<!DOCTYPE ETS PUBLIC "-//UMDLPS//DTD EEBOPROOF 2.0//EN">
<ETS>
<TEMPHEAD>
<REVDESCR>
<CHANGE>
<DATE>2008-06-18</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>John Pas</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
</RESPSTMT>
<ITEM>Checklist:
x Add TEMPHEAD, change DATE, validate
x Add DIV TYPEs, validate
x Review structure, use FRONT, BODY, BACK or rarely GROUP
x Check PB placement and completeness, ensure sequence of N=""
x Proof title page(s)
x Check HEAD TRAILER ARGUMENT EPIGRAPH BIBL OPENER CLOSER SIGNED SALUTE BYLINE
x Check ^, oe, abq, italic I / J, _Initals, space between &amp;c.
x Check # @ -- UNCLEAR LB FIGURE -|
x Check q; startq endq Q
- Check ligatures if in black letter &abper; &abpro; &abus; &abquod; &absed; &abser; &abcon; &abrum; &abis;
- Check for &punc; and correct if time-effective
x ot / ol / of and at / al / ar
x Correct illegibles from proofsheet
x Check illegible page, para, line, span, word, dollar signs
x Final validate

Corrected [  ] illegible groups out of [  ].
Converted [  ] illegible groups to GAP DESC="illegible".
DONE</ITEM>
</CHANGE>
</REVDESCR>
</TEMPHEAD>
<EEBO>
<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="A76359">
<STC T="W">B1800A</STC>
<BIBNO T="umi">99898001</BIBNO>
<VID>170999</VID>
</IDG>
<TEXT>
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<PB REF="1">
<P>Witch-Craft Proven, Arreign'd, and Condemn'd in its Profe&s;&s;ors, Profe&s;&s;ions and Marks, by di|ver&s;e pungent, and convincing Argu|ments, excerpted forth of the mo&s;t Authentick Authors, Divine and humane, Ancient and Modern.</P>
<P>By a Lover of the Truth.</P>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Deut. 18.9.</HI></BIBL>
<P>&mdash;When thou art come into the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou &s;halt not learn to do after the&s;e Abominations.</P>
<BIBL><HI>Ver&s;. 10.</HI></BIBL>
<P>There &s;hall not be found among you any, one that maketh his Son or his Daughter to pa&s;s through, the <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 word"> or that u&s;eth Divination, or an Ob&s;erver of times, <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 word"> an Enchan|ter, or a Witch.</P>
<BIBL><HI>Ver&s;. 11.</HI></BIBL>
<P>Or a Charmer, or a Con&s;ulter with Familiar Spirits, or a Wizard, or a Necromancer.</P>
<BIBL><HI>Exod. 22.18.</HI></BIBL>
<P>Thou &s;halt not &s;uffer a Witch to live.</P></Q>
<P><HI>GLASGOW,</HI> Printed by <HI>Robert Sanders,</HI> One of His <HI>Maje&s;ties</HI> Printers. <HI>Anno Dom.</HI> 1697.</P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB N="2" REF="2">
<HEAD><HI>WITCH-CRAFT</HI> Proven, Arreign'd, and Condemn'd in its profe&s;&s;ors, Profe&s;&s;ion, and Marks, by diver&s;e pungent, and convincing Arguments, excerpted forth of the most Authentick Authors, Divine and Humane, An|tient and Modern.</HEAD>
<P>THat there be Spirits, the Word of God, the light of Nature, the truth of Hi&s;tory, and dayly expe|rience, do clearly demon&s;trat, and that joyntly? as with one breath, &s;o that they mu&s;t needs be wretchedly infatuat, and &s;en&s;ele&s;ly benumm'd, who &s;uffer them&s;elves (again&s;t &s;o evident te&s;timony) to be led a&s;ide to the contrair Opinion: Yet &s;uch bewitched mi&s;creants and mi&s;erable Catives there are, and in all Ages there has been (call them De<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">e&s;ts or Athei&s;ts as you li&s;t) who have made bold to impugne &s;o notour a Truth, either out of a curious affectation in cro&s;ing the common &s;entiment to be reputed &s;ingular, or el&s;e from an Judicial blindne&s;s and ca&s;e-hardne&s;s of Spirit, in being given over to a Reprobat &s;en&s;e (by gain-&s;tanding the Truth) to receive a lie, who&s;e ca&s;e is more to be pitied than imitated, and their blinded Judgment more to be &s;purned at, and to be rejected with &s;corn, than kindly and amicably to be embraced.</P>
<P>For if there be no Spirits, then (not to &s;peak of a multitude of vile ab&s;urdities, and gro&s;s horrid Bla&s;phemies, that would natively follow therupon) there is no Eternal Death, Life, nor Re&s;urrection to be expected, nor any Locall place of Puni&s;hment for the Damned to be Tormented in, by the in&s;truments of His Wrath, in the execution of Ju&s;tice upon unrepenting Sinners, nor any Heavenly Joy and Solace to be expected by the truly Godly after this Life; which were manife&s;tly to Raze two of the mo&s;t Glorious and Divine
<PB N="3" REF="2">
Attributes of God both at once. For 1st, How can the glory of His rich mercy appear to the Elect, but by a declaration of the Glory of His &s;evere and de&s;erved Ju&s;tice towards the Reprobat. 2ly, For what end is conviction of Sin both in the good and bad, if it be not to Reclaim the one in unde&s;erved Mercy for Obtemperating, and to Reprobat the other in de&s;erved Ju&s;tice, for declining and not harkening unto the Heavenly, and Divine Call. 3ly, Whence pray are the&s;e inward frights, and terrours of a troubled Con&s;cience, bred in the &s;toute&s;t Athei&s;t, either upon their departure forth of the World: or while they be going forward in a full Ben&s;ile and carier of all imaginary wickedne&s;s, and be in health and &s;oundne&s;s both in Body and Mind, that a quick &s;top and di&s;charge is put thereto, by a &s;udden roaring of an allarmed and awakned Con&s;cience; whereby &s;ometime &s;ooner, &s;ometime later, an inrood hath been made upon the Kingdom of Dark|ne&s;s, by an immediat, &s;upream, and irre&s;i&s;table Divine power, to the recovery and reclaiming of not a few, to the prai&s;e and glorious manife&s;tation of the ineffable riches of his grace towards the poor lo&s;t Sons of <HI>Adam;</HI> witne&s;s hereunto the joynt te&s;timony of the Elect of God through all ages of the World, the Heavenly Quier of Angels, and the glorious company of the triumphant Saints.</P>
<P>Hence then it appears, by undenyable evidence, and by a perpetual chain of Divine Providence (whatever the gro&s;ly prophane brag in the contrair) that what vain thoughts &s;o|ever the Sons of men may idlely entertain in the heat of lu&s;t, and youth, anent the fal&s;hood and vanity of &s;uch doting and fanciefull opinions (as they in their joylie and merrie fits be plea&s;ed to term them) they &s;hall &s;ooner, or later, feel the te&s;timony of their Con&s;cience as a witne&s;s within them, con|&s;training them &s;eriou&s;ly to comply with the truth of what they formerly mocked at in the days of their vanity; when at the la&s;t hour they &s;hall be either try&s;ted with inexpre&s;&s;ible fears, Terrours, and Agonies, of a troubled mind for their pa&s;t life, by way of conviction and condemnation; or with unconceiv|able joy, peace, and compo&s;our of Con&s;cience, upon a &s;ealed pardon and ab&s;olution, to their eternall and un&s;peakable &s;atis|faction and &s;olace both here and hereafter.</P>
<P>So that by a genuin confe&s;&s;ion and univer&s;al con&s;ent of the
<PB N="4" REF="3">
better &s;ort of all Men, of all conditions, and in all ages, ye<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> and of all religions; how different &s;oever in opinion other ways the former opinion of the Sub&s;i&s;tance of Spirits hath been ge|nerally received for an undoubted Truth, &s;pecially by Divin<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> Penitents; upon whom the Grace of God hath mightily pre|vailed, with an irre&s;i&s;table, and Supream Divine power: Now if there be Spirits, there mu&s;t needs be &s;ome good, &s;et apart for the &s;ervice of the truely Elect, and &s;ome Bad who b<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> Mini&s;ters of Ju&s;tice for execution of Divine vengeance upon all the ungodly Reprobat of who&s;e &s;ervice, conver&s;e, &amp; familiarity among y^e Sons of men in obedience to their re&s;pective charges there is &s;o full and clear mention made as well in Sacred as prophane Story, as that I Hope none will be &s;o impudent to deny much le&s;s to gain&s;ay &s;o notour a Truth, to Wit, that there be Familiar Spirits, and that Men and Women make League and Compact, and intimately conver&s;e with them <HI>Joannes</HI> and <HI>Jambres, Pharao</HI> and <HI>Balaam, Mana&s;&s;eh</HI> and King <HI>Saul,</HI> with the Endor <HI>Witch</HI> be pregnant in&s;tances hereo<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> from Divine Story; and <HI>Zeroa&s;ter, Michael Scot, Faustus, Major Weir,</HI> St. <HI>Giels</HI> of Brittain High Con&s;table to <HI>Charles</HI> the Seventh King of <HI>France, Bladud</HI> Son of <HI>Lud</HI> King of <HI>England,</HI> our own <HI>Mc Baith</HI> and <HI>Natholicus</HI> Kings of <HI>Scotland</HI> with <HI>Liodo<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"></HI> that famous Sicilian Wizard, and innumerable others be&s;ide be recorded for confirmation of the Truth hereof, in Humane Story.</P>
<P>Nor has there been wanting &s;ome in all Ages, who by the &s;pecial grace and goodne&s;s of God to them, upon their giving over, and falling off, from &s;uch dete&s;table, and Devili&s;h practices, hath remitted to Po&s;terity, the manner of entering into that cur&s;ed Profe&s;&s;ion, with the Ceremonies thereto be|longing: Namely, how the Wizards, and Witches, warned by an Officer give their Per&s;onal &s;uit and Pre&s;ence in one Shape or other, at time and place, to attend the plea&s;ure of their Lord, which is mo&s;tly in the night-time, nor is any place &s;o piacular or &s;acred, but that the Devil and his Creatures (by permi&s;&s;ion) may meet therein, nay even the verie Churches them&s;elves, where he makes bold to mount the Pulpit, black candles with a blew Low, burning all the while, both about the Pulpit, and Binch, and in &s;everal other parts and quarters throughout, and in all places wherever they meet,
<PB N="5" REF="3">
He gives his Helli&s;h advice to his mi&s;erable Catives, and they confe&s;s to him what horrible villanie they have perpetrat &s;ince their la&s;t meeting, receiving his prai&s;e and applau&s;e accordingly, the mo&s;t profligat and notorious wretches be always by him had in the highe&s;t e&s;teem, and when they be thus met, they be often richly fea&s;ted (tho' but in &s;how) with meat, drink, and mu&s;ick of the be&s;t, or w^t whatever el&s;e may ravi&s;h &amp; captivat the &s;en&s;es, the <HI>Incubu&s;&s;es</HI> al&s;o &s;erve to &s;atisfie the lu&s;t of the Witches, and the <HI>Succubu&s;&s;es</HI> the lu&s;t of the Wizzards: at their meeting and departing they pay their accu&s;tomed reverence to <HI>Lucifer,</HI> and perform all wor&s;hip to him, and by anointing them&s;elves with certain oyntment, compounded at the command of the Devil, they are carried in Spirit through the Air, hither or thither, by one mean, or other: and when any be to be entred, they be recomended, and pre&s;ented by the Society, whereupon giving their right hand to Satan, and renouncing the Chri&s;tian Faith, and Sacraments, and upon transferring the Dominion of them|&s;elves, Soul and Bodie to him for ever, with a promi&s;e to wor|&s;hip Him as their Lord, they are &s;worn and &s;olemnly admitted, and then have given them on Helli&s;h imp or moe, for their Titular and Gardian, [by way of Spirit Familiar] to direct and guide them throughout all the pa&s;&s;ages of their time, whereby they perform afterwards all their lewd and wicked deeds.</P>
<P>Now &s;ince from what is &s;aid, it manife&s;tly appears that their be wicked Spirits, and that there be who are in Covenant and League with them, &s;uch as the <HI>Judicial Astrologer, Monethly-Progno&s;ticator, Sooth-&s;ayer, Magician, Sorcerer, Necromancer, Charmer,</HI> and <HI>Wizard,</HI> all compri&s;ed in the prohibition under the name <HI>WITCH,</HI> <NOTE N="a" PLACE="foot"><HI>Exod.</HI> 22.18.</NOTE> it will not be a mi&s;s to tell you what every one of the &s;aid Profe&s;&s;ors of Witchcraft be, where|in they differ &amp; agree one with another, of the&s;e in order. And,</P>
<P><HI>First,</HI> An A&s;trologer, is either taken in a good &s;en&s;e, for &s;uch as contemplate the Stars and Face of Heaven, that they may therein view the incomparable Glorie, Wi&s;dom, Power, Goodne&s;s and Providence of God, di&s;covered and &s;hining forth in them, <NOTE N="b" PLACE="foot"><HI>Rom.</HI> 1.18,&mdash;22. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 8.1, 3: 19.1.&mdash;3. <HI>&amp; P&s;al.</HI> 104.</NOTE> which formerly was, and &s;till ought to be the practice of the truly Godly in all times according to the Pre|cept, <NOTE N="c" PLACE="foot"><HI>I&s;a.</HI> 40.26.</NOTE> and the end of their creation, <NOTE N="d" PLACE="foot"><HI>Gen.</HI> 1.14.</NOTE> in this fir&s;t
<PB N="6" REF="4">
&s;en&s;e it may more fitly be termed A&s;tronomie than A&s;trologie But when it is taken in an evil &s;en&s;e for &s;uch as gaze upon and view the face of Heaven, that they may read and divine by the Po&s;ition of the Stars, the Fates, or Fortunes of States, and Per&s;ons in relation to Life, Death, Felicitie, Adver&s;itie, and the like, as to their circum&s;tantial events in good or evil; it is called <HI>Astrologie Judicial,</HI> and for the cau&s;es fore-menti|oned, not without pregnant and &s;ufficient ground, de&s;ervedly condemned: hence as the <HI>Hebrews</HI> affirm the <HI>Radix, Term,</HI> or <HI>Thema,</HI> comes from an Arabick word &s;ignifying to decide, which &s;eems to point at &s;uch as take upon them to determine things of future Contingencie, by the view of the Sky, as &s;ays <HI>I&s;aiah,</HI> <NOTE N="e" PLACE="foot"><HI>I&s;a.</HI> 43.12.</NOTE> upon which account they were held in venerable e&s;teem, and were highly re&s;pected by the <HI>Babylonians, Chaldeans,</HI> and other Nations, <NOTE N="f" PLACE="foot"><HI>Dan.</HI> 1.20.&mdash;2.2.&mdash; 4.7. &mdash; 5.7.&mdash; 2.10.</NOTE> as al&s;o with the ungodly <HI>Jews, I&s;aiah</HI> 47.11. And therefore where mention is made of them, they be ordinarly joyned with Star-gazers, Monethly-Progno&s;tica|tors, Magicians, Sorcerers, Chaldeans, Sooth-&s;ayers and Wi&s;e|men, as in <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> and <HI>Daniel,</HI> in the fore-cited places appear.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> the Monethly-Progno&s;ticators whereof mention is made by <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> <NOTE N="g" PLACE="foot"><HI>I&s;a.</HI> 47.13.</NOTE> were &s;uch as did in&s;truct give notice, or make known before hand the &s;everal a&s;pects of the Sun, Moon, and other Planets among&s;t them&s;elves, with their influ|ences, revolutions, and common effects, naturally following thereupon, as to the various Occurrences that were to fall out throughout each moneth of the year: which is much in kind to the A&s;tronomie or A&s;trologie in the better part, mentioned in the preceeding &sect;: and in &s;o far only is to be di&s;proven, as it dipps into A&s;trology Judicial, whereof formerly.</P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> Sooth-&s;ayers, or according to the old Scots Dialect, Truth-tellers, were &s;uch as ob&s;erved the Clouds, Planets, and the flying of Birds, whereby they pretended to foretell all fu|ture Events in all humane actions, as to good and bad Luck; which at fir&s;t took place in the Ea&s;t, and from thence was communicat to other Nations <NOTE N="h" PLACE="foot"><HI>I&s;a.</HI> 2.6.</NOTE> hence in the Original the word is derived from HAANAN a Cloud, for that by the chattering or flight of Birds in the Air they pretended to know things to come: others fetch the word from HAAJIN an eye making them to agree, and to be the &s;ame with the A&s;trolo|ger
<PB N="7" REF="4">
Judicial fore-&s;aid, which without all naturall and divine <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ound or rea&s;on, pretended to know &s;ea&s;onable and opportune <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">mes, for the doing of matters, by viewing the Sky, Signes, Planets, and other Stars <NOTE N="i" PLACE="foot"><HI>I&s;a.</HI> 47.13.</NOTE>: &s;ome again there be, who de|rive it from the former word HAANAN, a Cloud, for that by enchantments, and &s;uch like wicked Arts they deceived the &s;ight, making the Spectators otherways look upon things then in truth they were, and in this they were in kind to the Magician, whereof afterwards, &s;uch were <HI>Joannes</HI> and <HI>Jambres,</HI> who by their lieing wonders which they wickedly brought to pa&s;s by their Enchantments &s;ought thereby to belie the true miracles wrought by the hand of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> at the command of the Lord <NOTE N="k" PLACE="foot"><HI>Exod.</HI> 7.8, 9, 10, 11.</NOTE> the greatne&s;s of who&s;e Crime is palpable from the &s;everity of the Judgement mentioned in the Law, <NOTE N="l" PLACE="foot"><HI>Levit.</HI> 20.6.</NOTE> which is to be duely execute in full and de&s;erved puni&s;hment upon them without all pity or compa&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P><HI>Fourthly,</HI> Magicians, Such were in high e&s;teem among the Nations <NOTE N="m" PLACE="foot"><HI>Dan.</HI> 2.2&mdash;5.7, 8. <HI>Exod.</HI> 7.8, 9, 10 <HI>ch.</HI></NOTE> and pretended to be well &s;een, and to have great skill in the nature of things, even of the highe&s;t Import and Concern: and &s;eems to have been the &s;ame with the Diviner, whom they u&s;ed to con&s;ult in all weighty Ca&s;es, as did the <HI>Phili&s;tines</HI> <NOTE N="n" PLACE="foot">1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 6.2.</NOTE> and the King of <HI>Babylon</HI> <NOTE N="o" PLACE="foot"><HI>Ezek.</HI> 21.21.</NOTE> which was an abomination to the Lord, <NOTE N="p" PLACE="foot">1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 15.23.</NOTE> becau&s;e perpetrat by unlawful and wicked means <NOTE N="q" PLACE="foot">1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 28.8</NOTE> as by Sand, Iron, Stones, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Some by lying on the ground, and &s;ome by a walking-&s;taff: Hence &s;ays <HI>Ho&s;eah</HI> <NOTE N="r" PLACE="foot"><HI>Ho&s;.</HI> 4.12.</NOTE> <HI>My People ask Coun&s;el at their Stocks, and their Staff declareth unto them:</HI> Such ordinarily profe&s;&s;ed skill in telling &s;ecrets, and future events, by ob&s;er|vation of Stars (wherein they agreed with the Judicial A|&s;trologer) &amp; by the unlawful u&s;e of &s;uch like &s;uper&s;titious cir|cumventing means of fraud and deceit, Satan either &s;ugge&s;ted to them, that which was de&s;ired to be known, or otherwayes by crafty and ambiguous an&s;wers concealed his ignorance of that he could not reveal as by the&s;e following Oracles appear.
<Q><L>Aio te Aeaecide, Romanos vincere po&s;&s;e,</L>
<L><HI>Crae&s;us Chalim</HI> penetrans magnum pervertet opum vim.</L></Q>
The word <HI>Cha<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">tummin</HI> rendred Magician is not properly
<PB N="8" REF="5">
Hebrew, but Chaldaic, tho' in u&s;e with them <NOTE N="&s;" PLACE="foot"><HI>Dan.</HI> 2.10.</NOTE> and is commonly rendred both by the <HI>Greeks</HI> and <HI>Latines</HI> Genethli|acon or Interpriter (as &s;ays <HI>Aben-ezra)</HI> from their taking on them to divine from the Nativity hour the good or bad luck of the Enquirer, by the <HI>Greeks</HI> they were properly called <HI>Sophi,</HI> and by the <HI>Per&s;ians Magi</HI> wi&s;emen, whence they &s;eem to fetch their name.</P>
<P><HI>Fifthly,</HI> The Sorcerer, whereof there were two &s;orts, 1. Such as either deluded the outward &s;en&s;es, by <HI>Legerdemeen;</HI> or 2ly, &s;uch as by their wicked art did great hurt, hence the puni&s;hment was diver&s;e; who&s;o did ill by his wicked art, or witch-craft, was by the <HI>Jews</HI> Law to be &s;toned to death, but the Deceiver or Deluder was only to be &s;courged: the original word <HI>Ca&s;haph,</HI> or fore&s;eer, in the Hebrew &s;ignifies changing or turning, hence the Greek word <HI>Ba&s;caino,</HI> and the Latine word <HI>Fa&s;cino,</HI> to bewitch: with the <HI>Per&s;ians</HI> they be termed <HI>Magi,</HI> wi&s;e, and for the affinitie of the name held vulgarly to be &s;ome|what in kind to the Magician, whereof in the preceeding &sect;: nor were they any whit in le&s;s e&s;teem as the &s;ignification of the word <HI>Magos,</HI> wi&s;e, &s;eems to import, which at fir&s;t was taken in a good &s;en&s;e (as the word <HI>Tyrannus</HI> with the Latines and the word <HI>Knave</HI> with our Progenitors which two words were in old time taken for a King and a &s;ervant, but now bear a quite different &s;ignification as is obvious enough to all) even &s;o, for that the <HI>Aegyptians</HI> and <HI>Chaldeans</HI> give them&s;elves to the &s;tudie and Practice of Devili&s;h arts, the word <HI>Magos</HI> began in time, to be taken in an evil and malignant &s;en&s;e, of this &s;ort were the Sorcerers of <HI>Aegypt,</HI> mentioned by <HI>Paul</HI> <NOTE N="t" PLACE="foot">2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 3.8.</NOTE> of whom we have &s;poken formerly.</P>
<P><HI>Sixthly,</HI> The Necromancer was he that &s;ought unto the dead, and enquired at them <NOTE N="u" PLACE="foot">1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 28.11, 15.</NOTE> expre&s;ly forbidden in the Law of the Lord <NOTE N="w" PLACE="foot"><HI>Deut.</HI> 18.11.</NOTE> &s;uch rai&s;ed in appearance (by the help of a Familiar Spirit) the Dead, and asked Coun&s;el at them, as did the Witch of <HI>Endor</HI> for King <HI>Saul</HI> in di&s;tre&s;&s;e? Of the Necromancer it is &s;aid, that he made him&s;elf hungrie, and &s;lept among the dead, or el&s;e that he put on proper Cloaths, and burned Incen&s;e, that he might have fellow&s;hip with, and advice from the dead; the partie con&s;ulter (it &s;eems) beho|ved likeways to fa&s;t, as may be gathered from the fir&s;t of <HI>Sam.</HI> 28.22. to the end.</P>
<P><PB N="9" REF="5"><HI>Seventhly,</HI> A Charmer, Enchanter, or Conjurer, comes from the Hebrew word CHOBER, which &s;ignifies conjoyning or con&s;ociating, in Chaldee they be called RATIM, of mute|ring, or mumbling, the Greek word is <HI>Emphaidon,</HI> charming or enchanting, he &s;peaks Words of a &s;trange Tongue, and without &s;en&s;e, firmly believing that &s;uch words are profitable to cure, prevent, or remove &s;ickne&s;s, and to cau&s;e to pro&s;per; thus &s;ometime they repeat ver&s;es out of the Bible &amp; to y^t effect make the Bible medicine to the Body, which is the medicine and food of the Soul <NOTE N="x" PLACE="foot"><HI>Prov.</HI> 3.22.</NOTE> &s;uch kind of Cattle with Fortune-readers, and &s;uch wicked and unhallowed Stuff frequently abound among&s;t us, &s;o that I need not tell you what they are, would to God we had not &s;o frequent occa&s;ions and acce&s;s of knowing them.</P>
<P><HI>Eighthly,</HI> A Wizard mentioned in <HI>Deut.</HI> 18.11. Was one who took upon him to foretell things to come, without any &s;o|<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ide ground of rea&s;on or divine Revelation; he differed from the A&s;tronomer, and Judicial A&s;trologer, and Sooth-&s;ayer, in that they fetcht their knowledge from external cau&s;es, but he from a &s;ecret impul&s;e of the Devil, all of them agreeing in this, that their pretended skill was without any &s;olide Foundation tho' generally they were much &s;et by, &amp; looked upon as famous in their generation &amp; men of renown, for that they made &s;how of great skill and cunning in di&s;clo&s;ing hidden things, and foretelling future events: and be (when mentioned,) u&s;ually <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">oyned with &s;uch as have Familiar Spirits; as well in Legal prohibitions <NOTE N="y" PLACE="foot"><HI>Lev.</HI> 19.31.&mdash;20.27.</NOTE> as in Hi&s;torical relations <NOTE N="z" PLACE="foot">1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 28.3, 9. 2 <HI>Kings</HI> 21.6. &mdash; 23.24. 2 <HI>Chron.</HI> 33.6.</NOTE> and in the Prophe&s;ie <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 8.19. Such profe&s;&s;ors as tho&s;e fore-mentioned, eight were by a general Name called <HI>Chaldeans</HI> from their mother Land wherein they at fir&s;t were hatch'd, the Hebrew word JIDGNONI, whence the <HI>Wizard</HI> has his name, &s;ignifies knowledge or cunning, whereunto accords the Greek word GNOSTES a knowing one, or Progno&s;ticator, hence the <HI>Gnosticks</HI> of old had their name, who laid claim to a greater knowledge than in Truth they had, and that without all warrand Divine or Humane: But in the <HI>Chaldean</HI> Tongue he hath his name of remembrance, from the word ZECURU becau&s;e he revealed things worthy to be remembred, (as
<PB REF="6">
they verily thought who were by them deceived,) hence in the <HI>Jew</HI> traditions, he is de&s;crib'd to be one, who put in his mouth the bone of a Bird, called JADVANG, and burned incen&s;e, and did other works until he fell down as with &s;hames or mode&s;ty, and &s;poke things that were afterward to come to pa&s;s.</P>
<P>Thus did the Devil by his &s;aid Agents, or In&s;truments, &s;o craftily carry, and demean him&s;elf, in the di&s;covery of &s;ecrets by them, that it was verily believed by the greate&s;t Kings, and Potentats, that there could be nothing &s;o dark, and ab&s;cond, that they could not reveal, <HI>Dan.</HI> 2.2, 5. So that they were to them as the Prophets of old were to the I&s;rael of God, the time of that ignorance God winking at; but why they &s;hould be try&s;ted now (in the Meridian Sun-&s;hin of Go&s;pel-Ordinances,) with the &s;ame faith, and belief, (God now calling all men every where to repent, and turn from their former evil way, to walk in newne&s;s of Life, and to conform them&s;elves to the example of His Son, whom he hath &s;ent into the World, to de&s;troy the works of the Devil, 1 <HI>John.</HI> 3.8.) is (without all controver&s;ie) ju&s;tly a&s;toni&s;hing, and &s;urpri&s;ing.</P>
<P>Having thus far run through part of my task, in de&s;cribing the chief profe&s;&s;ors of Witch-Craft, and in &s;hewing you where|in they agree with, and di&s;&s;ent one from another, &s;ome plac|ing their skill in one thing, &s;ome in another, &s;ome being acted with a Spirit of Divination, and &s;ome being taken up with contemplation of the heavenly Orbs, of which they pretended to read all future events, and to tell, and di&s;clo&s;e all &s;ecrets what&s;oever.</P>
<P>It next re&s;ts that we &s;hew unto you, what a Witch is, and what be the &s;everal Parts and <HI>Species</HI> of Witch-Craft, wherein we &s;hall ob&s;erve the &s;ame order as heretofore. <HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> De&s;cribing and defining what a Witch is, both from Scripture, and y^e Original; as al&s;o, what horrid guilt they underly who are guilty of the &s;ame, and then di&s;cour&s;e to you what be the &s;everal Parts, and <HI>Species</HI> thereof: as al&s;o, we &s;hall &s;hew you what may probably be the rea&s;ons, why Satan &s;o far unmaskes him&s;elf at this pre&s;ent, as to pre&s;ent to the tormented (by a &s;ort of corporeal repre&s;entation) the per&s;ons of their tor|mentors, in their various habits, ge&s;turs, and actions, and in their pre&s;ent Po&s;turs they are in for the time; &s;o that the tor|mented
<PB N="11" REF="6">
&s;hall be able to give an account of what they hear, &s;ee, and &s;uffer by them, for the time; who, and what they are who <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">rouble them, and how and by what means they be tormented by them, and yet all by-&s;tanders what&s;omever, neither do hear, &s;ee, nor feel any thing, tho' the tormented be able to prove and confirm what they &s;ay by the &s;ure&s;t tokens imagi|nable, as by pulling to them in open Air, part of their tormen|tors garments (none either &s;eeing per&s;ons nor ve&s;tments but the tormented only,) which how &s;oon they lay hold on they from thence forth become vi&s;ible, &s;o that all know them to belong to &s;uch and &s;uch per&s;ons, who knew the &s;aid Su&s;pected per&s;ons to u&s;e &s;uch habits formerly: and la&s;t of all, I &s;hall give &s;ome vive and &s;hrewd Marks, and &s;ome unque&s;tionable tokens, as they be recorded in the mo&s;t approven Authors, how and by what means, a Witch (in League, and Covenant with the Devil) may be decerned to be &s;o, that the innocent may not be condemn'd with the nocent, but that Judgment may trot in an even path, and an ea&s;ie way be opened for their di&s;covery, either by Confe&s;&s;ion, Conviction, or Probation, to the Prai&s;e, and Glory of God. Thus when I have an&s;wered promi&s;e, by performance, I &s;hall &s;um up all with a &s;hort Conclu&s;ion, and &s;o end.</P>
<P>A Witch in Scripture-account is one who liveth in the dayly Practice, and habitual exerci&s;e of Devili&s;h Arts, wherof menti|on is made in <HI>Exodus</HI> 22.18. <HI>Lev.</HI> 19.26. <HI>Deut.</HI> 18.10, 11, 12. and a pregnant in&s;tance thereof we find recorded <NOTE N="a" PLACE="foot">2 <HI>King.</HI> 21. <HI>compared with</HI> 2 <HI>Chr.</HI> 33.</NOTE> anent <HI>Mana&s;&s;eh</HI> King of <HI>Judah,</HI> who &s;old him&s;elf to do wickedly in the &s;ight of the Lord, &amp; for a long time lived in the Practice of Devili&s;h Arts, condemned <NOTE N="b" PLACE="foot"><HI>Lev.</HI> 20.6, 27. 1 <HI>Chr.</HI> 10.13.</NOTE> which thing they al&s;o do, who are guilty of &s;uch horrid impiety: hence then it appears, in what a woful e&s;tate they are in, who thus live in continuall commerce with the Devil, in manife&s;t oppo&s;ition again&s;t God, and his Word, who&s;e Sin fa&s;t ripens unto Judgement, witne&s;s <HI>Pharao, Saul</HI> and <HI>Mana&s;&s;eh;</HI> nor is the momentany plea&s;ure here, ever able to counterballance the lo&s;s hereafter, the Devil &s;eldom gratifies the man but with the de&s;truction of the Soul, hence is it that the truly Godly never trace the&s;e &s;tops, for that they be ranked among the works of the fle&s;h <NOTE N="c" PLACE="foot"><HI>Gal.</HI> 5.20.</NOTE> and all &s;uch be &s;everely threatned by God, that he will judge them,
<PB N="12" REF="7">
&amp; be a &s;wift witne&s;s again&s;t them, <NOTE N="d" PLACE="foot"><HI>Mal.</HI> 3.5.</NOTE> whoever they be that be guilty of the &s;ame, either in profe&s;&s;ing skil, or u&s;ing &amp; practi|cing directly or indirectly, any of the parts and <HI>Species</HI> thereof, whither it be in going to any &s;uch for advice, or encouraging them in their Sin by harbour, &s;upplie, or any other countenan|cing of them, whereby they may be encouraged in their &s;in; the Hebrew word <HI>Meca&s;hephah,</HI> rendred commonly by us a Witch, &s;ignifies properly to deceive, as it were by <HI>Legerdemeen</HI> as did the Sorcerers of <HI>Egypt</HI> in their lieing wonders (whereof formerly) by locking the outward &s;en&s;es, and changing the appearances of things: in Greek it is rendred <HI>Pharmacopeia, Gal.</HI> 5.20. that is to &s;ay poy&s;oning, or as our tran&s;lators turn it bewitching; for that all poy&s;oning is comprehended under murther, as a con|&s;equent of the &s;ame, by the Latins it's called <HI>Fa&s;cino,</HI> to deceive, hence you &s;ee the harmony of all three, with the rea&s;on, for that &s;uch Catives as they, not only deceive, poy&s;on, and murther others, but them&s;elves al&s;o, in that they be captivat by the Devil at his plea&s;ure, and re&s;erved (as Satan and his angels be) to the Judgment of the great day for their reward, and then &s;hall all &s;uch know to their co&s;t what it is to league and make compact with the Devil.</P>
<P>The word <HI>Meca&s;hephah</HI> mentioned before is of the foeminin gender, either for that the woman was by Satan fir&s;t deceived, or for that that Sex is more readily circumvented, or el&s;e for that mo<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> of them than of men be thus deceived, altho there be not wanting men Witches as well as women Witches <NOTE N="e" PLACE="foot"><HI>Lev.</HI> 20.27.</NOTE> who&s;e Sin is as hainous, and their Judgement as grievous as is the Judgement and &s;in of the other: &s;o that whoever they be without re&s;pect of Sex or quality, who are guilty of this great &s;in any manner of way what&s;omever, mo&s;t needs be in a woful and lamentable e&s;tate, the black catalogue and roll whereof (that none may pretend ignorance,) be plea&s;ed to view as they follow in the &s;everal <HI>Species</HI> thereof, having &s;poken for|merly of the Profe&s;&s;ors hereof.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t, Hydromancie,</HI> which is a divination by water. 2ly, <HI>A&euml;|romancy,</HI> by Air. 3ly, <HI>Pyromancy,</HI> by fire. 4ly, <HI>Geomancie,</HI> by earth. 5ly, <HI>Capniomancy,</HI> by &s;moak. 6ly, <HI>Alectriomancy,</HI> by the crowing of Cocks. 7ly, <HI>P&s;ychomancy,</HI> or <HI>Necromancie,</HI> that con&s;ult the Dead. 8ly, <HI>Alphytomancy,</HI> that divine by the in&s;pection of wheat-flowr. 9ly, <HI>Ictuomancie,</HI> by fish. 10ly, <HI>Libanomancie,</HI> by Incen&s;e. 11ly,
<PB N="13" REF="7">
<HI>Cheiromancy,</HI> by the hands. 12ly, <HI>Phi&s;iognomy,</HI> by the face or coun|tenance. 13ly, <HI>Ga&s;triomancy,</HI> which is a divination by giving an|&s;wers forth of the belly, by a familiar &s;pirit, &s;uch a one was that <HI>Pythoni&s;&s;a,</HI> mentioned by <HI>Paul</HI> <NOTE N="f" PLACE="foot"><HI>Act.</HI> 16.16.</NOTE> who was acted by the &s;pi|rit of <HI>Python,</HI> or Divination, throw y^e In&s;tinct of y^e Devil, &s;o cal|led from <HI>Pythius Apollo,</HI> the original word <HI>Ob,</HI> &s;ignifies a bottle, <NOTE N="g" PLACE="foot"><HI>Job</HI> 32.19.</NOTE> and is applyed to &s;uch as being in&s;pired with a Familiar Spirit &s;poke with hollow voices forth of their belly, the maner whereof the Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> &s;howeth to be with a hollow, &s;low voice <NOTE N="h" PLACE="foot"><HI>I&s;a.</HI> 29.4.</NOTE> which <HI>Maimonie</HI> in his Treati&s;e of Idolatrie, <HI>cap.</HI> 6. <HI>&s;ect.</HI> 1. Explaineth thus, that he y^t had this Familiar Spirit, or Spirit of <HI>Python,</HI> &s;tood and burned Incen&s;e, and holding a rod of Mirtle-tree in his hand, waved it, and &s;poke certain words in &s;ecret untill he that enquired did hear one &s;peak unto him, and an&s;wer him, touching that which he enquired, with words from under the Earth, and with a &s;low voice: Or el&s;e he took a dead mans skull, and burned Incen&s;e thereto, and u&s;ed enchanting and charming words, till he heard a low and &s;low voice which was <HI>Sauls</HI> &s;in <NOTE N="i" PLACE="foot">2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 28.7.&mdash;15.</NOTE> for the which the Lord &s;lew him <NOTE N="k" PLACE="foot">1 <HI>Chr.</HI> 10.13.</NOTE> and hath threatned to cut of all from among his People, who do enquire of any &s;uch <NOTE N="l" PLACE="foot"><HI>Lev.</HI> 20.6.</NOTE> 14ly, There is a <HI>Species</HI> of Divination practi&s;ed by the King of <HI>Babylon,</HI> which &s;eems to have been in u&s;e among the Heathen mentioned by <HI>Ezekiel</HI> <NOTE N="m" PLACE="foot"><HI>Ezek.</HI> 21. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 21.</NOTE> which was done by in&s;pection of Bea&s;ts intrals. 15ly, there is a kind of Witchraft by enchanting &s;pells, or charms, whereby Men, Women, Children, and Bea&s;ts, be in their per|&s;ons, or Goods, hurt or poy&s;oned <NOTE N="n" PLACE="foot"><HI>Act.</HI> 8.9, 10. &mdash; 19.13. <HI>Eccl.</HI> 10.11.</NOTE>. 16ly, Jugling, when by the Devils conveyance, and a deception of the outward &s;en&s;es, diver&s;e &s;trange and wonderful things are done, not really, but by &s;light, and in appearance, or external &s;how only <NOTE N="o" PLACE="foot"><HI>Exod.</HI> 7.8, 9, 10.</NOTE>. 17ly, there is an u&s;ual way of fortelling things to come by <HI>Horo&s;cop,</HI> very much in practice now a-days, (e&s;pecially in <HI>Padua,</HI> and in diver&s;e other places both in <HI>Italie</HI> and <HI>Germany)</HI> whereby they foretell, (by erecting a Sheam of the Heavens, with re&s;pect to the Nativity of the Enquirer,) all Events what&s;omever, in relation to the que&s;tion demanded, at the lea&s;t they give out that &s;o they can do: all which <HI>Species</HI> of
<PB N="14" REF="8">
Divination and Witchcraft, with all that has, or any manner of way may relate thereto is expre&s;ly forbidden in the Law of the Lord <NOTE N="p" PLACE="foot"><HI>Deut.</HI> 18.10, 11, 12.</NOTE> which is &s;ummarily compri&s;ed, <HI>Exod.</HI> 22.18.</P>
<P>As to the rea&s;ons, why Satan &s;o far unmasks him&s;elf at this time, by &s;o palpable and legible di&s;covery of &s;uch as be in League and Covenant with him&s;elf; We &s;hall &s;hortly &s;um them up as follows, 1&s;t, It may flow from the multitude of Witches, that may po&s;&s;ibly be abounding among&s;t us, and Satans being willing to have &s;uch cut off in time, lea&s;t by a preached Go&s;pel, &s;ome be gained. 2ly, It may flow from &s;ome whited Profe&s;&s;ors of the truth, being engaged in his &s;ervice, and his &s;pite to the Go&s;pel, that the immaculate truth might be &s;candaliz'd through them. 3ly, We &s;ay, that the &s;hew of the Tormentors, to the tormented, in bodily &s;ort, may be one of Satans Stra|tagems, whereby he may be afterward enabled, the better to cut off the innocent with the nocent, it being ea&s;ie for him who is the arch Deceiver and Ma&s;ter-peice of all craft, to make the innocent Lambs of God appear in &s;how among his own Wolves: although with this remarkable difference, that all the powers of darkne&s;s, be no way able to make &s;uch pal|pable di&s;covery herein, by the tormenteds laying hold on their garments, as they readily do on the others: which verifies that of the P&s;almi&s;t, <HI>He that keepeth I&s;rael, neither &s;lumbers nor &s;leeps.</HI> For the pre&s;ence of the one is meerly Phanta&s;tical, and the other more real, &amp; while as they be not &s;een to all by-&s;tanders out to the tormented only, you mu&s;t know that it's a ea&s;ie thing for Satan to open the eyes of one, and re&s;train the &s;ight of another.</P>
<P>Now that we may draw to a clo&s;e, we &s;hall in the next place give you &s;ome vive and &s;hrewd marks, or &s;ome evident and probable tokens, whereby a Witch, or &s;uch as have made ex|pre&s;s League and Compact with the Devil, may be decerned from all others.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t whereof, is the in&s;en&s;ible or dead nip of a blea co|lour &s;omewhat hard, and withall in&s;en&s;ible, which for that it's known to many, I &s;hall not in&s;i&s;t much on it, only give me leave to &s;ay, that what way &s;o ever, whither by accident, or otherways, &s;uch in&s;en&s;ible marks be in the body, yet no &s;uch mark as theirs every circum&s;tance con&s;idered, is to be found with any others but them&s;elves, neither can ignorance how they come by it, or their getting of it when infant from their
<PB REF="8">
nurce, plead any excu&s;e, it being no way probable that a Witch can have any &s;uch power from the Devil.</P>
<P>The <HI>Second</HI> mark is, that &s;uch can by no means be drowned, tho' tyed hand &amp; foot together, &amp; thrown into a River; per|haps either for that they be de&s;tinat for another Element, or els for that they having renunced Bapti&s;m, the external Sacramen|tal &s;ign whereof is water, they be rejected and &s;purned again&s;t by this Element, by a Divine De&s;tination and a &s;ecret fence and Arrei&s;t of a &s;upream overruling Providence, which contrair to a common Cour&s;e of Nature, hath put a &s;top to that light and fluide Body of Water, whereby it by no means can receive into it the Body of a Witch, tho' in its &s;elf gravanimous and heavie.</P>
<P>The <HI>Third</HI> Mark is, that there can nothing befall them in time, (how heavie and afflicting &s;oever) no not though the torture it &s;elf were made u&s;e of,) draw from them the lea&s;t tear, though to that end they often di&s;tort, throw, and wring their faces, making as tho' they were weeping, which is the more remarkable, e&s;pecially in Women, for that &s;uch ordinarily carrie a bowl of tears in their head, which in Cro|cadell form they can let fall, upon very &s;light and momentuous occa&s;ion: God by &s;pecial Providence denying them tears, the ordinary con&s;equent and external &s;ign of Repentance, to whom he hath denyed the internal Grace, altho' it cannot be denyed but that the wicked may &s;eek a ble&s;&s;ing, as did the prophane <HI>E&s;au</HI> with tears, hence you &s;ee upon what account tears be de|nyed to Witches altho' not to other Reprobates, for tho' the&s;e be in &s;ome &s;en&s;e at an agreement with Satan, Sin, and Hell, yet is their Covenant and League not &s;o expre&s;s, as is the League and Covenant of the other.</P>
<P>The <HI>Fourth</HI> Mark is, the Bal&s;ilisk, or Serpentine &s;ight, where|with they be endued to kill, poy&s;on, and de&s;troy, what, and when&s;oever they plea&s;e, were it not that a Divine overruling providence doth often re&s;train and curb them, which &s;ight is in them above all other men and women in the world mo&s;t remarkable, for while as in the Aple of the Eye there is to be &s;een in all and every one, the Image of a man (commonly called the babe in the eye) with the head up and the feet down; the quite contrair is to be &s;een in them, to wit, the feet up, and the head down; God as it were hereby making open &s;how
<PB N="16" REF="9">
to the World, that He who keepeth His own as the Apple of the eye, taketh no &s;uch thought for y^e Slaves of Satan, but &s;uffers the Devil who&s;e Image they bear thus (by inver&s;ion) as an external Sign) to portray his Image in them, upon which account a Witch whither Man or Woman will not look on fixedly or &s;tedfa&s;tly in the face, namely, if they be adverting.</P>
<P>In the original Hebrew this Image in the Eye is called ISHON, the little man, or the black of the Eye Or el&s;e it is called Bath or Babath the Apple of the Eye, or the Daughter of the Eye <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">oth which be made mention of by the P&s;almi&s;t David, <NOTE N="q" PLACE="foot">P&s;al 17.8.</NOTE> while as in other places one only of the &s;aid words be u&s;ed as ISHON the little Man of Black of the Eye <NOTE N="r" PLACE="foot">Deut. 32.10. Prov. 7.2.</NOTE> Babath or Bath the Apple of the Eye, or the Daughter <NOTE N="&s;" PLACE="foot">Lam. 2.18. Zech, 2.8.</NOTE> the Black being the only Organ of fight, and the Apple of the Eye the Daughter as it were of that Organ for Bath or Babath &s;ignifies a Daughter, as &s;aid is, and it &s;erves for a munition and defence to ISHON the little Man or Black of the Eye, the true Organ of &s;ight; from hence is it that the Compari&s;on is drawn of Gods defending and keeping his People as the Black or Apple of the Eye, while as of Satans imps he hath no &s;uch care, as &s;aid is.</P>
<P>The Fifth Mark is, that a Witch will by no means be per&s;waded to repeat, the heads of the Chri&s;tian Religion, as they be &s;ummarly comprehended in the Decalogue, Lords Prayer, and Belief, but with &s;evera minckings, eikings, or inver&s;ions, which is certainly <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">orth the marking; nor can their Ignorance, or Ba&s;hfulne&s;s, plead any excu&s;e, for whether it be before a multitude, or a fewer number, they will neither of them&s;elves, nor by following another, by any means be engaged to repeat the Words in Form and Order as they are.</P>
<P>The Sixth Mark is, That if you put any great or gro&s;s Salt in the Pipe of a Kye, and put all into the Fire, upon hearing the <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">tackling, and &s;eeing the blewi&s;h low thereof, which is like that of Brim&s;tone, in&s;tantly they &s;hall let go their Urine; but whither this flows from an inward pa&s;&s;ion and &s;tupifaction of mind, that upon hearing the crackling, and &s;eeing the Blewi&s;h Low fore&s;aid they be brought to remember the horrible noi&s;e and Sulphurious burning that is abiding them in Hell, at the Judgment of the great Day, when Soul and Body &s;hall be joyned together in one, and for ever and ever made lyable to the Wrath of the Everliving God, or on what other account as yet I know not, however as I am duely informed the mark is no le&s;s true than &s;trange.</P>
<P>Seventhly, There are not wanting &s;ome who be bold to averr, that a Witch may be known from a peculiar &s;ent or &s;mell, which is to be found in them, be&s;ide all other People in the World, and which neither flows from the ne&s;tine&s;s of Cloaths, Vermine, or the like, but a contradi&s;tinct &s;mell from any &s;uch thing, which may &s;eem the more probable for that the five Sen&s;es being the Doors of the Soul where|by what is within is ordinarly di&s;clo&s;ed, and the Devil being in full Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of their Soul, mu&s;t needs emitte his own &s;ent even that of the Pit.</P>
<P>Now from what is &s;aid, it plainly appears, how watchfull and circum&s;pect we ought to be, that we be not carried about with every wind of Doctrine, either to gain&s;tand the Truth, or receive a lie, in this &s;o guileful and perver&s;e an Age, wherein notwith&s;tanding of the manifold opportunities of Grace, Sin hath the a&s;cendent over us, hence Impiety &amp; Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion of all kind, doth flow down as a mighty &s;tream, to the great Scandal of our holy Profe&s;&s;ion, few giving them&s;elves to the Exerci&s;e and Practice of Godline&s;s, or bringing forth the Fruits thereof in newne&s;s of Life: Hence is it that Satan &s;o mightily prevails among&s;t us, and &s;till is like to do, except we &s;et our &s;elves again&s;t his Wiles, and wicked Devices, by an Holy and tender Walk, in all Humility and Godly Fear, putting on the Spiritual Armour, whereby we &s;hall be enabled to quench all the fiery Darts of the Devil.</P>
<P>For this end let us beg from the Hand of our God, who is a liberal Giver, quickning and &s;upporting Grace, in time of need, and to learn from the fall of others, that our &s;tanding is not in our &s;elves, but in the free mercy and &s;upporting Grace of God, who by a continual watching Eye of Providence, pre&s;erves us every moment, which is the only cau&s;e, why we are not con&s;umed long ere now, unto whom let us in all Humility recommend our &s;elves for Direction and Protection, that we may be &s;afe and &s;ecure, while we be travellours of hope, pa&s;&s;ing through this vale of mi&s;ery towards our end in eternal Felicity, where we &s;hall be ever with the Lord, World without end, Amen.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
<PB REF="9">
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
