e well proved, after having
examined them carefully and maturely, they had not found one which was
not mere knavery. How can any one imagine that the devil, who is the
father of lies, should teach the magician the true secret of this art;
and that this spirit, full of pride, of which he is the source, should
teach an enchanter the means of forcing him to obey him? As soon as we
rise above some old prejudices, which make us excuse those who in past
ages gave credence to such follies, can we put faith in certain
extravagant opinions, as what is related of demons, incubes, and
seccubes, from a commerce with whom it is pretended children are born.
Who will believe in our days that Ezzelin was the son of a
will-o'-the-wisp? But can anything more strange be thought of than
what is said of tacit compacts? They will have it, that when any one,
of whatever country he may be, and however far he may be from wishing
to make any compact with the devil, every time he shall say certain
words, or make certain signs, a certain effect will follow; if I, who
am perfectly ignorant of this convention, should happen to pronounce
these same words, or make the same signs, the same effect ought to
follow. They say that whoever makes a compact with the devil has a
right to oblige him to produce a certain effect, not only when he
shall make himself, for instance, certain figures, but also every time
that they shall be made by any other person you please, at any time,
or in any place whatever, and although the intention may be quite
different. Certainly nothing is more proper to humble us than such
ideas, and to show how very little man can count on the feeble light
of his mind. Of all the extraordinary things said to have been
performed by tacit compacts, many are absolutely false, and others
have occurred quite differently than as they are related; some are
true, and such as require no need of the demon's intervention to
explain them.

VI. The evidence of these reasons seems to suffice to prove that all
which is said of magic in our days is merely chimerical; but because,
in reply to the substantial difficulties which were proposed to him by
the Count Rinaldi Carli, the author of the book pretends that to deny
is a heretical opinion condemned by the laws, it is proper to examine
this article again. For the first proof of its reality, is advanced
the general consent of all mankind; the tradition of all nations;
stories and witnesses _ad infinitu