Читать книгу The Discoverie of Witchcraft - Reginald Scot - Страница 56

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A confutation of witches confessions, concerning making of tempests and raine: of the naturall cause of raine, and that witches or divels have no power to doo such things.

ND to speake more generallie of all the impossible actions referred unto them, as also of their false confessions; I saie, that there is none which acknowledgeth God to be onlie omnipotent, and the onlie worker of all miracles, nor anie other indued with meane sense, but will denie that the elements are obedient to witches, and at their commandement; or that they may at their pleasure send raine, haile, tempests, thunder, lightening;The waies that witches use to make raine, &c. when she being but an old doting woman, casteth a flint stone o/ver49. hir left shoulder, towards the west, or hurleth a little sea sand up into the element, or wetteth a broome sprig in water, and sprinkleth the same in the aire; or diggeth a pit in the earth, and putting water therein, stirreth it about with hir finger;Nider. Mal. Malef. J. Bod. Frier Barth. Heming. Danæus, &c. or boileth hogs bristles, or laieth sticks acrosse upon a banke, where never a drop of water is; or burieth sage till it be rotten: all which things are confessed by witches, and affirmed by writers to be the meanes that witches use to moove extraordinarie tempests and raine, &c.

We read in M. Maleficarum,Mal. Malef. par. 2. quæ. 1. cap. 12. that a little girle walking abroad with hir father in his land, heard him complaine of drought, wishing for raine, &c. Whie father (quoth the child) I can make it raine/61. or haile, when and where I list? He asked where she learned it. She said, of hir mother, who forbad hir to tell anie bodie thereof. He asked hir how hir mother taught hir? She answered, that hir mother committed hir to a maister, who would at anie time doo anie thing for hir. Whie then (said he) make it raine but onlie in my field. And so she went to the streame, and threw up water in hir maisters name, and made it raine presentlie. And proceeding further with hir father, she made it haile in another field, at hir fathers request. Hereupon he accused his wife, and caused hir to be burned; and then he new christened his child againe: which circumstance is common among papists and witchmongers. And howsoever the first part hereof was prooved, there is no doubt but the latter part was throughlie executed. He that can lie, can steale; as he that can worke can plaie. If they could indeed bring these things to passe at their pleasure, then might they also be impediments unto the course of all other naturall things, and ordinances appointed by God: as, to cause it to hold up, when it should raine; and to make midnight, of high noone: and by those meanes (I saie) the divine power should beecome servile to the will of a witch, so as we could neither eat nor drinke but by their permission.

Me thinks Seneca might satisfie these credulous or rather idolatrous people, that runne a whorehunting, either in bodie or phansie, after these witches, beleeving all that is attributed unto them, to the derogation of Gods glorie. He saith, that the rude people, and our ignorant predecessors did beleeve, that raine and showers might be procured and staied by witches charmes and inchantments: of which kind of things that there can nothing be wrought, it is so manifest, that we need not go to anie philosophers schoole, to learne the confutation thereof.

But JeremieJere. 16, 22., by the word of God, dooth utterlie confound all that which may be devised for the maintenance of that foolish opinion, saieng; Are there any among the godsDii gentium dæmonia, The gods of the gentiles are divels. of the gentiles, that sendeth raine, or giveth showers from heaven? Art not thou the selfe same our Lord God? We will trust in thee, for thou dooest and makest all these things. I may therefore with Brentius boldlie saie, that It is neither in the power of witches nor divels, to accomplish that matter; but in God onelie. For when exhalations are drawne and lifted up from out of the earth, by the power/62. of the sunne, into the middle region of the aire,The naturall generation of haile and raine. the coldnes thereof constreineth and thickeneth those vapours; which being beecome clouds, are dissolved againe by the heate of the sunne, wherby raine or haile is ingendred; raine, if by the waie the drops be not frosen and made haile. These/50. circumstances being considered with the course of the whole scripture, it can neither be in the power of witch or divell to procure raine, or faire weather.

And whereas the storie of Job in this case is alledged against me (wherein a witch is not once named) I have particularlie answered it else-where. And therefore thus much onelie I say heere; that Even there, where it pleased God (as Calvine saith) to set downe circumstances for the instruction of our grosse capacities, which are not able to conceive of spirituall communication, or heavenlie affaires; the divell desireth God to stretch out his hand, and touch all that JobJob 1, 11. hath. And though he seemeth to grant sathans desire, yet God himselfe sent fire from heaven, &c. Where, it is to be gathered, that although God said, He is in thine hand: it was the Lords hand that punished Job,Ib. verse 16. and not the hand of the divell, who said not, Give me leave to plague him; but, Laie thine hand upon him. And when Job continued faithfull notwithstanding all his afflictions, in his children, bodie and goods; the divell is said to come againe to God, and to saie as before, to wit: Job 2, 5.Now stretch out thine hand, and touch his bones and his flesh. Which argueth as well that he could not doo it, as that he himselfe did it not before. And be it here remembred, that M. Mal.Mal. Malef. pa. 1, quæ. 2. and the residue of the witchmongers denie, that there were any witches in Jobs time. But see more hereof elsewhere.