emselves; they believe themselves sufficient and able for every Thing;
and hence their want or waste of Brains is no Grievance to them, but
they hug themselves in the Satiety of their own Wit; but to bring other
People to have the same Notion of them, which they have of themselves,
and to have their apish and ridiculous Conduct make the same Impression
on the Minds of others, as it does on their own; this requires a general
Infatuation, and must either be a Judgment from Heaven, or a Mist of
Hell; nothing but the Devil can make all the Men of Brains applaud a
Fool, and can any Man believe, that the Devil will do this for nothing?
no, no, he will be well paid for it, and I know no other Way they have
to compound with him, but this of Bargain and Sale.

'Tis the same thing with Rakes and Bullies, as 'tis with Fools and
Beaus; and this brings me to the Subject of _buying_ and _selling_ it
self, and to examine what is understood by it in the World, what People
mean by such and such a Man selling himself to the Devil: I know the
common Acceptation of it is, that they make some Capitulation for some
Indulgence in Wickedness, on Conditions of Safety and Impunity, which
the Devil promises them; tho' as I said above, he is a _Bite_ in that
too, for he can't perform the Conditions; however, I say, he promises
boldly, and they believe him, and for this Privilege in Wickedness, they
consent, that he shall come and fetch them for his own, at such or such
a Time.

This is the State of the Case in the general Acceptation of it; I do not
say 'tis really so, nay 'tis even an Inconsistency in it self; for one
would think, they need not capitulate with the Devil to be so, and so,
superlatively wicked, and give him such a Price for it, seeing, unless
we have a wrong Notion of him, he is naturally enclin'd, as well as
avow'dly willing to have all Men be as superlatively wicked as possibly
they can, and must necessarily be always ready to issue out his Licenses
gratis, as far as his Authority will go in the Case; and therefore I do
not see why the Wretches that deal with him, should article with him for
a Price; but suppose, for Argument sake, that it is so, then the next
Thing is, some capital Crime follows the Contract, and then the Wretch
is forsaken, for the Devil cannot protect him, as he promised; so he is
_Trust up_, and like _Coleman_ at the Gallows, he exclaims that _there
is no Truth in_ Devils.

It may be true, however, that und