The Devil in Britain and America
John Ashton
- SynopsisTo
- my
- thinking,
- all
- modern
- English
- books
- on
- the
- Devil
- and
- his
- works
- are
- unsatisfactory.
- They
- all
- run
- in
- the
- same
- groove,
- give
- the
- same
- cases
- of
- witchcraft,
- and,
- moreover,
- not
- one
- of
- them
- is
- illustrated.
- I
- have
- endeavoured
- to
- remedy
- this
- by
- localizing
- my
- facts,
- and
- by
- reproducing
- all
- the
- engravings
- I
- could
- find
- suitable
- to
- my
- purpose.I
- have
- also
- tried
- to
- give
- a
- succinct
- account
- of
- demonology
- and
- witchcraft
- in
- England
- and
- America,
- by
- adducing
- authorities
- not
- usually
- given,
- and
- by
- a
- painstaking
- research
- into
- old
- cases,
- carefully
- taking
- everything
- from
- original
- sources,
- and
- bringing
- to
- light
- very
- many
- cases
- never
- before
- republished.For
- the
- benefit
- of
- students,
- I
- have
- givenas
- an
- Appendixa
- list
- of
- the
- books
- consulted
- in
- the
- preparation
- of
- this
- work,
- which,
- however,
- the
- student
- must
- remember
- is
- not
- an
- exhaustive
- bibliography
- on
- the
- subject,
- but
- only
- applies
- to
- this
- book,
- whose
- raison
- dêtre
- is
- its
- localization.The
- frontispiece
- is
- supposed
- to
- be
- the
- only
- specimen
- of
- Satanic
- caligraphy
- in
- existence,
- and
- is
- taken
- from
- the
- Introductio
- in
- Chaldaicam
- Linguam,
- etc.,
- by
- Albonesi
- (Pavia,
- 1532).
- The
- author
- says
- that
- by
- the
- conjuration
- of
- Ludovico
- Spoletano
- the
- Devil
- was
- called
- up,
- and
- adjured
- to
- write
- a
- legible
- and
- clear
- answer
- to
- a
- question
- asked
- him.
- Some
- invisible
- power
- took
- the
- pen,
- which
- seemed
- suspended
- in
- the
- air,
- and
- rapidly
- wrote
- what
- is
- facsimiled.
- The
- writing
- was
- given
- to
- Albonesi
- (who,
- however,
- confesses
- that
- no
- one
- can
- decipher
- it),
- and
- his
- chief
- printer
- reproduced
- it
- very
- accurately.
- I
- am
- told
- by
- experts
- that
- in
- some
- of
- the
- characters
- may
- be
- found
- a
- trace
- of
- Amharic,
- a
- language
- spoken
- in
- its
- purity
- in
- the
- province
- of
- Amhara
- (Ethiopia),
- and
- which,
- according
- to
- a
- legend,
- was
- the
- primeval
- language
- spoken
- in
- Eden.JOHN
- ASHTON.CHAPTER
- IUniversal
- Belief
- in
- the
- Personality
- of
- the
- Devil,
- as
- portrayed
- by
- the
- British
- ArtistArguments
- in
- Favour
- of
- his
- PersonalityBalladTerrible
- and
- Seasonable
- Warning
- to
- Young
- Men.The
- belief
- in
- a
- good
- and
- evil
- influence
- has
- existed
- from
- the
- earliest
- ages,
- in
- every
- nation
- having
- a
- religion.
- The
- Egyptians
- had
- their
- Typho,
- the
- Assyrians
- their
- Ti-a-mat
- (the
- Serpent),
- the
- Hebrews
- their
- Beelzebub,
- or
- Prince
- of
- Flies,[1]
- and
- the
- Scandinavians
- their
- Loki.
- And
- many
- religions
- teach
- that
- the
- evil
- influence
- has
- a
- stronger
- hold
- upon
- mankind
- than
- the
- good
- influenceso
- great,
- indeed,
- as
- to
- nullify
- it
- in
- a
- large
- degree.
- Christianity
- especially
- teaches
- this:
- Enter
- ye
- by
- the
- narrow
- gate;
- for
- wide
- is
- the
- gate,
- and
- broad
- is
- the
- way,
- that
- leadeth
- to
- destruction,
- and
- many
- be
- they
- that
- enter
- in
- thereby.
- For
- narrow
- is
- the
- gate,
- and
- straitened
- the
- way,
- that
- leadeth
- unto
- life,
- and
- few
- be
- they
- that
- find
- it.
- This
- doctrine
- of
- the
- great
- power
- of
- the
- Devil,
- or
- evil
- influence
- over
- man,
- is
- preached
- from
- every
- pulpit,
- under
- every
- form
- of
- Christianity,
- throughout
- the
- world;
- and
- although
- at
- the
- present
- time
- it
- is
- only
- confined
- to
- the
- greater
- moral
- power
- of
- the
- Devil
- over
- man,
- at
- an
- earlier
- period
- it
- was
- an
- article
- of
- belief
- that
- he
- was
- able
- to
- exercise
- a
- greater
- physical
- power.This
- was
- coincident
- with
- a
- belief
- in
- his
- personality;
- and
- it
- is
- only
- in
- modern
- times
- that
- that
- personality
- takes
- an
- alluring
- form.
- In
- the
- olden
- days
- the
- Devil
- was
- always
- depicted
- as
- ugly
- and
- repulsive
- as
- the
- artist
- could
- represent
- him,
- and
- yet
- he
- could
- have
- learned
- a
- great
- deal
- from
- the
- modern
- Chinese
- and
- Japanese.
- The
- great
- God
- Pan,
- although
- he
- was
- dead,
- was
- resuscitated
- in
- order
- to
- furnish
- a
- type
- for
- the
- Prince
- of
- Darkness;
- and,
- accordingly,
- he
- was
- portrayed
- with
- horns,
- tail
- and
- cloven
- feet,
- making
- him
- an
- animal,
- according
- to
- a
- mot
- attributed
- to
- Cuvier,
- graminivorous,
- and
- decidedly
- ruminant;
- while,
- to
- complete
- his
- classical
- ensemble,
- he
- was
- invested
- with
- the
- forked
- sceptre
- of
- Pluto,
- only
- supplemented
- with
- another time.
