lous as possible, they will have it be, that whenever _Satan_ has
Occasion to dress himself in any humane Shape, be it of what Degree
soever, from the King to the Beggar, be it of a fine Lady or of an _old
Woman_, (the Latter it seems he oftenest assumes) yet still he not only
must have this _Cloven-Foot_ about him, but he is oblig'd to shew it
too; nay, they will not allow him any Dress, whether it be a Prince's
Robes, a Lord Cha---r's Gown, or a Lady's Hoop and long Petticoats, but
the Cloven-Foot must be shew'd from under them; they will not so much as
allow him an artificial _Shoe_ or a _Jack-Boot_, as we often see
contriv'd to conceal a _Club-Foot_ or a _Wooden-Leg_; but that the
_Devil_ may be known wherever he goes, he is bound to shew his Foot;
they might as well oblige him to set a Bill upon his Cap, as Folks do
upon a House to be let, and have it written in capital Letters, _I am
the_ DEVIL.

It must be confess'd this is very particular, and would be very hard
upon the _Devil_, if it had not another Article in it, which is some
Advantage to him, and that is, that _the Fact is not true_; but the
Belief of this is so universal, that all the World runs away with it; by
which Mistake the good People miss the _Devil_ many times where they
look for him, and meet him as often where they did not expect him, and
when for want of this Cloven-Foot they do not know him.

Upon this very Account I have sometimes thought, not that this has been
put upon him by meer Fancy, and the Cheat of a heavy Imagination,
propagated by Fable and Chymny-Corner Divinity, but that it has been a
Contrivance of his own; and that, in short, the Devil rais'd this
Scandal upon himself, that he might keep his Disguise the better, and
might go a Visiting among his Friends without being known; for were it
really so, that he could go no where without this particular Brand of
Infamy, he could not come into Company, could not dine with my Lord
Mayor, nor drink Tea with the Ladies, could not go to the Drawing-R----
at ------, could not have gone to _Fountainbleau_ to the King of
_France_'s Wedding, or to the Diet of _Poland_, to prevent the Grandees
there coming to an Agreement; nay, _which would be still worse than
all_, he could not go to the Masquerade, nor to any of our Balls; the
Reason is plain, he would be always discover'd, expos'd and forc'd to
leave the good Company, or which would be as bad, the Company would all
cry out the _Devil_ and run