But there are an humble Sort of Philofb-
phers, who want the Sagacity to conceive hew
any Subftance can exift without Extension and



C^fG's LETTERS.

i

lity ; and coniequently are modeft enough
' '. they do not underitand theJDi-
. s ,veen n^ierial and immaterial Sub-
es and that they cannot, with their moft
refin'd Imaginations, have any Notion or a
5ta c of Things, between extended Be-
1 no Beings at all 3 between real Eiien-
,ces ... >had&ws, Phantoms or Images of di
orders drains ; or that any Thij>g can^ exile
in the Univerfe, and at the fame time m no
part of it. And yet thefe Gentlemen will not
give up the general Syftem of '^pir ts, but flip*
pcfe them to be Beings of fubtle aerial Con-
texture, that in their own Nature are not Ob-
je6h of our Senfes, but have Powers, by af-
iuming more denfe Bodies, to make themfelves
fo, and have Capacities to do many Things
unaccountable to us, and beyond the Limks
and Reach of our Apprehenfions. All which
I think no Man will affirm to be impoffible ;
but I think any Man may fafely affirm, that
fuch Agents are not permitted to moleft human
Affairs, and feduce or miilead Men by doing
fupernatural Actions, or what muft appear to
us to be ib.

A contrary Suppofition muft deftroy the very
life of Miracles ; for if other Beings, either by
the Energy of their own Nature, or the Will
and Permlilion of God, can do Miracles, ^or
thofe Actions which we cannot diftinguiOi
from Miracles \ then nothing can be proved
by them, and we (hail lofe the be ft Evidence
of the Truth of our Holy Religion: Forjf
Signs and Wonders may be promifcuoufiy
Shewn and performed by the beft of all Beings

and



LETTERS.

and by the word, they may be done and us'd
to promote Error, Irrspofture and Wickednefs,
as weil as Virtue and true Religion ; nor can
I find out any Criurion, or fuffkient Mark,
\vh:-rcb/ we can diftingtiifh whirh arc done by
the Preferver, .-.nd v'hich by th. ^rofefs'd E-
nemy of Mankind. To fay that the Truth of
the Miracle (hall be tried by the Do&nne ir
is brought to propagate, or the Precepts it
commands, is to invert the very life and End
of Miracles, which is to give Credit and Au-
thority to the Doer, who is always fupposM
to a& by God's Power, in order to declare his
Vv'ill; and confequentty, if the Wonders he
does are to be tried by the Doctrine he teaches,
there would be no Life of any Wonders at all,
to prove not only what proves its felf, but
what Is to prove the Truth of the Miracle,
which is to prove the Truth of the Dodtrine.

We are very fure, that the great Creator of
Heaven and Earth, and the fole Author of all
our Happinefs, does not leave us in thefe Un-
certainties, and to be toiled and tumbled in
the thick Mill and dark Chaos of Ignorance
and Deceit. How can we know the Truth of
any Revelation, without knowing the Revea-
ler himfelf to be true ? We muft be firft certain,
that a good and beneficent Being (peaks to us,
before we can believe any Thing he tells us.
Whenever therefore Almighty God, by Means
becoming his infinite Wifdom, and from Cau-
fes impenetrable to us, communicates his Inten-
tions by Appearances and Reprefentations to
our Senfes, or by any other Ways out of the
ordinary Courfe of his Providence, he always

C



5-4 C^/0's LETTERS. '

gives us fare Marks whereby we can didinguilli
his Works from Delufion and Impofture,
which often ape Truth it felf, and miflead igno-
rant and unwary, Men. We are told in Holy
Writ, Ami young Menjbafl fee l r ifions, and eld
Jtfen dream Dreams^ which frequently hap-

. ns ; and that fa'fe Prophets foal I a-ifs and do
Woxdsrs, which (hall deceive nhnoft the Eleft, but
we are bid to disbelieve them *, which, if they
workM true Miracles, we could not do,
without rejecting all Miracles. For how can
we believe any Thing to be miraculous, and
at the fame time disbelieve another Thing to
be fb, without being able to {hew any DirTe-
* -nee between them ? And therefore we may
accijuiefce in an Affurance that fuch Pretenders
mi:ft be Cheats, and their Actions Impoftures
and Deceits upon our Senles.

Whenever God works \\ 7 onders, or produ~
ces thole Events^which {hall appear as fuch to
us, he always does them for wife Reafons, ei-
ther to warn and inform Men, to make them
Examples of his Juftice, or to communicate
his Will, and teach us fome Doctrine ; and he
rakes the molt proper and effectual Means to
attain his Ends, and coerce our Belief, by ma-
king fuch Applications to our outward Senfes>
and fuch Irepreffions upon our ilnderPiandinrs,
as we muft fubmit to, and acquielce in, unlt-fs
we refblve to give up all Certainty -, or elle
by Predictions which are judined by the E.
vent, which are undoubtedly Miracles. He
does them in the moft open Manner before
Crowds at once ; but our modern Miracle-
mongers do them all in Secret, in Corners, and

in



s LETTERS. 5*5

m the Dark ; and their Spirits and Apparitions
are feen only by melancholy, enthufiaftick and
dreaming old Men and Women, or by crazy
young ones, whofe Heads are intoxicated and
prepared for thefe Stories long before , and
they are generally feen but by one at once,
who is always in a Fright when he does lee
them ; or elie they are the Tricks and Ju.n-
gles of Headien and Popifh Prielts, or pretend-
ed Conjurers, to pick Men's Pockets, and pro-
mote fbme knavifh and fein'h Defign. They
are never done e a Houfe of Lords or

Common?, or in a Prince's Court, or in the
Streets before Multitudes of People, or in the
Sight of feveral Men at the fame time,- of
clear and unprejudiced Underfeeding^ oroF
unquefticni.ble Integrity.

When our Saviour apper:r'd to all his Difc
t ciples together, he' appeai'cl to their Senfes*
bid them not be afraid, bin to put their Hands
into his Side, a<.d believe thernfelves r He
made his Afccnfion before live Hundred Peo-
ple at once: His Miracle of the Loaves and
Fifties was before five Thoufand ; His turning
Water into Wine was at a Publick Wedding ;
and the reft were of the fame kind : He went
through Judcfi from Place lo Place publickly
doing Miracles, confirming and convincing iM^
who were not wilfully blind, of the Truth j:)ir
his Mi-lion: and teaching a Doctrine of infinite
Advantage to Mankind ; whereas our prefent
Workers or Seers of Miracles never tell us
any Thing worth knowing ; and we have no
other Evidence that they are feen or done,
but the Veracity of thole who tell them, who

C 4 may



Giro's LETTERS.

may be deceived themfelves, or invent Lies to
deceive others. The Proof ought always to
be equal to the Importance of the Thing to
be believ'd ; for when it is more likely that
a Man fhould tell a Lye, or be deceiv'd, than
That a ftrange Phenomenon fhould be true,
inethinks there fhould be no Difficulty to de-.
rermine on which Side of the Queilion we
fhould give our Aifent ; tho' in Fa6t moft Men
are fo prepared by Education to believe thefe
Stories, that they will believe the Relation of
them in thefe Cafes, when they will believe
them in nothing elfe.

If one or two Men affirm they taw another
leap twenty Yards at one Leap, no one will
doubr but they are Lyars ; but if they teftify
chat they faw a Goblin with Saucer Eyes and
cloven Feet, in a Church yard, leap over the
Tower ; ail the Town is in a Fright, and few
of them will venture to walk abroad in a dark
Night. Sometimes thefe Phantoms appear to
one who is in Company with others, and no
one can fee them but htmfelf , and yet all the
reft ^ are terrify'd at his Relation, without
reafbning that they have the fame or better
Faculties of feeing than he has ; and therefore
that his Organs muft either be indifpofed, or
that he deiigns to impofe upon them ; but it
paiTes for a Miracle, and then all doubts are
iolved, and all Enquiries at an End : All Men
believe moft of thofe Stories to be falfe, and
yet almoftall believe fomeof them to be true,
upon no better Evidence than they reject the
reil : The next Story of an old Woman inha-
biting a Cat, or flying in the Air upon a Broorn-

ffick;



LETTERS. 57

(Hole, fets them a daring, and puts their Incredu-
1 ity to a Non-plus. We often hear of a Spirit ap-
pearing to difcover a Silver Spoon, a Purfe of
hidden Money, or perhaps a private Murder;
but are never told of a Tyrant, who by private
Murders has flaughter'd Thoufands,and by pub-
lick Butcheries deftrcy'd Millions, ever drag'cl
out of his Court by good or evil Spirits, as a
Terror to fuch Monfters: Such an Infhr.ce
would convince all Mankind ; and if Almighty
God thought fit to work by fuch Engines, and
intended that we fhould believe in them or any
of them, it is impoilible to believe but he would
take theprbpereft Method? to gain our Aflent.

From what 1 have hvd, and much more
Which flight be faid, I think I may with great
Aflurance conclude, that thefe capricious and
fantaftical Beinps are not fuffered to interfere
and mingle with human AfK.irs, only to miflcad
Men, ar.d interrupt them in the Purfuit of
their Duty : nor can I fee any Fcundaticn ire
Nature, Realon, or Scripture, to believe there
are any fuch as they are tiRially reprefented to
us, v/hich neither agree and k^cp up to the-
Chara'Sters, D, .ity and Excellence of '^ocd
Angel?, or the Sagacity, OfHce and life of
bad ones. VA here are we commanded to believe,
that the Devi! plays hide and leek here on
Earth: thar he is permitted to run i;p and:
do\vn ard divert himfeilK by fcducing ignorant
Men and Women j killing Pigs, or -nalurig
them mi (carry j entering into C:its. and mak-
ing N^ifcs, and playing Monkey-Tricks m
Church-yards and empty Houfes, or any where
here ou Earth, bur in empty Heads ?

c \\ t



58 CATO's LETTERS.



w



know that he was caft headlong from
Heaven, is chain'd fad in the Regions of the
Damned, and kept by the Power of the Al-
mighty from doing Mifchief to his Creatures;
and to fay the contrary, feems to rne the high-
eft Blafphemy againft Heaven it felf : For
when we every Day fee and feel the many De-.
lufions to which human Condition is fubje6f 9
how we are the Properties of Impoftors, the
Slaves to Tyrants, and perpetual Dupes of
one another, and indeed are fubjeft to daily
and endlefs Frauds and Impofitions ; how
fhall we be a Match for the moft fubtle and
moft fagaciqus Being out of Heaven? And is
h poilible to believe, that the good, merciful
providential God mould defert, leave and
betray us to fo unequal a Combat, without
giving to us fuitaWe Precautions, Capacities
and Powers to defend our felves ?

I fhall conclude by obferving, that the
Heathen Poets fir ft invented thefe Stories, and
the Heathen Prieils Hole them from them ;
us Badgers dip Holes for themfelvcs, and af-
terwards are ftunk out of them by Foxes.

I am, &c.



I Have endeavoured, in my lad, to fiiew,
that no iiich Beings as Spirits and Daemons
are permitted by the good God to mingle wi;h,

and



's LETTERS.

and perplex human Affairs ; and if my Reafon-
ing is good, the whole Syftem of Conjurers
and Witches falls to the Ground : For I think
it is agreed by all, if they have any Powers
Supernatura.1, they receive them from Evil Spi-
rits ; and if tbefe have no fuch Powers them-
felves, they can tranfrnit them to none elfe.

But, methinks, the Advocates for Satan's
Empire here on Earth, are not very confident
with themfeives ; and in the Works they attri-.
bure to him, do not Credit enough to his A-
biiities and Power.



Tf-ey mt$e this Prince a mighty

But his Demands dojpeal^hfm Proud and Poor*

They give him a^Power to do Miracles ;
make him Prince of the Air, Lord of the
hidden Minerals, Wife, Rich and Powerful,.
as well as Falfe, Treacherous and Wicked ;
and are foolifh and prcfumptuous enough to
bring him upon the Stage as a Rival for Em-
pire with the Almighty, but at the fame time
p'jt a Fool's Coat and Cap upon him. H!:>
Skill has hitherto went no farther then to cran*
Pins clown Children's Throats, and throw them
fnto Fits ; to turn Wort, kill Pigs, to -eljj
Winds,, (Dog-cheap too) to put cut Candles,,
or to make half blind People lee two at once ^
to help Hares to run away from the Dogs : to
make N tiles, or to difcourage his faithful Vo-
taries at_?.>^/2^, by interloping upon their
Trade of d if covering Prole a Goods ; and fuck-
like important Fears of Knight Errantry. And
what is yet v;or.fc, L cannor fiuu in cheie I



6o CATO's LETTERS.

eighteen hundred Years, that with all his
Jiing he has invented one new Trick, but
goes on in the fame dull Road ; for there is
icarce a Story told of a Spirit, or a Witch
who has play'd Pranks in the next Parifli, but
we have the fame Story, or one very like it, in
Ucero s Tradt de Divin fit lone.

He always plays at fmall Games, and lives
inpftly upon Neck-Beef. His Intrigues are all
with old Women, whofe Teats he fucks ;
(which by the Way, flbews but a fcurvy Tafte)
and when he has gain'd his Ends of them,
teeds them only with Bread and Water, and
gives them but a Groat in their Pockets to buy
1 obacco ; which, ia my Mind, is very ungal-
lant, not to fay niggardly and ungenerous in-
to great a Potentate, who has all the Riches
of the hidden World within his Dominions.
I cannot find, in all my Reading, that he has
expended as much in h've hundred Years lad
pair, as would have carried one Eleclion

. Mcthinfcs, he might have learnt a little more
Wit rrom his faithful Emiffaries here on Earth
who throw and fcatter about Money, asif there
was never to be an End of it ; and get him
more Votaries in a V\ eek, than he can purchafe
rorhimlelHn a Century, and put him to not
a 1 enny of Charge neither ; for they buy Peo-
ple with their own Money : But to keep fuch a.
Coil and Clutter about an old Woman, and
then leave her to be hang'd, that he may gee
her into hj^ Clutches a Month fooncr, is very
ungrateful ; and, as 1 conceive, whoilv un-
iuitaDle to a Pcrlbn of his Rank and Figure,

I fhould



's LETTERS. 61

I fhould have imagin'd, that it would have
been more agreeable to the Wifdom and Cun-
ning always attributed to him, in Imitation of
his Betters, to have open'd his Purfe-Strings,
and have purc.hafed People of more Importance,
and who could do him more real Service. I fancy
that I know fbmeof them, who would be rea-
dy to take his Money, if they knew where he
was to befpoken with ; and who are Men of
nice Honour, and would not betray or break
their Word with him, whatever they may do
with their Countrymen.

BeGdes; I conceive, it is very Impoliticly in
one of his Sagacity, and in one who has fb
many able Minifters in hts own Dominions,
and elfewhere, to a<5r. fb incautious a Part.
It is very well known, a Plot difcover'd, or a
Rebellion quelled, gives new Credit and Re-
putation to the Conquerors, who always make
ufe of them to fettle their own Empire, ef-
fectually to fubdue their Enemies, to leiTen
their Powers, and to force them for the moft
part to change Sides ; and in Fa6t,, one Witch,
hang'd or burnt, makes old "Beelzebub a great
many Adverfaries, and frightens Thoufancls
from having any more to do with him,

Forthefe Reafbns, I doubt, he is fiirewdly
belyM by thofe from whom he might expe<5l
better llfage ; and that all the Stories com-
monly told about, and believ'd concerning him,
are invented and credited by fuch only as
have much lefs Wit, or not much more Ho-
rielry, than himfelf. To enter into a Detail of
them, is endlefs, ss well as uaneceflar-y to my
Purpoie j it having been unq.ueftionably fhewn.

already



CA TO's LETTERS.

already by the worthy Dr. Hufcbinfon, a Bifhop^
in Ireland, from very many Indances, that thefe
Stories are FIcHons, Cheat*? or Delufions, and
that the Belief of them is neither confident with
Reafon or Religion: But I (hali add fbrne more
Obfervations of my own, to what he hath
with great Piety and Judgment publifii'd upon
this Subject, ^and (hall begin with tracing the
Genealogy of thefe Phantoms.

The firft Inventors of them, as far as we
know any thing of the Matter, were the Egyp-
tians, who belie v'd, that the Spirits of the De-
ceas'd always attended their Bodies wherever
they were depofited ; and therefore embalm'd
them with rich Gums and Spices, to prefer ve
their Figure^ entire, and entombed them in-
(lately Maqfploeiimsi with coftly Appartmenrs
for their Souls to fblace in ; which Opinion
gave Occafion to their building the expenfive
and ufelefs Pyramids, to receive Souls of a
higher Degree. From &gypf, thefe ,alery Be-
ings were tranfported into Greece, and thence to
Home, and the Greek and tyman Poets embelifhed
their Fictions with them, and their Priefts made
their Advantages of them ; and bothPricfts and
Poets added many more Inventions of their
own : They filled thcirWoods, Groves, Rivers,
Rocks, Houfes, and the Air it ft- if, with Ro-
matitick Deities: They had tiv.'r Demi -gods,
Satyrs, Dryads, Hemi- Dryads, Penates, Lares,
Fauns, Nymphs, &c. And when the general
Belief of the Exigence of fuch Beings was well
eftabliOied, '-.vithout Doubt they were often fcen*
and talked with.



C A ro's LETTERS.



Tor Fear does Things fo like a lVitcb 9
'Tis hard to find cut which is which.

They animated aim oft every Thing in Na-
ture; and attributed even thePailions and Qua-
lities of the Mind to peculiar Deities, who
prefided over them, or directed and caufed
them : Mars infpired Courage and Magnani-
mity ; Venus, Love ; Mercury, Cunning ; and
Apollo and his Mutes, Wifdom, and poetick
Raptures, &c. A Good and Evil Genius at-
tended every Man, and his Virtues and Vices
were efeemed to be Spirits : A wicked Man
had anrvil Spirit; a vjrtuous Man a good one;
a Wrangler had a Spirit of Contradiction ; Peo-
ple who could not (peak, had a dumb Spirit ;
a malicious Man, a Spirit of Envy ; and one
who wanted Veracity, a Spirit of Lying ; and
fo on. DiPrempers too which were uncommon,
and could not eafily be accounted for, as Apo-
plexies, Epilepfies, and other Fits and Trances,
were imputed to Spirits and Daemons ; and at
laft thefe Deiufions, which were only the Sal-
lies of Poets, or the Inventions of Priefts, be-
came the real Opinions and Religion of the
common People, who are always ready to lick
up the Froth of their Betters.

When the Heathens came into ChnfKanity,
they brought in thefe Phantoms with them,
and accounted for oracular Predictions, and the
other Chears and Juggles of their former Prlefh,
by the Powers of thefe Daemons; and thePopifh
Pridts have fincc improved upon their Pagan
Predeceflbrs, and made their Fi&icns turn ro
much better Account than puuinu tlrm in

Verfe



64 CATQ's LETTERS.

Verfc, The Heathen Dryads and NympL<
were charged into Fairies, good and evil Geni}
into Conjurers and black and white Witches,
and Sairrr?. are made to fupply the Offices of
Demi-gods.; and by this lucky Turn they made
a very good Penny of their Charms, Exorcifms,
Beads, Relicks, and Holy Water; and were
paid for many Mafles, to invoke their Saints,
in whom it feems they had a very good Intereft.
There was fcarce a Church-yard, an old or
empty Houfe, which was not peftered with
thefe airy Inhabitants, nor a Man who had
murdered hirnfelf, or who was murcWd by
another, or had forgot fomething in his Life-
time, who did not appear to tell his own Story;
nor could be perfwaded to quit his new Abode
till the Holy Man had laid him in the Red-Sea,
who without doubt was very well paid for Irs
Skill and Pains. We may be fare fa gainful a
Trade was duly cherifhed and cultivated by
conftant Juggles and Impoihires, and all Ad-
vantages were taken of furprifmg and umifuaf
Phenomena's of Nature. By the Help of
Glades, unufual Voices and Noifes, Phofpho-
rus, Magick-Lamhorns, Feats of Legerdemain
and Coliufion and Confederacy, thefe" Prejudi-
ces were artfully kept up, and weak and enthu-
fiaftick People were made to believe, fometimes
to fee, and afterwards to publifh to others their
Vifions, or whatever elfe their Deceivers had
Occafion for : whofs Power at the fame time
was fb great, that the few intelligent Men who
faw and detefted rhefe Impieties, durfl not con-
tend with the Prejudices of the People, abetted
by the Rage of the Popifli Priefts. '



's LETTERS.

Many of OUT firft Reformers were but weak
Men, and I doubt fbme of them were not very
honeft ones, and therefore generally fell into
thefe Stories : However, they loft a great deal
of Ground in Queen Elizabeth's Reign ; but
were returned upon us with a full Swing by
her Succeffor, who brought from Scotland with
him Legions of thefe fubterranean Inhabitants,
who methinks fhould more properly have come
from a warmer Climate. That bright fagacious
and Royal Author, wrote and publifhed a very
learned Book of Dxmonology, which effe&ual-
ly confuted all Disbelievers for (lire no Man,
who hoped for any Preferment, Ecclefiaflical or
Civil, would have the ill Manners to difpute his
Majefly's great Judgment and Royal Authority.
V\ hen Nero proclaimed himfelf the be ft Poet in
his Dominions by Sound of Trumpet, no Man
durft contend for the Laurel with one who had
Fifty Legions at his Command : So an A 61: of
Parliament was pafled for hanging of Witches;
and his Majefty himfelf was gfacioufly pleafed
to inform his Judges by what Marks they might
be known, and many of them were hanged ac-
cordingly ; but as ill Luck would have it, they
multiplied like the Blood of the Martyrs, and
the more they hanged, the more were left be-
hind, during his whole Reign.

In Charles the FiriFs Time, they began to
decreafe again, by letting them alone, till at the
End of the Civil War, a new Sett of Saints got
into the .Saddle, and then again a frefh Perfecu-
tion began againft old Women, who were
hanged plentifully at every Aiiizes.

Sotna



66 CA TO's LETTERS.

Some only for not being drown '</,

Others for fitting above Ground

Whole Dfiys find Kights -upon their Ereeches^

And feeling P/z/w, were htnd for Witches.

There were profeHed Witch-Finders, who
knew them at firf!: Sight ; fo that there was
fcarce a poor, withered old- Wretch, with a
Mole or a Wart in any Part of her Body, but
was in Danger of her Life.

When King Charles the Second returned, and
the Nobility, Clergy, and Gentry refiimed their
proper ! ^ats, old Women began again to live
and die in quiet ; and during that Prince's long
Reign, there were but few Inftances of Witches
hanged , and considering the PrepofieiL'ons of the
People, occafioned by fb many late Murders,
under the Pretences of Zeal, 'tis not to be
wondered at if there were a few ; but fince the
Revoliificn there has not, as I remember, been
one Witch hanged, nor do 1 think that one
Lawyer in England' would condemn one, or any
fpecial Jury of Gentlemen find her guilty ; tho'
we are often told, and if we may judge by
other Effects, have Reafbn to believe, that
Satan is as buiy now as he has been in the Me-
mory of Man,

But in a Neighbouring Country, Witches j
are alraoit as plentiful as ever ; for as foon as
the SucceiTors to the aforefaid holy Men came
into play again, and ruled the Earth; they
turned as they ufualiy do upon their old Bene-
factor, and hanged immediately a Dozen or
two of his Accomplices and did the fame fbon
after in New England^ of which fbzne were poor



(MTO's LETTERS. 67

QIM&-S (whom they could ' not be permittee!
to hang meerly for want of Orthodoxy) and
'tis thought there was not an Ola Woman in
Yairylnnd (who was unfit for life) but would
have undergone the fame Fate if the Govern-
ment had not inrerpofed.

Notwithftanding this, I do not find that the
Devil has in the lead changed his Meafures,
or is more afraid of the Saints than he ufed
to be, but is conftantly working under their
Nofes, and every now and anon kidnapping
fbme of their Flocks, but 'tis always of fuch
PS can pay no Tithes; for "t is agreed by ail,
that a little Money in their Pockets will keep
him out : But what feems very remarkable is,
that at the fame Time that he makes fb bold
with rhefe Holy Men, who have the Power
to cad him out, he keeps a refpe&fu) Diftan.ee
from Men of carnal Senfe, and plain natural
Underftandings ; and rnofl of aii, from thofe
incredulous Perfbns, who cannot be perfwaded
to believe that the merciful. God will permit
him to outwit and deftroy ignorant and un-
wary Ghriftiaris, whom the Saviour of the
World died to redeem trom his Power.

This is fb true, that thofe Stories are believM
through the World, in cxacl: Proportion to the
Ignorance of the People, and the Integrity oF
their Clergy, and the Influence they have over