cured : He 
 is alfo fuppofed to have heard of our Lord's 
 Cures. How could he therefore think of 
 being tormented by Him ? How could he 
 think, " he had nothing to do with " one, 
 whom he had juft owned to be, " the holy One 
 of God, who " was already fo famous for 
 I " His 
 
(64 ) 
 
 His curing all manner of Difeafes ?'* Eiiq, 
 p. 69. 
 
 Thefe are DifHculdes attending this Suppofi- 
 tion ; and which I can't but think much harder 
 than any, which follow the common Applica- 
 tion, Others will appear by and by, when we 
 fhall have Occaiion to refume the Conlidera- 
 tion of this Text. 
 
 No lefs hard to account for, if we rejed: the 
 literal Interpretation, is our Lord's Anfwer, 
 wherein He gives them leave to go. This is 
 clear enough if underflood, as ipoken to the 
 Devils, No Objedlion can be raifed, but what 
 may be eafily anfwered. But the E?iquiref 
 muft excufe me, if I cannot think his Mean- 
 ing fo free from it. " All this " he tells us, 
 p. 52. " is no more than concerning Himfelf 
 " with the fantaflick Humour of a Madman, 
 " but humouring him, while he cured him." 
 But, in my Opinion, this " is concerning 
 " Himfelf with " it greatly. Befides, fuch a 
 Comment has no Countenance from the Style 
 of Scripture^ nor from the Nature of the Cafe. 
 Not from the Stile of Scripture, which affords 
 us nothing parallel, which never reprefents our 
 LoPvD as direcfting an Anfwer to no Body, but on- 
 ly feeming to anlwer Beings not prefent, in order 
 to humour a Madma?t, who conceived they were. 
 — Nor from the Nature of the Cafe ; there be- 
 ing no End or Ufe of His thus humouring him. 
 This indeed, in the Application of natural 
 Remedies, may be fometimes neceflary to faci- 
 litate 
 
( 65 ) 
 
 litate the Cure. But Miracl'^s nev^r fland in need 
 of any fuch to forward their Succefs. And there- 
 fore we have no Reafon to beheve our Lord did 
 it here. 
 
 But the Confequence {hews, that this Speech 
 of our Lord's was not barely " humouring 
 " the Man while he cured him," but that it had 
 a real, a manifefl, and mofl: furprizing Efie<ft. 
 'The Devils went out of the Man^ and entered 
 into the Swine: and the Herd ran violently 
 down a fteep Place into the Lake, and were 
 choaked. This the Gentleman owns, p. 52. to 
 be " the main Difficulty." Let us fee how he 
 gets over it. " All this Legion of Devils 
 " was nothing but the MadmaiU talk." — We 
 faw before, that St. Luke himfelf confirmed 
 this talk, by affigning the Reafon of this Name: 
 Becaufe many Devils were entered into him. 
 And we have the Teftimony of our Author 
 himfelf, that " all the three Evangelifts agree 
 " m celling us, that the Devils entered the Swine!* 
 How tnen is this " nothing but the Madmafi^s 
 " talk ?" To proceed: 
 
 " If therefore by any Accident the Swine ran 
 " down the Precipice, whilft the Man or Men, 
 " were under Cure, whether drove down, or 
 ." frighted down by iht Madmen, this would 
 *'; fully anfwer all the Story." No, mofl cer- 
 
 taiply it would not. Whether or no to 
 
 have a Devil, and to be Mad, mean the fame 
 
 Thing J to have a Devil, and to be accide7it:-^lly 
 
 frighted, will never be allowed to do To. For 
 
 I then 
 
( 66 ) 
 
 then It may follow, that, in many Inftances, 
 here was nothing but an uncommon Fright, 
 and confequently no occaiion fo!" any Miracle, 
 I would not be underflood to charge the Er/qui^ 
 ' rer with intending this Confequence, the con- 
 trary to which he has alTerted, both in theEn- 
 trance, and Concluiion of his Piece. And there-- 
 fore I muft look on this, as a Sign of the Di- 
 ilrefs he was in ; and farther, as an Interpreta- 
 tion he feems not fatisfied with himfelf. For, 
 as if he fufpedled it, he immediately offers a- 
 hother. 
 
 " But fuppofing this Conjeflure — will not 
 " fufficiently account for the Expreffions of the 
 " Bjvangdifls^ I conceive, that there can be no 
 " greater Difficulty in this Cafe, than there is 
 ^* in one Man's Diftemper paffing into another 
 *' Man, ^c. " Difeafes communicated by In- 
 fcBion muft here be fet afide, Madnefs not be- 
 ing fuch a one. And other Diftempers can*t 
 pafs into another Man, but by Supernatural 
 Injltdliony which can't be pretended to be the 
 Cafe here. Let us illuftrate this by the Hiftory 
 of Gehazi, to whom the Leprofy of Naaman 
 was to cleave, 2 Kings v. 27. Since this is the 
 Inftance this Gentleman pitches upon, p. 53, 
 and chufes to compare with the prefent Cafe. 
 Here the firil Difference that occurs, is, that 
 tho' the, Leprofies oi Naamaji and GehaziwQVC 
 the fame, in kind, yet they can't be thought 
 one and the fame heprojy. It did not " pafs from 
 ** the one to the other," nor was it immedi- 
 ately 
 
[67 ] 
 
 ately communicated. Whereas, if by Devihy 
 in the Gofpels, we muft mean Madnejs^ it is 
 certain, that it was \hQ felf fame Madnefs^ from 
 which the Man was delivered, which feized the 
 Swine : Since the fame Devils, which 'we?tt qut 
 of him, are faid to have entered into thefe. 2^/v, 
 T'he Lep7'of of Gehazi was plainly a Judgmefit 
 upon him for his Covetoufnefs, which God was 
 not only pleafcd to permit, but direBIy inflidied- 
 But, it would be ridiculous to imagine this of 
 the ^wine j nor have we fufficient Warrant to 
 fliy any fuch Thing of the Oivners of thern. 
 And our Lord, by two of the Evangelifts, is 
 only faid to have pennitted, or given the Devils 
 leave to enter into the Herd. Which implies 
 nothing adlive in our Lord, as Grotius has ob- 
 ferved. So that, we find thefe two Cafes very 
 different. Nor will the Scripture Account of 
 Gehazi' s Leprofy at all help us to " refolve the 
 * ' Inftance before us," or to conceive how the 
 fame Madmjs, under the Notion of Devils, 
 could leave the Man and feize the Sivine. 
 
 At prefent, I take my leave of this Inflance, 
 till this Gentleman gives me caufe to take it in 
 hand again, and to confider his Explication of 
 fome other Circumftances relating to it, and 
 what he has offered in reply to the Argument 
 arifing from hence. I now attend him to view 
 the Cafe of the Py/tof/i, Atls'K.vi. i6. which, 
 P' 5^y 54, he fays, " is that of a Perfon that 
 " pretended to tell Fortunes; and engaged the 
 " Attention of the People, by fpeaking inward- 
 .1 2 " ly. 
 
[68] _ 
 
 ly. This was called a Spirit of Divination ; 
 and when flie was difcovered, fhe was difa- 
 bled from playing this Trick any longer, by 
 
 St. Paul's faying to her, / command thee 
 
 to come out of her . No more was, or could 
 be meant, than to put a flop to the Trick 
 the Woman ufed. She was not2i Demoniack 
 in the Senfe of thofe, that are mentioned in 
 the Gofpels." This is the whole of this Gen- 
 tleman's Account, which I can't but think very 
 different from St. Liike%. Here fhe is reprefent- 
 ed not as a mere Fortune-teller^ but as poffejjed 
 with a Spirit of Divination^ or, as it is called 
 in the OU'T'ejlainent^ 2i familiar Spirit-, in the 
 manner the Delphick Pricjiefs ufed to be *. 
 2dl}\ We have not the leaft Intimation in the 
 Text of any fuch Cheat's being difcovered^ and 
 therefore this could not be the occaiion of what 
 St. Paul faid, &c. On the other hand, as the 
 Devils in the Gqfpel were forced to confefs 
 Christ, fo this Pytkonefs bore witnefs to His 
 Difciples. Had fhe been only a Cheat, how fhall 
 we account for this Proceeding, which could 
 have no other tendency, than to divert the At- 
 tention of the People from her ? 3^/r, It was 
 to the Spirit himfelf, that Luke defcribes St. 
 Paul, as turning and faying, / command thee, 
 &c. And I know not what Warrant the JS;/- 
 
 quirer 
 
( 69 ) 
 
 quiver had to change the Peffon, and to dire<9: 
 thefe Words of the Apoftle to her. ^thh\ The 
 Charge itfelf, / command thee in the Name of 
 Jesus Christ to come out of her, and the E- 
 vent, he caine out the fame Hour^ is fo exactly 
 the Language of the Gojpels, when Devils are 
 faid to be caji out, that I think, we can't, with- 
 out Violence, underlland them of any Thing 
 elfe. The only difference is the addition of 
 thofe Words, cv r^ cvofxctji \yjc-ii Kpi^:^, which is 
 conformable to His Diredion and Promife, 
 Markxvi. 17. Lajlly, there is then no Reafon 
 to queftion but (lie was properly a Demofiiack, 
 i. e. one, pofeffed With, an evil Spirit, as thofe 
 were, that are mentioned in the Gofpels. In- 
 deed, in what manner the Devil qffliBed her 
 we are not particularly told. But that in gene- 
 ral (he was thus affliSied, St. Paul's Concern 
 feems to imply j hctTrcniB&ig Ti na^'iXog, jc, t,K. 
 This Word denotes Grief which might arife 
 cither from Pity or Indignation, the for- 
 mer relating to the Woman, this laft to the evil 
 Spirit. In tliis Senfe, St. Luke ufed this Word 
 before, A5ls iv. 2. ^ic&-^ov^u£voi <^<a to Si^cca-Ketv 
 
 durovg tcv Xcccv. We lee then here a Woman 
 
 pofleffed with an evil Spirit. This was caf out 
 by the Apoftle, in the fame manner, as others 
 are faid to have been. Can this be underftoocj 
 to mean either Madnefs, or the Epilepjy ? Nei- 
 ther is pretended. Can it be explained by -a 
 Power toj do Tricks, and to deceive, without 
 fuppofing (omc real PoftcJ/ionf It does not ap- 
 pear. 
 
( 70 ) 
 
 pear, that the Word was ever ufed in any 
 ibch Senfe. Befides, this Account entirely de- 
 ftroys ih.Q Miracle^ and can't therefore be ad-^ 
 mitted. . [ 
 
 Much the fame we find in the Enquiry, p. 
 54. of the Woman, who had the spirit of In^ 
 Jinnity, and who is faid by our Saviour to 
 have been bound by Satan. '* She was never re- 
 *' puted a Demoniack^ but only to be fo bent in 
 ** her Body, as not to be able to lift herfelf up." 
 This indeed was her Diforder ; But if it pro- 
 ceed from an Evil Spirit, fhe was a Demoniack : 
 And it furprizes me to hear this Gentleman 
 fay, " fhe was never reputed " fuch. What 
 the ^ews accounted her cafe, we can't fay. 
 But the prefent Bijhop of Lichfield has flriewn 
 it to be the Opinion of St. Augujiine, of Ader 
 and Bartholine the Phyficians, and of Grotius, 
 that an evil Spirit was the Author of this Dif- 
 cafe ■*. Ht alfo tells us, that 'Tbcophanes Cera- 
 Jneus, a Greek HofmiiJ m the iith Century, 
 *^ corrects the Opinion of common Naturalifts, 
 ** and fays, that St. Luke, as skilled in Phy- 
 " fick, did not impute this Infirmity to mere 
 '^^ natural Caufes, but to the Influence of an 
 " evil Spirit in concurrence with them §." To 
 thefe we may add Dr. Hajnmond, who para- 
 phrafes a Spirit of Lifrjnify, Luke xiii. 1 1. 
 ^* A fore Difeafe, inflided on her by thtDeviL"* 
 And Whitby on V. 16. " A Spirit of Infir- 
 
 * Vindicat. of Miracles, V.I. p. 321. — 326. 
 ^rbid. p. 338. 
 
 ii:ity 
 
( 71 ) 
 
 ". mity is nothing but an infirm Dtjpofition or 
 , *i^ i Habit y in the Jewidi Phrafeology ; and the 
 !** Chriftian Writers are full of the fame man- 
 " ner of Expreflions, ^c." My Lord of Lich- 
 field is fo flrong to my Purpofe, that I will 
 give the Anfwer in his own Words. " The 
 '* Words, a Spirit of Infirmity, might poffibly 
 ," have been underftood, by an Hebraifin, of 
 !*• 'the very Infirmity itlelf, if our Lord had 
 " not afterwards informed us, that Satan had 
 '^.. bound, or contradted the Nerves or Sinews 
 ." of this Woman ; and had not thereby 
 ** (hewn, that by thefe Words, a Spirit rf 
 " Infirmity, was meant an Infirmity, or fuch 
 " a Weaknefs of Body, as bowd it together, 
 *■ that was inflidted by an evil Spirit -f-." Since 
 therefore this Exprefllon, whom Satan hatb 
 bound, muft determine the Meaning of the 
 other, let us fee what the Enquirer fays to it. 
 " —That Word would have been ufed, whatever 
 
 " was the tnie Caufe of this Indifpoiition ■ 
 
 *' Satan is nothing elfe but Adverjdry — Thus 
 *' our Saviour fays to Peter, get thee behi?2d me 
 
 *' Satan And fo to be bound of Satan, when 
 
 <* applied to an Infirmity, means no more than 
 ** that, which was an Adverfary to Health, b& 
 ** it what it would," P, ^i. So that by Satan 
 
 f Ibid. p. 317. Exa£l]y in che fame manner fays Grotius, poffet 
 quidem TtnUiAx Hebraeorum more pro ipfo morbo accipi, fecun- 
 dum ea quse alibi diximus : Sed cum infra aperce dicaiur a Satana 
 immuffim hoc malum, prseftat ita intelligi, quomodo ?r,wiAx <£>,%Xo* 
 dixit Marcus ix. 17. Dtemonium quod lofutndi facultatem impeJi- 
 ret. In loc. 
 
 we 
 
( 72 ) 
 
 we^-are to underftand any Dijiemper, or any 
 Accident that may caufe it. But what one In- 
 ilance have we of either of thefe being called 
 by this Name ? Satan in general fignifies an 
 Adverjar)\ and the Jews applied it to any 'Ene- 
 my. This is no Reafon, that it muft be ap- 
 plied in fo lax a Senfe in the Place before us. It. 
 is certain, that the moft frequent Signification 
 of this Word in Scripture is, the Devil ; and 
 in the few Places *, where it means only an 
 Adverjhry, it is ftill applied to Perfons, and 
 never once to Dijlempers^ Accidents^ &c. So 
 that the Criticifml am confidering appears ar- 
 bitrary, and without Foundation. And if, 
 in Cafes of fuch Infirmity^ " The yensos would 
 " fay that Satan bound," p. 56. 'Tis manifefl 
 from the Quotation out of Lightfoot^ that they 
 <Mily meant to attribute it to evil Spirits. And, 
 that this their Notion was univerfally wrong has 
 not hitherto been proved. And at this Diftance 
 of Time it mull be hard to prove it. 
 ■ But it is farther objeded, that " the Woman 
 " here feems to be a devout^ religious, good Wo- 
 " man : She was in the Synagogue before her 
 " Cure, and as foon as fhe was cured, fhe glo- 
 " rified God. Our Saviour bears this TeftimO- 
 " ny to her, that.y/jf was a Daughter of Abra- 
 
 * Our Lord's rebuke to Peter is owned to be one Inftance of 
 this Figure. But I fee no Reafon, why i Chron. xxi. i. Satany 
 ivho Jhod up againjl Ifrael, and pronjoked Dwvid to number Ifrael, 
 fhould be only *• fomebody that was an Enemy of the Ifraelltes in 
 the E'vent, " fhould not be underftood of the De'vil. 7'he LXX 
 tranflaips it «Jl;«toAcj. 
 
 4 ham'. 
 
( 73 ) 
 
 ** ham ; by which he meant to commend her 
 *^ fovher Faifby and good D i/pofif ion of Mind" 
 I have no delire to detrad: from this Woman's 
 Charadter. But, in juftice to my Subjed:, I 
 can't but obferve, that Grotius gives a quite 
 different Reafon for thefe laft Words of our Sa- 
 viour, *' becaufe the Name of a. Son ovDaugh" 
 " ter of Abraham was among them in the high- 
 " eft Efteem." He refers to fome Places for 
 the Truth of this, and then adds, '* thislnter- 
 " pretation is plainer and truer than their's, 
 " who make them relate to the Faith of the 
 " Woman *." But be it allowed that fhe was 
 
 as goody as this Gentleman will have her, • 
 
 What follows ? That fhe was not bound by 
 
 Satan^ literally fpeaking ? What Grounds have 
 we to draw this Confequence ? To be delivered 
 to Satan was, I own, fometimes a Pwiijhment, 
 But who can fay, that God never permitted him 
 then to polfefs ind offliB the Bodies of good Per- 
 fons ? Job was one Inftance of this ; and the 
 Woman, whofe Cafe we are upon, for ought 
 I know, might be another. The Gentleman 
 afks, " Why then (hould we imagine the De- 
 " vily or the Prince of Devils -f-, to have been 
 *' in her fo many Years?" I aniwer, we a- 
 
 * Non contentus hominem pecudi opponere, quod fatis fuerat, 
 adjicit filiam Abrahami, quod nomen apud illos in maximo erat 
 
 pretio Haec interpretatio fimplicior & reftior quam eorum, 
 
 ^mjide7n Faimins fpeftatam volunt. in loc. 
 
 •f I know not the Reafon of this Explication. Satan being 
 often in Scripture ufed, as a common Name for the Penuers of 
 Darkaefs. 
 
 K fcribe 
 
( 7+) 
 
 fcribe her Diftemper to Satmi^ becaufe our 
 Bleff'ed Saviour Himfelf has done fo before us. 
 If the Reafon be afked for this, / caiit tell, 
 God knoit-eth : But one Thing I am fure of, 
 that, as He permitted it, this was not without 
 the higheft and the bell of Reafons. — " Might 
 " we not have Grounds to think, that [the 
 " Devil] would have perverted her Mijid^ and 
 *' not her 5o^'," &c. No doubt, he would 
 have done it, if he could. But, fuppofing her 
 a good Woman, {ht might eafily have Power to 
 prevent this, tho' fhe could not the other. God 
 might fee fit to permit the Denjil to torment her 
 Body, and yet enable her to preferve her Mind 
 from all his Affaults. In this Cafe, He is ever 
 ready to affifl: His faithful Servants. And can 
 we then conclude, becaufe Sata7i could not ac- 
 complifli all his malicious Defigns upon her, 
 that he did not gratify his natural Love of Mif- 
 chief at all ? " This Cafe then was " more than 
 " mere Infirjjiity." And thus, we have " In- 
 " fiances of Perfons " really " Demoniach, " 
 where there is no apparent Epilepjy or Mad- 
 nefs. 
 
 The next Texts will not keep us long, ABi 
 viii. 7. Unclean Sph'its, crying with a loud voice ^ 
 came out of 7nany that were pojjeffed with them, 
 i. e. fays this Gentleman, p. 56. " he cured 
 " Men that were raving!' If he will under- 
 ftand it fo, there is no help for it. Certain it is, 
 there is noNeceffity for this Interpretation: Nor 
 can the Words, without fome Force, be capable 
 
 of 
 
(75) 
 
 of it. — But to go on, — On Matth. Ix. 32, 
 and 33; and xii. 22, which recite the Cure of 
 a Demoniack dumb^ and of another blind and 
 dumb, we have this Remark. " The Poffeffion 
 " being the fame as being mad, the Circum- 
 " ftances which attended it, fliew how the 
 *' Man was affedted ; e. g. in theCafe juft men- 
 " tioned, the Madman was a blind Man, and 
 " dumb, either thro' natural Infirmity, or elfe 
 *' fulien through his Diflemper." The Princi- 
 ple he proceeds upon has been fhewn to be 
 groundlefs: Neither are thefe Circumftances to 
 be coniidered as belonging to the Man, other- 
 wife than as they were oecafioned in him by the 
 Devil. They were part of the Evils, by which 
 he afflidcd him. St. Luke xi. 14. appears to 
 make this the whole of one Po//eJlion ; Ka) ^v 
 ly^Qid'AKm oAifxcviov, ^ etvTo tjv itco(pov. iyiv&jo ^\ tS 
 hctif^ovtn i^ih^ovjog, ihclhYiciv x.cd(pog. We need 
 not indeed, with Origen, • attribute this Dumb- 
 nefs to the evil Spirit, pe?^/d?ially : But furely the 
 leaft we can underftand is, that he was the 
 Author and Caufeofit, in the Perfon fo afFed;- 
 ed. And the fame is fufficiently clear, by im- 
 plication, in the Paflages before us. The re- 
 covering Sight and Speech, are reprefented cs 
 the immediate and dired Confequences of ca- 
 fting out the Devil; which fairly and ftrongly 
 implies, that the Lofs of both was owing to 
 him. As therefore it would be abfurd to talk 
 of blmd or du?nb Madnefs, and contrary to Ex- 
 perience to fay, that this makes Men blind or 
 K 2 dumb'. 
 
( 76 ) 
 
 dumb ; we have here a good Argument, that 
 by the Devil, in the Places under Confiderati- 
 on, can't be meant mere Madneji. It muft im- 
 port fome Being to which thofe Diforders may 
 be affigned *. As to the latter Words, " or 
 " elfe fuUen thro* his Diftemper," my Except 
 tion to them is, that this Explication tends, in 
 fome meafure, to fet afide the Miracle ; which 
 the Gentleman, as well as my felf, is concern-* 
 ed to fupport; lince Sullennefsy of what kind 
 foever, may well be conceived to be cured with^ 
 out any Miracle. And, if this be allowed, a- 
 nother may pretend, as reafonably, that the 
 Bliudnejs was Objiinacy, and the Madnefs coun- 
 terfeited-, and thus the whole Miracle will be 
 deftroyedat once. 
 
 " And if at any Time a determinate Num- 
 " ber of Devils are faid to have poiTefled any 
 *' Perfon, e.g. Mary Magdalene, out of whom 
 *' went feven Devils, Luke viii. 2. Mark xvi. 
 
 *' 9. The Meaning is, that fhe had affirmed 
 
 " in her Melancholy, that fhe had fo many De- 
 *' vils in her, juft as the Madman faid, that he 
 " had a Legion of Devils in him." P. ^y. 
 This is mere Conjedlure, and, I fear, an unfor- 
 tunate one. For we faw before, that it was not 
 the Madman only, who faid this. St. Luke 
 confirmed it, and gave a Reafon of his own for 
 fo extraordinary a Title. And, with regard to 
 Mary Magdale?ie, we are no where told, that 
 
 * Vid. Grotius, Hammond ^ Whithy. 
 
(77) 
 
 {he ever laboured under any Melancholy^ or that 
 ihe ever affirmed any fuch Thing, as xh^zx. feven 
 Devils were in her. It is plain from the Ac- 
 counts of both the Evangelijis, that this Re- 
 mark, out ofwhomy He had caji, or werit, fe- 
 ven * Devils, was made by them, in their own 
 Names ; probably, to diftinguifh her from the 
 other Women of this Name, mentioned in the 
 Gofpel. Whatever Difficulty may be then in 
 this Place, we can't be thus helped out. But 
 really there can be no more, than in the other 
 Account of the Legion. And, as in this, Pof- 
 feffion is pointed out as plainly, as Words can 
 defcribe it, I fee no Realbn to look out for any 
 figurative Conftrudion of that relating ioMary 
 Magdalene : Efpecially, finqe whatever Diffi- 
 culty be in either Cafe, it may be attributed to 
 our Ignorance of the Power of wicked Spirits, 
 and of their manner of ailing. 
 
 Of the vagabond Jews Exorcifts, and what is 
 related, ABs xix. 13, &c. to have happened 
 to them, this Gentleman gives this Conflrudi- 
 on,/>. ^y. " The fjiadWm fell upon them, and 
 *' tore their Clothes off their Backs, and 
 *' wounded them." But furely, that Anfwer, 
 Jesus /tew, and F aid I kiiow \ hut who are 
 ye? is not the Anfwer oi 2i Madman, but is per- 
 fedly confiftent and rational. And I mufl own it 
 to be a Difficulty that flicks with me, that almofl 
 every one of this fort of Madmen, mentioned 
 
 e. In the Jevji/h Phrafeology, a great many. 
 
 in 
 
( 78 ) 
 
 in Scripture^ {liould, as it were, combine, in 
 giving Honour to our Bleffed Lord, and in 
 bearing Witnefs to His Power over them. This 
 too often happens, to be accounted mere 
 Chance -, and it is certain, nothing could be 
 more contrary to the Notion oi Madnefs. Be- 
 fides, this Speech is moft clearly put into the 
 Mouth of the' roil Spirit^ as diftinguilhed from 
 the Perfon fojj'e^^d with it. ' K'7ro-it^f.^\)) l\ to 
 ^vevfA^a, 7D 7rovr,poVy eiTn, — — jt i(pa,XXcfAivog itt olv- 
 T^g «.v3"C^7rc5-, ev m riv to ttv&v^cc ts Trcvyiphy 
 X, r, A. 
 
 The Enquire?', p. 58. thinks it " worth 
 *' while to confider a little the Pradices of thefe 
 " i:agabond yews." As I have before fpoken 
 what I think of them, I propofe to be very fhort 
 on this Point, . It may be however proper to 
 repeat my Opinion, that they were different 
 from thofe Exorcijls who ufed the Name of 
 the God of jib^'aham, and the God of Ifaac, 
 and the God of facob. This does not appear 
 to be any Trick. And this Gentleman very 
 rightly tranflates fujiin Martyr fo, as to make 
 their Succefs probable, [^la-ug v7rolctyr,c-ilcti, pro- 
 bably he will obey,] which is more than we 
 have Reafon to believe of the others, the Strol- 
 lers. To thefe only the lail: Words ri^'y] yAv tci 
 K, r, A. feem to relate. Thefe two forts of Ex- 
 orcijis Gr^//w has clearly diftinguiflied J and ob- 
 ferves, that whereas the Herbs, and Scents, 
 and Chains, ufed on this Occalion, by the one, 
 .were borrowed from the Gentiles, the invoking 
 
 the 
 
( 79 ) 
 
 the Name of the God of Abraham, &c. was 
 originally a Jewijh Cuftom j to which God 
 might often vouchfafe to grant Succefs *, even 
 when ufed hy thofe who knew him not. How- 
 ever, thefe Invocations were, 'tis plain, ufed, 
 and that to drive away Devils ; and if we may 
 credit not only Origen^ but Jiiftin^ T'heophihiSy 
 and Irenaus, they were often efFed:uah . The 
 Authority of all thefe Writers with regard to 
 FaBs, fhould, methinks, be of fome Weight -, 
 and I much queftion, whether our Surprize or 
 Conjedures, at this Time of Day, be fufiicient 
 to fet their Account afide. We have feen, that 
 no lefs Men than Grotius, and Dr. Hammond 
 have offered a Reafon for the Succefs, that fo 
 much caufes this Gentleman's Wonder, P. 60. 
 and he may fee, they attribute nothing to mere 
 bounds, and Charfns of Words, but all to God, 
 thus bearing Teftimony to His true Name, 
 Thefe Rxorcipns therefore fhould not be con- 
 founded with the Arts of the Vagabonds, for 
 whom I do not contend. Nor can I difcern 
 
 * Grot, in Matth. xii. 27. &« vi'^, i(xJ^] Non Apoftoli — 
 fed populares Pharifeorum atq; Difcipuli : neq; inter eos illi qui 
 herbis, luffitibus, & vinculis adverfus Dsmonas utebantur (quod 
 nonerat inititututn origine Judaicum atq; a Solomone deduftum, 
 quod vuk Jofephus, fed a Gentibus defumptum, ut rede docet 
 
 Tryphonem Jullinus) fed ij qui dsemonas ejiciebant invocan- 
 
 tes Deum Abrahami, &c. — — Ejufmodi ergo exorcifmi eventum 
 fajpe fuum habuerunt ; non quod vis uUa in fyllabarum pronun- 
 ciatione eflet fita, fed quod.verus Deus illis potiffimum nomini- 
 bus nofci appellariq; vellet, atq; ideo vim fuam turn demum ex- 
 fereret, cum apertiffima locutione conftaret ipfum, non aliquem 
 Gentilium Deoram, efle invocatum. See this fame Reafon in 
 Hammond ad loc. 
 
 X how 
 
( 8o ) 
 
 how the believing, or " endeavouring to ac* 
 '' count for " thofe, can delerve fo fevere a Re- 
 fle<flion, as we find in the Page before us ; how 
 this " is to promote the Cheat, and to encou- 
 " rage the World to confult Inchanters, and 
 *' Witches, and Wizards, and Necromancers ;" 
 unlefs it could be affirmed, that thefe ad: in the 
 Name of the God of Abrahajn^ and the God of 
 Jfaac, and the God offacob 3 or that calling up- 
 on this is any magical Operation. 
 
 My prefent Defign does not require me to 
 enter upon a Defence of the Ephefian Letters^ 
 which the Author of the Enquiry, P- 61, with 
 Reafon enough calls " ridiculous Words, fenfelefs 
 " Sounds, fit to cheat the Ignorant with." We 
 may however very fitly obferve, that Plutarch, a 
 fober and good Writer, alludes to the Cuftom 
 oi comma7iding Demoniacks to read them over *, 
 without the leafl Mark of Diilike or Sufpicion. 
 All that I would colledl from this, is, that there 
 2iX^i\xc\). poff'ejfed Perfons mentioned by an Hca- 
 then Writer, as Cales that were common, and 
 at which he exprefles no manner of Surprize. 
 Nor can we prove, that they were not truly, 
 fuch as he reprefents them. The Charms here 
 ufed, however fenfelefs, rather imply they 
 were. Since, as has been obferved, thefe ori- 
 ginally and properly have a relped:, not to Di- 
 flempers, but Pojefjions. 
 
 •^^ei fA.!Ji,et]u tstO(; at/la? KwlafPisytii xj ovo[jtjOkt.:i» — Plut. SyiTipof. 
 
 L. 7 . quaef. 5 . ud iin. 
 
 I have 
 
(8i) 
 
 I have now gone thro* what this Gentle- 
 man has offered, by way of Objedion to the 
 //V^r^/ Meaning of the Demoniacks^ and toefta- 
 bli{h the Suppolition of their being either Epi^ 
 lepticks, or Madmen : I am now to propofe fuch 
 Objedions as occur againfl this Scheme, and to 
 eonfider what is faid, in the Enquiry^ by way 
 of reply to them. 
 
 " Fir ft ^ the Scripture and ecclefiaftical Wri- 
 " ters, make a conftant and a plain Diftincfti- 
 " on between thefe two Things, the curing of 
 " DifeaJeSj and the cafting out Devils'' Enq. 
 p. 62. And does this Gentleman deny this? 
 And is it not, if it be true, a ftrong Proof that 
 thefe two ought not to be confounded? If we 
 fuppofe them to have been really diflind:, how' 
 could the Scril^ture more fully reprefent them fo, 
 than by this Method ? Were this only obferva- 
 ble in one Inliance or two, there might per- 
 haps have been room for fome Doubt: But the 
 Stile of the Holy Writings is in this cafe fo uni- 
 form, as not reafonably to allow of any. ' 
 
 Let us come to Particulars. Matth. iv. 24. T^hey 
 brought unto Hun all fick People^ that were ta- 
 ken with divers Di/eafes and ToRistENTS, and 
 thofe which were poffcjfed with Devils^ and thofe 
 which were Lunatick^ and thcp that had the 
 FalJy^biQ. I mull: firll: take notice, that the 
 Enquirer^ in citing this Text, has omitted the 
 Words,(^ idT'ormentS) whether thro' Carelefsnefs, 
 or by Defign, I don't know. We have no 
 Reafon to fulpe(5l their being genuine. They 
 L are 
 
( 82 ) 
 
 are only found wanting in two Copies, and thele 
 of no Charadter for Corredtnefs. For, as to 
 I'heophylaBy Dr. Mill tells us, he omitted them 
 indufLrioufly, and out of Regard to hfs particu- 
 lar Opinion *. In which he was undoubtedly 
 wrong. Had his Notion been never fo true, 
 and he never fo flrongly allured of it, he nei- 
 ther could have Authority, nor be at Liberty, 
 to alter the Sacred Text. 
 
 Enq. p. 63. " What is ufually called Poff'eJJt^ 
 " on of Devils, is no more to be diftinguiflied 
 ".; from Difeafe or Sicknefs, than the PalJ) is, 
 *' which is put in the fame manner as Z/2/;z^r_y 
 " is, and contradiftinguifhed from Dijeafes, 
 " In Truth, the proper rendring is, he cured 
 *' all that were taken with diverfe Difeafes, e- 
 *' ven Demoniacks, Lunaticks, and Paraly- 
 " ticks." Let the excluded Words be here in- 
 lerted, and we may venture to admit this ren- 
 dring, Thefe particular Cafes muft then be 
 thought the chief Inftances of the divers Dif^ 
 eafes and Ti'onnents. And therefore the Demo- 
 niacks may be defigned to be included under 
 thofe who were tormejited^ and may ftill be here 
 diftinguiflidi from the dive?'s Difeafes. How- 
 ever, which is more to our Purpofe to obfei*ve, 
 they are and mi/f be diftinguilhed from tho/e 
 ivhich IV ere Lunatick -f*, and thoje that had the 
 
 * Omif:t Theophyl. de induftria, quod c-sXAvix^ef/Jtm puta- 
 rit e>a.if/.oiu t^a^, ut apparet ex commentario. A'o/. ad Joe. 
 
 ■f i. e. as Dr. Hammond has here paraphrafed it, " afieded 
 " with any Difeafe, on which the Changes of the Moon h.-.d in- 
 " fluence, whether Madnefs, or Falling-Sicknefs". I 
 
 3 Mh 
 
C 83 ] 
 
 Palfy. To which we find two Anfwers, p. 
 64, 65. Neither of which I conceive fufficient. 
 ** 'TheophylaB did not read in his Copy thofe 
 " Words, afid thojc irhich is: ere pofj'ejj'ed icith 
 " Devi/s." Mill fays, that he omitted them, 
 as in his Opinion fuperfluous *. Here again, 
 he was undoubtedly wrong. " It is plain, 
 
 " they are wanting in fome MSS." Only in 
 
 two — •" In fome Copies, which have the 
 
 " Words Afid thofe ^ 'which ircre poffejTed 
 
 " with Devils, the following ones — And ihofc 
 
 " which were lunatick- are omitted." I find 
 
 in Dr. Mtll but one, and this of no Note—'* But 
 " fay that the common Reading is the true one, 
 " it amounts to no more than this, that our 
 " Saviour cured all forts of Madnefs, whenfo- 
 ■ ' ever it arofe, whether it were from Melan- 
 *' choly, or from any other Caufe." If Z)t- 
 'u/A, or their Pojj'cjjion, be allowed to be a 
 Caufe, this Interpretation perhaps might be ad- 
 mitted. Otherwife it appears to be making 
 thofe Cafes one and the fame, which the Evan- 
 geliilis have clearly and exprefly diflinguifhed : 
 And I fee no Reafon, why the Faralyticks 
 might not as well be taken in too 3 fince it has 
 here no other Mark of Difference, than the 
 Demoniacks. 
 
 The Gentleman cites three other Texts, and 
 obferves of them all '' — -The Senfe is very clear : 
 
 * MiflbxJJVstjtAaw^ujiAf'ac, ceu fuperfluo, quod lunaticos habeiet 
 Theophyl, pro Daemoniacis, ut'appaiet ex Cora. MUlii Prok- 
 gom. 1059. 
 
 L 2 "He 
 
[ 84 ] 
 
 ^* He gave the Difciples Power over unclean 
 " Spii iis, and not only that Power, but likewife 
 *' to heal all other Diflempers. As to Himfelf, 
 ^' cur Saviour cured the fick, and likewife all 
 *' forts of Lunacy." Let us now compare this 
 Account with the Texts themfelves. The firft 
 is Mat. X. I . He gave them Power againji un- 
 clean Spirits to caji them out^ and to heal all 
 ■manner of Sicknejs and Dijeafes Here one 
 would think unclean Spirits can't be interpreted 
 of any Difeafe, when it is fo exprefly oppofed 
 to all man7ier of them. But, as in citing the 
 laft Text, the Eijquirer left out two Words of 
 Importance, fo in his Expolition of this, he 
 has added one, which the Text itfelf will not 
 warrant. All fnanner of Sicknefs^ he explains, 
 Cil! OTHER Dijiempers. This Word other is 
 entirely his own. This Senfe therefore which 
 depends upon it, may be faid to be His, but is 
 not St. Matthew?,. 
 
 Mark i. 34. He healed fnany that were fck of 
 divers Difeafes^ and caJi out many Devils.. 
 And, Lnke iv. /^o^ 41. He laid his Hands on 
 every ojie of them [ fick with divers Difeafe s^ and 
 healed them ^ ajid Devils also came out of many 
 crying out^ and fayiiig^ &c. We have cited the 
 Gentleman's Interpretation of thefe, in which J 
 cannot sgree with him % becaufe it is making 
 the Evangelifts ufe a direct and abfolute Tau- 
 tology. Madnefs is allowed to be a Difeafe^ p. 
 63. Epilepfy is certainly one : If therefore thefe 
 be all that is meant by Devils, there had been 
 
 no 
 
( 85 ) 
 
 no Occafion, after the mention of our Lord's 
 healing viany that were fick of divers Di/eajes, 
 to have added, and cafi out many Devils. What 
 Senfe is this, he cured many that were Jick of 
 divers Difeafes^ and likewife many that were fick 
 of fome particular Difeafes, fuch as Lunacy^ &c ? 
 Befides, ^t. Luke's Words are yet more em- 
 phatical. We fee a different Way of fpeaking 
 in his Relation of the Cure of Diftempers, and 
 of the cafting out Devils. OF the former he 
 only fays, ^B■^^(i7r^v(riv dvrovg ; but thefe latter 
 he ipeaks of perfonally^ as adtive Beings, and 
 accordingly puts Words into their Mouths, 
 
 yovra, x, r, A. Would a corred: Writer have 
 faid this, if thefe had been no other than Dif 
 ea/es, and therefore included under the former 
 Part of the Sentence * ? 
 
 A fecond Objedion this Gentleman fets 
 down, p. (55. in the Words of Dr. Whitby^ 
 which he anfwers particularly j and therefore 
 it mav not be amifs to fet down the whole of it, 
 that the Strength of it may appear. " The 
 " Difference between Demoniacks and Luna- 
 
 * Mr. Tnxelh obfcrves that " the Greek a'« UTT/ifc-Ji-rut, is fre- 
 " quently ufed of ejiding Devils, but never of Diftempers that 
 *• are healed." Critic. Exam. Part I. p. 96. And J beheve the 
 Enquirer can't {hew, that it is ufed of any Diforders, but thyfe 
 under Confideration. The fame rpay be faid, of iijZ^'hi, Mat. 
 viii. 16. applied to Spirits, in Oppofition to tS«f*'T£vc-s>, applied 
 /u ALL tvat KKiere fi:k. So Ch. x. i. Mark iii. i 5. Thefe are alio 
 clearly diftinguifhed, Mark w\. ij, 18. 'Ei- tuj lv''f*^»ri fjua i\i. 
 (fjoaa. fi^,S«?itf(r« fVi a'ppa'rva? ^sipcs? t/7t3>;Va!ri. Sceallc, Luke 
 
 \i. \j, 18. ix. I. Jc7s x\x. 14. 
 
 " ticks 
 
( 86 ) 
 
 " ticks is evident from the Circumftances relat- 
 *' ing to the Devils to be, or that adhially were, 
 " caft out. E. g. Chriil fuffered not the De- 
 " vils to Jpeakj becaufe they knew him to be the 
 " Chrift, Mark I. 34. Luke'w. 41. They faid, 
 *' I'hou art the Chrifl^ the Son of God : They 
 " expoftulate v^ith Chrifl:, faying, what have 
 *^ ive to do with thee f Art thou come to torment 
 " us before the Time'? And pray, that he would 
 *' not torment them : They ask His leave to 
 " enter into the Swine -, and being entered, they 
 " hurry them into the Sea 3 and beg, that they 
 " may not be fent out of the Cou?2try j they 
 " acknowledge that their Name was Legion. 
 " Now to make all thefe Sayings the Effefts of 
 " a Difeafe, or to conceive, that Chn{\. fpoke 
 " thus to a Difeaje, is too great an Evidence of 
 *' one that is himfcif difeafed." 
 
 Wit and Pvcflecftions apart, let us confider, 
 what is replied to the feveral Parts of this Ob- 
 jedion. Andfirft, \wh.^n our 'Lo'RD fufered not 
 the Devils to fpeak^ hecaife they kiiew Him, 
 This Gentleman fays, p. 65, 66. " He checked 
 " the Demoniacks whom he cured, juft as He 
 *' likewife does His immediate Difciples and 
 " Followers, if at any Time they publickly 
 ■' and openly declared Him to be the Chrift." 
 But this Reply appears founded on a Miftake, 
 viz. That becaufe this Speech jnay be imputed 
 to the Perfon pofieffed, therefore it muft be fo. 
 Whereas, though fometimes there may be a 
 NeccfTitv for this, here there is none. Devils 
 
 are 
 
( 8? ) 
 are Beings capable of knowing Jesus to be the 
 Christ, and alfo of uling the Man's Speech, 
 or fome Power of their own, to utter what 
 they knew. And therefore as the hterai Senfe 
 is no way abfurd, it ought to prevail ; and 'tis 
 unreafonable to look out for a Figure. Our Sa- 
 viour might rebuke the Devils for the fame Rea- 
 fons, which are affigned for his reftraining the 
 Men : As alfo, for one Reafon peculiar to thofe, 
 that He would not receive Tejlimony frojn De- 
 vils. 
 
 In Anfwer to rebuking the Devils^ Luke iv. 
 41. The Gentleman, p. 66. fets V. 39. He 
 rebuked the Fever , and thinks no more can be 
 concluded from the one Place, than the other. 
 And, indeed, if there had been no other Cir- 
 cuml^ances to help us, this Reply would have 
 been very juft and true. But, in the Place be- 
 fore us,- we have fuch. The Devils here re- 
 buked are real Beings : They are rebuked for 
 Speeches a(5lually attributed to them ; which 
 are never attributed to Fevers^ and which there 
 is no manner of Reafon to believe neceifary to 
 the Perfons affliiied. The Objedion therefore 
 remains in full Force. 
 
 To that Speech of the Devils, thou art the 
 Chnji the Son of God, the Enquirer anfwers, 
 p. 67. *' If the Man that was poifeffed, or 
 *^ jnady made fuch Declarations in Confequence 
 " of his Diilemper, it may I think, with the 
 *' fame Propriety be attributed to the Diflem- 
 " per, as when St, Paul lays, Rom, vii. 17, 20. 
 
 ': It 
 
{ 88 ) 
 
 " It is no more I that do it, but Sin that dwell- 
 *' eth in me'* Now, firft, the Declarations 
 here made, were no Effed: or Confequence of 
 Diflemper, and are therefore not to be im- 
 puted to it. This Gentleman owns, in the 
 preceding Page, that much the fame were alfo 
 made by our Lords " immediate Difciples and 
 *' Followers," who furely were not mad. 2dl\\ 
 I grant, that Dif^afcs, as well as Virtues, and 
 Vices, maybe coniidered, and treated as Per- 
 Jbns : But then the Profopopeia mufl be plain 
 and manifeft, and can't be miflaken. Thus, 
 in the Paffige above, there is no danger of un- 
 derftanding ^in in a Perjonal Senfe ; no one 
 has ever underflood it fo. We all know, that 
 lis. Being is but feigned and imaginary. Where- 
 as, the Cafe of the Devils is very different. 
 Thefe are certainly real Perfons, capable of 
 adting, and fpeaking, what is afcribed to them. 
 And therefore here there is nottheleaflOccafion 
 to have recourfe to Figure, when the literal 
 Senfe is fb very intelligible and proper. Befides, 
 we find the Cure of many other Diftempers re- 
 lated in Scripture j but none of them are re- 
 prelented as fpeaking, or crying cut. Which 
 makes it highly probable, that had the PoJJeJ- 
 jions been only common Difeafes, we (hould 
 have heard nothing of this Way of Speaking. 
 It ought alfo to be remembred, that v/e ob- 
 ferved before, how inconiiftent and unreafona- 
 ble it is to impute fjch Declarations of Truth 
 and Sobernef con^^ntly ^nd perpetually loMad- 
 7iefs. The 
 
( 89 ) 
 
 The next Part of the Objedion, the Gentle- 
 man examines, p. 68. is the Devil's Expoftu- 
 lation with Christ, faying, let us alone ^ what 
 have we to do with thee^ thou Jesus of Nazar- 
 eth ? Art thou come to dejlroy us ?* I know thee 
 who thou art J the holy One of God. Luke iv. 34. 
 Mark i. 24. I fhall not repeat what I have al- 
 ready urged againft the Suppofition of thefe 
 Words being applied to any but the De-vils, nor 
 the Anfwer given to the Obfervation, that the 
 Evangelifts ipeak fometimes of one^ and fome- 
 times of more Devils ; on which this Enquirer 
 here again lays a great Strefs. And I come di- 
 redily to his fecond Reply, which we have, p. 
 69. " That the Evangelifts fometimes impute 
 *' that to the Cauje of a Difeafe which is proper 
 " and peculiar only to the Man who is dif- 
 " tempered: They imputed that to the Z)^T;//f, 
 " which the M^?z alone could do. — e.g. Mark 
 " iii. II. Unclean Spirits when they saw Him, 
 " FELL DOWN before Hi?n, &c." Now though 
 it was the Man only, who vifibly did this, yet 
 it can hardly be called the a6t of the Man alone^ 
 exclufive of the unclean Spirits 5 as it is imputed 
 to thefe in Terms, and as the leaft that can be 
 underflood is, that it was done, as certainly 'tis 
 eafy to conceive it might be done, through their 
 Influence. Even in this Text their Power is 
 fuppofed. To impute an Eff'eB to its proper 
 Caufe and Occafion^ is no hard Figure, though 
 another Inftrument be ufed ^ but to afhgn it to 
 what never was, nor can be, a Caufe of it, is, 
 
 M I 
 
( 90 ) 
 
 I apprehend, Language unknown to Scripture. 
 In thefe Cafes therefore it will not be fufficient 
 to fay, that thefe Actions may be imputed to 
 the Man alone, or that the Ma?i muft have im- 
 mediately performed them. 
 
 If therefore we ufe this Text to explain the 
 'ExpoJiulatiGns mentioned above j at leafl we 
 muft fay, that thefe were utter'd under the In- 
 fluence of Devils^ and by their Diredlion. 
 But, in Truth, we can colled: nothing from this 
 Place, to make us rejedl the literal Senfe of the 
 others. If, in this, there be Ad:ions attributed 
 to the Devils^ which we cannot eafily under- 
 ftand of thele , yet, in the others, there is no 
 fuch Difficulty ; nay, without manifeft Incon- 
 fiftency, we cannot apply them to any one elfe. 
 The Speeches here are very proper and natural, 
 if fuppofed to proceed from the Devils j but 
 otherwife they can't well be reconciled. 
 
 The Remark of the Author of the ^ejiions 
 and Afijwers to the Orthodox has been produced 
 before. The E?2quirer idiys, p. 70, *' the Re- 
 *' verfe of this is as true, that the Scriptures at- 
 " tribute to X)^/;;o;h the acts of the DemcniackJ* 
 We grant, that both thefe Obfervations are true, 
 provided we do not underftand the laft, exclu- 
 live of the Demons themfelves. And we find 
 them both allowed by Grotius * — " Which 
 " fl:iews that in thefe Cafes, we are not to re- 
 
 * Bene ad hunc \ooxm.\Markv. 4.] Scriptor refponfionum ad 
 Orthodox- Ita contra. Cap. iii. i x . Dasmoni afcribitur id quod 
 
 " gard 
 
(91 ) 
 
 ** gard the Letter, but the real and exad Mean- 
 " ing of the Sacred Writers." This no doubt 
 is chiefly to be regarded : But, in order to find 
 this out, I believe it a good Rule, not to depart 
 from the Letter, unlefs it be clogged witk any- 
 plain Abfurdities. However, in this very Page, 
 this Author has thought fit to leave his Life- 
 rence, and builds a great deal on the '•oer'y Lct- 
 " ter y I mean, in accounting for all the Diffi- 
 " culties in Mat. viii. 29." Here he fays, " It 
 " is generally fuppofed, that in this Story, it 
 
 " was the Devils which cried out j4rt thou 
 
 " come hither to torment us before the time f 
 " But there is no Neceffity for this Conflruc- 
 *' tion ; and it is plain, that both Sc. Mark and 
 " St. Luke expreily afcribe this Declaration to 
 " the Ma}2 himfelf." And indeed, it feems to 
 have been a Point quite indifferent with them, 
 to whom they immediately afcribed it. For, 
 having fo plainly reprefented the Man as poffef- 
 fed with many Devi/s, they might leave it to 
 every Reader to colled:, that at leaft the Man 
 made this Declaration under the Influence of 
 thefe wicked Spirits. This at leafl it feems necef- 
 fary to fuppofe. Forotherwife, there is in this 
 whole Speech fo much Inconfiftency and Inco- 
 herence, that a general Suppofition of Madnefs 
 will not account for it. Should we grant he 
 was a Madman ; yet it appears from his ii'or- 
 fhipping Jesus, and owning his Convidion of 
 His Divine Nature and Million, that this was 
 a lucid and calm Interval, and therefore we 
 M 2 have 
 
( 92 ) 
 
 have no Reafon to interpret the refl of his 
 Speech in fuch a Senfe, as Dillrad:ion only can 
 juflify. This Suppofition then being attended 
 with fo great a Difficulty, and the common one 
 being eafy and fuitable to the Nature of the 
 evil Spirits, there can be fure no Doubt which 
 to prefer. 
 
 However, this Gentleman offers, p. 7 1 . a 
 Criticifm to explain the Reafon of the Man's 
 making this requefl. " The Men who had 
 " felt the Pain and Anguifh arifing from being 
 " fetter d and chairid^ defire that Jesus would 
 " not put them to that Torment again." But, 
 what room was there for fuch a Sufpicion ? 
 They had heard of the Fame of Jesus, which 
 His miraculous Cures had raifed and fpread. 
 They accordingly declare Him to be the Son of 
 God. But, had they heard of any one Inflance 
 where He had/^oz^;z^Perfons in their Condition, 
 and thus vexed or tormented them ? If Madnefs 
 be here pleaded, I mufl again anfwer, that 
 Reafon and Raving are not very confiftent. So 
 that if the Words under Confideration mufh 
 be applied to the Man afflidied 3 it is moil pro- 
 bable, that they were the Words of a Man not 
 dreading, but defiring a Cure. For obferve the 
 Context. He came out of the Tombs, exceeding 
 fierce, a Terror to all Paflengers ; and yet, as 
 foon as \vtfiw Our Saviour afar of\ he knew, 
 and acknowledged, Him to be the Son of God ; 
 he voluntarily met Him, and njoorjloipped Him. 
 How is all this confiflent with the fuppofed 
 
 Fear 
 
(93) 
 
 Fear of being chained again ? Had this been 
 his Concern, inftead of thus meeting Jesus, he 
 furely, when afar off] would have attempted to 
 fly from Him, or to terrify Him, as he had 
 done others. Thefe Difficulties vanifh on the 
 common Scheme. Even the Devils knew their 
 Conqueror, feared His Power, and trembled at 
 His Prefence. 
 
 Another Difficulty is, that the Devils be- 
 fought our Lord, that he would not command 
 them to go out into the Deep, Luke viii. 3 i, 
 or, as St. Mark has it, that He would not fend 
 them a'way out of the Country. The Enquirer s 
 Reply to this has been in a great Meafure con- 
 fidered already. Pie thinks it " all the Effect 
 " of high Madnefsj and natural on thatSup- 
 " pofition." P. 73. And furely if it is Mad- 
 nefs, it is Madnefs in a much higher Degree, 
 than the Man appears at this time to have been 
 pofTefled with. This Gentleman does not tell 
 us, what he underftands by the Deep, or the 
 great Abyfs. But St. "John clearly explains this ^ 
 and who fo fit to explain one Sacred Writer, as 
 another ? Kev. xx. 23. We read that an Angel 
 laid hold on the Dragon^ the old Serpent, which 
 
 is the Devil and Satan A?id caf him into 
 
 \ the bottomlefs Pit \ig Trjv a,(^vcr<Tov. As 'tis not 
 
 \ difficult to conceive them acquainted with this 
 ,j their Doom, we fee what Reafon they had to 
 I be apprehenfive of it, and to deprecate it. But 
 ; what Authority have we to induce us to believe 
 that the Madmen knew any thing of this Place 
 
 I of 
 
( 94 ) 
 
 of Fnn'iihmcnt prepared for the Devil and his 
 Angels ? And, if they did not, how ihall we 
 account for their fo diredtly alluding to it ? As 
 to the Words in St. Mark, l^u r^g ;^^'^ci?, they 
 may indeed be parallel to thofe of St. Luke, 
 and mean no more than a Requeft to continue 
 longer on Earth. However, it muft not be 
 omitted, that both Grotius and Whitby explain 
 the Words of that particular Country, and gave 
 the following Reafon for the Devils defiring to 
 abide there, becaufe of the Numbers of the 
 Apofiates from the Jewijh Faith, over whoni, 
 they were particularly fuffered to exercife their 
 Power, as they were afterwards over the Apof- 
 iates from Chrijlianity. 
 
 " And when this Mifchief was thus done 
 " by the M^^^;/^«, could any thing, after they 
 " were brought to a right Mind, be more na-^ 
 " tural, then for them to defire, to be taken 
 " along with Je/iis, when He left that Country." 
 Anfwer, The Evangelijis do not make the Man 
 at all concerned in doing this Mifchief; much 
 lefs, doing it in the manner this Gentleman 
 fuppofes, by " running among the Herd, and 
 " driving them down the Precipice." For the 
 Adion of entring into the Swifie, whatever it 
 may fignify, is not attributed to the Devils, 
 till after they were forced out of the Man ; and 
 therefore can never properly, with any Senfe, 
 be imputed to him. Is it then a more natural 
 Suppofition, that his Defire of being with 
 Jesus was not owing to any Fear he had of the 
 
 People's 
 
 1 
 
(95 ) 
 
 People's Hatred, and revenging themfelves on 
 him, for the Lofs of their Swine, but of the evil 
 Spirits coming upon, and pofleffing him again. 
 And thus may we beft underftand our Lord's 
 Refufal, importing, that he needed not to be un- 
 der any luch Apprehenfionsj that the fame 
 Power, which had deUvered him, could in all 
 Places preferve him. 
 
 The laft Difficulty relating to this Cure, is 
 about Matth. viii. 29. Art thou come hither to 
 torment us before the 'Time ? This Gentleman 
 reprefents it thus; " When it is aiked, what 
 " Time f the common Anfwer is, before the 
 " T'lmQ of the Day of yudgn?e?it J until which 
 *' the evil Angels are rtferved in Chai?is under 
 Darknefs, 2 Pet, ii. 4. Jude 6." We fee then 
 that this Opinion has fome Countenance from 
 Scripture, and well agrees with what is herein 
 faid of the Devils. Nor does this Author deny 
 this. He is only " apt to think, that this Paf- 
 " fage may be more juftly and confiftently ac- 
 " counted for thus," viz. by taking the Mean- 
 ing of it to be, " art thou come hither — 'un- 
 " feafonably, fooner than was defired or ex- 
 " pe<5ted, to vex us ? Or, — art thou come 
 " thus, after this manner untimely to torme?it 
 " us ? " But fome Queftions, alked before, will 
 here return. How could it be thought, that 
 our Saviour was come to vex them ? He was 
 " known fufficiently thereabouts, and famed 
 " for curing all Diforders: " But was Ht famed 
 for tormenting any one ? Plow then could Per- 
 
 fons. 
 
( 96 ) 
 
 fons, who fo well underftood His Nature and 
 Office, betray at the fame Time fuchgrofs Ig- 
 norance of His way of acfling, and entertain 
 inch undue Sufpicions of Him ? Or how is this 
 His coming to be thought imfeajonable, orfooner 
 than was expeBed a?id dejired, by thofe, who 
 when ih^jfaw Him afar qff\ met Him, of their 
 own accord, in a quiet, fubmiffive Manner, 
 and (if they muft be thought Madmen) very 
 probably, with Hopes and Defire of being 
 cured ? 
 
 We have now done with this Miracle. The 
 Enquirer, p. 74, " fubmits whatever he has 
 
 *' faid to the Judgment of the candid Rea- 
 
 " der." I do the fame, only begging leave to 
 add, that if there are fome Difficulties attend- 
 ing this Cafe on all imaginable Schemes, as 'tis 
 faid there are ; on cur Side, they are entirely 
 owing to our Ignorance of the Powers o^ Devils ', 
 on his, they arife from a manifeft Repugnancy 
 to the Accounts of the Eva?igelijis. 
 
 This Gentleman has given us a third Objec- 
 tion to his Scheme in thefe Words; " Chrift 
 fometimes puts Quellions to thefe Demons, 
 afking their Names-, fometimes he com- 
 mands them to htjiknt : And fometimes to 
 come out of a Man, and enter no more into 
 him. Vid. Mark i. 25. Luke iw 3 1. Mark ix* 
 25." There is nothing in his Reply to this 
 new, or that has not been confidered already. 
 He makes all thefe perfonal Addreffes and Pro- 
 perties to belong either to the Man afFe(Sted, or 
 
 to 
 
to DemdHSy only as the fuppofed Caufe of fuch 
 and liich Diftempers. Of this laft Particular we 
 (hall fay more by and by. Of the other, we need 
 only add, that it has been proved ; that, in ma- 
 ny Inftances, what is faid of^ and to, the De- 
 vi/sj can't be applicable to the Men ; and that 
 where they may be fo, as they are exprefly at- 
 tributed to thefe Devils J and as thefe are doubt- 
 lefs real Beings capable of them j we have no 
 Warrant to apply them to the Men^ unlefs we 
 confider thefe as poffeffed by them, and under 
 their Influence. 
 
 Befides thefe Texts, there are a few others^ 
 relating to this Subject, unconlidered by the 
 Enquirer. One or two may not improperly be 
 mentioned here. Luke iv. 35. We have thd 
 following Account of the Cure of a Demoniack^ 
 when the Devil had thrown him in the midfl^ hd 
 catne out of him, and hurt him not. yi',)^\if 
 O.cc'^oLv dvtov. Thefe laft Words fhew, that 
 this is not fpoken of a Diftemper. Had there 
 been nothing rri', re than this in the Cafe, there 
 had been ho occafion for fuch a Remark. For, 
 can a Man ever be hiirt, by the very A&. of 
 being cured, and miich more miraculoufly cu- 
 red, of a common Diftemper? This therefore 
 bad been fuperfluous, and confequently, in all 
 probability, had not been added by St. Luke, 
 had not the Diforder proceeded from fome Be- 
 ing, who might naturallv be thought to leave 
 the Man with fdme Relu<£tance and Violence, 
 and to have a Power to hurt him, 
 
 N Anor 
 
(98) 
 
 ■ Another Text is, ABs x. 38; where St. 
 Peter, gWingCornelms an Account oc Jfsus, 
 fays. He went about doing goody and healing all 
 that were opprefjed by the Devil, ?c. toofJ^o? 
 
 all that were under his Power and TiT^w^y. 
 This may well be thought a Paraphrafe of the 
 Word ^aifiovi^ofA.ivoi. We here fee, not only, 
 what the true Notion of the Scripture Demon is, 
 but in what very ftrong Language the Pq[jeJ]t- 
 cm mentioned in the Gofpel are afcribed to 
 him. 
 
 Before I leave this Subjed:, I beg, in my 
 turn, to afk a few Queftions : And firft, if 
 thefe Demoniacks were no other than Madmen, 
 ovEpilepticks, from whence proceeded the com- 
 mon Opinion, that thefe Diforders were owing 
 to Demons^ This, I own to be one of thole 
 Difficulties, which are Matter of mere Curioii- 
 ty, and of no Importance to the Determination 
 of the Queftion. But fo are thofe objed:ed to 
 the literal Meaning. And if our Curiolity muft 
 be gratified in one Cafe, why not in the other ? 
 It is equally as proper an Enquiry, why there 
 were fo many Perfons, at leaft vulgarly ima- 
 gined to be,. po[feJfed2X that Time ; as, why we 
 have fo few Inftances before, or why fo much 
 Power was then permitted to unclean Spirits? 
 
 Farther, if Superftition, or any other Caufe, 
 {hould be allowed fufficient to account for this 
 Prejudice in the common People j . yet, whence 
 were all their Pharifees and DoSfors deceived ? 
 
 K 
 
[ 99] 
 
 If thefe had not believed the Truth of thcfe Ca- 
 fes, they would, no doubt, have been forv^^ard 
 enough to have objedted againft them. And, 
 in fo many Inftances, had they all been Mi- 
 flakes, it muft have been eafy to have feen the 
 Falfenefs of the vulgar Notion. 
 
 But if thefe alfo were thus led away with a 
 gfoundlefs Fancy, what were the Naturalifls 
 and Phylicians then doing, who were particu- 
 larly engaged in fearching into the Caufes of 
 Diftempers, and whofe Intereft and Credit it 
 was, to overturn fuch an Hypothefis j that they 
 'did not detedl this Pretence, and rightly inform 
 the World ? If this had been done, probably 
 this Language had been foon out of Ufe. — St. 
 Luke was one of this Profeffion ; and the late 
 learned and ingenious Dr. Freind * obferves of 
 him, that on this account, his Language " is 
 " more fimple, and more corred:, as well as 
 " more phyjical" And yet he is as large and 
 copious as any of the others, in Narrations of 
 Deiiionidcks. 
 
 Laftly, " Why would Jefus [Himfelf] 
 " countenance fuch a Notion as this, if there 
 " were really no fuch Things as Demons, nor 
 " Perfons pofTefled by them ? Why would He 
 " not rid Men of fuch pernicious Opinions, and 
 " plainly tell them that thefe Foj]'eJ]km were 
 " nothing elfe but Lunacy or Epilepfy^ or what- 
 *' ever other Name the Diforder had ? " This 
 
 * Vid. Wiflory of Phyjick, V. I. p. 222, 223, 224. 
 
 N 2 Ob- 
 
[ 100 ] 
 
 Ob;edion is made, />. 76, 77, o£ th,Q Enquiry i 
 it is owned to have fome Weight in. it ; and a 
 Reply is there offered. This Ihall beexannined 
 prefently. It may be proper to fhew firft, m 
 how ftrong a manner cur Lord countenanced 
 this Notion. He did not barely forbear to dil^ 
 prove iti but He reafoned upon it; and His 
 Language on Ibme particular Occafions iliews, 
 that He believed it. When His caftiag out De^- 
 vils was aicribed to Beelzebub^ in His Anfwer, 
 He argues on the Suppofition, that PoffeJJionx 
 particularly belonged to this wicked Spirit^ were 
 his own proper Work, and contributed to fup- 
 port his Power and Intcreft. What is all this, 
 to niere Diftempers ? If it be faid, that this was 
 an Argument ad Homines^ I anfwer, that aa 
 this may be built on true Premifles ; fhould we 
 grant it to be fuch, we can't hence conclude, 
 that Christ difbelieved the Suppofition He ap- 
 pears ^Q plainly to allow. But, if the Phari-' 
 fees did not deferve to, be undeceived, would He 
 have fuffered His DiJ'ciples alfo to continue in 
 Error ? And yet, when He had a fair Oppor- 
 tunity offered Him to remove this their Preju- 
 dice, we find, He falls in with it, and confirms 
 it. Luke X. 17, 18. When the Seventy re- 
 turned iviih joy^ faying, evefi the Devils are 
 fubje5l to us^ thro thy Name ; He anfwered 
 them, / beheld Satan as Lightning fall from 
 Heaven ; and at the fame Time, He gave them 
 Power to tread on all the Power of the Enemy. 
 This is no Argument ad Hominein, It bears 
 
 an 
 
( loi ) 
 
 an evident Relation to their Suppofition, and 
 feems fully to juftify it. As if our Lord had 
 faid, ^' ye need not wonder at the Devil's being 
 " JubjeB to you thro My Name. The Time 
 *' is come, when their Reign on Earth muft 
 " end, and their Tyranny be totally deftroy- 
 " ed*." 
 
 The Reply to this whole Reafoning is this, 
 that " the Defign of the Sacred Writings " is 
 not " to correct the Miftakes of Men in Phy- 
 
 " /tck" That they fpeak even of God " in 
 
 " the Language of the Vulgar," as having 
 Eyes J and Hands, and Ears, that they fpeak of 
 the Motion of the Sun, and the reft of the Earth; 
 — That the Hypothelis of Demons ferved the 
 Purpofe of our Saviour, and what was foreign 
 to it He avoided, p. yj, yg. I anfwer. That 
 neither of thofe Inftances are parallel to that 
 we are examining. This is neither a Point 
 purely indifferent, as one of them is, nor, like 
 the other, is it fufficiently guarded from Mis- 
 application. If the Scriptures fometimes fpeak 
 of God as having Parts or Pajjions, the better 
 to adapt the Difcourfe to our Capacities ; there 
 can be no Danger of Mifunderftanding tbefe ; 
 lince it, in many other Places, fpeaks of Him 
 as a Spirit, without any Shape or Likenefs 
 whatever. Whereas the Suppofition o^ Po/Jeffi- 
 ons, if it be an Error, is, as we have feen, very 
 often laid down in Scripture, but never once 
 
 ^ Vid, Grot. Hammond f Whtthj, &c. in Loc. 
 
 contra- 
 
( I02 ) 
 
 contfadi^Sled therein. Neither is it a Point of 
 fuch Indifferency, as the other Inftance of the 
 reji of the Sun, &c. is. It is not merely a Phy^ 
 Jical Miftake, but one that naturally tends to 
 very pernicious Confequences, and to lead Men' 
 into all manner of Superftitions. And therefore 
 it feems to be highly agreeable to our Lord's 
 Purpofe, to have rooted the Notion out of the 
 Minds of His Follov^ers. He came to defiroy- 
 the Power of the Devil, and can we then ima- 
 gine, that He w^ould leave them under any un- 
 due Apprehenfions of this Power ? Were not 
 the Fears, nay, the Idolatry of the Heathen 
 World, much occafioned and kept up by the 
 Notion of thefe Pofefjiom ? And would not 
 then " the Caufe of the one God, in Oppofiti- 
 " on to " fuch *' Idolatry— —have been better 
 " promoted," J>y refuting this Notion, andtel-'^ 
 lingJMafrat once, that thofe Fears were vain' 
 and groundlefs ? We have therefore Reafon to 
 think, that had thefe commonly receiv'd Opi- 
 nions been all an Error, our Bleffed Lord 
 would never have given them any countenance, 
 but, on the contrary, would have oppofed 
 them. 
 
 By God's Permiffion, I have now gone thro' 
 this Gentleman's Scheme, Recording to his own 
 Method, and left nothing/ of Moment in it un- 
 examined. The Reader has now the Scripture 
 Account of this Matter before him, and is left 
 to judge impartially, which Senfe is moft wor- 
 thy, of his Choice. One Thing I beg leave to 
 
 add. 
 
( 103 ) 
 
 add, fubmitting it to his moll: ferious Confid^- 
 ration : Whether any mere Difficulty has not 
 too great a Regard paid it, when, to avoid it, 
 we have recourfe to fuch very lax and figurative 
 Interpretations ? And whether thefe do not give 
 occaiion to the Enemies of any literal Part of 
 the Gofpel to interpret it away, or to reprefent 
 the whole as an unintelligible Figure. They 
 have their Difficulties too, or at leaft will pre- 
 tend to have them *. I would not however be 
 underftood to fix fuch a Confequence, tho' it 
 appears a natural one to me, on the Enquirer, 
 This would not be fair, as he has not given any 
 Reafon to believe he faw, or defigned it : And 
 to charge Men with all the Confequences, 
 which may be deducible from their Opinion, is 
 neither confiftent with Peace, nor Charity +. 
 
 We are now in the 2^ Place to take a view of 
 the general Difficulties, which attend the lite- 
 ral Senfe, and which gave occafion to this De- 
 bate. Thefe are thus fummed up in the firft 
 Page of the Enquiry. " How comes it to pafs, 
 " that we read of fo many Perfons, jujl at 
 ** that particular T^ime^ under the Power of 
 " Devils'^ Whence is it that we feem fo rarely 
 " to meet with Accounts of the fame Diforders 
 " among Men, either ^^or^ or ^7/?fr the Times 
 " of Jejiis Chrijl ? Whence was it, that God 
 " permitted fo much Power to fuch unclean Spi- 
 
 * How Woolfion argued on this very Subjedl, See Bifhop Smal- 
 hroke's Vindicai. V. i • p. 344. 
 
 f See Archbilhop Sharpie Sermon on Rom. \\v. ig. 
 
 4 " rits. 
 
( 104 ) 
 
 " rits, who delight in doing Mifchief ? " In 
 anfwer to which Difficulties, I will firft confi- 
 der the State of the Fad:, and fee whether we 
 can't get fome Abatement of thenlj from hence. 
 -^ — Then, view the feveral Realbns, which 
 have been given to account for this Difficuhy, 
 — Z/^7/?/y, fee, whether any ill Confequences 
 can juftly arife, fhould we even acknowledge, 
 that it can't be clearly accounted for. 
 
 Let us enquire, whether we can get any Help 
 from viewing more narrowly the State of the 
 Fad:. — Was this exadly as it is here reprefent- 
 ed? Do we " fo rarely meet with the Accounts 
 " of the fame Diforders, — either before or 
 ^fr the Times of Jefus Chrift ? " With regard 
 to the Times of Heathenifm, we have, in a 
 great mealure feen the contrary. This Gentle- 
 man owns, that there " were always Cafes /z//- 
 " ^c/^^ to be poffelTed by the Gods," p. 78. And 
 we have fhewn, how probable, nay how cer- 
 tain, it is, that many of thefe were real Cafes of 
 Perfons poffeffed by Devils, under the Difguife, 
 and Titles of the Pagan Deities. Their Or odes 
 I muft infift upon as a clear and ftanding In- 
 ftance. And I will add, that this Notion of 
 Demoniacks, among them, was not the Notion 
 only of common ignorant People, but of the 
 greateft Philofophers. We need only mention 
 Plato, who reafoned upon it. For thus Cle- 
 mens Alexandrinus introduces him, as attribu- 
 ting a peculiar DiakSi to the Gods, a?id conclu-^ 
 ding this from DreamSy and Oracles^ and from 
 
 the 
 
( 105 ) 
 
 the Demoniacks^ who do not /peak their own Lan- 
 guage or DialeB^ but that of the Demons^ who 
 were entered into them *. We fee here the Sen- 
 timents and Judgment of this wife Man. He 
 Ipeaks of thefe, in Terms which cannot be ap- 
 plied to Madnefsj Sec, and as of Cafes, the 
 Truth of which he made no doubt of. And 
 yet, had they been erroneous, he muft certain- 
 ly have had Opportunities to difcover them) he 
 certainly had Abilities to do fo ; and there is no 
 room to think, he wanted an Inclination to 
 find out, or to fpeak, the Truth. 
 
 Among the Jews, I hope, I may have leave 
 to call Sanl an undeniable Inftance of Fojj'fjjion, 
 Others there undoubtedly were, as has been 
 fliewn above. 
 
 To come then to the Times after our Savi- 
 our. — Here we have Evidence enough. Thefe 
 Cafes were fo far from being rare or unufual^ 
 that we meet with them in almoll every Au- 
 thor. Plutarch's Teftimony to the ReaUty of 
 them in his Days, we have feen already. He 
 lived about the Year no. Lucia72, who flou- 
 rilhed about the fame Time, tho', as his man- 
 ner is, he treats theSubjed: in a fcoffing Way, 
 yet bears fufficient Witnefs to the common Per- 
 fuafion, and mentions fome, who deliver the 
 
 * 'O UXxTUv 3 >cj TcT(; Stal? ^xXikIov unoviptift rttos. u,u>,i?zc fbtt 
 
 uTtn TOiv cvufscru'v TtKf/jcci^a /Afv^ k. Tain ^fntrf/jiirv, uaaox; ei, xou 
 ctTto rav ^xifjueta/laii , cl rriv etirut a (pSiyfo/loct <pmri\i a'JV JiaAfit- 
 
 TBK, kxxoi Tjjir T(jv uyTiKriotlay ^xifAotw*. Clem. Alex. Strom. I. 
 Ed. Par. 1631. p. 338. 
 
 O Demo" 
 
( io6 ) 
 
 Demoniacks from their terrors *, — And im- 
 mediately afterwards, he plainly alludes to thefe 
 Cures of our Saviour, faying. And thefe 
 Things I need not fpeak^ every one knowing-, that 
 'That Syrian of PaUfline., fkilful in thefe Mat" 
 ters, recovered as many as were 'Epileptick^ Sec. 
 — And again he adds, the fick Man himfelf is 
 Jilenty but the Devil anfwers^ either in the La?i- 
 giiage of the Greeks or Barbarians^ or of what 
 Country foever he be, by what Means, or from 
 'whence he entered into the Man : But He, exor- 
 ciftng the Devil, and alfo threatning him, if he 
 did not obey, drives hitn out. I might here add 
 the Teftimony of Porphyry -f-, and of Philo- 
 firatus, who makes Apollonius Tyancsus, in or- 
 der to rival Jesus Christ, caft out an unclean 
 Spirit ; but I chufe to come to Authors of more 
 undoubted Credit, the ancient Fathers and A- 
 pologifts. And, I am fenfibfe, that here I muft, 
 in Ibme mealure, anticipate the Enquiry the 
 Gentleman propofes to make into the Senfe of 
 thefe 5 which I Ihould not do, if it were not ne- 
 celfary to a true Account of the State of the Dif- 
 
 trx^pSq ilfioov'iii i^ Tot <pci(r^cc\ot. ^ TxuTX a* ifjut ^o^ ^iiynv, aAXa 
 5ra.»7£$ KTcta-t to* "Zupcv rsv C/X 7^5 n<«A««fj«}f, to» Itj tst»» tro<piv- 
 T;j», o(r«; vst^it.}iX^uv xarxntTrlcvluq srpo^ rr* (riA^j'nji', x^ ru o(f>6a.?^- 
 f/joi eiot? ^ipoffld^, x^ aV('« "(jtA^Aao-jUf/cas to ?b'/x«, hfjiiox; clvWy)<riy 
 Kj »7to7TiiAi7tii a'pTts; I ,■ fitiiv vBtruv xvTiXi (rtu:r£, e oUifAuit j 
 
 UTTOxpUtTcti, i>,>^titl^&!y^ li (S5«pC«p».l^&'l', *l tSlV CCf UVTO<; *!, oPTUi Tt xj 
 
 C1617 iTrn^iiii £{ rov dpfffsjTrct/- ^J, opxa? iTCciyuVy ti Si |*i) !r«o-S'«»i7, 
 >^ »"7ttiXiJv, iliXxum rev $k\ft,ev». Lucian in Philopfeud. Ed. Par. 
 P- 833- 
 t It may be feen in Eufeb. Prap. Eiang, L. IV. c. 23. 
 
 ficulty. 
 
( 107 ) 
 
 ficulty, as well as to put out of all Doubt the 
 literal Meaning of the Scripture Demoniacks, 
 I fliall only fet down a few Teftlmonies, which 
 feem moll clear and exprefs, out of the many*, 
 which might be produced to this Purpofe. 
 
 We begin with Jujiin Martyr^ who, in his 
 Dialogue with I'ryphoj ufes this Argument -f-, 
 as you may even 7iow, if you pleaje, be eajily con- 
 vmced by the Tubings done before your Eyes ; For 
 by this very Name of the Son of God, thefrji- 
 born of every Creature^ who was born of a Vir- 
 gin^ and was made a Man liable to Sufferings^ 
 and crucified under Pontius Pilate, by the Peo- 
 ple of your Nation, and died, rofe again, and 
 afcended into Heaven, [in His Name] every De- 
 vil being adjured, is conquered, and obliged to 
 
 fubmit. And in another Place, this Author 
 
 gives the following Reafon for praying to be 
 prefervedyr<?;;2 wicked and deceiving^ or wander- 
 
 * Whoever would fee more, may confult,' IVhithy^ General 
 Preface, to the Epiji. p. 26, &c. 
 
 Se^*)T£. Kara yi ra o\o'/*«7(^ wrS TaTa liZ rS J^sa, >tj npeiTe- 
 
 cctBfMTra, x^ yafp&'C/i/l'i)- e^i rFovlta n<X«Ta Itto tS Xs<a vf/iuv, xj 
 
 ^etifliOVl'j]) i^CfKtt^O fOfiOV HKCiTCil, >^ UTTOTXa-a-iTCit. Ed. Par. p. 3 I !• 
 
 Oi x^ T15V rS cvo'fji/ctl(^ iyjjt vl ru. Sbtifjuo -noc rpj/ASt, t^ (r>jju,s«o» i^ofKiCp- 
 fS^x KATX Ta ovoiJi»1<^ 'liicrS Xf ifb Ta ^-oivfiiOivl©^ Itt) XIbv%^ tiiXxrn 
 Ta '^ivoftiivz iTrtTioTiH rvi(i 'laoctioci^y vxerutrcriTcUf <y? xj ci Tjjra 5rS<Pt 
 (pxvi(o? iiiiACf, ort YloiTnt uvra recruuT^v tdiux.iv ot,<jr(f auyu^jiiv, uft Kj 
 TM ^xif/jovtec l^olcccrtri^ rS cfOfJtjocn eswra, >^ t? t5 yivoftjitis ^aSaj 
 tLuri flixov6jM,ifl£ . Ibid. p. 247. — — — Kx) ►?« i/WiJ^ ol Zi9tve/\ti 
 Ixl Toy ^stvfuSiylx tTr] noclia UtXccra 'Iwa» K^j'^iov ii[Mov, ret dou- 
 fboyix Tranlfls >^ 7ryivfjit»1» xevtj^x «|«fx't^»vlt5, v7rcTU<r(refAity(t ifMy e^^' 
 ftsv. Ibid, p. 302. 
 
 O 2 . ing. 
 
( io8 ) 
 
 tng. Spirits. At the Power of His Name, even 
 the Devils tremble, and at this Day, being ex- 
 crcijed in the Name of Jesus Christ, — be- 
 come fubjeSi. So that it is from hence manifefl 
 to all Men, that His Father hath given Him fo 
 great a Power , that even the Devils are JubjeSt 
 to His Name, and to the Difpenfation of His 
 Pafjion. — ' And again he fays, and ttow we that 
 believe in our Lord Jesvs, that was crucified 
 under Pontius Pilate, exorcifing all Devils, and 
 wicked Spirits, have themfubjeB to us, 
 
 ^heophilus of Antioch writes thus, Demoni- 
 acks are fo77ietimes even to this Day, exorcijed 
 in the Name of the Living God, and thefc de- 
 ceitful Spirits conjefs themfelves to be Devils, Sec. 
 *. L'enceus, fpeaking of the miraculous Pow- 
 ers given to the true Difciples of Christ, and 
 exorcifed by the n in His Name, mentions the 
 difpoffefling evil Spirits in the firft Place, and 
 very fufticiently diitinguiihes it from the Cure 
 of Difeafes. Some, fays he, certainly and tru- 
 ly ejeSi Devils -, injbmuch that thofe who are 
 thus healed and cleanfed, are often converted to 
 the Faith, and remain in the Church. And af- 
 ter reciting the Gifts of Prophecy, communica- 
 ted to others, he adds, and others heal the Sick^ 
 by Impcfition of Hands, andrefiore them whole ||. 
 But of all ancient Writers, none is more ex- 
 
 prefs 
 
 * of ^aiixovavliq inori kJ (a-ixC '"* ^''^f f'|«p^i^'i'l«« xecTX tS ivo- 
 
 ^xifjijciiii;. Ad. Autol. Ed. Ox. 1. 2. p. yy. 
 
 jj Oi [tjiv yap ^iiiiAoyct^ iXxvyairi ^iQ»\ui x^ k\i^^ai, u^t aoMottcK 
 
{ 109 ) 
 
 prefs to this Purpofe than H'erfulHaft In his 
 Apology^ who appeals to the very Ryes and Ears 
 of the Enemies of Chriftianity, and makes 
 the following very remarkable Challenge. " Let 
 *' there appear before your Judgment Seats one, 
 " who is certainly /?^^<^ with a Devil -j that 
 " Spirit, being commanded by any Chrijlian 
 " to fpeak, will as truly confefs himfelf to be a 
 " Devil, as in other Places he falfely calls 
 '' himfelf a God. Even fo, let there be pro- 
 " duced one of thofe, who are thought to fuf- 
 
 " fer from a God If they do not own them- 
 
 " felves Devils, not daring to lie to a Chriftian j 
 *' fhed the Blood of that Chriftimi in the 
 " fame Place, as of a mofl fhamelefs Deceiver. 
 " — If on the other fide, they are truly Gods, 
 " why do they bely themfelves, and confefs 
 " the Name of Devils'^ Do they this in 
 " Obedience to us ? Then is your Deity now 
 " fubjed: to Chrijiians *." Miniitius Felix 
 comes next in order of Time, and gives us 
 
 xj TTt^evuv atJra? Ixstvyj TUi x,xBeeeta:Biiila,q cfJto tZ¥ Trcvrj^Zit tthv- 
 
 Tuv Xit^uv iTriBtTickK; iuvTect, f^ uynTz ot^eKu^tfiia-ip. Adv. Hsref. 
 
 * Edatnr hie aliquis Tub tribunalibus veftris, quem Dsmone agi 
 conflet, jufTus a quohbet Chriftiano loqui Spiritus ille, tarn fe DdC' 
 monem confitebitur de vero, quam alibi Deum de falfo. ^que 
 producatur aliquis ex iis, qui de Deo pati exillimantur, qui aris 
 inhalantes numen de nidore concipiunt, qui rudlando conantur, 
 
 qui anhelando profantur Nifi fe Dsmones confelTi fuerint, 
 
 Chriltianomentiri nonaudentes, ibidem illius Cliriiliani procaciffimi 
 fanguinem fundite — Si altera parte vere Dei funt, cur fel'e Daemonia 
 mentiuntur? An, ut nobis obfequancur? Jam ergo fubjefta 
 Chriitianis divinitas veftra. Tertul. Apdo^et. Seft. 23. 
 
 much 
 
(no ) 
 
 much the fame account in much more elegant 
 LaMguagc. After he has largely delcribed the 
 Nature and different Operations of impure 
 Spirits and Devils, with regard to their Ora- 
 cles^ Prophets^ &c. he goes on, " all this, as 
 is known by moft, by feveral among your- 
 felves, the very Devih confefs of themfelves, 
 as often as we drive, them out of Bodies by 
 the Tortures and Force of our Words, and 
 the Vehemence and Warmth of our Invo- 
 cations — —Believe them, when they teftify 
 themfelves to be Devils, and thus confefs the 
 Truth. For being adjured by the true and 
 only God, Mifery and Horror feizes them 
 within the Bodies, [they poifefs] and they 
 are either forced to depart out of them im- 
 mediately, and at once, or by Degrees to 
 leave them ; according as the Cure is for- 
 warded by the Faith of the Patient, or the 
 Favour of the Exorcift *." No lefs ftrong 
 to this Purpofe is Origen^ in his famous Dif- 
 courfe againft Celfus ; in Anfwer to whom, 
 when he objedled againfl thefe Cures of the , 
 Chrijiians^ as made by Invocations of certain 
 Demons, the Father fays, " that they do 'not 
 
 * Hsec omnia fciunt plerique, pars veftrum, ipfos Daemonas 
 de femetipfis confiteri, quoties a nobis tormentis verborum, & 
 crationis incendiJs de corporibus exiguntur — Iplis tellibas effe eos 
 Dffimonas de fe verum confitentibus credite. Adjurati enim per 
 Deum verum & folum, inviti, miferi, corporibus inhorrefcunt, et 
 vel exiliunt ftatim, vel evanefcunt gradatim, prout fides patientis 
 adjuvat, aut gratia curantis afpirat. Mime. Fe/. O^av. Ed. 
 Ludg, Batav. p. 30, 31. 
 
 " think 
 
( I.I ) 
 
 " think to prevail by [fuch] Invocations, but by 
 ** the Name of Jesus, together with reciting 
 " the feveral Particulars of His Hiftory. For 
 *' the mention of thefe have often forced the 
 
 *' Devi/s out of Men." And again, " So 
 
 " great is the Power of the Name of Jesus 
 " againft Devils ; tliat it has Succefs, even 
 " when named by wicked Perfons, as Jesus 
 " taught laying, many Jhall fay to me in that 
 
 " Day^ 5CC. Mat. vii. 22. It is plain, that 
 
 " Chrijlians ufe none of the Arts of Enchan- 
 " ters, but the Name of Jesus Christ, and 
 " the other Doctrines, ^c -f-." Cyprian is full 
 of fuch Teflimonies. I fhall only quote one from 
 his Letter to T)emetrianus^ who was, as fome 
 think, Froconjul of Africa^ but, according to 
 others, a 'Judge or Coiinfellor in Carthage ^ cer- 
 tainly a Man of Power and Authority, and a 
 bitter Enemy to the Chriftians. This Letter 
 therefore is of the fame Kind as an Apology : 
 In it, we find the good Bifhop applying to him 
 thus : " O ! that you would but hear and fee 
 " the Gods of the Gentiles^ when they are ad- 
 " jured by us, and tormented with our fpiri- 
 " tual Scourges, and caft out of the Bodies, 
 
 -}- Ou y«p xarocxXijo-fo-*)' i'^^e/'an JoKani', iXAsi ra uvofjuafli 'lno-y, 
 ibtToi riif icTTeiy^i'KMi; ruv irspt uvtcv Wc(jiuv. txvtx yarp T^iydiS/tx^ 
 7:o'K\oikk; r»5 aoot^oyoii TtiZoitiKtt ctv^^cozdv ^ueKr6^vxi — — rotrS- 
 Tov fi/iv yt autoclxi ro otofA,c6 ra 'iJjira kut)^ tu\/ JacitteWi', 6)5 ta'S'* 
 oTf K^ v^o ^otv^m ivofttX^ofAiivov avv'nv, 8T£j S'l^cia-nuM 'lncrS<i sAsyg 
 I I (Tci^a on X(<s-<«nj« Ho'ifAiM f/tiXiTv} iTTuduv ^jfifiiivoi hrvf^cc,. 
 »a(r», «AX« Tw o90f/ttxrt th 'I>)ra, x«i uXXuv ^oyuu TUTTi^ivi/jstvr 
 Y.SCTU. T»j» ^tUv yp«4>»ii'. Orig. cont. Celf, 1. 1. £</. Cantab. 
 
 p. 7. Vid. J. 7. p. 334. 
 
 2. [' they 
 
( 112 ) 
 
 " they pofTefTed, by the force of oar Words, 
 " when crying out, and lamenting with an 
 " human Voice, and feehng the Strokes of a 
 " Divine Power, they confefs the Judgment 
 " to come. Come, and know the Truth of 
 " what we fay. And, fince you fo pretend to 
 " worfhip the Gods^ believe at leaft the very 
 
 " Gods^ you worfhip You {hall fee us fup- 
 
 " plicated by thofe, whom you fupplicate, 
 " feared by thofe, whom you fear, whom 
 " you adore. You fhall fee thofe ftanding 
 " bound under our Hands, and trembling like 
 " Cdfthes^ whom you reverence and wor- 
 " fhip, as your Lords. Surely even thus you 
 " mufV be afhamed of thofe your Errors, 
 " when you lliall fee and hear your Gods, on 
 " our queftioning them, immediately betray 
 " what they i?re, and not able, though you 
 " are prefent, to conceal thofe their Cheats and 
 " Delulions §." Amobitis'^ Teflimony to this 
 f*oint has been produced before. We may- 
 
 § O fi audire eos [Deos gentium] velles et videre, quando a 
 nobis adjuranttir, et torqueiv.ur i'piritalibus flagris, &i verborum 
 tcrmentis de obfeffis corporibus ejiciuntur, quando ejulantes, et 
 oementes voce hamana, et poteltate divina flagella & ve'rbera fen- 
 tientes, venturum judicium confitentur. Veni et cognofce vera 
 cffe, quse dicimus. Et quia fic Deos colere te dicis, vel ipfis, 
 
 quos colis, crede Videbis nos rogari ab iis, quos tu rogas, 
 
 timeri ab iis, quos tu times, quos tu adoras. Videbis fub manu 
 noftr^ ftare vinftos, & tremere Captivos, quos tu fufpicis et ve- 
 neraris ut Dominos. Certe vel fic confundi in iitis erroribus tuis 
 poteris, quando confpexeris et audieris Deos tuos, quid fint, inter- 
 rogatione nollra ftatim prodere, & praefentibus licet vobis, praelti- 
 gias illas & fallacias fuas non poflecelare. Cyprian. Op. Ed. Ox, 
 p. 151. Vid. ttiamad Donat. p. 4. & de Idol. Va7iit. p. 14. 
 
 therefore 
 
( "3 ) 
 
 therefore pais to "LaBantius^ who ipeaks in 
 exadly the fame Language, and who fhall be 
 the laft Author cited, on this Occafion. He 
 fays, that the Spirits " adjured by the Name 
 " of God, depart out of Bodies. And that be- 
 " ing, as it were, fcourged by the Words of 
 " good Men, they not only confeis themfelves 
 '' to be Devils, but alfo declare their Names 
 
 *' Which they moft commonly do before 
 
 *' their Worfliippers Becaule they can nei- 
 
 *' ther lye to God, by whom they are adjured, 
 " not yet to good Men, by whofe Voice they 
 
 *^ are tormented." ^And again, " How great 
 
 *' a Terror this Sign is to Devils muft be known 
 /' by any one, who will fee, how being ad- 
 *' jured by Chriji, they fly out of the Bodies 
 *' they pofTeifed. For as He himfelf, when 
 " He lived among Men, cafl: out all Devils 
 " with His Word, and reftored to their for- 
 " mer Senfes, Men, v/hofe Minds were diftrac- 
 *' ted by the AfTaults of evil Spirits : So do His 
 ** Followers now cafl the fame impure Spi- 
 " rits out of Men, both in the Name of their 
 '' Mailer, and by the Sign of His Paiiion * " 
 
 P Thus 
 
 * Cujus [Dei] nomine adjurati, de corporibus excedunt. 
 
 Quorum [juRorum] verbis, tanquam flagris, verberati, non mo- 
 do Dsemonas fe efle confitentur, fed etiani nomina fua edunt. 
 • — Qtiod plerunque coram cultoribus fuis faciunt — Quia nee Deo, 
 per quern adjurantur ; nee jultis, quorum voce torquentur, men- 
 tiri pofTunt. DeO//^. Error. Cap. xv. Ed. Spark, p. 193, 194. 
 • — -Quanto terrori fint Djemonibus hoc fignum, fciet, qui vidf- 
 rit, quatenus adjurati per Chriflum, de corporibus, qua obfede- 
 
 rinr. 
 
( 114 ) 
 
 Thus we fee, the Accounts of the beil Wri- 
 ters of the three firft Centuries are very uniform 
 in this Matter. How this Gentleman, in his 
 fecond intended 'Enquiry will be able to get 
 over, or to explain them, fo as to make them 
 agreeable to his Scheme, I muft confefs, I am 
 not able to imagine. The Difficulty is furely 
 great : The Points attefted are open Fa6ls : 
 There can be therefore no room for any Char- 
 ges of Knthiifiajm ; which does not relate to 
 FaSfs, but Opinions. As little Reafon have we 
 to fufpedt any Mijiakes. The Cafes are repre- 
 fented as very numerous : Their Enemies were 
 called upon to examine into them : They were 
 called upon, in Controver/ial Writings, and in 
 folemn Apologies : The Truth of Chrijlianity 
 was in a manner put upon it, as a certain and 
 undoubted Teft : This Fad: was of fuch a 
 Nature, as to be, in the higheft manner, re- 
 fie(5ling on the Heathen Religion, and dero- 
 gatory to the Honour of their fancied Deities. 
 If it could therefore have been difproved, would 
 not they, who were fo very zealous for thefe, 
 have gladly taken hold on fuch an Occafion, 
 to have vindicated them, and laid fo jufl a Re- 
 proach on Chrijiians ? 
 
 The prefent Bifiop of Lichfield calls the 
 
 rint, fugiant : nam, ficut ipfe, cum inter homines ageret, uni- 
 verfos Da;mones verbo fugabat, hominumque mentes cmotas, et 
 malis incurfibus furiatas, in fenfus priftinos reponebat ; ita nunc 
 feftatoresejus eofdem fpiritus inquinatos de hominibus, et nomine 
 tnagiftri fui, et figno paffionis excludunt. Id. </^ 'vera Sapient. 
 L. IV. c. z-]. p. 397. 
 
 jipologie% 
 
r 1-5 ) 
 
 Apologies of the antient Fathers " fome of the 
 " very beft of their Produdtions -f-." And in- 
 deed, there was need enough of their being ex- 
 ad: and corred: in thefe. No lefs than the Lives 
 and Safety of all the Chrijiians^ or of many of 
 them, depended thereon. Let us confider 
 a fet of Men, holding a Faith contrary to the 
 Profeffion of the Civil GovernourSy vv^ho there- 
 upon mifreprefen ted and reviled it; and, when 
 this would not do, attempted to flop the Pro- 
 grefs of it by Perfecution and Torments. Se- 
 veral of thofe Sufferers, at once to vindicate 
 their Religion and Charaders, and to obtain an 
 End of their Miferies, prefent folemn Addreffes 
 to the very Chief of their Enemies ; all of 
 them agree in afferting a Fad:, as common and 
 well known ; dare the others to look into it, 
 and make Trial of it ; put the Succefs of their 
 Caufe upon it ; and make a voluntary Offer of 
 forfeiting their Lives, if it fliould fail.— And can 
 we, in thefe Circumftances, think fuch a Fadt 
 falfe ? Could Men ever fhew a fuller Affu ranee 
 
 of the Truth of any *? But perhaps the 
 
 Apologijls were themfelves fome of the Knqui- 
 
 refs Demojiiacks^ Madmen. No thefe very 
 
 Works contradid: fuch a Suppofition. They 
 are written in the Spirit of Truth, Sobernefs, 
 Calmnefs, and Decency. Befides the Event of 
 fome of them abundantly juflifies their Un-^ 
 
 •f Vindication, See. V. I. p. 65. 
 
 * Vid. NicoWi Conference, V. II. p. 147, 148. 
 
 P 2 der- 
 
( ii6 ) 
 
 derftandings, as well as the Truth of their Af 
 ferdons. Madmen, we may be fiire, would 
 not have been liftened to : And any Falfliood 
 would have been far from doing Service, would 
 certainly have aggravated the Malice of their 
 Enemies, and given thefe a real handle to afflidt 
 them, ftill more. Whereas, many of thofe 
 Apologies quenched the Violence of the Fire of 
 Perfecution, and obtained Refcripts and Decrees 
 in favour of Chriftianity. We may there- 
 fore receive for undoubted Truths, whatever 
 Fads they all advanced in this manner : We 
 may depend upon their Care in making AlTer- 
 tions, the Falfhood of which they would foon 
 have anfwer'd with their Lives. 
 
 How long the Power of cafting out Devils 
 continued in the Church, I cannot fay. There 
 is Reafon to think, it remained after the other 
 miraculous Gifts were ceafed. For, as Arch^ 
 Bifiop I'illoffon obferved, " The Power of 
 " cafling out Devils, which was moft com- 
 " mon (for every Chriflian had it) continued 
 " longeft 3 and there was Reafon it fhould con- 
 *' tinue, fo long as the Devil reigned, and the 
 " Pagan Idolatry was kept up, to {hew that 
 " the Spirit of Chriil was fuperior to the Devil, 
 " and would finally overcome him, and over- 
 *' throw his Kingdom ; — and this appeared, in 
 ** that they were able in the Name of Chrift 
 " to caft him out, wherever he had taken 
 " Poffeffion, which God permitted to be very 
 " frequent in thofe Times^, for the more glori- 
 
 *' on« 
 
( "7 ) 
 
 *' ous Manifeftation of His Power In cafting 
 *' out the Prince of the World. But when the 
 *' Powers of the World became Chriftian, and 
 ** the Heathen Idolatry was every where over-^ 
 " thrown, and Satan's Kingdom every where 
 " deftroyed, then this miraculous Gift alio 
 " ceafed, there being no further occalion for it*.'* 
 
 From this State of the Fad: we find, that 
 the Foundation of the Difficulty before us is far 
 from being altogether certain ; that we do not 
 fo very rarely meet with Inftances of Demo- 
 niach before^ or afler^ our Saviour's Time ; 
 and consequently, that it muft lofe much of 
 its Force. However, I own, this does not en- 
 tirely remove it. The Inflances before Chrift 
 were but few, in Com.parifon to thofe about 
 that Age : And we have long been without any 
 of undoubted Evidence. I ihall therefore next 
 propofe fome Solutions of this, fome Reafons, 
 which learned Men have given to account for 
 it. "4 luo ' 
 
 We have two of this fort in TJghtfoct, which 
 are the fame offered by Bartholine the Phyli- 
 cian, viz. Becaufe the Jews at that Time 
 were arrived to the Height of Impiety, and be- 
 caufe they were exceedingly addi(fled to Magicli 
 Arts "f*. There appears to be fome Force in this 
 laft Reafon efpecially. That they were really 
 fo addided is clear, from St. Luke% Account 
 
 * Tillot/otis Sermons, laji Edition, 1735. Vol. III. p 488. 
 f Vide Bartholine dt Mdrb. Biblicis, quoted in Bifhop Smalbrokt's 
 Vindicat. V. I. p.348. and Z./g^/^//'. Vol.11, p. 175. 
 
 Of 
 
( ii8 ) 
 
 of the Value of the Books, relating to fuch cu- 
 rious Arts, which were bwiit at Ephefus only, 
 by the Jews, who believed. Atls xix. i8. &c» 
 And, nothing is eafier to fuppofe, than that 
 Magic, as it is really applying to the Devil for 
 Aid, and calling him to ufe his Power, might 
 be fufFered by God Almighty to have this 
 dreadful Effedl. 
 
 A late very good Writer * has affigned ano- 
 ther Anjwer, which he thinks plain and eafy. 
 " That then only were thofe Beings known 
 " and heard of, becaufe then only thofe Pow- 
 *' ers were exercifed, which alone were able to 
 " bring their Doings to Light. - The Difeafes 
 ". were vifible ; but the Caufe of them was un- 
 " known, till He, who wrote the Cure, made 
 ** it evident by His Power what it was. And 
 " poiTibly fliould the fame Power again revive^ 
 " we might again hear of juft the fame Effed:s 
 " of it. We know little byourReafon, or our 
 " Senfes, of the Being of evil Spirits, or of their 
 " Power, and therefore are apt to make no 
 ** reckoning of them in conlidering the poffible, 
 *' Caufes of thofe Effed:s, which we daily fee 
 " before us ; but fhould any one fay, that even 
 " now a great many of thofe Difeafes, which 
 *' afflidt Mankind, are caufed by evil Spirits j 
 *' fome modern Writers would find much 
 " more ufe of their Talent for Ridicule, than 
 *' of their Reafon and Underilanding in con- 
 
 * Dtfcourfe of our Saviourls miraculous Po'wer of Healings ^c. 
 1730. p. 24. 
 
 futing 
 
( "9 ) 
 
 " futlng him." According to this Account, 
 Poffeffions were never peculiar to any Age. 
 There may be many fuch at this Day. And, 
 if it be thought mere SuppofUion and Conje5iure 
 only, ftill fuch is a fufficient v^^Xy to 2i mere Dif- 
 culty. Nor can this be fupported, without 
 {hewing the Impoffibility and Falfenefs of it. 
 
 The learned Prelate^ fo often mentioned be- 
 fore, has helped us to another Solution, which 
 is, " That the De'uil might have been permitted 
 " by God to exert himfelf in an unufual man- 
 " ner, at and after Jesus's Advent, in order to 
 " be more lignally triumphed over by the Savi- 
 *' OUR of the World, and thofe that were de- 
 " legated by Him to convert Mankind to His 
 " Religion *." And, what is there in this, 
 but what is very probable, and very conliftent 
 with our Notions of God ? Can we conceive a 
 wifer End of His acting, than the Advancement 
 of His own Glory, in order to the Salvation of 
 Mankind ? Or can we conceive any more 
 likely way of promoting this, than fuch a lignal 
 fenfible Vi(Sory over his grand Enemies, the 
 Powers of Darknefs ? Could there be a more 
 clear and expreffive Reprefentation of that 
 great and final Conqueft, which he came to 
 finifh ? Or, could there be a more certain and 
 convincing Argument, to turn the Nations of 
 the World from their idolatrous Worfhip to 
 Him, then to fhew them, in a viiible manner, 
 that the Beings they adored were, by their own 
 
 * Vindication, &C. Vol. I. p. 349. Vid. Tillotfov, ubi fupra. 
 
 Con- 
 
(.120 ) 
 
 Confeflion, Devils, fubjed: to His Name, and 
 cafl out by the Power of it ? 
 
 None of thefe Suppolitions are once men- 
 tioned by the Enquirer; though I can't but 
 think, that, both in regard to the Authority of 
 their refpe,(5tive Authors, and their real intriniick 
 Weight, they all deferved to have been well 
 -Confidered. Sure I am, that the Difficulties, 
 with which his Scheme is clogged (I need not 
 repeat them) are not capable of fuch plain and 
 rational Solutions. 
 
 But really we are not obliged to give An- 
 iwers to fuch Queftions as this Gentleman here 
 asks, nor fliould it be the leaft Concern, if we 
 could not give any. For fhould it be granted, 
 that the whole of the Difficulty he objeds, re- 
 mains, and that no Anfwer hitherto given, 
 could be admitted as fatisfadory ; yet, what is 
 the Confequence ? That the Gcfpel ffiould he 
 rejeded ? He does not pufli the Matter fo far ; 
 though Woolfion did. And furely, a Book of 
 fuch Authority is not prefently to be given up, 
 merely, becaufe we may not be able to anfwer 
 every Doubt, which may arife about any Part 
 of it. The Difficulties of Scripture are acknoW'- 
 ledged by the very beft Friends of if, by an in- 
 fpired Writer Himfelf. But none amount to 
 the leaft charge of Contradidion, Impiety, or 
 
 Untruth Or, are we, on this Account, to 
 
 disapprove and rejedl the literal Senfe of the many 
 
 Pallages confidered } But firft, it would be ad- 
 
 vifeable to make fure of another Senfe more 
 
 I eafy 
 
( 121 ) 
 
 eafy and clear. This is far from being the 
 Cafe of the Suppofition I have examined. We 
 have feen, that it has greater Difficulties at- 
 tending it, gives "room for more Cavil and 
 Contention, and is fo far from fatisfying a 
 thinking Man, that it appears irreconciieable to 
 many Places of Scripture, and hardly confid- 
 ent with the Simplicity and Plainnefs of the 
 Gofpel Stylt\ in general. And for flich an In- 
 terpretation, the literal Senfe, though its Diffi- 
 culties were more and greater, is by no Means 
 to be left. 
 
 Let us view a little clofer, the ^.efAons at 
 prefent afkedj and we (hall tind them fuch, as 
 it is reafonable to think, Men cannot afjjwcr 
 perfedily. Did they relate only to common 
 Diftempers ; yet *, as thefe may rage more at 
 one Time than another, fo it would be no Ob- 
 jedion to the Truth of them, if well attefted, 
 in any particular Age, that they have not been 
 heard of before, or fince. Nor could we fay, 
 why God fuffered this to be fo'. But there is 
 
 * In (e vera! hundred Yen rs, the Sma/I Pox never appeared in 
 the Grecian Empire. FreincPi Hijhry of Phyf. V. I. p. 2:'^. 
 Vid. Vol. 2. p. 188 et icq. 
 
 We have alfo in the fame ingenioiis Author an Account of' the 
 Siveating Sicknefs, " a Diltennper, which was never heard of be- 
 *• fore 1483. in any Age or Nation ; and which after re;urning 
 ** now and tlien for the Space of fome Years, has ever lince cn- 
 *• tirely difappeared. Vol. 2. p. 332, iffr. 
 
 He a!fo obierves, that " the Lua Fenerea broke out as late 
 *' as the 1 6th Century," and contends at large, that it was neiv, 
 and unknown both to the Greeks and Arabians. Ibid. p. 336, 
 i£^c. As likewife is the Scurvey, p. 387. 
 
 Q fome- 
 
( 122 ) 
 
 fomething flill more extraordinary In the In- 
 ftance of Demoniacks. A Suppofition of fome 
 Power more than natural is here made. And 
 therefore the Difficulty obje6led will at laft come 
 to this, " why God Almighty thought fit tq 
 *' puniili (and ihit Jiipematurally) one Age, 
 " or Generation of Men, in a Manner, in 
 " v/hich, He neither before nor Ji?2ce^ has pu- 
 
 *' niflied any others ?" And what Mortal 
 
 can, without evident Prefuppofition, pretend, 
 or expeft, to enter deep enough into the Coun- 
 fels of hifinite Wifdo?n^ to affign a certain An- 
 fwer to this ? The Queflion il:iould be afl<ed 
 with great Humility and Modefty j or other-. 
 wife it will hardly be excufable. All we can 
 do, by way of Reply, is to give fomc pro- 
 bable Account, a Reafon not inconlident with 
 the Divine Attributes^ for which Things may 
 have been thus ordered. But we go much too, 
 far, and wade vaflly out of our Depth, when 
 we are poiitive, that any Reafon miijl be the 
 
 true one Certainty therefore, in the Cafe 
 
 before us, ought not to be expedted. If any of 
 the Anfwers already given be probable^ they 
 are Jtificient, Nor fhould the Want even of 
 this create any Sufpence or Uneafinefs in the 
 Mind. Such Difficulties as thefe are no un- 
 iifual Things, no formidable Objedions— -' 
 Nay, it appears to be Matter of our real- 
 Thanks and Praifes, to find ourfelves, deferv-' 
 ingas we are of the Divine Fiinifiments^ free 
 frpm thefe fcvere ones; felt formerly -, to find 
 
 4 the 
 
( ^23 ) 
 
 the Power of the Devils, in any Meafure, re- 
 ftrained, and his mifchievous Devices fo far 
 confounded. 
 
 Still we are, in too juft a Senfe, fubjed: to 
 theie. God yet permits wicked Spirits to af- 
 fiiult us : And we are yet liable to yield, and 
 too often give them the Vid:ory. Let me 
 therefore conclude this Efjay with one ufeful 
 prad:ical Admonition ; in which I dare fay, the 
 Gentleman, I have been oppoling, will concur 
 with me. This is, that we here prove Exor- 
 cifts to ourfelves ; that, by Prayer and Fajiingy 
 by Care and Vigilance, we prevent their ta- 
 king PofTeiTion of our Minds j or, if it be too 
 late to do this, that we ufe the fame Me- 
 thods immediately to drive them thence : And 
 particularly, that we guard againft *that too 
 common Device, the leading Men, under 
 the pretence of Impartiality, to be partial 
 againft the Caufe of Religion, and the Truth 
 of Scripture-, and from doubting to disbelieve 
 them, without enquiring into the Foundations, 
 on which they ftand. Herein, if w^e are not 
 wanting to ourfelves, we fhall affuredly be fuc- 
 cefsful : We need not fear their Number, Pow- 
 er, or Delufions : We know, who has pro- 
 mifed, and this He is able aljb to perform^ that 
 if we refji the Devil, he will Jiee from us. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
10