wished that I had
treated the subject of apparitions in the same way as the author of
this dissertation, that is to say, simply as a philosopher, with the
aim of destroying the credence and reality, rather than with any
design of supporting the belief in apparitions which is so observable
in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, in the fathers, and in
the customs and prayers of the church. The author of whom we speak has
cited the fathers, but in a general manner, and without marking the
testimonies, and the express and formal passages. I do not know if he
thinks much of them, and if he is well versed in them, but it would
hardly appear so from his work.

The grand principle on which this third dissertation turns is, that
since the advent and the death of Jesus Christ, all the power of the
devil is limited to enticing, inspiring, and persuading to evil; but
for the rest, he is tied up like a lion or a dog in his prison. He may
bark, he may menace, but he cannot bite unless he is too nearly
approached and yielded to, as St. Augustine truly says:[649] "Mordere
omnino non potest nisi volentem."

But to pretend that Satan can do no harm, either to the health of
mankind, or to the fruits of the earth; can neither attack us by his
stratagems, his malice, and his fury against us, nor torment those
whom he pursues or possesses; that magicians and wizards can make use
of no spells and charms to cause both men and animals dreadful
maladies, and even death, is a direct attack on the faith of the
church, the Holy Scriptures, the most sacred practices, and the
opinions of not only the holy fathers and the best theologians, but
also on the laws and ordinances of princes, and the decrees of the
most respectable parliaments.

I will not here cite the instances taken from the Old Testament, the
author having limited himself to what has passed since the death and
resurrection of our Saviour; because, he says, Jesus Christ has
destroyed the kingdom of Satan, and the prince of this world is
already judged.[650]

St. Peter, St. Paul, St. John, and the Evangelists, who were well
informed of the words of the Son of God, and the sense given to them,
teach us that Satan asked to have power over the apostles of Jesus
Christ, to sift them like wheat;[651] that is to say, to try them by
persecutions and make them renounce the faith. Does not St. Paul
complain of the _angel of Satan_ who buffeted him?[652] Did those whom
he gave up to