1. It confirms what I have said of the Knavery of the _Devil_ in
his Dealings, and that when he has Stock-jobb'd with us on the best
Conditions he can get, he very seldom performs his Bargain.

2. It confirms what I have likewise said, that the _Devil_'s Power
is limited; with this Addition, that he not only cannot destroy the
Life of Man, but that he cannot preserve it; _in short_, he can
neither prevent or bring on our Destruction.

I may be allow'd, I hope, for the Sake of the present Discourse, to
suppose that the _Devil_ would have been so just to this wicked, tho'
foolish Creature, as to have sav'd him from the Gallows if he could; but
it seems, he at last acknowledg'd that it was not in his Power; nay, he
could not keep him from being taken and carry'd to Prison, after he was
gotten into the Hands of a bold Fellow or two, that were not to be
fear'd with his Bluster, as some foolish Creatures had been before.

And how simple, how weak, how unlike any Thing of an Angelick Nature,
was it to attempt to save the poor Wretch, only by little Noises and
sham Appearances, putting out the Candles, rushing and josteling in the
Dark, _and the like_! If the _Devil_ was that mighty Seraph, which we
have heard of, if he is a God of this World, a Prince of the Air, a
Spirit able to destroy Cities and make Havock in the World; if he can
raise Tempests and Storms, throw Fire about the World, and do wonderful
Things, as an unchain'd _Devil_ no Doubt could do; what need all this
Frippery? and what need he try so many ridiculous Ways, by the
Emptiness, nay, the silly nonsensical Manner, of which, he shews, that
he is able to do no better, and that his Power is extinguish'd? _In a
Word_, he would certainly act otherwise, if he could. _Sed caret
pedibus_, he wants Power.

How weak a thing is it then, for any Man to expect Performance from the
_Devil_? If he has not Power to do Mischief, which is his Element, his
very Nature, and on many Accounts, is the very sum of his Desires; How
should he have Power to do Good? how Power to deliver from Danger or
from Death? which Deliverance would be in itself a Good, and we know it
is not in his Nature to do Good to or for any Man?

In a Word, the _Devil_ is strangely impudent, to think that any Man
should depend upon him for the Performance of an Agreement of any Kind
whatever, when he knows himself, that he is not able, if he was honest
enough, to be as good