, pop up here, as if they rise out of
the Earth, and down there, as if they vanish'd, and Abundance more Feats
of Art, censur'd them as Demons; and if they had not pack'd up their
Trinkets, and disappeared almost as dextrously as their Puppets, they
had certainly condemn'd the poor Puppets to the Flames for _Devils_, and
censur'd, if not otherwise punished their Masters. See _the Count de
Rochfort's Memoirs_, p. 179.

Wonderful Operations astonish the Mind, especially where the Head is not
over-burthen'd with Brains; and Custom has made it so natural to give
the _Devil_ either the Honour or Scandal of every Thing, that we cannot
otherwise Account for, that it is not possible to put the People out of
the Road of it.

The _Magicians_ were, in the _Chaldean_ Monarchy, call'd the Wisemen;
and tho' they are joined with the Sorcerers and Astrologers in the same
Place, _Dan._ ii. 4. yet they were generally so understood among those
People; but in our Language we understand them to be People that have an
Art to reveal Secrets, interpret Dreams, foretel Events, _&c._ and that
use Enchantments and Sorceries, by all which we understand the same
Thing; which now in a more vulgar Way we express by one general coarse
Expression, _Dealing with the_ DEVIL.

The Scripture speaks of a Spirit of _Divination_, _Acts_ xvi. 16. and a
Wench that was possess'd by this Spirit _brought her Master much Gain by
Southsaying_, that is to say, according to the Learned, by _Oracling_ or
answering Questions; whence you will see in the Margin, that this
southsaying _Devil_ is there call'd _Python_, that is, _Apollo_, who is
often call'd _Python_, and who at the Oracle of _Delphos_ gave out such
Answers and _double Entendres_, as this Wench possibly did; and hence
all those Spirits which were call'd Spirits of Divination, were in
another Sense call'd _Pythons_.

Now when the Apostle St. _Paul_ came to see this Creature, this Spirit
takes upon it to declare that _those Men_, meaning St. _Paul_ and
_Timotheus_, _were the Servants of the most high God, which shew'd unto
them the Way of Salvation_; this was a good turn of the _Devil_, to
preserve his Authority in the possess'd Girl; she brought them Gain by
Southsaying, that is to say, resolving difficult Questions, answering
Doubts, interpreting Dreams, _&c._ Among these Doubts, he makes her give
Testimony to _Paul_ and _Timotheus_, to wheedle in with the new
Christians, and perhaps (tho' very ignorantl