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DÆMONIALITAS |
DEMONIALITY
|
Vocabulum Dæmonialitatis primo
inventum reperio a Jo. Caramuele
in sua Theologia fundamentali,
nec ante illum inveni
Auctorem, qui de hoc crimine tanquam
distincto a Bestialitate locutus sit. Omnes
enim Theologi Morales, secuti D. Thomam,
2.2., q. 154. in corp., sub specie Bestialitatis
recensent omnem concubitum cum re
non ejusdem speciei, ut ibi loquitur D. Thomas;
et proinde Cajetanus, in Commentario
illius quæstionis et articuli, 2.2., q. 154.,
ad 3. dub., coitum cum Dæmone ponit in
specie Bestialitatis; et Cajetanum sequitur
Silvester, vo Luxuria, Bonacina, de Matrim.,
q. 4., et alii. |
The first author who, to my
knowledge, invented the word
Demoniality is John Caramuel,
in his Fundamental Theology,
and before him I find no one who distinguished
that crime from Bestiality. Indeed,
all Theological Moralists, following in the
train of S. Thomas (2, 2, question 154),
include, under the specific title of Bestiality,
“every kind of carnal intercourse
with any thing whatever of a different
species”: such are the very words used by
S. Thomas. Cajetanus, for instance, in his
commentary on that question, classes intercourse
with the Demon under the description
of Bestiality; so does Sylvester, de
Luxuria, Bonacina, de Matrimonio, question
4, and others. |
2. Sed revera D. Thomas in illo loco considerationem
non habuit ad coitum cum Dæmone:
ut enim infra probabimus, hic coitus
non potest in specie specialissima Bestialitatis
comprehendi; et ut veritati cohæreat
sententia S. Doctoris, dicendum est, quod
in citato loco, quando ait, quod peccatum
contra naturam, alio modo si fiat per concubitum
ad rem non ejusdem speciei, vocatur
Bestialitas: sub nomine rei non ejusdem
speciei intellexerit animal vivens, non
ejusdem speciei cum homine: non enim usurpare
potuit ibi nomen rei pro re, puta, ente
communi ad animatum et inanimatum: si
enim quis coiret cum cadavere humano,
concubitum haberet ad rem non ejusdem
speciei cum homine (maxime apud Thomistas,
qui formam corporeitatis humanæ negant
in cadavere), quod etiam esset si cadaveri
bestiali copularetur; et tamen talis
coitus non esset bestialitas, sed mollities.
Voluit igitur ibi D. Thomas præcise intelligere
concubitum cum re vivente non ejusdem
speciei cum homine, hoc est cum bruto,
nullo autem modo comprehendere voluit coitum
cum Dæmone. |
2. However it is clear that in the above
passage S. Thomas did not at all allude to
intercourse with the Demon. As shall be
demonstrated further on, that intercourse
cannot be included in the very particular
species of Bestiality; and, in order to
make that sentence of the holy Doctor
tally with truth, it must be admitted that
when saying of the unnatural sin, “that
committed through intercourse with a thing
of different species, it takes the name of
Bestiality”, S. Thomas, by a thing of different
species, means a living animal, of
another species than man: for he could
not here use the word thing in its most
general sense, to mean indiscriminately
an animate or inanimate being. In fact, if
a man should fornicate cum cadavere humano,
he would have to do with a thing
of a species quite different from his own
(especially according to the Thomists, who
deny the form of human corporeity in a
corpse); similarly si cadaveri bestiali copularetur:
and yet, talis coitus would not be
bestiality, but pollution. What therefore
S. Thomas intended here to specify with
preciseness, is carnal intercourse with a
living thing of a species different from
man, that is to say, with a beast, and he
never in the least thought of intercourse
with the Demon. |
3. Coitus igitur cum Dæmone, sive Incubo,
sive Succubo (qui proprie est Dæmonialitas,
specie differt a Bestialitate, nec
cum ea facit unam speciem specialissimam,
ut opinatus est Cajetanus: peccata enim
contra naturam specie inter se distingui
contra opinionem nonnullorum Antiquorum,
et Caramuelis, Summ., Armill., v. Luxur.,
n. 5., Jabien., eo. v. n. 6., Asten. lib. 2. tit.
46. art. 7., Caram. Theol. fundam. post Filliucium,
et Crespinum a Borgia, est opinio
communis; et contraria est damnata in
proposit. 24. ex damnatis ab Alexandro VII.;
tum quia singula continent peculiarem, et
distinctam turpitudinem repugnantem castitati,
et humanæ generationi; tum quia
quodlibet ex iis privat bono aliquo secundum
naturam, et institutionem actus venerei,
ordinati ad finem generationis humanæ;
tum quia quodlibet ipsorum habet diversum
motivum, per se sufficiens ad privandum
eodem bono diversimode, ut optime philosophatur
Filliuc., tom. 2. c. 8. tract. 30. q. 3.
no 142; Cresp., q. mor. sel. contro.; Caramuel.,
q. 5. per tot. |
3. Therefore, intercourse with the Demon,
whether Incubus or Succubus (which
is, properly speaking, Demoniality), differs
in kind from Bestiality, and does not in
connexion with it form one very particular
species, as Cajetanus wrongly gives it; for,
whatever may have said to the contrary
some Ancients, and later Caramuel in his
Fundamental Theology, unnatural sins
differ from each other most distinctly. Such
at least is the general doctrine, and the
contrary opinion has been condemned by
Alexander VII: first, because each of those
sins carries with itself its peculiar and
distinct disgrace, repugnant to chastity
and to human generation; secondly, because
the commission thereof entails each
time the sacrifice of some good by its nature
attached to the institution of the venereal
act, the normal end of which is human
generation; lastly, because they each have
a different motive which in itself is sufficient
to bring about, in divers ways, the
deprivation of the same good, as has been
clearly shown by Fillucius, Crespinus and
Caramuel. |
4. Ex his autem infertur, quod etiam
Dæmonialitas specie differt a Bestialitate:
singula enim ipsarum peculiarem et distinctam
turpitudinem, castitati ac humanæ
generationi repugnantem, involvit; siquidem
Bestialitas est copula cum bruto vivente,
ac sensibus et motu proprio prædito: Dæmonialitas
autem est commixtio cum cadavere
(stando in sententia communi, quam
infra examinabimus), nec sensum, nec
motum vitalem habente; et per accidens est,
quod a Dæmone moveatur. Quod si immunditia
commissa cum brutali cadavere, vel
humano, differt specie a Sodomia et Bestialitate,
ab ista differt pariter specie etiam
Dæmonialitas, in qua, juxta communem
sententiam, homo cum cadavere concumbit
accidentaliter moto. |
4. It follows that Demoniality differs in
kind from Bestiality, for each has its peculiar
and distinct disgrace, repugnant to
chastity and human generation. Bestiality
is connexion with a living beast, endowed
with its own peculiar senses and impulses;
Demoniality, on the contrary, is copulation
with a corpse (according at least to the general
doctrine which shall be considered
hereafter), a senseless and motionless corpse
which is but accidentally moved through
the power of the Demon. Now, if fornication
with the corpse of a man, a woman,
or a beast differs in kind from Sodomy and
Bestiality, there is the same difference with
regard to Demoniality, which, according to
general opinion, is the intercourse of man
with a corpse accidentally set in motion. |
5. Et confirmatur: quia in peccatis contra
naturam, seminatio innaturalis (hoc est,
ea ad quam regulariter non potest sequi generatio)
habet rationem generis; subjectum
vero talis seminationis est differentia
constituens species sub tali genere: unde si
seminatio fiat in terram, aut corpus inanime,
est mollities; si fiat cum homine in
vase præpostero, est Sodomia; si fiat cum
bruto, est bestialitas: quæ absque controversia
inter se specie differunt, eo quod
terra, seu cadaver, homo, et brutum, quæ
sunt subjecta talis seminationis, specie differunt
inter se. Sed Dæmon a bruto non
solum differt specie, sed plusquam specie:
differunt enim per corporeum, et incorporeum,
quæ sunt differentiæ genericæ. Sequitur
ergo quod seminationes factæ cum
aliis differunt inter se specie, quod est intentum. |
5. Another proof: in sins against nature,
the unnatural semination (which
cannot be regularly followed by generation)
is a genus; but the object of such semination
is the difference which marks the
species under the genus. Thus, whether
semination takes place on the ground, or
on an inanimate body, it is pollution; if
cum homine in vase præpostero, it is Sodomy;
with a beast, bestiality: crimes
which unquestionably all differ from each
other in species, just as the ground, the
corpse, the man and the beast, passive
objects talis seminationis, differ in species
from each other. But the difference between
the Demon and the beast is not only specific,
it is more than specific: the nature
of the one is corporeal, of the other incorporeal,
which makes a generic difference.
Whence it follows that seminationes practised
on different objects differ in species
from each other: and that is substantiated. |
6. Pariter, trita est doctrina Moralistarum
fundata in Tridentino, sess. 14, c. 5. D.
Th. in 4. dist. 16. q. 3. art. 2., Vasquez,
q. 91. art. 1. dub. 2. n. 6., Reginald. Valenz.
Medin. Zerola. Pesant. Sajir. Sott.
Pitig. Henriquez apud Bonac. de Sac. disp.
5. q. 5. sect, 2. punct. 2. § 3. diffic. 3. n. 5.,
et tradita per Theologos, quod in confessione
manifestandæ sint tantum circumstantiæ
quæ mutant speciem peccatorum. Si
igitur Dæmonialitas et Bestialitas sunt ejusdem
speciei specialissimæ, sufficit in confessione
dicere: Bestialitatis peccatum commisi
quantumvis confitens cum Dæmone
concubuerit. Hoc autem falsum est: igitur
non sunt ejusdem speciei specialissimæ. |
6. It is also a trite doctrine with Moralists,
established by the Council of Trent,
session 14, and admitted by Theologians,
that in confession it suffices to state the
circumstances which alter the species of
sins. If therefore Demoniality and Bestiality
belonged to the same very particular
species, it would be enough that, each time
he has fornicated with the Demon, the
penitent should say to his confessor: I
have been guilty of the sin of Bestiality.
But that is not so: therefore those two sins
do not both belong to the same very particular
species. |
7. Quod si dicatur, aperiendum esse in
confessione circumstantiam concubitus cum
Dæmone ratione peccati contra Religionem:
peccatum contra Religionem committitur,
aut ex cultu, aut ex reverentia,
aut ex deprecatione, aut ex pacto, aut ex
societate cum Dæmone (D. Thomas, 2. 2.
q. 90. art. 2. et q. 95. art. 4. in corp.); sed,
ut infra dicemus, dantur Succubi, et Incubi,
quibus nullum prædictorum exhibetur,
et tamen copula sequitur: igitur respectu
istorum nulla intervenit irreligiositas,
et commixtio cum istis nullam habebit
rationem ulteriorem, quam puri et simplicis
coitus, qui, si est ejusdem speciei cum
Bestialitate, sufficienter exprimetur dicendo:
Bestialitatem commisi; quod tamen falsum
est. |
7. It may be urged that if the circumstances
of a sensual intercourse with the
Demon should be revealed to the Confessor,
it is on account of its offense against
Religion, an offense which comes either
from the worship rendered to the Demon,
or from the homage or prayers offered up
to him, or from the compact of fellowship
entered into with him (S. Thomas, quest.
90). But, as will be seen hereafter, there
are Incubi and Succubi to whom none of the
foregoing applies, and yet copula sequitur.
There is consequently, in that special case,
no element of irreligion, no other character
quam puri et simplicis coitus; and, if of
the same species as Bestiality, it would be
adequately stated by saying: I have been
guilty of the sin of Bestiality; which is
not so. |
8. Ulterius in confesso est apud omnes
Theologos Morales, quod longe gravior
est copula cum Dæmone, quam cum quolibet
bruto; in eadem autem specie specialissima
peccati, non datur unum peccatum
gravius altero, sed omnia æque gravia sunt;
perinde enim est coire cum cane, aut asina,
aut equa; sequitur ergo, quod si Dæmonialitas
est gravior Bestialitate, non sint ambo
ejusdem speciei. Nec dicendum gravitatem
majorem in Dæmonialitate petendam esse
ab irreligiositate, seu superstitione ex societate
cum Dæmone, ut scribit Cajetanus
ad 2. 2. q. 154., ar. 11. § ad 3. in fine, quia
hoc fallit in aliquibus Succubis et Incubis,
ut supra dictum est; tum quia gravitas
major statuitur in Dæmonialitate præ Bestialitate,
in genere vitii contra naturam:
major autem gravitas in illa supra istam
ratione irreligiositatis exorbitat ex illo genere,
proinde non facit in illo genere, et ex
se graviorem. |
8. Besides, it is acknowledged by all
Theological Moralists that copula cum Dæmone
is much more grievous than the same
act committed with any beast soever.
Now, in the same very particular species
of sins, one sin is not more grievous than
another; all are equally so: it comes to
the same whether connection is had with
a bitch, an ass, or a mare; whence it follows
that if Demoniality is more grievous
than Bestiality, those two acts are not of
the same species. And let it not be argued,
with Cajetanus, that Demoniality is more
grievous on account of the offense to religion
from the worship rendered to the
Demon or the compact of fellowship entered
into with him: as has been shown
above, that is not always met with in the
connection of man with Incubi and Succubi;
moreover, if in the genus of unnatural
sin Demoniality is more grievous
than Bestiality, the offense to Religion is
quite foreign to that aggravation, since it
is foreign to that genus itself. |
9. Statuta igitur differentia specifica Dæmonialitatis
a Bestialitate, ut gravitas illius
percipiatur in ordine ad pœnam de qua
principaliter nobis tractandum est, est necessarium
inquirere quotupliciter Dæmonialitas
accidat. Non desunt qui sibi nimis
scioli negant quod gravissimi Auctores
scripsere, et quod quotidiana constat experientia,
Dæmonem scilicet tum Incubum,
tum Succubum, non solum hominibus, sed
etiam brutis carnaliter conjungi. Aiunt
proinde esse hominum imaginationem, phantasmatibus
a Dæmone perturbatis læsam,
seu dæmoniaca esse præstigia: sicuti etiam
Sagæ, seu Striges, sola imaginatione perturbata
a Dæmone, sibi videntur assistere
ludis, choreis, conviviis, et conventibus nocturnis,
et carnaliter Dæmoni commisceri;
nullo vero reali modo deferuntur corpore
ad ejusmodi loca et actiones, prout textualiter
dicitur in quodam Capitulo, ac duobus
Conciliis. Cap. Episcop. 26. q. 5., Conch.
Ancyr. c. 24., Conc. Rom. 4. sub Damaso,
c. 5. apud Laur. Epitom. vo Saga. |
9. Now, having laid down the specific
difference between Demoniality and Bestiality,
so that the gravity thereof may be
duly appreciated in view of the penalty
to be inflicted (and that is our most essential
object), we must inquire in how
many different ways the sin of Demoniality
may be committed. There is no lack
of people who, infatuated with their small
baggage of knowledge, venture to deny
what has been written by the gravest authors
and is testified by every day experience:
namely, that the Demon, whether Incubus
or Succubus, unites carnally not only with
men and women, but also with beasts.
They allege that it all comes from the
human imagination troubled by the craft
of the Demon, and that there is nothing in
it but phantasmagoria and diabolical spells.
The like happens, they say, to Witches or
Sagas, who, under the influence of an
illusion brought on by the Demon, fancy
that they attend the nightly sports, dances,
revels and vigils, and have carnal intercourse
with the Demon, though in reality
they are not bodily transferred to those
places nor taking part in those deeds, as
has been defined verbatim by a Capitule
and two Councils. |
10. Sed non negatur, quin aliquando
mulierculæ, illusæ a Dæmonibus, videantur
nocturnis Sagarum ludis corporaliter interesse,
dum tamen sola imaginaria visione
ipsis hoc accidit: sicut etiam in somnis
videtur nonnullis cum fœmina aliqua concumbere,
et semen vere excernitur, non tamen
concubitus ille realis est, sed tantum
phantasticus, paratus non raro per illusionem
diabolicam; et in hoc verissimum est
quod habent citatum Capitulum et Concilia.
Sed hoc non semper est; sed ut in pluribus,
corpore deferuntur Sagæ ad ludos nocturnos,
et vere carnaliter corpore conjunguntur
Dæmoni, et Malefici non minus Dæmoni
succubo miscentur, et hæc est sententia
Theologorum, et jure consultorum Catholicorum,
quos abunde citat Frater Franciscus
Maria Guaccius in suo libro intitulato
Compendium Maleficarum; Grilland.
Remig. Petr. Damian. Sylvest. Alphon. a
Cast. Abul. Cajet. Senon. Crespet. Spine.
Anan. apud Guaccium, Comp. Malef., c. 15.
§ Altera, quam verissimam ... n. 69. lib. p.;
quæ sententia confirmatur decem et octo
exemplis, ibidem allatis et relatis per viros
doctos et veridicos de quorum fide ambigendum
non est, quibus probatur Maleficos
et Sagas corporaliter ad ludos convenire,
et cum Dæmonibus succubis et incubis
corporaliter turpissime commisceri. Et pro
omnibus sufficere debet auctoritas Divi Augustini,
qui loquens de concubitu hominum
cum Dæmonibus, sic ait lib. 15. de
Civitate Dei, c. 23.: “Et quoniam creberrima
fama est, multique se expertos,
vel ab eis qui experti essent, de quorum
fide dubitandum non est, audivisse confirmant,
Sylvanos et Faunos, quos vulgo
Incubos vocant, improbos sæpe extitisse
mulieribus, et earum appetiisse et peregisse
concubitum. Et quosdam Dæmones,
quos Dusios Galli nuncupant, hanc assidue
immunditiam et tentare et efficere, plures
talesque asseverant, ut hoc negare impudentia
videatur.” Hæc Augustinus. |
10. Of course, it is not contested that sometimes
young women, deceived by the
Demon, fancy taking part, in their flesh
and blood, in the nightly vigils of Witches,
without its being any thing but an imaginary
vision. Thus, in a dream, one sometimes
fancies cum fœmina aliqua concumbere, et
semen vere excernitur, non tamen concubitus
ille realis est, but merely fantastic, and often
brought about by a diabolical illusion: and
here the above mentioned Capitule and
Councils are perfectly right. But this is
not always the case; on the contrary, it
more often happens that Witches are bodily
present at nightly vigils and have
with the Demon a genuine carnal and corporeal
connection, and that likewise Wizards
copulate with the Succuba or female
Demon. Such is the opinion of Theologians
as well as of jurists, whose names will be
found at length in the Compendium Maleficarum,
or Chronicle of Witches, by Brother
Francis Marie Guaccius. This doctrine
is therein confirmed by eighteen
instances adduced from the recitals of learned
and truthful men whose testimony is
beyond suspicion, and which prove that
Wizards and Witches are indeed bodily
present at vigils and most shamefully
copulate with Demons, Incubi or Succubi.
And, after all, to settle the question, we
have the authority of S. Augustine, who,
speaking of carnal intercourse between
men and the Demon, expresses himself as
follows, book 15th, chapt. 23d of the
City of God: “It is widely credited, and
such belief is confirmed by the direct or indirect
testimony of thoroughly trustworthy
people, that Sylvans and Fauns, commonly
called Incubi, have frequently molested
women, sought and obtained from
them coition. There are even Demons,
whom the Gauls call Duses or Elfs, who
very regularly indulge in those unclean
practices: the fact is testified by so many
and such weighty authorities, that it were
impudent to doubt it.” Such are the very
words of S. Augustine. |
11. Prout autem apud diversos Auctores
legitur, et pluribus experimentis comprobatur,
duplici modo Dæmon hominibus carnaliter
copulatur: uno modo quo Maleficis
et Sagis jungitur, alio modo quo aliis hominibus
minime maleficis miscetur. |
11. Now, several authors profess, and it
is confirmed by numerous experiments,
that the Demon has two ways of copulating
carnally with men or women: the one
which it uses with Witches or Wizards,
the other with men or women entirely foreign
to witchcraft. |
12. Quantum ad primum modum, non copulatur
Dæmon Sagis, seu Maleficis, nisi
præmissa solemni professione, qua iniquissimi
homines Dæmoni addicuntur; quæ professio,
ut ex variis Auctoribus referentibus
confessiones Sagarum judiciales in tormentis
factas, quas collegit Franciscus Maria
Guaccius, Comp. Malef., c. 7., lib. 1., consistit
in undecim ceremoniis. |
12. In the first case, the Demon does not
copulate with Witches or Wizards until
after a solemn profession, in virtue of
which such wretched human beings yield
themselves up to him. According to several
authors who have related the judicial admissions
of Witches when on the rack, and
whose recitals have been collected by
Francis-Marie Guaccius, Compend. Malef.,
book 1, chapt. 7, that profession consists
of eleven ceremonials: |
13. Primo, ineunt pactum expressum cum
Dæmone, aut alio Mago seu Malefico vicem
Dæmonis gerente, et testibus præsentibus,
de servitio diabolico suscipiendo: Dæmon
vero vice versa honores, divitias, et carnales
delectationes illis pollicetur. Guacc. loc. cit.
fol. 34. |
13. Firstly, the Novices have to conclude
with the Demon, or some other Wizard or
Magician acting in the Demon’s place, an
express compact by which, in the presence
of witnesses, they enlist in the Demon’s
service, he giving them in exchange his
pledge for honours, riches and carnal
pleasures. |
14. Secundo, abnegant catholicam fidem,
subducunt se obedientiæ Dei, renuntiant
Christo, et protectioni Beatissimæ Virginis
Mariæ, ac Ecclesiæ omnibus sacramentis.
Guacc., loc. cit. |
14. Secondly, they abjure the catholic
faith, withdraw from the obedience to God,
renounce Christ and the protection of the
most blessed Virgin Mary, and all the Sacraments
of the Church. |
15. Tertio, projiciunt a se Coronam, seu
Rosarium B. V. M., Chordam S. P. Francisci,
aut Corrigiam S. Augustini, aut
Scapulare Carmelitarum, si quod habent,
Crucem, Medaleas, Agnos Dei, et quidquid
sacri aut benedicti gestabant, et pedibus ea
proculcant. Guacc. loc. cit. fol. 35. Grilland. |
15. Thirdly, they cast away the Crown,
or Rosary of the most blessed Virgin
Mary, the girdle of S. Francis, or the strap
of S. Austin, or the scapular of the Carmelites,
should they belong to one of those
Orders, the Cross, the Medals, the Agnus
Dei, whatever other holy or consecrated
object may have been about their person,
and trample them all under foot. |
16. Quarto, vovent in manibus Diaboli
obedientiam, et subjectionem, eique præstant
homagium et vassallagium, tangendo
quoddam volumen nigerrimum. Spondent,
quod nunquam redibunt ad fidem Christi,
nec Dei præcepta servabunt, nec ulla bona
opera facient, sed ad sola mandata Dæmonis
attendent, et ad conventus nocturnos
diligenter accedent. Guacc. loc. cit. fol. 36. |
16. Fourthly, in the hands of the Devil
they vow obedience and subjection; they
pay him homage and vassalage, laying
their fingers on some very black book.
They bind themselves never to return to
the faith of Christ, to observe none of the
divine precepts, to do no good work, but
to obey the Demon alone and, to attend
diligently the nightly conventicles. |
17. Quinto, spondent se enixe curaturos,
et omni studio ac sedulitate procuraturos
adducere alios mares et fœminas ad suam
sectam, et cultum Dæmonis. Guacc. loc. cit. |
17. Fifthly, they promise to strive with
all their power, and to give their utmost
zeal and care for the enlistment of other
males and females in the service of the
Demon. |
18. Sexto, baptizantur a Diabolo sacrilego
quodam baptismo, et abnegatis Patrinis
et Matrinis baptismi Christi, et
Confirmationis, et nomine, quod sibi fuit
primo impositum, a Diabolo sibi assignantur
Patrinus et Matrina novi, qui ipsos
instruant in arte maleficiorum, et imponitur
nomen novum, quod plerumque scurrile
est. Guacc. loc. cit. |
18. Sixthly, the Devil administers to them
a kind of sacrilegious baptism, and after
abjuring their Godfathers and Godmothers
of the Baptism of Christ and Confirmation,
they have assigned to them a new Godfather
and a new Godmother, who are to instruct
them in the arts of witchcraft; they drop
their former name and exchange it for
another, more frequently a scurrilous
nickname. |
19. Septimo, abscindunt partem propriorum
indumentorum, et illam offerunt
Diabolo in signum homagii, et Diabolus illam
asportat, et servat. Guacc. loc. cit. fol. 38. |
19. Seventhly, they cut off a part of their
own garments, and tender it as a token of
homage to the Devil, who takes it away and
keeps it. |
20. Octavo, format Diabolus circulum
super terram, et in eo stantes Novitii Malefici
et Sagæ firmant juramento omnia,
quæ ut dictum est promiserunt. Guacc. loc.
cit. |
20. Eighthly, the Devil draws on the
ground a circle wherein stand the Novices,
Witches and Wizards, and there they
confirm by oath all their aforesaid promises. |
21. Nono, petunt a Diabolo deleri a libro
Christi, et describi in libro suo, et profertur
liber nigerrimus, quem tetigerunt
præstando homagium, ut dictum est supra,
et ungue Diaboli in eo exarantur. Guacc.
loc. cit. |
21. Ninthly, they request the Devil to
strike them out of the book of Christ, and
to inscribe them in his own. Then comes
forth that very black book on which, as
has been said before, they laid hands when
doing homage, and they are inscribed
therein with the Devil’s claw. |
22. Decimo, promittunt Diabolo statis
temporibus sacrificia, et oblationes; singulis
quindecim diebus, vel singulo mense
saltem, necem alicujus infantis, aut mortale
veneficium, et singulis hebdomadis alia
mala in damnum humani generis, ut grandines,
tempestates, incendia, mortem animalium,
etc. Guacc. loc. cit. fol. 40. |
22. Tenthly, they promise the Devil sacrifices
and offerings at stated times: once a
fortnight or at least each month, the murder
of some child, or an homicidal act of
sorcery, and other weekly misdeeds to the
prejudice of mankind, such as hailstorms,
tempests, fires, cattle plagues, etc. |
23. Undecimo, sigillantur a Dæmone
aliquo charactere, maxime ii, de quorum
constantia dubitat. Character vero non est
semper ejusdem formæ, aut figuræ: aliquando
enim est simile lepori, aliquando
pedi bufonis, aliquando araneæ, vel catello,
vel gliri; imprimitur autem in locis corporeis
magis occultis: viris quidem aliquando
sub palpebris, aliquando sub axillis,
aut labiis, aut humeris, aut sede ima, aut
alibi; mulieribus autem plerumque in
mammis, aut locis muliebribus. Porro sigillum,
quo talia signa imprimuntur, est
unguis Diaboli. Quibus peractis ad instructionem
Magistrorum qui Novitios initiarunt,
hi promittunt denuo, se nunquam
Eucharistiam adoraturos; injuriosos Sanctis
omnibus, et maxime B. V. M. futuros;
conculcaturos ac conspurcaturos Sacras
Imagines, Crucem, ac Sanctorum Reliquias;
nunquam usuros Sacramentis, aut
sacramentalibus, nisi ad maleficia; integram
confessionem sacramentalem sacerdoti
nunquam facturos, et suum cum
Dæmone commercium semper celaturos.
Et Diabolus vicissim pollicetur, se illis
semper præsto futurum; se in hoc mundo
votis eorum satisfacturum, et post mortem
illos esse beaturum. Sic peracta professione
solemni, assignatur singulis eorum
Diabolus, qui appellatur Magistellus, cum
quo in partes secedunt, et carnaliter commiscentur:
ille quidem in specie fœminæ,
si initiatus est vir; in forma autem viri, et
aliquando satyri, aliquando hirci, si fœmina
est saga professa. Guacc. loc. cit. fol. 42
et 43. |
23. Eleventhly, the Demon imprints on
them some mark, especially on those whose
constancy he suspects. That mark, moreover,
is not always of the same shape or figure:
sometimes it is the image of a hare, sometimes
a toad’s leg, sometimes a spider, a
puppy, a dormouse. It is imprinted on the
most hidden parts of the body: with men,
under the eye-lids, or the armpits, or the
lips, on the shoulder, the fundament, or
somewhere else; with women, it is usually
on the breasts or the privy parts. Now,
the stamp which imprints those marks is
none other but the Devil’s claw. This having
been all performed in accordance
with the instructions of the Teachers who
have initiated the Novices, these promise
lastly never to worship the Eucharist; to
insult all Saints and especially the most
blessed Virgin Mary; to trample under
foot and vilify the holy images, the Cross
and the relics of Saints; never to use the
sacraments or sacramental ceremonials;
never to make a full confession to the priest,
but to keep always hidden from him their
intercourse with the Demon. The Demon,
in exchange, engages to give them always
prompt assistance; to fulfil their desires in
this world and to make them happy after
their death. The solemn profession being
thus performed, each has assigned to himself
a Devil, called Magistellus or Assistant
Master, with whom he retires in private
for carnal satisfaction; the said Devil
being, of course, in the shape of a woman
if the initiated person is a man, in the
shape of a man, sometimes of a satyr, sometimes
of a buck-goat, if it is a woman
who has been received a witch. |
24. Quod si quæratur ab Auctoribus,
quomodo possit Dæmon, qui corpus non
habet, corporalem commixtionem habere
cum homine: respondent communiter,
quod Dæmon aut assumit alterius maris
aut fœminæ, juxta exigentiam, cadaver,
aut ex mixtione aliarum materiarum effingit
sibi corpus, quod movet, et mediante
quo homini unitur. Et subdunt, quod
quando fœminæ gaudent imprægnari a
Dæmone (quod non fit, nisi in gratiam
fœminarum hoc optantium), Dæmon se
transformat in succubam, et juncta homini
semen ab eo recipit; aut per illusionem
nocturnam in somnis procurat ab homine
pollutionem, et semen prolectum in suo nativo
calore et cum vitali spiritu conservat,
et incubando fœminæ infert in ipsius matricem,
ex quo sequitur conceptio. Ita
multis citatis docet Guaccius, l. i. c. 12.,
per totum, qui prædicta multis exemplis
desumptis a variis Doctoribus confirmat. |
24. If the authors be asked how it comes
to pass that the Demon, who has no body,
yet has carnal intercourse with man or
woman, they unanimously answer that
the Demon assumes the corpse of another
human being, male or female as the case
may be, or that, from the mixture of other
materials, he shapes for himself a body
endowed with motion, and by means of
which he is united with the human being;
and they add that when women are desirous
of becoming pregnant by the Demon
(which only occurs by the consent and
express wish of the said women), the Demon
is transformed into a Succuba, et
juncta homini semen ab eo recipit; or else
he procures pollution from a man during
his sleep, et semen prolectum in suo nativo
calore, et cum vitali spiritu conservat, et
incubando fœminæ infert in ipsius matricem,
whence follows impregnation. Such
is the teaching of Guaccius, book 1,
chapt. 12, who supports it on a number
of quotations and instances taken from various
Doctors. |
25. Alio modo jungitur Dæmon tum
Incubus, tum Succubus, hominibus, fœminis
aut maribus, a quibus nec honorem, nec
sacrificia, oblationes, maleficia, quæ a Sagis
et Maleficis, ut supra dictum est,
prætendit, recipit; sed ostendens deperdite
amorem, nil aliud appetit, quam carnaliter
commisceri cum iis quos amat. Multa
sunt de hoc exempla, quæ ab Auctoribus
referuntur, ut Menippi Lycii, qui fuit sollicitatus
a quadam fœmina ad sibi nubendum,
postquam cum ea multoties coivit; et
detecta fœmina quænam esset a quodam
Philosopho, qui convivio nuptiali intererat,
et Menippo dixit illam esse Compusam,
puta Dæmonem succubam, statim ejulans
evanuit, ut narrat Cœlius Rhodiginus,
Antiq., lib. 29. c. 5. Pariter adolescens
quidam Scotus a Dæmone succuba omnium
gratissima, quas vidisset, forma, quæ occlusis
cubiculi foribus ad se ventitabat,
blanditiis, osculis, amplexibus per multos
menses fuit sollicitatus, ut secum coiret,
ut scribit Hector Boethius, Hist. Scotor.
lib. 8., quod tamen a casto juvene obtinere
non potuit. |
25. At other times also the Demon,
whether Incubus or Succubus, copulates
with men or women from whom he receives
none of the sacrifices, homage or offerings
which he is wont to exact from
Wizards or Witches, as aforesaid. He is
then but a passionate lover, having only
one desire: the carnal possession of the
loved ones. Of this there are numerous
instances to be found in the authors,
amongst which the case of Menippus
Lycius, who, after frequent coition with a
woman, was by her entreated to marry
her; but a certain philosopher, who partook
of the wedding entertainment, having
guessed what that woman was, told Menippus
that he had to deal with a Compusa,
that is a Succuba Demon; whereupon the
bride vanished bewailing: such is the
narrative given by Cœlius Rhodiginus,
Antiq., book 29, chapt. 5. Hector Boethius
(Hist. Scot.) also relates the case of
a young Scot, who, during many months,
with closed doors and windows, was visited
in his bed-room by a Succuba Demon
of the most bewitching beauty; caresses,
kisses, embraces, entreaties, she resorted
to every blandishment ut secum coiret: but
she could not prevail on the chaste young
man. |
26. Similiter, multas fœminas legimus
ab Incubo Dæmone expetitas ad coitum,
ipsisque repugnantibus facinus admittere,
precibus, fletibus, blanditiis, non secus ac
perditissimus amasius, procurasse animum
ipsarum demulcere, et ad congressum inclinare;
et quamvis aliquoties hoc eveniat
ob maleficium, ut nempe Dæmon missus a
maleficis hoc procuret: tamen non raro
Dæmon ex se hoc agit, ut scribit Guaccius,
Comp. Mal. lib. 3. c. 8., et non solum hoc
evenit cum mulieribus, sed etiam cum
equabus, cum quibus commiscetur; quæ si
libenter coitum admittunt, ab eo curantur
optime, ac ipsarum jubæ varie artificiosis
et inextricabilibus nodis texuntur; si autem
illum adversentur, eas male tractat,
percutit, macras reddit, et tandem necat,
ut quotidiana constat experientia. |
26. We read likewise of numerous women
incited to coition by the Incubus Demon,
and who, though reluctant at first of yielding
to him, are soon moved by his entreaties,
tears and endearments; he is a desperate
lover and must not be denied. And although
this comes sometimes of the craft of some
Wizard who avails himself of the agency
of the Demon, yet the Demon not infrequently
acts on his own account; and it
happens not merely with women, but also
with mares; if they readily comply with
his desire, he pets them, and plaits their
mane in elaborate and inextricable tresses;
but if they resist, he ill-treats and strikes
them, smites them with the glanders, and
finally puts them to death, as is shown by
daily experience. |
27. Et quod mirum est, et pene incapabile,
tales Incubi, qui Italice vocantur
Folletti, Hispanice Duendes, Gallice Follets,
nec Exorcistis obediunt, nec exorcismos
pavent, nec res sacras reverentur
ad earum approximationem timorem ostendendo,
sicuti faciunt Dæmones, qui
obsessos vexant; quantumvis enim maligni
Spiritus sint obstinati, nec parere velint
Exorcistæ præcipienti, ut exeant a corporibus
quæ obsident, tamen ad prolationem
Sanctissimi Nominis Jesu, aut Mariæ, aut
aliquorum versuum Sacræ Scripturæ, impositionem
Reliquiarum, maxime Ligṅi
Sanctæ Crucis, approximationem Sacrarum
Imaginum, ad os obsessi rugiunt,
strident, frendent, concutiuntur, et timorem
ac horrorem ostendunt. Folletti vero
nihil horum, ut dictum est, ostendunt, nec
a divexatione, nisi post longum tempus,
cessant. Hujus rei testis sum oculatus, et
historiam recito quæ reipsa humanam
fidem superat: sed testis mihi sit Deus
quod puram veritatem multorum testimonio
comprobatam describo. |
27. A most marvellous and well nigh incomprehensible
fact: the Incubi whom
the Italians call Folletti, the Spaniards
Duendes, the French Follets, do not obey
the Exorcists, have no dread of exorcisms,
no reverence for holy things, at the approach
of which they are not in the least
overawed; very different in that respect
from the Demons who vex those whom
they possess; for, however obstinate those
evil Spirits may be, however restive to the
injunctions of the Exorcist who bids them
leave the body they possess, yet, at the mere
utterance of the most holy name of Jesus or
Mary, or of some verses of Holy Writ, at
the mere imposition of relics, especially
of a piece of the wood of the Holy Cross, or
the sight of the holy images, they roar
at the mouth of the possessed person,
they gnash, shake, quiver, and display
fright and awe. But the Folletti show none
of those signs, and leave off their vexations
but after a long space of time. Of this
I was an eye-witness, and shall relate a story
which verily passes human belief: but I
take God to witness that I tell the precise
truth, corroborated by the testimony of
numerous persons. |
28. Viginti quinque abhinc annis, plus
minusve, dum essem Lector Sacræ Theologiæ
in Conventu Sanctæ Crucis Papiæ,
reperiebatur in illa civitate honesta quædam
fœmina maritata optimæ conscientiæ,
et bonum habens ab omnibus eam agnoscentibus,
maxime Religiosis, testimonium,
quæ vocabatur Hieronyma; et habitabat
in parochia Sancti Michaelis. Hæc quadam
die domi suæ panem pinserat, et per
furnarium miserat ad illum decoquendum.
Reportat panes coctos furnarius, et cum
illis grandem quamdam placentam curiose
elaboratam, conditam butyro, et pastulis
Venetis, ut in ea civitate solent fieri placentæ
hujusmodi. Renuit illa placentam
recipere, dicens se talem nullam fecisse.
Replicat furnarius, se illa die alium panem
coquendum non habuisse, nisi illum
quem ab ea habuerat; oportere proinde,
etiam placentam a se fuisse factam, licet
minime de illa recordaretur. Acquievit
fœmina, et placentam cum viro suo, filia
quam habebat triennem, et famula comedit.
Sequenti nocte dum cubaret mulier cum
viro suo, et ambo dormirent, expergefacta
est a quadam tenuissima voce, velut acutissimi
sibili ad ipsius aures susurrante,
verbis tamen distinctis: interrogavit autem
fœminam, num placenta illi placuisset?
Pavens fœmina cœpit se munire signo
Crucis, et invocare sæpius nomina Jesu et
Mariæ. Replicabat vox, ne paveret, se
nolle illi nocere, immo quæcumque illi
placerent paratum exsequi, esse filo captum
pulchritudinis suæ, et nil amplius desiderare,
quam ejus amplexu frui. Tum fœmina
sensit aliquem suaviantem ipsius genas,
sed tactus ita levis, ac mollis, ac si esset
gossipium subtilissime carminatum id a
quo tacta fuit. Respuit illa invitantem, nec
ullum responsum illi dedit: sed jugiter
nomen Jesu et Mariæ repetebat, et se
Crucis signo muniebat; et sic per spatium
quasi horæ dimidiæ tentata fuit, et postea
abscessit tentator. |
28. About twenty five years ago, when I
was a lecturer on Sacred Theology in the
convent of the Holy Cross, in Pavia, there
was living in that city a married woman of
unimpeachable morality, and who was most
highly spoken of by all such as knew her,
especially by the Friars; her name was
Hieronyma, and she lived in the parish
of S. Michael. One day, this woman had
kneaded bread at home and given it out to
bake. The oven-man brought her back her
loaves when baked, and with them a large
cake of a peculiar shape, and made of butter
and Venetian paste, as is usual in that city.
She declined to take it in, saying she had
not made any thing of the kind.—“But”,
said the oven-man, “I had no other bread
but yours to bake to-day, therefore this
cake also must have come from your
house; your memory is at fault”. The good
lady allowed herself to be persuaded, and
partook of the cake with her husband, her
little girl three years old, and the house
servant. The next night, whilst in bed with
her husband, and both asleep, she suddenly
woke up at the sound of a very
slender voice, something like a shrill hissing,
whispering in her ears, yet with great
distinctness, and inquiring whether “the
cake had been to her taste?” The good
lady, frightened, set about guarding herself
with a sign of the cross and repeatedly
calling the names of Jesus and Mary. “Be
not afraid,” said the voice, “I mean you no
harm; quite, the reverse: I am prepared
to do any thing to please you; I am captivated
by your beauty, and desire nothing
more than to enjoy your embraces”. And
she felt somebody kissing her cheeks, so
lightly, so softly, that she might have fancied
being grazed by the finest down. She
resisted without giving any answer, merely
repeating over and over again the names
of Jesus and Mary, and crossing herself;
the tempter kept on thus for nearly half an
hour, when he withdrew. |
Sequenti mane fuit mulier ad confessarium
virum prudentem ac doctum, a quo
fuit in fide confirmata et exhortata, ut
viriliter, sicut fecerat, resisteret, et sacris
Reliquiis se muniret. Sequentibus noctibus
par priori fuit tentatio, et verbis, et osculis,
et par etiam in muliere constantia.
Hæc pertæsa talem ac tantam molestiam,
ad Confessarii consultationem, et aliorum
gravium virorum, per Exorcistas peritos
fecit se exorcizare ad sciendum num esset
obsessa; et cum invenissent a nullo malo
spiritu possideri, benedixerunt domui, cubiculo,
lecto, et præceptum Incubo fecerunt,
ne auderet molestiam amplius mulieri
inferre. Sed omnia incassum: siquidem
tentationem inceptam prosequebatur, ac si
præ amore langueret, ploratus et ejulatus
emittebat ad mulierem demulcendam, quæ
tamen gratia Die adjuta semper viriliter
restitit. Renovavit Incubus tentationem,
ipsi apparens interdiu in forma pusionis,
seu parvi homunculi pulcherrimi, cæsariem
habens rutilam et crispam, barbamque
fulvam ac splendentem velut aurum, glaucosque
oculos, ut flos lini, incedebatque
indutus habitu Hispanico. Apparebat autem
illi quamvis cum ea alii morarentur;
et questus, prout faciunt amantes, exercens,
et jactando basia, solitasque preces
repetendo tentabat mulierem, ut ad illius
amplexus admitteretur. Videbatque, et audiebat
illa sola præsentem ac loquentem,
minime autem cæteri adstantes. |
The next morning the dame called on
her Confessor, a discreet and learned man,
who confirmed her in her faith, exhorted
her to maintain her energetic resistance
and to provide herself with some holy
relics. On the ensuing nights, like temptation
with the same language and kisses,
like constancy also on the part of the woman.
Weary however of such painful and
persistent molestation, taking the advice
of her Confessor and other grave men, she
had herself exorcised by experienced Exorcists,
in order to ascertain whether perchance
she was not possessed. Having
found in her no trace of the evil Spirit,
they blessed the house, the bed-room, the
bed, and enjoined on the Incubus to discontinue
his molestations. All to no purpose:
he kept on worse than ever, pretending
to be love-sick, weeping and moaning in
order to melt the heart of the lady, who
however, by the grace of God, remained
unconquered. The Incubus then went
another way to work: he appeared in the
shape of a lad or little man of great beauty,
with golden locks, a flaxen beard that
shone like gold, sea-green eyes calling
to mind the flax-flower, and arrayed in a
fancy Spanish dress. Besides he appeared
to her even when in company, whimpering,
after the fashion of lovers, kissing
his hand to her, and endeavouring by
every means to obtain her embraces. She
alone saw and heard him: for every body
else, he was not to be seen. |
Perseverabat in illa constantia mulier,
donec contra eam iratus Incubus, post aliquos
menses blanditiarum novum persecutionis
genus adortus est. Primo abstulit
ab ea crucem argenteam plenam Reliquiis
Sanctorum, et ceram benedictam, sive
Agnum papalem B. Pontificis Pii V, quæ
secum semper portabat; mox etiam annulos
et alia jocalia aurea et argentea ipsius,
intactis seris sub quibus custodiebantur,
in arca suffuratus est. Exinde cœpit illam
acriter percutere, et apparebant post verbera
contusiones, et livores in facie, brachiis,
aliisque corporis partibus, quæ per
diem unum vel alterum perdurabant, mox
in momento disparebant contra ordinem
contusionis naturalis, quæ sensim paulatimque
decrescit. Aliquoties ipsius infantulam
lactentem cunis eripiebat, et illam,
nunc super tecta in limine præcipitii locabat,
nunc occultabat, nihil tamen mali in
illa apparuit. Aliquoties totam domus
supellectilem evertebat; aliquoties ollas,
paropsides, et alia vasa testea minutatim
frangebat, subinde fracta restituebat integra.
Semel dum ipsa cum viro cubaret,
apparens Incubus in forma solita enixe
deprecabatur ab ea concubitum, et dum
ipsa de more constans resisteret, in furorem
actus Incubus abscessit, et infra breve temporis
spatium reversus est, secum ferens
magnam copiam laminarum saxearum,
quibus Genuenses in civitate sua et universa
Liguria domos tegunt, et ex ipsis fabricavit
murum circa lectum tantæ altitudinis,
ut ejus conopeum adæquaret, unde necesse
fuit scalis uti, si debuerunt de cubili surgere.
Murus autem fuit absque calce, et
ipso destructo, saxa in angulo seposita,
quæ ibi per duos dies remanserunt visa a
multis, qui ad spectaculum convenerant; et
post biduum disparuerunt. |
The good lady kept persevering in her
admirable constancy till, at last, after
some months of courting, the Incubus,
incensed at her disdain, had recourse to a
new kind of persecution. First, he took
away from her a silver cross filled with
holy relics, and a holy wax or papal lamb
of the blessed Pontiff Pius V, which she
always carried on her person; then, leaving
the locks untouched, he purloined her
rings and other gold and silver jewelry
from the casket wherein they were put
away. Next, he began to strike her cruelly,
and after each beating bruises and marks
were to be seen on her face, her arms or
other parts of her body, which lasted a
day or two, then suddenly disappeared, the
reverse of natural bruises which decrease
slowly and by degrees. Sometimes, while
she was nursing her little girl, he would
snatch the child away from on her breast
and lay it upon the roof, on the edge
of the gutter, or hide it, but without ever
harming it. Sometimes he would upset
all the furniture, or smash to pieces
saucepans, plates and other earthenware
which, in the twinkling of an eye, he restored
to their former state. One night that
she was lying with her husband, the Incubus,
appearing in his customary shape,
vehemently urged his demand which she
resisted as usual. The Incubus withdrew
in a rage, and shortly came back with a
large load of those flag stones which the
Genoese, and the inhabitants of Liguria in
general, use for roofing their houses. With
those stones he built around the bed a wall
so high that it reached the tester, and that
the couple could not leave their bed without
using a ladder. This wall however was
built up without lime; when pulled down,
the flags were laid by in a corner where,
during two days, they were seen by many
who came to look at them; they then disappeared. |
Invitaverat maritus ejus in die S. Stephani
quosdam amicos viros militares ad
prandium, et pro hospitum dignitate dapes
paraverat; dum de more lavantur manus
ante accubitum, disparet in momento mensa
parata in triclinio; disparent obsonia cuncta,
olla, caldaria, patinæ, ac omnia vasa in
coquina; disparent amphoræ, canthari, calices
parati ad potum. Attoniti ad hoc stupent
commensales, qui erant octo, inter
quos Dux peditum Hispanus ad alios conversus
ait: “Ne paveatis, ista est illusio,
sed pro certo mensa in loco in quo erat,
adhuc est, et modo modo eam tactu percipiam.”
Hisque dictis circuibat cœnaculum
manibus extentis, tentans mensam deprehendere,
sed cum post multos circuitus
incassum laborasset, et nil præter aerem
tangeret, irrisus fuit a cæteris; cumque
jam grandis esset prandii hora, pallium
proprium eorum unusquisque sumpsit propriam
domum petiturus. Jam erant omnes
prope januam domus in procinctu eundi,
associati a marito vexatæ mulieris, urbanitatis
causa, cum grandem quendam strepitum
in cœnaculo audiunt. Subsistunt parumper
ad cognoscendum causam strepitus,
et accurrens famula nuntiat in coquina vasa
nova obsoniis plena apparuisse, mensamque
in cœnaculo jam paratam esse restitutam.
Revertuntur in cœnaculum, et stupent mensam
mappis et manutergiis insolitis, salino,
et lancibus insolitis argenteis, salsamentis,
ac obsoniis, quæ domi parata non fuerant,
instructam. A latere magna erecta erat credentia,
supra quam optimo ordine stabant
calices crystallinis, argentini et aurei, cum
variis amphoris, lagenis, cantharis plenis
vinis exteris, puta Cretensi, Campano,
Canariensi, Rhenano, etc. In coquina pariter
in ollis, et vasis itidem in ea domo
nunquam visis, varia obsonia. Dubitarunt
prius nonnulli ex iis eas dapes gustare,
sed confirmati ab aliis accubuerunt, et exquisitissime
omnia condita repererunt; ac
immediate a prandio, dum omnes pro usu
illius tempores ad ignem sedent, omnia ustensilia
cum reliquiis ciborum disparuere,
et repertæ sunt antiquæ domus supellectiles
simul cum dapibus, quæ prius paratæ
fuerant; et quod mirum est, convivæ omnes
saturati sunt, ita ut nullus eorum cœnam
sumpserit præ prandii lautitia. Quo convincitur
cibos appositos reales fuisse, et non
ex præstigio repræsentatos. |
On S. Stephen’s day, the husband had
asked some military friends to dinner, and,
to do honour to his guests, had provided a
substantial repast. Whilst they were, as
customary, washing their hands before
taking their seats, suddenly vanished the
table dressed in the dining-room; all the
dishes, saucepans, kettles, plates and crockery
in the kitchen vanished likewise, as
well as the jugs, bottles and glasses. You may
imagine the surprise, the stupor of the guests,
eight in number; amongst them was a
Spanish Captain of infantry, who, addressing
the company, said to them: “Do not be
frightened, it is but a trick: the table is
certainly still where it stood, and I shall
soon find it by feeling for it”. Having
thus spoken, he paced round the room
with outstretched arms, endeavouring to
lay hold of the table; but when, after many
circuitous perambulations, it was apparent
that he laboured in vain and grasped at
nought but thin air, he was laughed at by
his friends; and it being already high time
for having dinner, each guest took up his
cloak and set about to return home. They
had already reached the street-door with the
husband, who, out of politeness, was attending
them, when they heard a great noise
in the dining-room: they stood to ascertain
the cause thereof, and presently the servant
came up to announce that the kitchen
was stocked with new vessels filled with
food, and that the table was standing
again in its former place. Having gone
back to the dining-room, they were stupefied
to see the table was laid, with cloths,
napkins, salt-cellars, and trays that did not
belong to the house, and with food which
had not been cooked there. On a large
sideboard all were arrayed in perfect order
crystal, silver and gold chalices, with all
kind of amphoras, decanters and cups filled
with foreign wines, from the Isle of Crete,
Campania, the Canaries, the Rhine, etc.
In the kitchen there was also an abundant
variety of meats in saucepans and dishes
that had never been seen there before. At
first, some of the guests hesitated whether
they should taste of that food; however,
encouraged by others, they sat down, and
soon partook of the meal, which was found
exquisite. Immediately afterwards, as they
were sitting before a seasonable fire, every
thing vanished at once, the dishes and the
leavings, and in their stead reappeared the
cloth of the house and the victual which had
been previously cooked; but, for a wonder,
all the guests were satisfied, so that no
one thought of supper after such a magnificent
dinner. A clear proof that the substituted
viands were real and nowise fictitious. |
Interea effluxerant multi menses, ex quos
cœperat hujusmodi persecutio: et mulier
votum fecit B. Bernardino Feltrensi, cujus
sacrum corpus veneratur in Ecclesia
S. Jacobi prope murum illius urbis, incedendi
per annum integrum indutam panno
griseo, et chordulato, quo utuntur Fratres
Minores, de quorum ordine fuit B. Bernardinus,
ut per ipsius patrocinium a tanta
Incubi vexatione liberaretur. Et de facto
die 28 Septembris, qui est pervigilium
Dedicationis S. Michaelis Archangeli, et
festum B. Bernardini, ipsa veste votiva induta
est. Mane sequenti, quod est festum
S. Michaelis, ibat vexata ad ecclesiam S.
Michaelis, quæ ut diximus erat parochialis
ipsius, circa medium mane, dum frequens
populus ad illam confluebat; et cum pervenisset
ad medium plateæ ecclesiæ, omnia
ipsius indumenta et ornamenta ceciderunt
in terram et rapta vento statim disparuerunt,
ipsa relicta nuda. Adfuerunt sorte inter
alios duo equites viri longævi, qui factum
videntes, dejectis ab humero propriis palliis
mulieris nuditatem, ut potuerunt, velarunt,
et rhedæ impositam ad propriam domum
duxerunt. Vestes et jocalia quæ rapuerat
Incubus, non restituit nisi post sex menses. |
This kind of persecution had been going
on some months, when the lady betook
herself to the blessed Bernardine of Feltri,
whose body is worshipped in the church
of St James, a short distance from the
walls of the city. She made a vow to him
that she would wear, during a whole
twelve-month, a grey frock, tied round
her waist with a piece of cord, and such as
is worn by the Minor Brethren, the order
to which had belonged the blessed Bernardine;
this she vowed, in the hope of
being, through his intercession, at last rid
of the persecution of the Incubus. And accordingly,
on the 28th of September, the
vigil of the Dedication of the Archangel S.
Michael, and the festival of the blessed
Bernardine, she assumed the votive robe.
The next morning, which was S. Michael’s
festival, the afflicted woman proceeded to
the church of St Michael, her own parish,
already mentioned; it was about
ten o’clock, a time when a crowd of people
were going to mass. She had no sooner set
foot on the threshold of the church, than her
clothes and ornaments fell off to the ground,
and disappeared in a gust of wind, leaving
her stark naked. There happened fortunately
to be among the crowd two cavaliers
of mature age, who, seeing what had taken
place, hastened to divest themselves of
their cloaks with which they concealed, as
well as they could, the woman’s nudity,
and having put her into a vehicle, accompanied
her home. The clothes and trinkets
taken by the Incubus were not restored by
him before six months had elapsed. |
Multa alia, et quidem stupenda operatus
est contra eam Incubus, quæ tædet exscribere,
et per multos annos in ea tentatione
permansit; tandemque Incubus videns operam
in ea perdere, destitit a tam importuna
et insolita vexatione. |
I might relate many other most surprising
tricks which that Incubus played on her,
were it not wearisome. Suffice it to say that,
for a number of years he persevered in his
temptation of her, but that finding at last
that he was losing his pains, he desisted
from his vexatious importunities. |
29. In hoc casu, et similibus qui passim
audiuntur et leguntur, Incubus ad nullum
actum contra Religionem tentat, sed solum
contra castitatem. Hinc fit quod ipsi consentiens
non peccat irreligiositate, sed incontinentia. |
29. In the above case, as well as in others
that may be heard or read of occasionally,
the Incubus attempts no act against Religion;
he merely assails chastity. In consequence,
consent is not a sin through ungodliness,
but through incontinence. |
30. In confesso autem est apud Theologos
et Philosophos, quod ex commixtione
hominis cum Dæmone aliquoties nascuntur
homines, et tali modo nasciturum esse Antichristum
opinantur nonnulli Doctores:
Bellarm. lib. 1, de Rom. Pont., cap. 12;
Suarez, tom. 2, disp. 54, sec. 1.; Maluend.,
de Antichr., l. 2., c. 8. Immo observant,
quod, qui gignuntur ab hujusmodi Incubis,
naturali causa etiam evenit, ut nascantur
grandes, robustissimi, ferocissimi, superbissimi,
ac nequissimi, ut scripsit Maluenda,
loc. cit., § Ad illud; e rationem recitat
ex Vallesio Archia. Reggio. Sac.
Philosoph., c. 8., dicente quod Incubi summittant
in uteros non qualecumque, neque
quantumcumque semen, sed plurimum,
crassissimum, calidissimum, spiritibus
affluens et seri expers. Id vero est eis facile
conquirere, deligendo homines calidos, robustos,
et abondantes multo semine, quibus
succumbant, deinde et mulieres tales, quibus
incumbant, atque utrisque voluptatem
solito majorem afferendo, tanto enim abundantius
emittitur semen, quanto cum majori
voluptate excernitur. Hæc Vallesius.
Confirmat vero Maluenda supradicta, probando,
ex variis et classicis Auctoribus, ex
hujusmodi concubitu natos: Romulum ac
Remum, Liv. decad. 1; Plutarch., in Vit.
Romul. et Parallel.; Servium Tullium,
sextum regem Romanorum, Dionys. Halicar.,
lib. 4, Plin., lib. 36., c. 27; Platonem
Philosophum, Laer. l., 9. de Vit. Philos.;
D. Hyeron., l. 1. Controvers. Jovinian.;
Alexandrum Magnum, Plutarch., in Vit.
Alex. M.; Quint. Curt., l. 4, de Gest. Alex.
M.; Seleucum, regem Syriæ, Just., Hist.,
l. 15; Appian., in Syriac.; Scipionem Africanum
Majorem, Liv., decad. 3, lib. 6; Cæsarem
Augustum Imperatorem, Sueton., in
Octa., c. 94; Aristomenem Messenium,
strenuissimum ducem Græcorum, Strabo,
de Sit Orb., lib. 8; Pausan., de Rebus Græcor.,
lib. 3; et Merlinum, seu Melchinum
Anglicum ex Incubo et Filia Caroli Magni
Moniali, Hauller, volum. 2, Generat. 7,
quod etiam de Martino Luthero, perditissimo
Heresiarcha scribit Cochlæus apud Maluendam,
de Antich., lib. 2, c. 6, § Cæterum. |
30. Now, it is undoubted by Theologians
and philosophers that carnal intercourse
between mankind and the Demon sometimes
gives birth to human beings; that is
how is to be born the Antichrist, according
to some Doctors, such as Bellarmin, Suarez,
Maluenda, etc. They further observe
that, from a natural cause, the children
thus begotten by Incubi are tall, very
hardy and bold, very proud and wicked.
Thus writes Maluenda; as for the cause,
he gives it from Vallesius, Archphysician
in Reggio: “What Incubi introduce in uteros,
is not qualecumque neque quantumcumque
semen, but abundant, very thick,
very warm, rich in spirits and free from
serosity. This moreover is an easy thing
for them, since they have but to choose
ardent, robust men, et abundantes multo
semine, quibus succumbant, and then women
of a like constitution, quibus incumbant,
taking care that both shall enjoy
voluptatem solito majorem, tanto enim
abundantius emittitur semen, quanto cum
majori voluptate excernitur.” Those are
the words of Vallesius, confirmed by Maluenda
who shows, from the testimony of
various Authors, mostly classical, that
such associations gave birth to: Romulus
and Remus, according to Livy and
Plutarch; Servius-Tullius, the sixth king
of Rome, according to Dyonisius of Halicarnassus
and Pliny the Elder; Plato the
Philosopher, according to Diogenes Laertius
and Saint Hieronymus; Alexander
the Great, according to Plutarch and
Quintus-Curtius; Seleucus, king of Syria,
according to Justinus and Appianus;
Scipio Africanus the Elder, according to
Livy; the emperor Cæsar Augustus,
according to Suetonius; Aristomenes the
Messenian, an illustrious Greek commander,
according to Strabo and Pausanias;
as also Merlin or Melchin the Englishman,
born from an Incubus and a nun, the
daughter of Charlemagne; and, lastly, as
shown by the writings of Cochlæus quoted
by Maluenda, that damned Heresiarch
ycleped Martin Luther. |
31. Salva tamen tot, et tantorum Doctorum,
qui in ea opinione conveniunt, reverentia,
non video, quomodo ipsorum sententia
possit subsistere; tum quia, ut
optime opinatur Pererius, tom. 2, in Genes.,
cap. 6, disp. 5, tota vis et efficacia
humani seminis consistit in spiritibus, qui
difflantur, et evanescunt statim ac sunt
extra genitalia vasa, a quibus foventur et
conservantur, ut scribunt Medici. Nequit
proinde Dæmon semen acceptum conservare,
ita ut aptum sit generationi, quia
vas, quodcumque sit illud, in quo semen
conservare tentaret, oporteret quod caleret
calore assimetro a nativo organorum
humanæ generationis; similarem enim a
nullo alio præterquam ab organis ipsis
habere potest generatio. Tum quia generatio
actus vitalis est, per quem homo
generans de propria substantia semen defert
per organa naturalia ad locum generationi
congruentem. In casu autem delatio seminis
non potest esse actus vitalis hominis generantis,
quia ab eo non infertur in matricem;
proinde nec dici potest, quod homo
eujus est semen, generet fœtum, qui ex eo
nascitur. Neque Incubus ipsius pater dici
potest; quia de ipsius substantia semen non
est. Hinc fiet, quod nascetur homo, cujus
nemo pater sit, quod est incongruum. Tum
quia in patre naturaliter generante duplex
causalitas concurrit, nempe materialis, quia
semen, quod materia generationis, ministrat,
et efficiens, quia agens principale est
in generatione, ut communiter statuunt
Philosophi. In casu autem nostro homo
ministrando solum semen, puram materiam
exhiberet absque ulla actione in ordine ad
generationem; proinde non posset dici
pater filii qui nasceretur: et hoc est contra
id, quod homo genitus ab Incubo non
est illius filius, sed est filius ejus viri, a
quo Incubus semen sumpsit. |
31. However, with due deference to so
many and such learned Doctors, I hardly
see how their opinion can bear examination.
For, as Pererius truly observes in his
Commentary on the Genesis, chapt. 6, the
whole strength and efficiency of the human
sperm reside in the spirits which evaporate
and vanish as soon as issued from the
genital vessels wherein they were warmly
stored: all medical men agree on that point.
It is consequently not possible that the
Demon should preserve in a fit state for
generation the sperm he has received;
for it were necessary that whatever vessel
he endeavoured to keep it in should be
equally warm with the human genital organs,
the warmth of which is nowhere to
be met with but in those organs themselves.
Now, in a vessel where that warmth is not
intrinsical but extraneous, the spirits get
altered, and no generation can take place.
There is this other objection, that generation
is a vital act by which man, begetting
from his own substance, carries the sperm
through natural organs to the spot which
is appropriate to generation. On the contrary,
in this particular case, the introduction
of sperm cannot be a vital act of the
man who begets, since it is not carried
into the womb by his agency; and, for
the same cause, it cannot be said that the
man, whose sperm it was, has begotten
the fetus which proceeds from it. Nor can
the Incubus be deemed its father, since
the sperm does not issue from his own
substance. Consequentially, a child would
be born without a father, which is absurd.
Third objection: when the father begets
in the course of nature, there is a concurrence
of two causalities: the one, material,
for he provides the sperm which is the
matter of generation; the other, efficient,
for he is the principal agent of generation,
as Philosophers agree in declaring. But,
in this case, the man who only provided
the sperm would contribute but a mere
material, without any action tending to
generation; he could therefore not be
regarded as the father of the child begotten
under those circumstances; and this
is opposed to the notion that the child
begotten by an Incubus is not his son, but
the son of the man whose sperm the
Incubus has taken. |
32. Præterea omni probabilitate caret
quod scribit Vallesius, et ex eo recitavimus
supra no 30; mirorque a doctissimi viri
calamo talia excidisse. Notissimum enim
est apud Physicos, quod magnitudo fœtus
non est a quantitate molis, sed est a quantitate
virtutis, hoc est spirituum in semine:
ab ea enim tota generationis ratio dependet,
ut optime testatur Michael Ettmullerus,
Instit. Medic. Physiolog., car. 22, thes. 1,
fol. m., 39, scribens: Tota generationis
ratio dependet a spiritu genitali sub crassioris
materiæ involucro excreto; ista materia
seminis crassa nullo modo, vel in
utero subsistente, vel seu materia fœtum
constituente: sed solus spiritus genitalis
maris unitus cum spiritu genitali mulieris
in poros uteri, seu, quod rarius fit, in tubos
uteri se insinuat, indeque uterum fecundum
reddit. Quid ergo facere potest magna
quantitas seminis ad fœtus magnitudinem?
Præterea nec semper verum est, quod tales
geniti ab Incubis magnitudine molis corporeæ
insignes sint: Alexander enim Magnus,
qui, ut diximus, natus taliter scribitur,
statura pusillus erat; unde carmen, |
32. Besides, there is not a shadow of
probability in what written by Vallesius
and quoted from him by us (Vide
supra no 30); and I wonder that any thing
so extravagant should have fallen from
the pen of such a learned man. Medical
men are well aware that the size of the
fetus depends, not indeed on the quantity
of matter, but on the quantity of virtue,
that is to say of spirits held by the sperm;
there lies the whole secret of generation,
as is well observed by Michael Ettmuller,
Institut. Medic. Physiolog.: “Generation”,
says he, “entirely depends upon the genital
spirit contained within an envelope of
thicker matter; that spermatic matter
does not remain in the uterus, and has no
share in the formation of the fetus; it is
but the genital spirit of the male, combined
with the genital spirit of the female,
that permeates the pores, or, less frequently,
the tubes of the uterus, which it fecundates
by that means.” Of what moment
can therefore the quantity of sperm be for
the size of the fetus? Besides, it is not
always a fact that men thus begotten by
Incubi are remarkable for the huge proportions
of their body: Alexander the
Great, for instance, who is said to have
been thus born, as we have mentioned,
was very short; as the poet said of him: |
Magnus Alexander corpore parvus erat.
|
Magnus Alexander corpore parvus erat. |
Item quamvis taliter concepti supra cæteros
homines excellant, non tamen hoc semper
est in vitiis, sed aliquando in virtutibus
etiam in moralibus, ut patet in Scipione
Africano, Cæsare Augusto, et Platone
Philosopho, de quibus Livius, Suetonius et
Laertius respective scribunt, quod optimi
in moribus fuere; ut proinde arguere possimus,
quod si alii eodem modo geniti
pessimi fuere, hoc non fuerit ex hoc, quod
fuerint ab Incubo geniti, sed quia tales ex
proprio arbitrio exstitere. |
Besides, although it is generally a fact
that those who are thus begotten excel
other men, yet such superiority is not
always shown by their vices, but sometimes
by their virtues and even their
morals; Scipio Africanus, for instance,
Cæsar Augustus and Plato the Philosopher,
as is recorded of each of them respectively
by Livy, Suetonius and Diogenes Laertius,
had excellent morals. Whence may
be inferred that, if other individuals
begotten in the same way have been
downright villains, it was not owing to
their being born of an Incubus, but to
their having, of their own free will, chosen
to be such. |
Pariter ex textu Sacræ Scripturæ, Gen.,
c. 6, v. 4, habemus quod gigantes nati sunt
ex concubitu filiorum Dei cum filiabus
hominum, et hoc ad litteram sacri textus.
Gigantes autem homines erant statura
magna, ut eos vocat Baruch, c. 3, v. 26, et
excedente communem hominum proceritatem.
Monstruosa statura, robore, latrociniis,
et tyrannide insignes: unde Gigantes
per sua scelera fuerunt maxima, et potissima
causa Diluvii, ait Cornelius a Lapid.
in Gen., c. 6, v. 4, § Burgensis. Non quadrat
autem quorumdam expositio, quod
nomine filiorum Dei veniant filii Seth, et
vocabulo filiarum hominum filiæ Cain, eo
quod illi erant pietati, Religioni, et cæteris
virtutibus addicti, descendentes autem a
Cain vice versa: nam salva opinantium,
Chrysost., Cyrill., Theodor. Rupert. Ab. et
Hilar. in Psalm. 132, apud Cornel., a Lap.,
c. 6; G., v. 2, § Verum dies, reverentia,
talis expositio non cohæret sensui patenti
litteræ; ait enim Scriptura, quod ex conjunctione
talium nati sunt homines monstruosæ
proceritatis corporeæ: ante illam
ergo tales gigantes non extiterunt: quod
si ex ea orti sunt, hoc non potuit esse ex
eo, quod filii Seth coivissent cum filiabus
Cain, quia illi erant staturæ ordinariæ,
prout etiam filiæ Cain, unde oriri ex his
naturaliter non potuerunt nisi filii staturæ
ordinariæ: si ergo monstruosa statura filii
nati sunt ex tali conjunctione, hoc fuit,
quia non fuerunt prognati ex ordinaria
conjunctione viri cum muliere, sed ex
Incubis dæmonibus qui ratione naturæ
ipsorum optime possunt vocari filii Dei, et
in hac sententia sunt Philosophi Platonici,
et Franciscus Georgius Venetus, tom. 1,
problem. 74: nec dissentiunt ab eadem
Joseph. Hebræus, Philo Judæus, S. Justinus
Martyr, Clemens Alexandrinus, et
Tertullianus, Joseph. Hebræus, Antiq., l.
1.; Philo, l. de Gigant.; S. Justinus M.,
Apolog. 1.; Clemens Alex., lib. 3; Tertull.,
lib. de Habit. Mul., apud Cornel., loc. cit.;
Hugo de S. Victor., Annot. in Gen., c. 6,
qui opinantur illos fuisse Angelos quosnam
corporeos qui in luxuriam cum mulieribus
delapsi sunt: ut enim infra ostendemus,
istæ duæ sententiæ in unam et eamdem
conveniunt. |
We also read in the Testament, Genesis,
chap. 6, verse 4, that giants were born
when the sons of God came in unto the
daughters of men: that is the very letter
of the sacred text. Now, those giants were
men of great stature, says Baruch, chap. 3,
verse 26, and far superior to other men.
Not only were they distinguished by their
huge size, but also by their physical
power, their plundering habits and their
tyranny. Through their criminal excesses
the Giants were the primary and principal
cause of the Flood, according to Cornelius
a Lapide, in his Commentary on Genesis.
Some contend that by Sons of God are
meant the sons of Seth, and by Daughters
of men the daughters of Cain, because the
former practiced piety, religion and every
other virtue, whilst the descendants of
Cain were quite the reverse; but, with all
due deference to Chrysostom, Cyrillus,
Hilarius and others who are of that opinion,
it must be conceded that it clashes
with the obvious meaning of the text. Scripture
says, in fact, that of the conjunction of
the above mentioned were born men of
huge bodily size: consequently, those giants
were not previously in existence, and if their
birth was the result of that conjunction,
it cannot be ascribed to the intercourse of
the sons of Seth with the daughters of
Cain, who being themselves of ordinary
stature, could but procreate children of
ordinary stature. Therefore, if the intercourse
in question gave birth to beings of
huge stature, the reason is that it was not
the common connection between man and
woman, but the performance of Incubi
Demons who, from their nature, may very
well be styled sons of God. Such is the opinion
of the Platonist Philosophers and of
Francis Georges the Venetian; nor is it
discrepant from that of Josephus the Historian,
Philo the Jew, S. Justinus the
Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, and Tertullian,
who look upon Incubi as corporeal
Angels who have allowed themselves to
fall into the sin of lewdness with women.
Indeed, as shall be shown hereafter, though
seemingly distinct, those two opinions are
but one and the same. |
33. Si ergo Incubi tales, ut fert communis
sententia, Gigantes genuerunt, accepto semine
ab homine, juxta id, quod supra
dictum est, non potuerunt ex illo semine
nasci nisi homines ejusdem staturæ plus
minusve, cum eo a quo semen acceptum est:
nec enim facit ad altiorem corporis staturam
major seminis quantitas, ita ut attracta
insolite a Dæmone, dum Succubus fit homini,
augeat ultra illius staturam enormiter corpus
ab eo geniti; quia, ut supra diximus,
hoc residet in spiritu, et non in mole seminis:
ut proinde necesse sit concludere,
quod ab alio semine, quam humano, hujusmodi
gigantes nati sint, et proinde Dæmon
Incubus non humano, sed alio semine utatur
ad generationem. Quid igitur dicendum? |
33. If therefore these Incubi, in conformity
with general belief, have begotten
Giants by means of sperm taken from
man, it is impossible, as aforesaid, that of
that sperm should have been born any but
men of approximately the same size as he
from whom it came; for it would be in vain
for the Demon, when acting the part of a
Succubus, to draw from man an unwonted
quantity of prolific liquor in order to procreate
therefrom children of higher stature;
quantity has nothing to do here, since all
depends, as we have said, upon the vitality
of that liquor, not its quantity. We are
therefore bound to infer that Giants are
born of another sperm than man’s, and
that, consequently, the Incubus Demon,
for the purpose of generation, uses a sperm
which is not man’s. But then, what is to
be said? |
34. Quantum ad hoc, sub correctione
Sanctæ Matris Ecclesiæ, et mere opinative
dico, Incubum Dæmonem, dum mulieribus
commiscetur, ex proprio ipsius semine
hominem generare. |
34. Subject to correction by our Holy
Mother Church, and as a mere expression
of opinion, I say that the Incubus Demon,
when having intercourse with women,
begets the human fetus from his own
sperm. |
35. Paradoxa in fide, et parum sana
nonnullis videbitur hæc opinio; sed lectorem
meum deprecor, ut judicium non
præcipitet de ea: ut enim incivile est nondum
tota lege perspecta judicare, ut
Celsus, lib. 24. ff. de legib. et S. C., ait,
ita neque damnanda est opinio, nisi prius
examinatis, ac solutis argumentis, quibus
innititur. Ad probandam igitur supradatam
conclusionem, nonnulla sunt necessario
præmittenda. |
35. To many that proposition will seem
heterodox and hardly sensible; but I beg
of my reader not to condemn it precipitately;
for if, as Celsus says, it is improper
to deliver judgment without having thoroughly
inquired into the law, no less
unfair is the rejection of an opinion, before
the arguments upon which it rests have
been weighed and confuted. I have therefore
to prove the above conclusion, and
must necessarily premise with some statements. |
36. Præmittendum primo de fide est,
quod dentur Creaturæ pure spirituales
nullo modo de materia corporea participantes,
prout habetur ex Concilio Lateranensi,
sub Innocentio Tertio, c. Firm.
de Sum. Trin. et Fid. Cath. Conc. Eph.
in Epist. Cyrill. ad Reggia, et alibi.
Hujusmodi autem sunt Angeli beati, et
Dæmones damnati ad ignem perpetuum.
Quamvis vero nonnulli Doctores, Bann.
par. 1. q. 5. ar. 1. Can. de Loc. Theol. l.
5. c. 5. Sixt. seu Bibliot. San. l. 5. annot.
8., Mirand. Sum. Concil. vo. Angelus,
Molina, p. 1. q. 50., a. 1., Carranz.,
Annot. ad Synod. 7., etiam post Concilium
illud docuerint spiritualitatem Angelorum
et Dæmonum non esse de fide, ita
ut nonnulli alii, Bonav. in lib. 2. sent. dist.
3. q. 1., Scot. de Anim. q. 15., Cajet. in
Gen. c. 4., Franc. Georg. Problem. l. 2.
c. 57., August. Hyph., de Dæmon., l. 3.
c. 3., scripserint illos esse corporeos, et
proinde Angelos Dæmonesque corpore et
spiritu constare non esse propositionem
hæreticam, neque erroneam, probet Bonaventura
Baro, Scot. Defens. tom. 9. apolog.
2., act. 1., p. § 7.: tamen quia Concilium
ipsum statuit de fide tenendum,
Deum esse Creatorem omnium visibilium
et invisibilium, spiritualium et corporalium,
qui utramque de nihilo condidit
creaturam spiritualem et corporalem Angelicam,
videlicet ut mundanam: ideo
dico de fide esse quasdam creaturas dari
mere spirituales, et tales esse Angelos, non
quidem omnes, sed quosdam. |
36. Firstly, I premise, as an article of
belief, that there are purely spiritual creatures,
not in any way partaking of corporeal
matter, as was ruled by the Council
of Lateran, under the pontificate of Innocent
III. Such are the blessed Angels,
and the Demons condemned to ever-lasting
fire. Some Doctors, it is true, have professed,
subsequently even to this Council,
that the spirituality of Angels and Demons
is not an article of belief; others even
have asserted that they are corporeal,
whence Bonaventure Baron has drawn the
conclusion that it is neither heretical nor
erroneous to ascribe to Angels and Demons
a twofold substance, corporeal and spiritual.
Yet, the Council having formally declared
it to be an article of belief that God is the
maker of all things visible and invisible,
spiritual and corporeal, who has raised
from nothing every creature spiritual or
corporeal, Angelic or terrestrial, I contend
it is an article of belief that there are certain
merely spiritual creatures, and that
such are Angels; not all of them, but a certain
number. |
37. Inaudita forsan erit sententia hæc, sed
non destituta erit probabilitate. Si enim a
Theologis tanta inter Angelos diversitas
specifica, et proinde essentialis statuitur, ut
in via D. Thomæ, p. p. 50, ar. 4,
plures Angeli nequeant esse in eadem specie,
sed quilibet Angelus propriam speciem
constituat, profecto nulla invenitur repugnantia,
quod Angelorum nonnulli sint
purissimi spiritus, et proinde excellentissimæ
naturæ, alii autem corporei, et minus
excellentes, et eorum differentia petatur
per corporeum et incorporeum. Accedit
quod hac sententia facile solvitur alias insolubilis
contradictio inter duo Concilia
Œcumenica, nempe Septimam Synodum
generalem, et dictum Concilium Lateranense:
siquidem in illa Synodo, quæ est
secunda Nicæna, actione quinta, productus
est liber Joannis Thessalonicensis scriptus
contra quemdam Philosophum gentilem, in
quo ita habetur: De Angelis et Archangelis,
atque eorum Potestatibus, quibus
nostras Animas adjungo, ipsa Catholica
Ecclesia sic sentit, esse quidem intelligibiles,
sed non omnino corporis expertes,
et insensibiles, ut vos Gentiles dicitis,
verum tenui corpore præditos, et aereo,
sive igneo, sicut scriptum est: qui facit
Angelos suos spiritus, et ministros suos
ignem urentem. Et infra: Quamquam
autem non sint ut nos, corporei, utpote
ex quatuor elementis, nemo tamen vel
Angelos, vel Dæmones, vel Animas dixerit
incorporeas: multoties enim in proprio
corpore visi sunt ab illis, quibus Dominus
oculos aperuit. Et cum omnia lecta fuissent
coram Patribus synodaliter congregatis,
Tharasius, Patriarcha Constantinopolitanus,
poposcit adprobationem Sanctæ
Synodi his verbis: Ostendit Pater, quod
Angelos pingi oporteat, quoniam circumscribi
possunt, et ut homines apparuerunt.
Synodus autem uno ore respondit: Etiam,
Domine. |
37. It may seem strange, yet it must
be admitted not to be unlikely. If, in
fact, Theologians concur in establishing
amongst Angels a specific, and therefore essential,
diversity so considerable that, according
to St. Thomas, there are not two
Angels of the same species, but that each of
them is a species by himself, why should not
certain Angels be most pure spirits, of a consequently
very superior nature, and others
corporeal, therefore of a less perfect nature,
differing thus from each other in their
corporeal or incorporeal substance? This
doctrine has the advantage of solving the
otherwise insoluble contradiction between
two Œcumenical Councils, namely the
Seventh General Synod and the above-mentioned
Council of Lateran. For, during
the fifth sitting of that Synod, the second
of Nicea, a book was introduced written
by John of Thessalonica against a pagan
Philosopher, wherein occur the following
propositions: “Respecting Angels, Archangels
and their Powers, to which I
adjoin our own Souls, the Catholic Church
is really of opinion that they are intelligences,
but not entirely bodyless and senseless,
as you Gentiles aver; she on the
contrary ascribes to them a subtile body,
aerial or igneous, according to what is
written: He makes the spirits His Angels,
and the burning fire His Minister”. And
further on: “Although not corporeal in the
same way as ourselves, made of the four
elements, yet it is impossible to say that
Angels, Demons and Souls are incorporeal;
for they have been seen many a time, invested
with their own body, by those whose
eyes the Lord had opened”. And after that
book had been read through before all the
Fathers in Council assembled, Tharasius,
the Patriarch of Constantinople, submitted
it to the approval of the Council, with
these words: “The Father showeth that
Angels should be pictured, since their form
can be defined, and they have been seen in
the shape of men”. Without a dissentient,
the Synod answered: “Yes, my Lord”. |
38. Hanc autem Conciliarem adprobationem
de materia ad longum pertractata
a D. Joanne in libro coram Patribus lecto,
statuere articulum fidei circa corporeitatem
Angelorum, perspicuum est: unde
ad tollendam contradictionem hujus, cum
allata definitione Concilii Lateranensis,
multum desudant Theologi. Unus enim,
Suarez, de Angelis, ait, quod Patres non
contradixerunt tali asserto de corporeitate
Angelorum, quia non de illa re agebatur.
Alius, Bann., in p. p. q. 10, ait, quod
Synodus adprobavit conclusionem, nempe
Angelos pingi posse, non tamen adprobavit
rationem, quia corporei sunt. Alius,
Molin., in p. p., q. 50. a. 1, ait, quod
definitiones Conciliares in illa Synodo
factæ sunt solum actione septima, proinde
ea quæ habentur in actionibus præcedentibus
non esse definitiones de fide. Alii,
Joverc. et Mirand., Sum. Conc., scribunt
nec Nicænum, nec Lateranense Concilium
intendisse definere de fide quæstionem; et
Nicænum quidem locutum fuisse juxta
opinionem Platonicorum, quæ ponit Angelos
corporeos, et tunc prævalebat; Lateranense
autem locutum esse juxta mentem
Aristotelis, qui, l. 12. Metaphys., tex.
49, ponit intelligentias incorporeas, quæ
sententia contra Platonicos apud plerosque
Doctores invaluit expost. |
38. That this approbation by a Council
of the doctrine set forth at length in the
book of John establishes an article of belief
with regard to the corporeity of Angels,
there is not a shadow of doubt: so Theologians
toil and moil in order to remove
the contradiction apparent between that
decision and the definition, above quoted,
by the Council of Lateran. One of them,
Suarez, says that if the Fathers did not
disprove such an assertion of the corporeity
of Angels, it is because that was not
the question. Another contends that the
Synod did approve the conclusion, namely
that Angels might be pictured, but not the
motive given, their corporeity. A third,
Molina, observes that the definitions issued
in Council by the Synod were thus
issued only at the seventh sitting, whence
he argues that those of the previous sittings
are not definitions of belief. Others, lastly,
write that neither the Council of Nicea
nor that of Lateran intended defining a
question of belief, the Council of Nicea
having spoken according to the opinion of
the Platonists, which describes Angels as
corporeal beings and was then prevailing,
whilst that of Lateran went with Aristoteles,
who, in his 12th. book of Metaphysics,
lays down the existence of incorporeal
intelligences, a doctrine which has
since carried the day with most Doctors
over the Platonists. |
39. Sed quam frigidæ sint istæ responsiones
nemo non videt, ac eas minime satisfacere
oppositioni palmariter demonstrat
Bonaventura Baro, Scot. Defens., tom. 9,
apolog. 2, actio 1, § 2 per totum.
Proinde ad tollendam contradictionem
Conciliorum dicendum est, Nicænum locutum
esse de una, Lateranense autem de
alia specie Angelorum, et illam quidem
corpoream, hanc vero penitus incorpoream;
et sic conciliantur aliter irreconciliabilia
Concilia. |
39. But any one can discern the invalidity
of those answers, and Bonaventure
Baro (Scot. Defens., tome 9) proves to evidence
that they do not bear. In consequence,
in order to agree the two
Councils, we must say that the Council of
Nicea meant one species of Angels, and
that of Lateran another: the former, corporeal,
the latter on the contrary absolutely
incorporeal; and thus are reconciled
two otherwise irreconcilable Councils. |
40. Præmittendum 2º, nomen Angeli
esse nomen officii, non naturæ, ut concorditer
scribunt S. S. Patres: Ambros. in c.
1 epist. ad Hebr., Hilaris, l. 5 de Trin.,
Augustinus, lib. 15 de Civit. Dei c. 23,
Gregorius, Hom. 34 in Evang., Isidorus,
l. de Sum. Bonit., c. 12; unde præclare
ait D. Ambrosius: Angelus non ex eo
quod est spiritus, ex eo quod agit, Angelus,
quia Angelus Græce, Latine Nuntius
dicitur, sequitur igitur ex hoc, quod
illi, qui ad aliquod ministerium a Deo
mittuntur, sive spiritus sint, sive homines,
Angeli vocari possunt; et de facto ita
vocantur in Scripturis Sacris: nam de
Sacerdotibus, Concionatoribus ac Doctoribus,
qui tanquam Nuntii Dei explicant
hominibus divinam voluntatem, dicitur,
Malach. c. 2. v. 7: Labia Sacerdotis
custodient scientiam, et legem requirent
ex ore ejus, quia Angelus Domini exercituum
est. D. Joannes Baptista ab eodem
Propheta, c. 3 v. 1, vocatur Angelus,
dum ait: Ecce ego mitto Angelum meum,
et præparabit viam ante faciem meam. Et
hanc prophetiam esse ad litteram de
S. Joanne Baptista testatur Christus Dominus
in Evangelio Matthæi, 11, v. 10.
Immo et ipse Deus, quia fuit missus a
Patre in mundum ad evangelizandum
legem gratiæ, vocatur Angelus. Ita in
prophetia Isaiæ, c. 9 v. 6, juxta versionem
Septuaginta: Vocabitur nomen
ejus magni consilii Angelus, et clarius in
Malachiæ c. 3 v. 1: Veniet ad templum
sanctum suum Dominator quem vos quæritis,
et Angelus testamenti quem vos
vultis. Quæ prophetia ad litteram est de
Christo Domino. Sequitur igitur nullum
absurdum sequi ex hoc, quod dicimus Angelos
quosdam esse corporeos, nam et
homines, qui corpore constant, Angeli vocabulo
efferuntur. |
40. Secondly, I premise that the word
Angel applies, not indeed to the kind, but
to the office: the Holy Fathers are agreed
thereupon (St. Ambrose, on the Epistle to
the Hebrews; St. Austin, City of God; St.
Gregory, Homily 34 on Scripture; St. Isidorus,
Supreme Goodness). An Angel,
very truly says St. Ambrose, is thus
styled, not because he is a spirit, but on
account of his office; Ἁγγελος in Greek,
Nuntius in Latin, that is to say Messenger;
it follows that whoever is entrusted by God
with a mission, be he spirit or man, may
be called an Angel, and is thus called in
the Holy Scriptures, where the following
words are applied to Priests, Preachers and
Doctors, who, as Messengers of God, explain
to men the divine will (Malachi,
chapt. 2, v. 7). “The priest’s lips should
keep knowledge, and they should seek the
law at his mouth, for he is the Angel of the
Lord of Hosts.” The same prophet, chapt.
3, v. 1, bestows the name of Angel on St.
John the Baptist, when saying: “Behold, I
will send my Angel and he shall prepare the
way before me.” That this prophecy literally
applies to St. John the Baptist is
testified by our Lord Jesus-Christ, in the
Gospel, according to St. Matthew, chapt. 11,
v. 10. Still more: God himself is called an
Angel, because he has been sent by His
Father to herald the law of mercy. To
witness, the prophecy of Isaiah, chapt. 9,
v. 6, according to Septuagint: “He shall
be called an Angel of Wonderful Counsel.”
And more plainly still in Malachi, chapt. 3,
v. 1; “The Lord whom ye seek shall
suddenly come to his temple, even the Angel
of the covenant whom ye delight in”,
a prophecy which literally applies to our
Lord Jesus-Christ. There is consequently
nothing absurd in the contention that
some Angels are corporeal, since men,
who assuredly have a body, are called
Angels. |
41. Præmittendum 3º, nondum rerum
naturalium, quæ sunt in mundo, satis perspectam
esse existentiam, aut naturam, ut
proinde aliquid negandum sit ex eo, quod
de illo nunquam alias dictum, aut scriptum
fuerit. Patet enim tractu temporis detectas
esse novas terras, quas Antiqui
nostri ignorarunt, novaque animalia, herbas,
plantas, fructus, semina nunquam
alias visa; et si pervia esset Terra Australis
incognita, cujus indagatio, et lustratio
a multis hucusque incassum tentata est,
adhuc nova nobis alia panderentur. Patet
adhuc, quod per inventionem microscopii,
et alias machinas, et organa Philosophiæ
experimentalis modernæ, sicut etiam per
exactiorem indaginem Anatomistarum,
multarum rerum naturalium existentiam,
vires, naturamque tum innotuisse, tum
dietim innotescere, quæ præcedentes Philosophi
ignorarunt, ut patet in auro fulminante,
phosphoro, et centum aliis chymicis
experimentis, circulatione sanguinis,
venis lacteis, vasis lymphaticis, et aliis
hujusmodi quæ nuper Anatomistæ adinvenerunt.
Proinde ineptum erit aliquod exsibillare
ex hoc quod de eo nullus Antiquorum
scripserit, attento maxime Logicorum
axiomate, quod locus ab auctoritate negativa
non tenet. |
41. Thirdly, I premise that neither the
existence nor the nature of the natural
things in this world has been sufficiently
investigated to allow of denying a fact, merely
because it has never been previously
spoken of or written about. In the course of
time have not new lands been discovered
which the Ancients knew not of? New animals,
herbs, plants, fruits and seeds, never
seen elsewhere? And if that mysterious
Austral land came at last to be explored,
as has been to this day vainly tried by so
many travellers, what unforeseen disclosures
would be the result! Through the
invention of the microscope and other
instruments used by modern experimental
Philosophy, combined with the more exact
methods of investigation of Anatomists,
have there not been, and are there not,
every day, brought to light the existence,
qualities and characteristics of a number
of natural things unknown to ancient
Philosophers, such as fulminating gold,
phosphorus, and a hundred other chemical
compounds, the circulation of the
blood, the lacteal vessels, the lymph-ducts
and other recent anatomical discoveries?
To deride a doctrine because it
does not happen to be mentioned in any
ancient author would therefore be absurd,
especially bearing in mind this axiom of
Logic: locus ab auctoritate negativa non
tenet. |
42. Præmittendum 4º, quod in Sacra
Scriptura, et Ecclesiasticis traditionibus
non traditur nisi id, quod ad animæ salutem
necessarium est, quoad credendum,
sperandum et amandum; unde inferre non
licet ex eo, quod nec ex Scriptura, nec ex
traditione aliquod habetur, proinde negandum
sit, quod illud tale existat: aut nos
quidem Fides docet, Deum per Verbum
suum omnia creasse visibilia, et invisibilia;
pariterque ex Jesu Christi Domini
nostri meritis tum gratiam, tum gloriam
omni, et cuivis rationali creaturæ conferri.
Num autem alius Mundus a nostro, quem
incolimus, sit, et in eo alii homines non ab
Adam prognati, sed alio modo a Deo creati
existant (sicut ponunt illi qui lunarem
globum habitatum opinantur); pariterque
num in hoc Mundo, quem incolimus, aliæ
existant creaturæ rationales ultra homines,
et Spiritus Angelicos, quæ regulariter
hominibus sint invisibiles, et per accidens,
et earum executiva potentia fiant visibiles:
hoc nullo modo spectat ad fidem, et hoc
scire, aut ignorare non est ad salutem hominis
necessarium, sicut nec scire rerum
omnium physicarum numerum aut naturam. |
42. Fourthly, I premise that Holy Scripture
and ecclesiastical tradition do not
teach us any thing beyond what is requisite
for the salvation of the soul, namely
Faith, Hope and Charity. Consequently,
from a thing not being stated either by
Scripture or tradition it must not be inferred
that that thing is not in existence.
For instance, Faith teaches us that God,
by His Word, made things visible, and
invisible, and also that, through the merits
of our Lord Jesus-Christ, grace and
glory are conferred on every rational creature.
Now, that there be another World
than the one we live in, and that it be
peopled by men not born of Adam but
made by God, in some other way, as is
implied by those who believe the lunar
globe to be inhabited; or further, that in
the very World we dwell in, there be other
rational creatures besides man and the
Angelic Spirits, creatures generally invisible
to us and whose being is disclosed but
accidentally, through the instrumentality
of their own power; all that has nothing
to do with Faith, and the knowledge or
ignorance thereof is no more necessary to
the salvation of man than knowing the
number or nature of all physical things. |
43. Præmittendum 5º, nullam inveniri
repugnantiam, nec in Philosophia, nec in
Theologia; quod dari possint creaturæ rationales
constantes spiritu et corpore, aliæ
ab homine, quia si esset repugnantia, hoc
esset vel ex parte Dei (et hoc non quia ipse
omnipotens est), vel ex parte rei creabilis;
et neque hoc, quia sicut creatura mere spiritualis,
ut Angeli, creata est, et mere
materialis, ut Mundus, et partim spiritualis,
partim corporea, corporeitate terrestri,
et crassa, ut homo, ita creabilis est creatura
constans spiritu rationali, et corporeitate
minus crassa, sed subtiliore, quam sit homo.
Et profecto post Resurrectionem anima
Beatorum erit unita corpori glorioso dote
subtilitatis donato: ut proinde concludi
posset, potuisse Deum creare creaturam
rationalem corpoream, cui naturaliter indita
sit corporis subtilitas, sicut per gratiam
corpori glorioso confertur. |
43. Fifthly, I premise that neither Philosophy
nor Theology is repugnant to the
possible existence of rational creatures
having spirit and body and distinct from
man. Such repugnance could be supported
only on God, and that is inadmissible,
since he is all-mighty, or on the thing to
be made, and that likewise cannot be supported;
for, as there are purely spiritual
creatures, such as Angels, or merely material,
such as the World, or lastly semi-spiritual
and semi-corporeal, of an earthly
and gross corporeity, such as man, so
there may well be in existence a creature
endowed with a rational spirit and a corporeity
less gross, more subtile than man’s.
No doubt, moreover, but that after Resurrection,
the souls of the blessed will be
united with a glorious and subtile body;
from which may be inferred that God may
well have made a rational and corporeal
creature whose body naturally enjoys the
subtilty which will be conferred by the
grace on the glorious body. |
44. Astruitur autem magis talium creaturarum
possibilitas ex solutione argumentorum,
quæ contra positam conclusionem
fieri possunt, pariterque ex responsione ad
interrogationes, quæ possunt circa eam
formari. |
44. But, the possible existence of such
creatures will be still better set forth by
solving the arguments which can be adduced
against our conclusion, and replying
to the questions it may raise. |
45. Prima interrogatio est, an tales
creaturæ dicendæ essent animalia rationalia?
Quod si sic, quomodo different ab
homine, cum quo communem haberent definitionem? |
45. First question: should such creatures
be styled rational animals? And if so,
in what do they differ from man, with
whom they would have that definition in
common? |
46. Respondeo quod essent animalia rationalia
sensibus et organis corporis prædita,
sicut homo: differrent autem ab homine
non solum ratione corporis tenuioris,
sed etiam materiæ. Homo siquidem ex
crassiore elementorum omnium parte, puta
ex luto, nempe aqua et terra crassa formatus
est, ut constat ex Scriptura, Gen. 2.
v. 7.; ista vero formata essent ex subtiliore
parte omnium, aut unius, seu alterius
elementorum; ut proinde alia essent terrea,
alia aquea, alia aerea, et alia ignea; et ut
eorum definitio cum hominis definitione
non conveniret, addendum esset definitioni
hominis crassa materialitas sui corporis,
per quam a dictis animalibus differret. |
46. I reply: Yes, they would be rational
animals, provided with senses and organs
even as man; they would, however, differ
from man not only in the more subtile nature,
but also in the matter of their body.
In fact, as is shown by Scripture, man has
been made from the grossest of all elements,
namely clay, a gross mixture of
water and earth: but those creatures would
be made from the most subtile part of all
elements, or of one or other of them; thus,
some would proceed from earth, others
from water, or air, or fire; and, in order
that they should not be defined in the
same terms as man, to the definition of
the latter should be added the mention of
the gross materiality of his body, wherein
he would differ from said animals. |
47. Secunda interrogatio est, quandonam
hujus modi animalia fuissent condita,
et num cum brutis producta a terra,
aut ab aqua, ut quadrupedia, et aves respective;
an vero a Domino Deo formata,
ut fuit homo? |
47. Second question: At what period
would those animals have been originated,
and wherefrom? From earth, like the
beasts, or from water, like quadrupeds,
birds, etc.? Or, on the contrary, would they
have been made, like man, by our Lord
God? |
48. Respondeo quod de fide est, quod
posito, quod existant de facto, creata sint
a principio Mundi: sic enim definitur a
Concilio Lateranensi (Firm. de sum. Trinit.
et fide cathol.); nempe quod Deus sua
omnipotenti virtute simul ab initio temporis
utramque de nihilo condidit creaturam,
spiritualem et corporalem. Sub illa etenim
Creaturarum generalitate etiam illa animalia
essent comprehensa. Quo vero ad eorum
formationem, decuisse ipsorum corpus
a Deo ministerio Angelorum formatum
fuisse, sicut a Deo formatum legimus corpus
hominis, quia ipsi copulandus erat spiritus
immortalis, quandoquidem spiritus
incorporeus et proinde nobilissimus corpori
pariter originaliter nobiliori cæteris
brutis jungendus erat. |
48. I reply: It is an article of belief, expressly
laid down by the Council of Lateran,
that whatever is in fact and at
present, was made in the origin of the
world. By His all-mighty virtue, God,
from the beginning of time, raised together
from nothing both orders of creatures,
spiritual and corporeal. Now, those animals
also would be included in the generality
of creatures. As to their formation,
it might be said that God Himself, through
the medium of Angels, made their body
as he did man’s, to which an immortal
spirit was to be united. That body being
of a nobler nature than that of other animals,
it was meet that it should be united
to an incorporeal and highly noble spirit. |
49. Tertia interrogatio, an talia animalia
habuissent originem ab uno solo, velut
omnes homines ab Adam, an vero plura simul
formata essent sicut fuit de cæteris
animantibus a terra et aqua productis, in
quibus fuerunt mares et fœminæ quæ speciem
per generationem conservant? Et si
hoc oporteret inter talia animalia esse distinctionem
sexus; ipsa nasci, et interire;
passionibus sensus affici, nutriri, crescere;
et tunc quo alimento vescerentur, esset quærendum;
præterea an vitam socialem ducerent,
ut homines; qua politica regerentur;
num urbes ad habitandum struxissent;
num artes, studia, possessiones, et bella
inter ea essent, sicut est in hominibus. |
49. Third question: Would those animals
descend from one individual, as all
men descend from Adam, or, on the contrary,
would many have been made at the
same time, as was the case for the other
living things issued from earth and water,
wherein were males and females for the
preservation of the kind by generation?
Would there be amongst them a distinction
between the sexes? Would they be
subject to birth and death, to senses, passions,
want of food, power of growth? If
so, what their nutrition? Would they
lead a social life, as men do? By what laws
ruled? Would they build up cities for their
dwellings, cultivate the arts and sciences,
hold property, and wage war between
themselves, as men are wont to? |
50. Respondeo: potuit esse quod omnia
ab uno, velut homines ab Adam, sint progenita;
potuit pariter esse, quod ex iis
multi mares, et plures fœminæ fuissent
formatæ, a quibus per generationem eorum
species essent propagatæ. Ultro admitteremus
talia animalia oriri et mori; mares
alios, alias fœminas inter ea esse; passionibus,
sensibus agitari velut homines; nutriri
et crescere secundum molem sui corporis;
cibum autem ipsorum non crassum
qualem requirit crassities corporis humani,
sed substantiam tenuem et vaporosam
emanantem per effluvia spirituosa a rebus
physicis pollentibus corpusculis maxime
volatilibus, ut nidor carnium maxime assatarum,
vapor vini, fructuum, florum,
aromatum, a quibus copiosa hujusmodi effluvia
usque ad totalem partium subtiliorum
ac volatilium evaporationem scaturiunt.
Talia autem animalia civilem vitam ducere
posse, et inter ea distinctos esse gradus
dominantium ac servientium pro conditione
naturæ ipsorum, artesque, scientias,
ministeria, exercitia, loca, mansiones, ac
alia necessaria ad eorum conservationem,
nullam penitus importat repugnantiam. |
50. I reply: It may be that all descend
from one individual, as men descend from
Adam; it may be also that a number of
males and females were made initially,
who preserved their kind by generation.
We will further admit that they are born
and die; that they are divided into males
and females, and are moved by senses and
passions, as men are; that they feed and
grow according to the size of their body;
their food, however, instead of being gross
like that required by the human body,
must be delicate and vapoury, emanating
through spirituous effluvia from whatever
in the physical world abounds with highly
volatile corpuscles, such as the flavour of
meats, especially of roasts, the fume of
wine, the fragrancy of fruit, flowers, aromatics,
which evolve an abundance of
those effluvia until all their subtile and
volatile parts have completely evaporated.
To their being able to lead a social life,
with distinctions of rank and precedence;
to their cultivating the arts and sciences,
exercising functions, maintaining armies,
building up cities, doing in short whatever
is requisite for their preservation, I have
in the main no objection. |
51. Quarta interrogatio est, qualis esset
eorum corporis figuratio, an humanam, an
aliam formam, et qualem haberent, et an
partes corporis ipsorum haberent ordinem
essentialem inter se, ut corpora cæterorum
animalium, an vero accidentalem tantum,
ut corpora fluidarum substantiarum, ut
olei, aquæ, nubis, fumi, etc.; et num substantiæ
suarum partium organicarum diversimode
constarent, ut organa hominum,
in quibus sunt aliæ partes crassissimæ, ut
ossa, aliæ minus crassæ, ut cartilagines,
aliæ tenues, ut membranæ. |
51. Fourth question: What would their
figure be, human or otherwise? Would the
ordering of the divers parts of their body
be essential, as with other animals, or
merely accidental, as with fluid substances,
such as oil, water, clouds, smoke, etc.?
Would those organic parts consist of various
substances, as is the case with the
organs of the human body, wherein are to
be found very gross parts, such as the bones,
others less gross, such as the cartilages,
and others slender, such as the membranes? |
52. Respondeo, quod quantum ad figuram
corpoream nihil certi affirmare debemus,
aut possumus, cum talis figura non
sit exacte nobis sensibilis, nec quoad visum,
nec quoad tactum, præ sui corporis
tenuitate, ac perspicacitate; qualis
proinde vere sit, noverent ipsi, aliique, qui
substantias immateriales intuitive cognoscere
possunt. Quoad congruentiam et probabilitatem
dico, illa referre speciem corporis
humani, cum aliquo distinctivo a corpore
humano, nisi forte ad hoc sufficiat sua
ipsorum tenuitas. Ducor, quia corpus humanum
plasmatum a Deo perfectissimum
est, inter animalia quæque, et cum cætera
bruta in terram sint prona, eo quia anima
eorum mortalis est, Deus, ut ait poeta Ovid.,
Metamorphos.: |
52. I reply: As regards their figure, we
neither can nor should be affirmative, since
it escapes our senses, being too delicate
for our sight or our touch. That we must
leave to themselves, and to such as have
the privilege of intuitive acquaintance with
immaterial substances. But, so far as probability
goes, I say that their figure tallies
with the human body, save some distinctive
peculiarity, should the very tenuity of
their body not be deemed sufficient. I am
led to that by the consideration that of all
the works of God the human frame is the
most perfect, and that whilst all other animals
stoop to the ground, because their
soul is mortal, God, as Ovid, the poet,
says, in his Metamorphoses, |
Os homini sublime dedit, cœlumque tueri
Jussit, et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus;
|
Gave man an erect figure, bidding him behold the heavens
And raise his face towards the stars,
|
quia anima hominis immortalis ordinata est
ad cœlestem mansionem. Cum igitur animalia,
de quibus loquimur, spiritum haberent
immaterialem, rationalem, ac immortalem,
et proinde capacem beatitudinis ac
damnationis, congruum est, quod corpus,
cui talis spiritus copulatur, simile sit omnium
animalium nobilissimo, corpori humano.
Ex hac positione sequitur, quod ejus
corporis partes ordinem inter se essentialem
habere deberent; nec enim pes capiti,
aut ventri manus conjungi deberet: sed
congrua membrorum essentiali dispositione
ordinata, ut essent idonea ministeriis propriis
perficiendis. Quo autem ad partes componentes
ipsarum organa, dico quod necessarium
esset, ut nonnullæ ipsarum essent
solidiores, aliæ minus solidæ, aliæ tenues,
aliæ tenuissimæ pro necessitate operationis
organicæ. Nec contra hanc positionem facile
potest asseri tenuitas ipsorum corporum:
quippe soliditas aut crassities organicarum
partium, de qua dicimus, non esset
talis simpliciter, sed comparative ad alias
partes tenuiores. Et hoc patere potest in
omnibus corporibus fluidis naturalibus, ut
vino, oleo, lacte, etc.; quantumvis enim omnes
partes in ipsis videantur homogeneæ
ac similares, non tamen ita est: nam in
ipsis est pars terrea, pars aquea, sal fixum,
sal volatile, et pars sulfurea, quæ omnia
manipulatione spargirica oculis subjici possunt.
Ita esset in casu nostro: posito enim
quod talium animalium corpora subtilia
et tenuia, ut corpora naturalia fluida, velut
aqua et aer, essent, non tamen tolleretur,
quin in ipsorum partibus diversæ inter
se essent qualitates, et aliquæ ipsarum
comparative ad alias essent solidæ, et aliæ
tenuiores, quamvis totum corpus ex ipsis
compositum tenue dici posset. |
man’s soul having been made immortal for
the heavenly abode. Considering that the
animals we are speaking of would be gifted
with a spirit immaterial, rational and immortal,
capable therefore of beatitude and
damnation, it is proper to admit that the
body to which that spirit is united may be
like unto the most noble animal frame,
that is to say to the human frame. Whence
it follows that in the divers parts of that
body there must be an essential order;
that the foot, for instance, cannot be an
appendage to the head, nor the hand to
the belly, but that each organ is in its
right place, according to the functions it
has to perform. As to the constitutive parts
of those organs, it is, in my opinion, necessary
that there should be some more or
less strong, others more or less slender,
in order to meet the requirements of the
organic working. Nor can this be fairly
objected to on the ground of the slenderness
of the bodies themselves; for the strength
or thickness of the organic parts alluded
to would not be absolute, but merely in
comparison with the more slender ones.
That, moreover, may be observed in all
natural fluids, such as wine, oil, milk, etc.;
however homogeneous and similar to each
other their component parts may look, yet
they are not so: for some are clayish, others
aqueous; there are fixed salts, volatile
salts, brimstone, all of which are made
obvious by a chemical analysis. So it
would be in our case: for, supposing the
bodies of those animals to be as subtile
and slender as the natural fluids, air, water,
etc., there would nevertheless be discrepancies
in the quality of their constitutive
parts, some of which would be strong when
compared with others more slender, although
the whole body which they compose
might be called slender. |
53. Quod si dicatur, quod hæc repugnant
positioni supra firmatæ, circa partium essentialem
ordinationem inter se: quandoquidem
videmus, quod in corporibus fluidis
ac tenuibus una pars non servat ordinem
essentialem ad aliam, sed accidentalem
tantum, ita ut hæc pars vini, quæ
modo alteri parti contigua est, mox inverso
vase, aut moto vino, alteri parti
unitur, et sic omnes partes diversam positionem
habent quantumvis semper idem vinum
sit, et ex hoc sequeretur, quod talium
animalium corpora figurata stabiliter non
essent, et consequenter, nec organica. |
53. It may be objected that this is repugnant
to what was said above concerning
the essential ordering of the parts among
themselves; that it is seen that, in fluid
and subtile bodies, one part is not essentially
but only accidentally connected with
another; that a part of wine, for instance,
just now contiguous with some other, soon
comes in contact with a third, if the vessel
be turned upside down or the wine shaken,
and that all the parts together exchange
positions at the same time, though it be
still the same wine. Whence it should be
inferred that, the bodies of those animals
would have no permanent figure, and
would consequently not be organic. |
54. Respondeo negando assumptum; etenim
in corporibus fluidis, quamvis non appareat,
manet tamen essentialis partium
ordinatio, qua stante stat in suo esse compositum,
et hoc patet manifeste in vino:
expressum enim ab uvis videtur liquor totaliter
homogeneus, non tamen ita est; in
eo enim sunt partes crassæ, quæ tractu
temporis subsident in doliis: sunt etiam
partes tenues, quæ evaporant: sunt partes
fixæ, ut tartarus, sunt partes volatiles, ut
sulphur, sive spiritus ardens; sunt partes
mediæ inter volatile ac fixum, ut phlegma.
Partes istæ ordinem essentialem inter se
mutant; nam statim ac expressum est ab
uvis, et mustum dicitur sulphur, sive spiritus
volatilis, ita implicatum manet particulis
tartari, qui fixus est, ut nullo modo
avolare valeat. |
54. I reply that I deny the assumption. In
fact, if in fluid bodies the essential ordering
of the parts is not apparent, it subsists
none the less, and causes a compound to
preserve its own state. Wine, for instance,
when expressed from the grapes, seems a
thoroughly homogeneous liquor, and yet
is not so; for there are gross parts which,
in the long run, subside in the casks; there
are also slender parts which evaporate;
fixed parts, such as tartar; volatile parts,
such as brimstone and alcohol; others
again, half volatile and half fixed, such as
phlegm. Those divers parts do not respectively
maintain an essential order; for no
sooner has the must been expressed from
the grapes, and been styled brimstone or volatile
spirits, than it continues so closely involved
with the particles of tartar, which is
fixed, as not to be in any way able to escape. |
55. Hinc est, quod a musto recenter ab
uvis expresso nullo modo potest distillari
spiritus sulphureus, qui communiter vocatur
aqua vitæ: sed post quadraginta dies
fermentationis particulæ vini ordinem mutant,
ita ut spiritus, qui alligati erant particulis
tartareis, et propria volatilitate eas
suspensas tenebant, et vicissim ab eis ne
possent avolare detinebantur, ac tartareis
particulis separantur, et divulsi ac confusi
remanent cum partibus phlegmaticis, a
quibus per actionem ignis faciliter separantur,
et avolant; sicque per distillationem
fit aqua vitæ, quæ aliud non est quam
sulphur vini volatile cum tenuiore parte
phlegmatis simul cum dicto sulphure vi
ignis elevata. Post quadraginta dies, alia
incipit vini fermentatio, quæ longiori, aut
minus longo tempore perficitur, pro vini
perfectiori aut imperfectiori maturitate,
et alio atque alio modo terminatur, pro
minore aut majore spiritus sulphurei abundantia.
Si enim abundat in vino sulphur,
acescit fermentatione, et evadit acetum; si
autem parum sulphuris continet, lentescit
vinum, et Italice dicitur vino molle, aut
vino guasto. Quod si viurum sit,
ut cæteris paribus est, vinum dulce breviori
tempore, aut acescit, aut lentescit, ut quotidiana
constat experientia. In dicta autem
fermentatione ordo essentialis partium vini
mutatur; non enim ipsius quantitas, aut
materia imminuitur, aut mutatur: videmus
enim lagenam vino plenam tractu temporis
evadere plenam aceto, nullatenus mutatam
circa quantitatem materiæ, quæ
prius ibi extabat, sed tantum mutato partium
essentiali ordine: nam sulphur,
quod, ut diximus, erat phlegmati unitum,
ac a tartaro separatum, iterum tartaro implicatur,
et cum eo fixatur, et proinde si
distilletur acetum, primo prodit phlegma
insipidum, et post spiritus aceti, qui est
sulphur vini illaqueatum particulis tartari
minus fixi. Mutatio autem essentialis partium
supradictarum variat substantiam liquoris
expressi ab uva, quod manifeste patet
ex variis et contrariis effectibus, quos
causant mustum, vinum, et acetum, et vinum
lentum, quod vocatur corruptum, ut
proinde duo prima apta materia sint ad
consecrationem, secus alia duo. Hanc porro
vini economiam hausimus ab erudito opere
Nicolai Lemerii, Regis Galliarum aromatarii,
Curs. de Chimi., p. 2. c. 9. |
55. That is the reason why must recently
expressed from the grapes is of
no use for the distillation of the sulfurous
spirits, commonly called brandy;
but, after forty days fermentation, the particles
of the wine change places: the spirits,
no longer bound with the tartaric particles
which they kept in suspension through
their own volatility, whilst they were, in
return, kept down by them and prevented
from escaping, sever from those particles,
and continue confused with the phlegmatic
parts from which they become easily released
by the operation of fire, and evaporate:
thus, by means of distillation, brandy
is made, which is nothing but the brimstone
of wine volatilized by heat with the most
slender part of phlegm. At the end of forty
days another fermentation begins, which
extends more or less, according as the maturity
of the wine is more or less perfect,
and the termination of which is dependent
on the greater or lesser abundance of sulphurous
spirits. If abounding with brimstone,
the wine sours and turns to vinegar;
if, on the contrary, it holds but little
brimstone, it ropes, and becomes what the
Italians call vino molle or vino guasto. If
the wine is at once ripe, as happens in
other cases, it sours or ropes in less time,
as is shown by every day experience. Now,
in said fermentation the essential order of
the parts of wine is altered, but not so its
quantity nor its matter, which neither
changes nor decreases: a bottle that had
been filled with wine is, after a certain
time, found to be filled with vinegar, without
any alteration in its quantity of
matter; the essential order of its parts has
alone been modified: the brimstone, which,
as we have said, was united to the phlegm
and separated from the tartar, becomes
again involved and fixed with the tartar; so
that, on distilling the vinegar, there issues
from it first an insipid phlegm, and then spirits
of vinegar, which are the brimstone of
wine intermixed with particles of tartar that
is less fixed. Now, the essential shifting of
the aforesaid parts alters the substance of
the juice of the grapes, as is clearly shown
by the varied and contrary effects of must,
wine, vinegar, and ropy or spoiled wine;
for which cause the two first are fit, but
the two last unfit materials for consecration.
We have borrowed the above exposition
of the economy of wine from the
able work of Nicholas Lemery, perfumer
to the King of France, Course of Chemistry,
p. 2. c. q. |
56. Datam ergo naturalem doctrinam
applicando consequenter dico, quod data
dictorum animalium corporeitate subtili
et tenui, sicut corpora liquidorum, et data
pariter eorumdem organizatione et figuratione,
quæ partium essentialem ordinationem
exigunt, non sequerentur inconvenientia
ex adverso illata: nam sicut (quemadmodum
dicebamus) ex confusione partium
vini, et diversa ipsarum accidentali positione
non variatur ordinatio earumdem essentialis,
ita esset in corpore tenui dictorum
animalium. |
56. If now we apply that natural doctrine
to our subject, I say that, being given the
corporeity of the animals in question, subtile
and slender like the substance of
liquids; being given also their organisation
and figure, which demand an essential order
of the various parts, an adverse supposition
could raise no argument contrary to their
existence; for, just as the jumbling together
of the parts of wine and the diversity of
their accidental dispositions do not alter
their essential order, even so it would be
with the slender frame of our animals. |
57. Quinta interrogatio est, an talia obnoxia
essent ægritudinibus, ac aliis imperfectionibus,
quibus homines laborant, ut
ignorantia, metu, segnitie, sensuum impedimentis,
etc.? An laborando lassarentur,
et ad virium reparationem egerent somno,
cibo, ac potu, et quo? et consequenter an
interirent, et subinde, an a cæteris animalibus
casu, aut ruina possent occidi? |
57. Fifth question: Would those animals
be subject to diseases and other infirmities
under which mankind lies, such as ignorance,
fear, idleness, sensual paralysis, etc?
Would they be wearied through labour, and
require, for recruiting their strength, sleep,
food, drink? And what food, what drink?
Would they be fated to die, and might
they be killed casually, or by the instrumentality
of other animals? |
58. Respondeo, quod ex quo corpora ipsorum,
quamvis tenuia, essent materiata,
essent quidem corruptioni obnoxia; et ex
consequenti possent pati ab agentibus contrariis,
et ita ægrotare, puta, aut simpliciter,
aut nisi ægre, perverse, aut vitiose
præstare non posse munera, ad quæ eorum
organa essent ordinata; in hoc siquidem
consistit animalium quorumdam ægritudo
quævis: ut resolutive docet præstantissimus
Michael Ettmullerus, Physiol. c. 5.,
thes. 1. Verum est, quod ex eo quod tantam
materiæ crassitatem non haberent, et forte
ex tot elementorum mixtione eorum corpus
non constaret, et minus compositum esset
quam humanum, non tam facile paterentur
a contrariis, et consequenter non
tot ægritudinibus velut homines essent obnoxia,
et longiorem, etiam homine, vitam
ducerent: quo enim perfectius est animal,
a tota specie, etiam cæteris diutius vivit,
ut patet de specie humana, cujus vita longior
cæteris animalibus est. Nec enim admitto
sæcularem vitam cornicum, cervorum,
corvorum et similium, de quibus more
suo fabulatur Plinius, et ejus somnia sine
prævia discussione secuti sunt cæteri: quandoquidem
nullus est, qui talium animalium
natale et interitum fideliter adnotaverit, ut
pari modo de eo scripserit; sed insolitam
diu fabulam quisque secutus est; sicut etiam
illud, quod de phœnice dicitur, quod ut
quid fabulosum, circa ejus vitæ spatium
recenset Tacitus, l. 6. Annal. Inferendum
subinde esset quod illorum animalium vita
etiam humana deberet esse diuturnior: ut
enim infra dicemus, illa essent homine nobiliora;
consequenter dicendum esset, quod
essent obnoxia cæteris corporeis pathematis,
et quiete, et cibo indigerent, quale diximus
supra, no 50. Quia vero rationalia, et
proinde disciplinabilia essent, ex consequenti
etiam capacia ignorantiæ, si eorum
ingenia non essent exculta studiis, et disciplina,
et inter ea pro intellectus eorum
majori, et minori acumine essent aliqua
magis, aliqua minus in scientiis excellentia:
universaliter vero, et a tota specie essent
homine doctiora, non ob eorum corpoream
subtilitatem, tum forte, ob majorem
spirituum activitatem, tum ob diuturniorem
vitæ durationem, in qua plura,
quam homines discere possent, quas causas
assignat D. Augustinus, lib. de Divin. Dæm.
c. 3. init. tom. 3., et lib. de Spir. et Anima,
c. 37., pro futurorum prænotione in Dæmonibus.
Ab agentibus autem naturalibus
pati quidem possent, ac difficulter occidi ratione
velocitatis, qua possunt se subtrahere
a nocentibus; quapropter, nec a brutis,
nec ab homine armis naturalibus,
seu artificialibus nisi maxima difficultate
possent occidi, aut mutilari, et maxima
eorumdem velocitate in declinando contrarium
impetum. Possent vero in somno
aut in non advertentia occidi, et mutilari a
corpore solido, ut ense vibrato ab homine,
aut lapide delapso per ruinam, quia eorum
corpus licet tenue, tamen et quantum, et
divisibile esset, velut aer qui ferro, fuste,
aut alio corpore solido dividitur quamvis
tenuis sit. Eorum autem spiritus impartibilis
esset, et ceu anima hominis totus in
toto, et totus in quavis corporis parte. Hinc
fieret quod diviso corpore ipsorum, ut præfertur,
per aliud corpus, sequi posset mutilatio,
et proinde etiam mors: non enim
fieri posset ut diviso corpore idem spiritus
utramque partem informaret, cum ipse indivisibilis
esset. Verum est quod sicut partes
aeris divisæ, per intermedium corpus,
hoc sublato iterum uniuntur, et evadit idem
aer, possent pariter partes corporis divisæ,
ut supra ponitur, reuniri, et ab eodem spiritu
revivificari. Sed hoc modo nequirent
talia animalia ab agentibus naturalibus
aut artificialibus occidi: sed rationabilior
esset prima positio; ex hoc enim, quod
communicarent cum cæteris in materia,
æquum est, ut a cæteris etiam usque ad
eorum interitum pati possent, ut fit cum
cæteris. |
58. I reply: Their bodies, though subtile,
being material, they would of course be
liable to decay: they might therefore suffer
from adverse agencies, and consequently
be diseased; that is, their organs might
not perform, or painfully and imperfectly
perform the office assigned to them, for
therein consist all diseases whatever with
certain animals, as has been distinctly explained
by the most illustrious Michael
Ettmuller, Physiology, c. v. thesis 1. In
sooth, their body being less gross than the
human frame, comprising less elements
mixed together, and being therefore less
composite, they would not so easily suffer
from adverse influences, and would therefore
be less liable to disease than man;
their life would also exceed his; for, the
more perfect an animal, as a species, the
longer its days; thus mankind, whose
existence extends beyond that of other animals.
For I do not believe in the centenary
existence of crows, stags, ravens and the
like, of which Pliny tells his customary
stories; and although his dreams have been
reechoed by others without previous inquiry,
it is no less clear that before writing
thus, not one has faithfully noted the birth
nor the death of those animals: they have
been content with taking up the strange
fable, as has been the case with the Phenix,
whose longevity is discarded as a story by
Tacitus, Annals, b. 6. It were therefore to
be inferred that the animals we are speaking
of would live longer still than man; for, as
shall be said below, they would be more
noble than he; consequently also, they
would be subject to the other bodily affections,
and require rest and food, as mentioned,
number 50. Now, as rational beings
amenable to discipline, they might also
continue ignorant, if their minds did not
receive the culture of study and instruction,
and some amongst them would be more
or less versed in science, more or less clever,
according as their intelligence had been
more or less trained. However, generally
speaking, and considering the whole of the
species, they would be more learned than
men, not from the subtilty of their body,
but perhaps because of the greater activity
of their mind or the longer space of their
life, which would enable them to learn
more things than men: such are indeed
the motives assigned by S. Augustine (Divin.
Demon. ch. 3. and Spirit and Soul, ch. 37),
to the prescience of the future in Demons.
They might indeed suffer from natural
agencies; but they could hardly be killed,
on account of the speed with which they
could escape from danger; it is therefore
most unlikely that they could, without the
greatest difficulty, be put to death or mutilated
by beast or by man, with natural or
artificial weapons, so quick would they be
at avoiding the impending blow. Yet, they
might be killed or mutilated in their sleep,
or in a moment of inadvertence, by means
of a solid body, such as a sword brandished
by a man, or the fall of a heavy stone;
for, although subtile, their body would be
divisible, just like air which, though vaporous,
is yet divided by a sword, a club, or
any other solid body. Their spirit, however,
would be indivisible, and like the human
soul, entire in the whole and in each and
every part of the body. Consequently, the
division of their body by another body, as
aforesaid, might occasion mutilation and
even death, for the spirit, itself indivisible,
could not animate both parts of a divided
body. True, just as the parts of air, separated
by the agency of a body, unite again
as soon as that body is withdrawn, and
constitute the same air as before, even so
the parts of the body divided, as above-mentioned,
might unite and be revived by the
same spirit. But then, it must be inferred
that those animals could not be slain by
natural or artificial agencies: and it were
more rational to keep to our first position;
for, if sharing matter with other creatures,
it is natural that they should be liable to
suffer through those creatures, according to
the common rule, and even unto death. |
59. Sexta interrogatio est, an ipsorum
corpora possent alia corpora penetrare, ut
parietes, ligna, metalla, vitrum, etc., et an
multa ipsorum possent in eodem loco materiali
consistere, et ad quantum spatium
extenderetur, seu restringeretur eorum
corpus? |
59. Sixth question: Could their bodies
penetrate other bodies, such as walls, wood,
metals, glass, etc? Could many of them
abide together on the same material spot,
and to what space would their body extend
or be restrained? |
60. Respondeo, quod cum in omnibus
corporibus quantumvis compactis dentur
pori, ut ad sensum patet in metallis, de quibus
major esset ratio, quod in ipsis non
darentur pori: microscopio perfecte elaborato
discernuntur pori metallorum, cum
suis diversis figuris, utique possent per poros
insinuari quibusvis corporibus, et hoc
modo ista penetrare, quantumvis tales pori
penetrari non possent ab alio liquore, aut
spiritu materiali, aut vini, salis ammoniaci,
aut similium, quia longe tenuiora
essent istis liquoribus illorum corpora.
Quamvis autem plures Angeli possint esse
in eodem loco materiali, et etiam restringi
ad locum minorem minore non tamen in
infinitum, ut probat Scotus in 2. dist. 2. q.
6. § Ad proposi. et quæst. 8., per totum,
hoc tamen concedendum non esset de corporibus
talium animalium; tum quia corpora
ipsa essent quanta, et eorum dimensio
non esset reciproce penetrabilis; tum
quia si duo corpora gloriosa non possunt esse
in eodem loco, quamvis possent simul esse
gloriosum, et non gloriosum, ut voluit Gotofredus
de Fontibus, quodlibet 6. q. 5., a quo
non discordat Scotus in 2. distinct. 2. q. 8.
in fine; multo minus possent simul esse istorum
corpora, quæ, licet subtilia, non tamen
æquarent subtilitatem, corporis gloriosi.
Quo autem ad extensionem et restrictionem,
dicendum esset, quod sicut ex rarefactione,
et condensatione, majus aut minus
spatium occupatur ab aere, qui etiam arte
potest constringi, ut in minori loco contineatur,
quam sit suæ quantitati naturaliter
debitus, ut patet in magnis pilis lusoriis,
quæ per fistulam seu tubum inflatorium
inflantur: in his siquidem aer violenter
immittitur, et constringitur, et ejus major
ibi continetur quantitas, quam naturalis
pilæ capacitas exigat; ita pariformiter talia
corpora ex ipsorum naturali virtute
possent ad majus spatium, non tamen excedens
eorum quantitatem, extendi: ut pariter
etiam restringi, non tamen circa determinatum
locum suæ quantitati debitum.
Et quia ipsorum nonnulla, prout etiam in
hominibus est, essent magna, et nonnulla
parva, congruum esset, ut magna possent
plus extendi, quam parva, et hæc ad minorem
locum restringi, quam magna. |
60. I reply: In all bodies, however compact,
there are pores, as is apparent in
metals where, more than in other bodies,
it would seem there should be none;
through a perfect microscope the pores of
metals are discerned, with their different
shapes. Now, those animals might, through
the pores, creep into, and thus penetrate
any other bodies, although such pores
were impervious to other liquors or material
spirits, of wine, ammoniacal salt,
or the like, because their bodies would
be much more subtle than those liquors.
However, notwithstanding many Angels
may abide together on the same material
spot, and even confine themselves in a
lesser and lesser space, though not infinitely,
as is shown by Scott, yet it were rash
to ascribe the same power to those animals;
for, their bodies are determined in
substance and impervious to each other;
and if two glorious bodies cannot abide
together on the same spot, though a glorious
and a non glorious one may do so,
according to some Doctors, much less
would it be possible for the bodies of those
animals, which are indeed subtile, yet do
not attain to the subtility of the glorious
body. As regards their power of extension
or compression, we may instance the case
of air, which, rarefied and condensed, occupies
more or less room, and may even,
by artificial means, be compressed into a
narrower space than would be naturally
due to its volume; as is seen with those
large balls which, for amusement, one
inflates by means of a blow-pipe or tube:
air, being forced into them and compressed,
is held in larger quantity than is warranted
by the capacity of the ball. Similarly the
bodies of the animals we are speaking of
might, by their natural virtue, extend to a
larger space, not exceeding however their
own substance; they might also contract,
but not beyond the determined space due
to that same substance. And, considering
that of their number, as with men, some
would be tall and some short, it were proper
that the tall should be able to extend
more than the short, and the short to contract
more than the tall. |
61. Septima interrogatio est, an hujusmodi
animalia in peccato originali nascerentur,
et a Christo Domino fuissent redempta;
an ipsis conferretur gratia, et per
quæ sacramenta; sub qua lege viverent, et
an beatitudinis et damnationis essent capacia? |
61. Seventh question: Would those animals
be born in original sin, and have
been redeemed by the Lord Christ? Would
the grace have been conferred upon them
and through what sacraments? Under what
law would they live, and would they be
capable of beatitude and damnation? |
62. Respondeo, quod articulus Fidei est,
quod Christus Dominus pro universa creatura
rationali gratiam et gloriam meruit.
Pariter articulus Fidei est, quod Creaturæ
rationali gloria non confertur nisi præcedat
in ea gratia, quæ est dispositio ad
gloriam. Similis articulus est quod gloria
non confertur nisi per merita. Hæc vero
fundantur in observantia perfecta mandatorum
Dei adimpleta per gratiam. Ex his
satis fit positis interrogationibus. Incertum
est an tales Creaturæ originaliter peccavissent,
necne. Certum tamen est, quod si
ipsarum Prothoparens peccasset, sicut peccavit
Adam, ipsius descendentes in peccato
originali nascerentur, quemadmodum nascuntur
homines. Et quia Deus nunquam reliquit
Creaturam rationalem sine remedio,
dum ipsa est in via; si hujusmodi creaturæ
in peccato originali, aut actuali inficerentur,
Deus providisset illis de remedio, sed
quale sit, an fecisset, noverit Deus, noverint
ipsæ. Hoc certum est, si inter ipsas
essent eadem, aut alia sacramenta, ac sunt
in Ecclesia humana militanti, ipsa habuissent,
et institutionem, et efficaciam a meritis
Jesu Christi, qui omnium creaturarum
rationalium Redemptor et Satisfactor universalis
est. Convenientissimum pariter,
immo necessarium esset quod sub aliqua
lege a Deo sibi data viverent, ut per ipsius
observantiam possent sibi beatitudinem
mereri; quænam autem lex fuisset, an
naturalis tantum, aut scripta, Mosaica,
aut Evangelica, aut alia ab his omnibus
differens, prout Deo placuisset, hoc nobis
incognitum. Quoquomodo autem fuisset,
nulla resultaret repugnantia possibilitatem
talium creaturarum excludens. |
62. I reply: It is an article of belief that
Christ has merited grace and glory for all
rational creatures without exception. It is
also an article of belief that glory is not
conferred on a rational creature until such
creature has been previously endowed
with grace, which is the disposition to glory.
According to a like article, glory is conferred
but by merits. Now, those merits
are grounded on the perfect observance of
the commands of God, which is accomplished
through grace. The above questions
are thus solved. Whether those creatures
did or did not sin originally is uncertain.
It is clear, however, that if their first Parent
had sinned as Adam sinned, his descent
would be born in original sin, as men
are born. And, as God never leaves a rational
creature without a remedy, so long as
it treads the way, if those creatures were
infected with original or with actual sin,
God would have provided them with a
remedy; but whether it is the case, and of
what kind is the remedy, is a secret between
God and them. Surely, if they had sacraments
identical with or different from those
in use in the human Church militant, for
the institution and efficacy thereof they
would be indebted to the merits of Jesus-Christ,
the Redeemer and universal Atoner
of all rational creatures. It would likewise
be highly proper, nay necessary, that they
should live under some law given them by
God, and through the observance of which
they might merit beatitude; but what
would be that law, whether merely natural
or written, Mosaic or Evangelical, or different
from all these and specially instituted
by God, that we are ignorant of. Whatever
it might be though, there would follow no
objection exclusive of the possible existence
of such creatures. |
63. Unicum porro argumentum, et quidem
satis debile post longam meditationem mihi
subit contra talium creaturarum possibilitatem:
et est quod si tales creaturæ in Mundo
existerent, de ipsis notitia aliqua tradita
fuisset a Philosophis, Sacra Scriptura, Traditione
Ecclesiastica, aut Sanctis Patribus;
quod cum non fuerit, tales creaturas minime
possibiles esse concludendum est. |
63. The only argument, and that a rather
lame one, which long meditations has suggested
to me against the possibility of such
creatures, is that, if they really existed in
the World, we should find them mentioned
somewhere by Philosophers, Holy Scripture,
Ecclesiastical Tradition, or the Holy
Fathers; such not being the case, their
utter impossibility should be inferred. |
64. Sed hoc argumentum, quod revera
magis pulsat existentiam, quam possibilitatem
illarum, facili negotio solvitur ex
iis quæ præmissimus supra no 41. et 42.
Argumentum enim ab auctoritate negativa
non tenet. Præterquam quod falsum est,
quod de illis notitiam non tradiderint tum
Philosophi, tum Scriptura, tum Patres.
Plato siquidem, ut refert Apuleius de Deo
Socratis et Plutarchus de Isid. apud Baronem,
Scot. Defens., tom. 9. Apparat. p. 1.
fol. 2., voluit Dæmones esse animalia genere,
animo passiva, mente rationalia,
corpore aerea, tempore æterna: creaturasque
istas nomine Dæmonum intitulavit;
quod tamen nomen non male sonat ex se:
importat enim plenum sapientia; unde
cum Diabolum (Angelum nempe malum)
volunt auctores exprimere, non simpliciter
Dæmonem sed Cacodæmonem vocant: sicut
Eudæmonem, quando bonum Angelum
volunt intelligi. Similiter in Scriptura
Sacra et Patribus, de dictis creaturis habetur
mentio, et de hoc infra dicemus. |
64. But that argument which, in fact,
calls in question their existence rather than
their possibility, is easily disposed of by
our premises, Nrs 41 and 42; for no
argument can stand in virtue of a negative
authority. Besides, it is not correct to assert
that neither the Philosophers, nor the Scriptures,
nor the Fathers have handed down
any notion of them. Plato, as is reported
by Apuleius (The Demon of Socrates) and
Plutarch (Isis and Osiris), declared that
Demons were beings of the animal kind,
passive souls, rational intelligences, aerial
bodies, everlasting; and he gave them the
name of Demons, which of itself is nowise
offensive, since it means replete with wisdom;
so that, when authors allude to the Devil
(or Evil Angel), they do not merely call
him Demon, but Cacodemon, and say likewise
Eudemon, when speaking of a good
Angel. Those creatures are also mentioned
in Scripture and by the Fathers, as shall
be said hereafter. |
65. Stabilita huc usque talium creaturarum
possibilitate, ad earumdem existentiam
probandam descendamus. Supposita
tot historiarum veritate de coitu hujusmodi
Incuborum et Succuborum cum hominibus
et brutis, ita ut hoc negare impudentia videatur,
ut ait D. Augustinus quem dedimus
supra no 10., ita arguo: Ubi reperitur
propria passio sensus, ibidem necessario
reperitur sensus ipse, cum juxta principia
philosophica propria passio fluat a natura,
sive ubi reperiuntur actiones, seu operationes
sensus, ibidem reperitur sensus ipse,
cum operationes et actiones sint a forma.
Atqui in hujusmodi Incubis aut Succubis,
sunt actiones, operationes, ac propriæ passiones,
quæ sunt a sensibus; ergo in iisdem reperitur
sensus: sed sensus reperiri nequit
nisi adsint organa composita, nempe ex
potentia animæ et determinata parte corporis:
ergo in iisdem reperiuntur corpus
et anima; erunt igitur animalia: sed
etiam in ipsis et ab ipsis sunt actiones,
et operationes animæ rationalis: ergo
eorum anima erit rationalis: et ita de
primo ad ultimum tales Incubi sunt animalia
rationalia. |
65. Now that we have proved that those
creatures are possible, let us go a step
further, and show that they exist. Taking
for granted the truth of the recitals concerning
the intercourse of Incubi and Succubi
with men and beasts, recitals so numerous
that it would look like impudence to deny
the fact, as is said by St Austin, whose
testimony is given above (Nr 10), I argue:
Where the peculiar passion of the sense is
found, there also, of necessity, is the sense
itself; for, according to the principles of
philosophy, the peculiar passion flows from
nature, that is to say; that, where the acts
and operations of the sense are found, there
also is the sense, the operations and acts
being but its external form. Now, those
Incubi and Succubi present acts, operations,
peculiar passions, which spring from
the senses; they are therefore endowed with
senses. But senses cannot exist without
concomitant composite organs, without a
combination of soul and body. Incubi and
Succubi have therefore body and soul, and,
consequentially, are animals; but their acts
and operations are also those of a rational
soul; their soul is therefore rational; and
thus, from first to last, they are rational
animals. |
66. Minor probatur quoad singulas ejus
partes. Passio siquidem appetitiva coitus
est passio sensus; mœror, ac tristitia, ac
iracundia et furor ex coitu denegato passiones
sensus sunt, ut patet in quibusvis
animalibus; generatio per coitum est operatio
sensus, ut notum est. Hæc porro omnia
in Incubis sunt: ut enim probavimus
supra a no 25. et seq., ipsi coitum muliebrem,
et quandoque virilem appetunt, tristantur,
et furunt, ut amantes, amentes, si
ipsis denegetur; coeunt perfecte et quandoque
generant. Concludendum ergo quod
polleant sensu, et proinde corpore; unde
inferendum etiam perfecta animalia esse.
Pariter clausis ostiis ac fenestris intrant
ubivis locorum: igitur ipsorum corpus tenue
est; item futura prænoscunt, annuntiant,
componunt, ac dividunt; quæ operationes
sunt propriæ animæ rationalis: ergo
anima rationali pollent; et ita sunt vera
animalia rationalia. |
66. Our minor is easy of demonstration
in each of its parts. And indeed, the appetitive
passion of coition is a sensual passion;
the grief, sadness, wrath, rage, occasioned
by the denial of coition, are sensual passions,
as is seen with all animals; generation
through coition is evidently a sensual
operation. Now, all that happens with Incubi,
as has been shown above: they incite
women, sometimes even men; if denied,
they sadden and storm, like lovers: amantes,
amentes; they perfectly practice coition,
and sometimes beget. It must therefore
be inferred that they have senses, and consequently
a body; consequently also, that
they are perfect animals. More than that:
with closed doors and windows they enter
wherever they please: their body is therefore
slender; they foreknow and foretell
the future, compose and divide, all which
operations are proper to a rational soul;
they therefore possess a rational soul and
are, in sooth, rational animals. |
Respondent communiter Doctores, quod
malus Dæmon est ille qui tales impudicitias
operatur, quod passiones, nempe
amorem, tristitiamque simulat ex coitu
denegato, ut animas ad peccandum alliciat,
et eas perdat; et si coit, et generat,
hoc est ex semine, et in corpore alieno, ut
dictum fuit supra no 24. |
Doctors generally retort that it is the
Evil Spirit that perpetrates those impure
acts, simulates passions, love, grief at the
denial of coition, in order to entice souls
to sin and to undo them; and that, if he
copulates and begets, it is with assumed
sperm and body, as aforesaid (Nr 24). |
67. Sed contra Incubi nonnulli rem habent
cum equis, equabus, aliisque etiam
brutis, quæ si coitum adversentur, male ab
ipsis tractantur, ut quotidiana constat experientia;
sed in istis cessat ratio adducta,
nempe quod fingat appetitum coitus, ut
animas perdat, cum anima brutorum damnationis
æternæ sit incapax. Præterea
amoris et iræ passiones in ipso contrarios
effectus reales producunt. Si enim aut mulier
aut brutum amatum illis morem gerant,
optime ab Incubis tractantur; viceversa
pessime habentur, si ex denegato coitu
irascantur et furant; et hoc firmatur quotidiana
experientia; ergo in ipsis sunt
veræ passiones sensus. Insuper mali Dæmones,
ac incorporei, qui rem habent cum
Sagis et Maleficis, ipsas cogunt ad eorum
adorationem, ad denegandam Fidem Orthodoxam,
ad maleficia et scelera enormia
perpetranda tanquam pensum infamis coitus,
ut supra no 11. dictum fuit: nihil horum
prætendunt Incubi, ergo mali Dæmones
non sunt. Ulterius malus Dæmon,
ut ex Peltano et Thyreo scribit Guaccius,
Compend. Malef. lib. 1. c. 19. fol. 128.,
ad prolationem nominis Jesu aut Mariæ,
ad formationem signi Crucis, ad approximationem
sacrarum Reliquiarum, sive
rerum benedictarum, et ad exorcismos,
adjurationes, aut præcepta sacerdotum,
aut fugit aut pavet, concutiturque, et stridet,
ut conspicitur quotidie in energumenis,
et constat ex tot historiis, quas recitat
Guaccius, ex quibus habetur, quod in nocturnis
ludis Sagarum facto ab aliquo
assistentium signo Crucis, aut pronuntiato
nomine Jesu, Diaboli et secum Sagæ
omnes disparuerunt. Sed Incubi ad supradicta
nec fugiunt, nec pavent, quandoque
cachinnis exorcismos excipiunt, et quandoque
ipsos Exorcistas cædunt, et sacras vestes
discerpunt. Quod si mali Dæmones,
utpote a D. N. J. C. domiti, ad ipsius
nomen, Crucem, et res sacras pavent:
boni autem Angeli eisdem rebus gaudent,
non tamen homines ad peccata et Dei offensam
sollicitant: Incubi vero sacra non timent,
et ad peccata provocant, convincitur
ipsos nec malos Dæmones, nec bonos Angelos
esse; sed patet, quod nec homines
sunt, cum tamen ratione utantur. Quid
ergo erunt? Si in termino sunt, et simplices
spiritus sunt, erunt aut damnati aut
beati: non enim in bona Theologia dantur
puri spiritus viatores. Si damnati, nomen
et Crucem Christi revererentur; si beati,
homines ad peccandum non provocarent;
ergo aliud erunt a puris spiritus; et sic
erunt corporati, et viatores. |
67. But then, there are Incubi that have
to do with horses, mares and other beasts,
and, as shown by every day experience, ill-treat
them if rebel to coition; yet, in those
cases, it can no longer be adduced that the
Demon simulates the appetite for coition
in order to bring about the ruin of souls,
since those of beasts are not capable of
everlasting damnation. Besides, love and
wrath with them are productive of quite
opposite effects. For, if the loved woman
or beast humours them, those Incubi behave
very well; on the contrary, they use
them most savagely when irritated and
enraged by a denial of coition: this is amply
proved by daily experience: those Incubi
therefore have truly sexual passions.
Besides, the Evil Spirits, the incorporeal
Demons which have to do with Sorceresses
and Witches, constrain them to Demon-Worship,
to the abjuration of the Orthodox
Faith, to the commission of enchantments
and foul crimes, as preliminary
conditions to the infamous intercourse, as
has been above-stated (Nr 11); now, Incubi
pretend to nothing of the kind: they are
therefore no Evil Spirits. Lastly, as written
by Guaccius, at the mere utterance of the
name of Jesus or Mary, at the sign of the
Cross, the approach of Holy Relics or consecrated
objects, at exorcisms, adjurations
or priestly injunctions, the Evil Demon
either shudders and takes to flight, or is
agitated and howls, as is daily seen with
energumens and is shown by numerous narratives
of Guaccius concerning the nightly
revels of Witches, where, at a sign of the
Cross or the name of Jesus said by one
of the assistants, Devils and Witches all
vanish together. Incubi, on the contrary,
stand all those ordeals without taking to
flight or showing the least fear; sometimes
even they laugh at exorcisms, strike the
Exorcists themselves, and rend the sacred
vestments. Now, if the evil Demons, subdued
by our Lord Jesus-Christ, are stricken
with fear by his name, the Cross and the
holy things; if, on the other hand, the
good Angels rejoice at those same things,
without however inciting men to sin nor
to give offense to God, whilst the Incubi,
without having any dread of the holy things,
provoke to sin, it is clear that they are
neither evil Demons nor good Angels; but
it is clear also that they are not men,
though endowed with reason. What then
should they be? Supposing them to have
reached the goal, and to be pure spirits,
they would be damned or blessed, for correct
Theology does not admit of pure spirits
on the way to salvation. If damned,
they would revere the name and the Cross
of Christ; if blessed, they would not incite
men to sin; they would therefore be different
from pure spirits, and thus, have a
body and be on the way to salvation. |
68. Præterea agens materiale non potest
agere nisi in passum similiter materiale;
tritum siquidem est axioma philosophorum,
quod agens et patiens debent communicare
in subjecto; nec id quod materiatum
est, potest agere in rem pure spiritualem.
Dantur autem agentia naturalia, quæ
agunt contra hujusmodi Dæmones Incubos,
sequitur igitur quod isti materiati, seu
corporei sunt. Minor probatur ex iis quæ
scribunt Dioscorides, l. 2. c. 168. et l. 1.
c. 100., Plinius, lib. 15. c. 4., Aristoteles,
Probl. 34., et Apuleius, 1. De Virtute
Herbarum, apud Guaccium, Comp. Malef.,
l. 3. c. 13. fol. 316., et confirmatur
experientia, nempe de pluribus herbis, lapidibus
ac animalibus, quæ Dæmones depellunt,
ut ruta, hypericon, verbena, scordium,
palma Christi, centaureum, adamas,
corallium, gagates, jaspis, pellis capitis
lupi aut asini, menstruum muliebre, et centum
alia; unde habetur 26, q. 7. cap. final.:
Dæmonium sustinenti liceat petras, vel
herbas habere sine incantatione. Ex quo
habetur, petras aut herbas posse sua vi naturali
Dæmonis vires compescere, aliter
Canon hoc non permitteret, sed ut superstitiosum
vetaret. Et de hoc luculentum
exemplum habemus in Sacra Scriptura,
ubi Angelus Raphael dixit Tobiæ, c. 6,
v. 8.: Cordis ejus (nempe piscis, quem a
Tigri attraxerat) particulam, si super
carbones ponas, fumus ejus extricat omne
genus Dæmoniorum. Et ejus virtutem experientia
comprobavit: nam incenso jecore
piscis, fugatus est Incubus, qui Saram
deperiebat. |
68. Besides, a material agent cannot act
but on an equally material passive. It is
indeed a trite philosophical axiom, that
agent and patient must have a common
subject: pure matter cannot act on any
purely spiritual thing. Now, there are natural
agents which act on those Incubi Demons:
these are therefore material or
corporeal. Our minor is proved by the testimony
of Dioscorides, Pliny, Aristoteles
and Apuleius, quoted by Guaccius, Comp.
Malef. b. 3, ch. 13, fol. 316; it is confirmed
by our knowledge of numerous herbs,
stones and animal substances which have
the virtue of driving away Demons, such as
rue, St-John’s wort, verbena, germander,
palma Christi, centaury, diamonds, coral,
jet, jasper, the skin of the head of a wolf
or an ass, women’s catamenia, and a hundred
others: wherefore it is written: For
such as are assaulted by the Demon it is
lawful to have stones or herbs, but without
recourse to incantations. It follows that, by
their own native virtue, stones or herbs
can bridle the Demon: else the above
mentioned Canon would not permit their
use, but would on the contrary forbid it as
superstitious. We have a striking instance
thereof in Holy Scripture, where the Angel
Raphael says to Tobit, ch. 6, v. 8, speaking
of the fish which he had drawn
from the Tigris: “If thou puttest on
coals a particle of its liver, the smoke
thereof will drive away all kinds of Demons.”
Experience demonstrated the
truth of those words; for, no sooner was
the liver of the fish set on fire, than the
Incubus who was in love with Sarah was
put to flight. |
69. Respondent ad hæc communiter
Theologi, quod talia agentia naturalia inchoative
tantum fugant Dæmonem, completive
autem vis supernaturalis Dei aut
Angeli, ita ut virtus supernaturalis sit
causa primaria, directa, et principalis, naturalis
autem secondaria, indirecta, et minus
principalis. Unde ad probationem, quæ
supra adducta est de Dæmone fugato a
fumo jecoris piscis incensi a Tobia, respondet
Vallesius, De Sac. Philosoph.,
c. 28., quod tali fumo indita fuit a Deo
vis supernaturalis fugandi Incubum, sicut
igni materiali Inferni data est virtus torquendi
Dæmones et animas Damnatorum.
Ad eamdem autem probationem respondet
Lyranus, et Cornelius ad c. 6. Tob. v. 8.,
Abulentis in 1. Reg. c. 16. q. 46., Pererius
in Daniel., pag. 272., apud Cornel.
loc. cit., fumum cordis piscis expulisse
Dæmonem inchoate vi naturali, sed complete
vi angelica et cœlesti: naturali autem
impediendo actionem Dæmonis per dispositionem
contrariam, quia hic agit per naturales
causas et humores, quorum qualitates
expugnantur a qualitatibus contrariis rerum
naturalium, quæ dicuntur Dæmones
fugare; et in eadem sententia sunt omnes
loquentes de arte exorcista. |
69. To this Theologians usually retort
that such natural agents merely initiate the
ejection of the Demon, and that the completive
effect is due to the supernatural
force of God or of the Angel; so that the
supernatural force is the primary, direct
and principal cause, the natural force being
but secondary, indirect and subordinate.
Thus, in order to explain how the liver of
the fish burnt by Tobit drove away the
Demon, Vallesius asserts that the smoke
thereof had been endowed by God with the
supernatural power of expelling the Incubus,
in the same manner as the material
fire of Hell has the virtue of tormenting
Demons and the souls of the Damned.
Others, such as Lyranus and Cornelius,
profess that the smoke of the heart of the
fish initiated the ejection of the Demon by
native virtue, but completed it by angelical
and heavenly virtue: by native virtue, insomuch
that it opposed a contrary action
to that of the Demon; for the Evil Spirit
applies native causes and humours, the
native qualities of which are combated by
the contrary qualities of natural things
known to be capable of driving away Demons;
that opinion is shared by all those
who treat of the art of exorcisms. |
70. Sed hæc responsio, que tamen validas
habet instantias, ad plus quadrare potest
contra malos Dæmones obsidentes corpora,
aut per maleficia inferentes ipsis ægritudines,
aut alia incommoda, sed nullo modo
facit ad propositum de Incubis: siquidem
isti nec corpora obsident, nec ipsis officiunt
per ægritudines habituales, sed ad plus ictibus
et percussionibus torquent. Quod si
equas coitum adversantes macras reddunt,
hoc faciunt subducendo illis cibum, et hoc
modo macrescere, et tandem interire eas
faciunt. Ad hæc autem patranda non eget
Incubus alicujus rei naturalis applicatione
(qua tamen eget malus Dæmon inferens
agritudinem habitualem), ea enim potest ex
sua vi organica naturali. Pariter Dæmon
malus plerumque obsidet corpora, et infert
ægritudines ad signa cum ipso conventa
et posita a Saga aut Malefico, quæ signa
multoties res naturales sunt præditæ vi
nativa nocendi, quibus naturaliter resistunt
alia pariter naturalia contrariæ virtutis.
Incubus vero non sic; quia ex se, et nulla
concurrente aut Saga, aut Malefico, suas
vexationes infert. Præterea res naturales
fugantes Incubos suam virtutem exercent,
ac effectum sortiuntur absque interventu
alicujus exorcismi aut sacræ benedictionis;
ut proinde dici non possit, quod fuga Incubi
inchoative sit a virtute naturali, completive
autem a vi divina, quia ibi nulla
particularis intervenit divini nominis invocatio,
sed est purus effectus rei naturalis,
ad quem non concurrit Deus, nisi concursu
universali, tanquam auctor naturæ, et
causa universalis, et prima in ordine efficientium. |
70. But that explanation, however plausible
the facts upon which it rests, can at
most be received as regards the Evil Spirits
which possess bodies or, through malefice,
infect them with diseases or other infirmities;
it does not at all meet the case of
Incubi. For, these neither possess bodies
nor infect them with diseases; they, at most,
molest them by blows and ill-treatment. If
they cause the mares to grow lean because
of their not yielding to coition, it is merely
by taking away their provender, in consequence
of which they fall off and finally
die. To that purpose the Incubus need not
use a natural agent, as the Evil Spirit does
when imparting a disease: it is enough
that it should exert its own native organic
force. Likewise, when the Evil Spirit possesses
bodies and infects them with diseases,
it is most frequently through signs agreed
upon with himself, and arranged by a witch
or a wizard, which signs are usually natural
objects, indued with their own noxious
virtue, and of course opposed by other
equally natural objects endowed with a
contrary virtue. But not so the Incubus:
it is of his own accord, and without the
cooperation of either witch or wizard, that
he inflicts his molestations. Besides, the
natural things which put the Incubi to
flight exert their virtue and bring about a
result without the intervention of any exorcism
or blessing; it cannot therefore be
said that the ejection of the Incubus is initiated
by natural, and completed by divine
virtue, since there is in this case no particular
invocation of the divine name, but
the mere effect of a natural object, in which
God cooperates only as the universal agent,
the author of nature, the first of efficient
causes. |
71. Duas circa hoc historias do, quarum
primam habui a Confessario Molinalium,
viro gravi, ac fide dignissimo. Alterius
vero sum testis oculatus. |
71. To illustrate this subject, I give two
stories, the first of which I have from a
Confessor of Nuns, a man of weight, and
most worthy of credit; the second I was
eye-witness to. |
In quodam Sanctimonalium monasterio
degebat ad educationem Virgo quædam
nobilis tentata ab Incubo, qui diu noctuque
ipsi apparebat, ipsam ad coitum sollicitando
eniximis precibus, tamquam amasius
præ amore dementatus; ipsa tamen semper
restitit tentanti gratia Dei, ac sacramentorum
frequentia roborata. Incassum abiere
plures devotiones, jejunia et vota facta a
puella vexata, exorcismi, benedictiones, et
præecepta ab exorcistis facta Incubo, ut
desisteret a molestia illa; nec quidquam
proficiebatur multitudo reliquiarum, aliarumque
rerum benedictarum disposita in
camera virginis tentatæ, nec benedictæ
candelæ noctu ibidem ardentes impediebant,
quominus juxta consuetum appareret
ad tentandum in forma speciosissimi juvenis.
Consultus inter alios viros doctos fuit
quidam Theologus magnæ eruditionis:
iste advertens virginem tentatam esse temperamenti
phlegmatici a toto, conjectavit
Incubum esse dæmonem aqueum (dantur
enim ut scribit Guaccius, Comp. Malefic.
l. 1. c. 19. fol. 129., Dæmones ignei, aerei,
phlegmatici, terrei, subterranei, et lucifugi),
et consului, quod in camera virginis
tentatæ continue fieret suffimentum vaporosum
sequens. Requirunt ollam novam
figulinam vitreatam; in hac ponitur calami
aromatici, cubebarum seminis, aristolochiæ
utriusque radicum, cardamomi majoris et
minoris, gingiberis, piperis longi, caryophyllorum,
cinnamomi, canellæ caryophyllatæ,
macis, nucum myristicarum,
styracis calamitæ, benzoini, ligni ac radicis
rodiæ, ligni aloes, triasantalorum una
uncia, semiaquæ vitæ libræ tres; ponitur
olla supra cineres calidas ut vapor suffimenti
ascendat, et cella clausa tenetur.
Facto suffimento advenit denuo Incubus,
sed ingredi cellam nunquam ausus est: sed
si tentata extra eam ibat, et per viridarium
ac claustra spatiabatur, aliis invisibilis sibi
visus apparebat Incubus, et puellæ collo
injectis brachiis violenter, ac quasi furtive
oscula rapiebat: quod molestissimum honestæ
virgini erat. Consultus denuo Theologus
ille ordinavit puellæ, ut deferret pixidulas
unguentarias exquisitorum odorum, ut moschi,
ambræ, zibetti, balsami Peruviani, ac
aliorum compositorum; quod cum fecisset,
deambulanti per viridarium puellæ apparuit
Incubus faci minaci, ac furenti; non tamen
ad illam approximavit, sed digitum sibi momordit
tanquam meditans vindictam; tandem
disparuit, nec amplius ab ea visus fuit. |
In a certain monastery of holy Nuns
there lived, as a boarder, a young maiden
of noble birth, who was tempted by an
Incubus that appeared to her by day and
by night, and with the most earnest entreaties,
the manners of a most passionate
lover, incessantly incited her to sin; but
she, supported by the grace of God and the
frequent use of the sacraments, stoutly
resisted the temptation. But, all her devotions,
fasts and vows notwithstanding,
despite the exorcisms, the blessings, the
injunctions showered by exorcists on the
Incubus that he should desist from molesting
her; in spite of the crowd of relics and
other holy objects collected in the maiden’s
room, of the lighted candles kept
burning there all night, the Incubus none
the less persisted in appearing to her as
usual, in the shape of a very handsome
young man. At last, among other learned
men, whose advice had been taken on the
subject, was a very erudite Theologian who,
observing that the maiden was of a thoroughly
phlegmatic temperament, surmised
that that Incubus was an aqueous Demon
(there are in fact, as is testified by Guaccius,
igneous, aerial, phlegmatic, earthly,
subterranean demons who avoid the light
of day), and prescribed an uninterrupted
fumigation in the room. A new vessel, made
of glass-like earth, was accordingly brought
in, and filled with sweet cane, cubeb seed,
roots of both aristolochies, great and small
cardamon, ginger, long-pepper, caryophylleæ,
cinnamon, cloves, mace, nutmegs,
calamite storax, benzoin, aloes-wood and
roots, one ounce of triasandalis, and three
pounds of half brandy and water; the vessel
was then set on hot ashes in order to force
up the fumigating vapour, and the cell was
kept closed. As soon as the fumigation was
done, the Incubus came, but never dared
enter the cell; only, if the maiden left it
for a walk in the garden or the cloister, he
appeared to her, though invisible to others
and throwing his arms round her neck,
stole or rather snatched kisses from her,
to her intense disgust. At last, after a new
consultation, the Theologian prescribed
that she should carry about her person
pills made of the most exquisite perfumes,
such as musk, amber, chive, Peruvian
balsam, and others. Thus provided, she
went for a walk in the garden, where the
Incubus suddenly appeared to her with a
threatening face, and in a rage. He did not
approach her, however, but, after biting
his finger as if meditating revenge, disappeared
and was never more seen by her. |
72. Alia historia est, quod in Conventu
Magnæ Cartusiæ Ticinensis, fuit quidam
Diaconus, nomine dictus Augustinus,
maximas, ac inauditas, et pene incredibiles
sustinens a quodam Dæmone vexationes;
quæ tolli nullo remedio spirituali
(quamvis plura juxta plures exorcistas,
qui liberationem, sed incassum tentarunt,
fuissent adhibita) potuerunt. Me consuluit
illius Conventus vicarius, qui curam divexati,
utpote Clerici, ex officio habebat.
Ego videns frustranea fuisse consueta
exorcismorum remedia, exemplo historiæ
suprarecensitæ consului suffimentum simile
superiori, utque divexatus pixidulas
odoramentorum supradictas deferret; et
quia tabacchi usum habebat, et aqua vitæ
delectabatur, suasi ut et tabaccho et aqua
vitæ moschata uteretur. Dæmon illi apparebat
diu noctuque ultra alias species,
puta scheleti, suis, asini, Angeli, avis,
modo in forma unius, modo alterius ex
suis Religiosis, et semel in forma sui
Prælati, nempe Prioris, qui hortatus est
vexatum ad puritatem conscientiæ, ad confidentiam
in Deum, et ad frequentiam
confessionis; suasit ut sibi sacramentalem
confessionem faceret, quod etiam fecit; et
expost Psalmos Exsurgat Deus et Qui habitat,
et mox Evangelium S. Joannis simul
cum vexato recitavit, et ad ea verba
Verbum caro factum est genuflexit, et
accepta stola, quæ in cella erat, et aspergillo
aquæ benedictæ benedixit cellæ, ac
lecto vexati, et ac si revera fuisset ipsius
Prior præceptum fecit Dæmoni, ne auderet
illum suum subditum amplius divexare,
et post hæc disparuit, sicque prodidit quisnam
esset: aliter vexatus illum suum
Prælatum esse reputaverat. Postquam igitur
suffimentum, ac odores, ut supra dictum
est, consulueram, non destitit Dæmon
juxta solitum apparere; imo assumpta figura
vexati fuit ad cameram Vicarii, et
ab eo petiit aquam vitæ, ac tabaccum
moschatum, dicens sibi talia valde placere.
Vicarius utrumque illi dedit: quibus acceptis
disparuit in momento, quo facto cognovit
Vicarius se fuisse illusum a Dæmone
tali pacto: quod magis confirmavit assertum
vexati, qui cum juramento affirmavit,
se illa die nullo modo fuisse in cella Vicarii.
Iste mihi totum retulit, et ex tali facto
conjeci Dæmonem illum non fuisse aqueum,
ut erat Incubus, qui virginem ad coitum
sollicitabat, ut dictum supra est, sed
igneum, vel ad minus aereum, ex quo gaudebat
vaporibus, ac odoribus, tabacco, et
aqua vitæ, quæ calida sunt. Et conjecturæ
vim addidit temperamentum divexati, quod
erat colericum quo ad prædominium cum
subdominio, tamen sanguineo. Dæmones
enim tales non accedunt nisi ad eos, qui
secum in temperamento symbolizant; ex
quo validatur opinio mea de illorum corporeitate.
Unde suasi Vicario, ut acciperet
herbas natura frigidas, ut nymphæam,
hepaticam, portulacam, mandragoram,
sempervivam, plantaginem, hyoscyamum,
et alias similes, et ex iis compositum fasciculum
fenestræ, alium ostio cellæ suspenderet;
similibusque herbis, tum cameram,
tum lectum divexati sterneret. Mirum
dictu! comparuit denuo Dæmon, manens
tamen extra cameram, nec ingredi
voluit, et cum divexatus illum interrogasset,
quare de more intrare non auderet,
multis verbis injuriosis jactatis contra me,
qui talia consulueram, disparuit, nec amplius
reversus est. |
72. Here is the other story. In the great
Carthusian Friary of Pavia there lived a
Deacon, Austin by name, who was subjected
by a certain Demon to excessive, unheard
of and scarcely credible vexations;
although many exorcists had made repeated
endeavours to secure his riddance, all
spiritual remedies had proved unavailing.
I was consulted by the Vicar of the convent,
who had the cure of the poor clerk. Seeing
the inefficacy of all customary exorcisms,
and remembering the above-related instance,
I advised a fumigation like unto the
one that has been detailed, and prescribed
that the Deacon should carry about his
person fragrant pills of the same kind;
moreover, as he was in the habit of using
tobacco, and was very fond of brandy, I
advised tobacco and brandy perfumed with
musk. The Demon appeared to him by day
and by night, under various shapes, as a
skeleton, a pig, an ass, an Angel, a bird;
with the figure of one or other of the
Friars, once even with that of his own
Abbot or Prior, exhorting him to keep his
conscience clean, to trust in God, to confess
frequently; he persuaded him to let
him hear his sacramental confession, recited
with him the psalms Exsurgat Deus
and Qui habitat, and the Gospel according
to St John: and when they came to the
words Verbum caro factum est, he bent his
knee, and taking hold of a stole which
was in the cell, and of the Holy-water
sprinkle, he blessed the cell and the bed,
and, as if he had really been the Prior, enjoined
on the Demon not to venture in
future to molest his subordinate; he then
disappeared, thus betraying what he was,
for otherwise the young deacon had taken
him for his Prior. Now, notwithstanding
the fumigations and perfumes I had prescribed,
the Demon did not desist from his
wonted apparitions; more than that, assuming
the features of his victim, he went
to the Vicar’s room, and asked for some tobacco
and brandy perfumed with musk, of
which, said he, he was extremely fond.
Having received both, he disappeared in
the twinkling of an eye, thus showing the
Vicar that he had been played with by the
Demon; and this was amply confirmed by
the Deacon, who affirmed upon his oath
that he had not gone that day to the Vicar’s
cell. All that having been related to me, I
inferred that, far from being aqueous like
the Incubus who was in love with the maiden
above spoken of, this Demon was
igneous, or, at the very least, aerial, since
he delighted in hot substances such as
vapours, perfumes, tobacco and brandy.
Force was added to my surmises by the
temperament of the young deacon, which
was choleric and sanguine, choler predominating
however; for, those Demons
never approach but those whose temperament
tallies with their own: another confirmation
of my sentiment regarding their
corporeity. I therefore advised the Vicar
to let his penitent take herbs that are cold
by nature, such as water-lily, liver-wort,
spurge, mandrake, house-leek, plantain,
henbane, and others similar, make two
little bundles of them and hang them up,
one at his window, the other at the door
of his cell, taking care to strow some also
on the floor and on the bed. Marvellous
to say! The Demon appeared again, but
remained outside the room, which he
would not enter; and, on the Deacon inquiring
of him his motives for such unwonted
reserve, he burst out into invectives
against me for giving such advice, disappeared,
and never came again. |
73. Ex his duabus historiis apparet tales
odores, et herbas respective sua naturali
virtute, nullaque interveniente vi supernaturali
Dæmones propulisse; unde
convincitur quod Incubi patiuntur a qualitatibus
materialibus, ut proinde concludi
debeat, quod communicant in materia cum
iis rebus naturalibus, a quibus fugantur,
et ex consequenti corpore sint præditi,
quod est intentum. |
73. The two stories I have related make
it clear that, by their native virtue alone,
perfumes and herbs drove away Demons
without the intervention of any supernatural
force; Incubi are therefore subject to
material conditions, and it must be inferred
that they participate of the matter of the
natural objects which have the power of
putting them to flight, and consequently
they have a body; that is what was to be
shown. |
74. Et magis conclusio firmatur, si
impugnetur sententia Doctorum supracitatorum,
dicentium, Incubum abactum a
Sara fuisse vi Angeli Raphaelis, non vero
jecoris piscis callionymi, qualis fuit piscis a
Tobia apprehensus ad ripam Tigris, ut cum
Vallesio, Sacr. Philos., c. 42., scribit Cornelius
a Lap. in Tob. c. 6. v. 2., § Quarto
ergo: salva enim tantorum Doctorum
reverentia, talis expositio manifeste adversatur
sensui patenti Textus, a quo nullo
modo recedendum est dummodo non sequantur
absurda. En verba Angeli ad
Tobiam: “Cordis ejus particulam, si
super carbones ponas, fumus ejus extricat
omne genus Dæmoniorum, sive a
viro, sive a muliere, ita ut ultra non accedant
ad eos, et fel valet ad unguendos
oculos, in quibus fuerit albugo, et sanabuntur.”
(Tob., c. 6. v. 8. et 9.) Notetur,
quæso, assertio Angeli absoluta, et
universalis de virtute cordis, seu jecoris, et
fellis illius piscis: non enim dicit: Si pones
particulas cordis ejus super carbones, fugabis
omne genus Dæmoniorum, et si felle
unges oculos, in quibus fuerit albugo,
sanabuntur: si enim ita dixisset, congrua
esset expositio, quod nempe Raphael supernaturali
sua virtute illos effectus patrasset,
ad quos perficiendos inepta esset
applicatio fumi, et fellis: sed non ita
loquitur, sed ait talem esse virtutem fumi,
et fellis absolute. |
74. But, the better to establish our conclusion,
it behoves to impugn the mistake
into which have fallen the Doctors above-quoted,
such as Vallesius and Cornelius a
Lapide, when they say that Sarah was rid
from the Incubus by the virtue of the Angel
Raphael, and not by that of the callionymous
fish caught by Tobit on the banks of
the Tigris. Indeed, saving the reverence
due to such great doctors, such a construction
manifestly clashes with the clear meaning
of the Text, from which it is never
justifiable to deviate, so long as it does
not lead to absurd consequences. Here are
the words spoken by the Angel to Tobias:
“If thou puttest on coals a particle of
its heart, the smoke thereof will expel
all kinds of Demons, whether from man or
woman, so that they shall never return,
and its gall is good for anointing eyes
that have whiteness, and healing them.”
(Tobit, c. 6, v. 8 and 9). Pray notice that
the Angel’s assertion respecting the virtue
of the heart or liver and gall of that fish
is absolute, universal; for, he does not say:
“If thou puttest on coals particles of its
heart, thou wilt put to flight all kinds of
Demons, and if thou anointest with its gall
eyes that have a whiteness, they shall be healed.”
If he had thus spoken, I could agree
with the construction that Raphael had
brought about, by his own supernatural
virtue, the effects which the mere application
of the smoke and the gall might not
have sufficed to produce: but he does not
speak thus, and, on the contrary, says
absolutely, that such is the virtue of the
smoke and the gall. |
75. Quæro modo, an Angelus veritatem
puram dixerit de virtute rerum, an mentiri
potuerit; pariter an albugo ab oculis
Tobiæ senioris ablata sit vi naturali fellis
piscis, aut virtute supernaturali Angeli
Raphaelis? Angelum mentiri potuisse blasphemia
hæreticalis est; sequitur igitur
puram veritatem fuisse ab eo assertam;
talis autem non esset, si omne genus Dæmoniorum
non extricaretur a fumo jecoris
piscis nisi addita vi supernaturali Angeli,
maxime, si hæc esset causa principalis talis
effectus, quemadmodum scribunt de hoc
casu Doctores. Mentiretur absque dubio
medicus qui diceret: talis herba curat taliter
pleuritidem, sive epilepsiam, ut amplius
non revertatur: si herba illa non
curaret illas ægritudines nisi inchoate, et
perfecta illarum sanatio esset ab alia herba
conjuncta priori; sic pari modo mentitus
fuisset Raphael, asserens fumum jecoris
extricare omne genus Dæmoniorum ita ut
ultra non accedant, si talis effectus esset
a fumo solum inchoate, principaliter vero,
et perfecte a virtute Angeli. Præterea talis
fuga Dæmonis, vel secutura erat universaliter,
et semper posito jecore piscis super
carbones a quoquam, vel debebat sequi in
illo solummodo casu particulari, jecore
incusso a juniore Tobia. Si primum, ergo
oportet, quod cuicumque talem fumum per
accensionem jecoris paranti, assistat Angelus
qui supernaturali virtute Dæmonem
miraculose abigat regulariter; et hoc
est absurdum; ad positionem enim rei naturalis
deberet regulariter sequi miraculum,
quod est incongruum, et si absque
Angeli operatione fuga Dæmonis non sequeretur,
mentitus fuisset Raphael asserens
eam esse virtutem jecoris. Si autem
effectus ille sequi non debeat, nisi in illo
casu particulari, mentitus fuisset Angelus
enuncians universaliter virtutem piscis, in
fugando omni Dæmoniorum genere, quod
non est dicendum. |
75. It may be asked whether the Angel
spoke the precise truth regarding the virtue
of those things, or whether he might have
lied; and likewise, whether the whiteness
was withdrawn from the eyes of the elder
Tobit by the native force of the gall of the
fish, or by the supernatural virtue of the
Angel Raphael? To say that the Angel
could have lied would be an heretical blasphemy;
he therefore spoke the precise
truth; but it would no longer be so if all
kinds of Demons were not expelled by the
smoke of the liver of the fish, unless aided
by the supernatural force of the Angel,
and especially, if such aid was the principal
cause of the effect produced, as the Doctors
assert in the present case. It would
doubtless be a lie if a physician should
say: such an herb radically cures pleurisy
or epilepsy, and if it should only begin the
cure, the completion of which required the
addition of another herb to the one first
used; in the same manner, Raphael would
have lied when averring that the smoke of
the liver expelled all kinds of demons, so
that they should not return, if that result
had been only begun by the smoke, and its
completion had been principally due to the
virtue of the Angel. Besides, that flight of
the demon was either to take place universally
and by any one whomsoever putting
the liver of the fish on the coals, or else it
was only to occur in that particular case,
the younger Tobit putting the liver on. In
the first hypothesis, any person making
that smoke by burning the liver should be
assisted by an Angel, who, through his
supernatural virtue should expel the Demons
miraculously and regularly at the
same time; which is absurd; for, either
words have no meaning, or a natural fact
cannot be regularly followed by a miracle;
and, if the Demon was not put to flight
without the assistance of the Angel, Raphael
would have lied when ascribing that
virtue to the liver. If, on the contrary, that
effect was only to be brought about in that
particular case, Raphael would again have
lied when assigning to that fish, universally
and absolutely, the virtue of expelling the
Demon: now, to say that the Angel lied is
not possible. |
76. Ulterius albugo oculorum detracta est
ab oculis Tobiæ senioris, et ipsius cæcitas
sanata est a virtute naturali fellis piscis
illius, ut Doctores affirmant (Liran. Dyonisius;
et Seraci. apud Cornel. in Tobi., c. 6.
v. 9). Piscis enim Callionymus, qui vocatur
Italice bocca in capo, et quo usus est Tobias,
fel habet pro celeberrimo remedio ad
detegendas albugines oculorum, ut scribunt
concorditer Dioscorides, l. 1. c. 96., Galenus,
De Simpl. Medicam., Plinius, l. 32. c.
7., Aclanius, De Ver. Histor., l. 13. c. 14.,
et Vallesius, De Sacr. Philos., c. 47. Textus
Græcus Tobiæ, c. 11. v. 13., habet:
“Inspersit fel super oculos patris sui, dicens:
Confide, Pater; ut autem erosi
sunt, detrivit oculos suos, et disquamatæ
sunt ab angulis oculorum albugines.”
Cum igitur eodem contextu Angelus aperuerit
Tobiæ virtutem jecoris, et fellis piscis,
et hoc sua naturali virtute cæcitatem
Tobiæ senioris curaverit, concludendum est,
quod etiam fumus jecoris sua naturali vi
Incubum fugaverit: quod concludenter confirmatur
a Textu Græco, qui ad Tobiæ c.
8. v. 2., ubi Vulgata habet: “Partem jecoris
posuit super carbones vivos”, sic
habet: “Accepit cinerem, sive prunam
thimiamatum, et imposuit cor piscis, et
hepar, fumumque fecit, et quando odoratus
est Dæmon odores, fugit.” Et
Textus Hebraicus ita cantat: “Percepit
Asmodeus odorem, et fugit.” Ex quibus
textibus apparet, quod Dæmon fugit ad perceptionem
fumi, sibi contrarii, ac nocentis,
non autem a virtute Angeli supernaturali.
Quod si in tali liberatione Saræ ab impetitione
Incubi Asmodei, ultra fumum jecoris
intervenit operatio Raphaelis, hoc fuit in
alligatione Dæmonis in deserto superioris
Ægypti, ut dicitur c. 8. v. 3. Tobiæ; fumus
quippe jecoris nequibat in tanta distantia
agere in Dæmonem, aut illum alligare.
Quod inservire potest pro concordia
supracitatorum Doctorum (qui voluerunt
Saram perfecte liberatam a Dæmone virtute
Raphaelis) cum sententia, quam tuemur:
dico enim, quod ipsi senserint quod
perfecta curatio Saræ a Dæmone fuerit in
alligatione ejus in deserto, quæ fuit ab Angelo,
quod et nos concedimus; sed extricatio,
sive fugatio ejusdem a cubiculo Saræ
fuerit a vi innativa jecoris piscis, quod nos
tuemur. |
76. The whiteness was withdrawn from
the eyes of the elder Tobit, and his blindness
healed, through the native virtue of
the gall of that same fish, as Doctors aver.
In fact, that the gall of the callionymous
fish, which the Italians call bocca in capo,
and of which Tobias made use, is a highly
renowned remedy for removing the whiteness
from the eyes, all are agreed, Dioscorides,
Galen, Pliny, Aclanius, Vallesius,
etc. The Greek Text of Tobit, c. 11, v. 13,
says: “He poured the gall on his father’s
eyes, saying: Have confidence, father;
but, there being erosion, the old man rubbed
his eyes, and the scales of the whiteness came
out at the corners.” Now, since, according
to the same text, the Angel had disclosed
to Tobias the virtue of the liver and gall
of the fish, and since, through its native virtue,
the gall cured the elder Tobit’s blindness,
it must be inferred that it was likewise
through its native force that the smoke of
the liver put the Incubus to flight; which
inference is conclusively confirmed by the
Greek text, which, Tobit, c. 8, v. 2, instead
of the reading in the Vulgate: “He laid a
part of the liver on burning coals”, says
explicitly: “He took the ashes of the perfumes,
and put the heart and the liver of the
fish thereupon, and made a smoke therewith;
the which smell when the evil spirit had
smelled, he fled.” The Hebrew text says:
“Asmodeus smelled the smell, and fled.”
From all those texts it appears that the
Demon took to flight on smelling a smoke
which was prejudicial and hurtful to himself,
and nowise from the supernatural
virtue of the Angel. If, in ridding Sarah
from the assaults of the Incubus Asmodeus,
the operation of the smoke of the liver was
followed by the intervention of Raphael, it
was in order to bind the Demon in the
wilderness of High-Egypt, as related, Tobit,
c. 8, v. 3; for, at such a distance, the
smoke of the liver could neither operate on
the Demon, nor bind him. And here we
have the means of reconciling our opinion
with that of the above-mentioned Doctors,
who ascribe to Raphael’s power Sarah’s
complete riddance from the Demon: for,
I say with them, that the cure of Sarah was
completed by the binding of the Demon in
the wilderness, the deed of the Angel;
which I concede; but I maintain that the
deliverance properly called, that is to say,
the ejection from Sarah’s bed-room, was
the direct effect of the virtue of the liver
of the fish. |
77. Probatur tertio principaliter nostra
conclusio de existentia talium animalium,
seu de Incuborum corporeitate, ex auctoritate
D. Hieronymi, in vita S. Pauli primi
Eremitæ. Refert is D. Antonium iter per
desertum arripuisse, ut ad visendum D.
Paulum perveniret, et post nonnullas diætas
itineris Centaurum reperiisse, a quo
cum fuisset percontatus mensionem D. Pauli,
et ille barbarum quid infrendens potius,
quam proloquens, dextræ protensione manus
iter D. Antonio demonstrasset, in sylvam
se abdidit cursu concitatissimo. Prosecutus
iter S. Abbas in quadam valle invenit haud
grandem quemdam homunculum, aduncis
manibus, fronte cornibus asperata, cujus
extrema pars corporis in caprarum pedes
desinebat. Ad ejus aspectum substitit Antonius,
et timens Diaboli artes signo Sanctæ
Crucis se munivit. Ad tale signum nec fugit,
nec metuit homuncio ille, immo ad sanctum
senem actu humili appropinquans, palmarum
fructus ad viaticum quasi pacis obsides
illi offerebat. Tum B. Antonius quisnam
esset interrogans, hoc ab eo responsum accepit:
Mortalis ego sum, et unus ex accolis
Eremi, quos vario errore delusa
Gentilitas Faunos, Satyros, et Incubos
vocans colit; legatione fungor gregis
mei; precamur, ut pro nobis communem
Deum depreceris, quem pro salute mundi
venisse cognovimus, et universam terram
exiit sonus ejus.” Ad quæ gaudens D.
Antonius de gloria Christi, conversus ad
Alexandriam, et baculo terram percutiens,
ait: “Veh tibi, Civitas meretrix, quæ pro
diis animalia veneraris!” Hæc D. Hieronymus,
qui late prosequitur hoc factum,
ipsius virtutem longo comprobans sermone. |
77. A third principal proof of our conclusion
regarding the existence of those
animals, in other words, respecting the
corporeity of Incubi, is adduced by the
testimony of St Hieronymus, in his Life
of St Paul, the first Hermit. St Anthony,
says he, set on a journey to visit St Paul.
After travelling several days, he met a
Centaur, of whom he inquired the hermit’s
abode; whereupon the Centaur, growling
some uncouth and scarcely intelligible
answer, shew the way with his out-stretched
hand, and fled with the utmost speed into
a wood. The Holy Abbot kept on his way,
and, in a dale, met a little man, almost a
dwarf, with crooked hands, horned brow,
and his lower extremities ending with
goat’s feet. At the sight of him, St Anthony
stood still, and fearing the arts of the Devil,
comforted himself with a sign of the
Cross. But, far from running away, or even
seeming frightened at it, the little fellow
respectfully approached the old man, and
tendered him, as a peace offering, dates
for his journey. The blessed St Anthony
having then inquired who he was: “I am
a mortal,” replied he, “and one of the inhabitants
of the Wilderness, whom Gentility,
under its varied delusions, worships under
the names of Fauns, Satyrs and Incubi; I
am on a mission from my flock: we request
thee to pray for us unto the common God,
whom we know to have come for the salvation
of the world, and whose praises are
sounded all over the earth.” Rejoicing at
the glory of Christ, St Anthony, turning his
face towards Alexandria, and striking the
ground with his staff, cried out: “Woe be
unto thee, thou harlot City, who worshipest
animals as Gods!” Such is the narrative
of St Hieronymus, who expatiates at length
on the fact, explaining its import in a long
discourse. |
78. De hujus historiæ veritate dubitare
temerarium est, cum eam constanter referat
SS. Ecclesiæ Doctorum maximus D. Hieronymus,
de cujus auctoritate nullus Catholicus
dubitabit. Addit fol. 21. 25. Notandæ
proinde veniunt illius circumstantiæ, quæ
sententiam nostram evidentissime confirmant. |
78. It were indeed rash to doubt the
truth of the above recital, constantly referred
to by the greatest of the Doctors of
the Holy Church, St Hieronymus, whose
authority no Catholic will ever deny. Let
us therefore investigate the circumstances
thereof which most clearly confirm our
opinion. |
79. Primo notandum est, quod si ullus
Sanctorum artibus Dæmonis impetitus fuit;
si ullus diversas ejus artes nocendi calluit;
si ullus victorias, ac illustria de eodem trophea
reportavit, is fuit D. Antonius, ut
constat ex ejus vita a D. Athanasio descripta.
Dum igitur D. Antonius homunculum
illum non tanquam Diabolum agnovit,
sed animal intitulavit, dicens: Veh tibi,
Civitas meretrix, quæ pro Diis animalia
veneraris! convincitur, quod ille nullo modo
fuit Diabolus, seu purus spiritus de cœlo
dejectus, ac damnatus, sed aliquod aliud animal.
Et confirmatur, quia D. Antonius erudiens
suos monachos, eosque animans ad
metuendas Dæmonis violentias, aiebat, prout
habetur in lectionibus Breviarii Romani in
festo S. Antonii Abb. l. 1., quæ recitantur
in festo ipsius: “>Mihi credite, Fratres,
pertimescit Satanas piorum vigilias, orationes,
jejunia, voluntariam paupertatem,
misericordiam, et humilitatem; maxime
vero ardentem amorem in Christum
Dominum, cujus unico Sanctissimæ Crucis
signo debilitatus fugit.” Dum igitur
homunculus ille, contra quem D. Antonius
Crucis signo se munivit, ad ejus aspectum
nec pavit, nec fugit, immo confidenter, humiliter
que accessit ad eum dactalos illi
offerens, signum est, illum nullo modo Diabolum
fuisse. |
79. Firstly, we must observe that if ever
a Saint was assailed by the arts of the Demon,
saw through his infernal devices, and
carried off victories and trophies from the
contest, that Saint was St Anthony, as is
shown by his life written by St Athanasius.
Now, since in that little man St Anthony
did not recognize a devil but an
animal, saying: “Woe be unto thee, thou
harlot City, who worshipest animals as
Gods!”, it is clear that it was no devil or
pure spirit ejected from heaven and damned,
but some kind of animal. Still more: St
Anthony, when instructing his friars and
cautioning them against the assaults of the
Demon, said to them, as related in the
Roman Breviary (Festival of St Anthony,
Abbot, b. I): “Believe me, my brethren,
Satan dreads the vigils of pious men, their
prayers, fasts, voluntary poverty, compassion
and humility; but, above all, he dreads
their burning love of our Lord Christ, at
the mere sign of whose most Holy Cross he
flies disabled.” As the little man, against
whom St Anthony guarded himself with a
sign of the Cross, neither took fright nor
fled, but approached the Saint confidently
and humbly, offering him some dates, it is
a sure sign that he was no Devil. |
80. Secundo notandum, quod homunculus
ille dixit: Mortalis et ego sum; ex quibus
verbis docemur, quod ille erat animal morti
obnoxium, et proinde, quod per generationem
esse accepit: spiritus enim immaterialis
immortalis est, quia simplex, et ideo
non accipit esse per generationem ex præjacente
materia, sed per creationem; unde
nec amittit esse per corruptionem, quæ dicitur
mors, sed per annihilationem tantum
potest desinere esse. Quod si ille se mortalem
esse dixit, professus est se esse animal. |
80. Secondly, we must observe that the
little man said: “I also am a mortal”,
whence it follows that he was an animal
subject to death, and consequently called
into being through generation; for, an
immaterial spirit is immortal, because simple,
and consequently is not called into
being through generation from preexistent
matter, but through creation, and, consequently
also, cannot lose it through the
corruption called death; its existence can
only come to an end through annihilation.
Therefore, when saying he was mortal, he
professed himself an animal. |
81. Tertio notandum, quod ait se cognovisse
communem Deum in carne humana
fuisse passum. Ex his verbis convincitur
illud fuisse animal rationale: siquidem
bruta nihil agnoscunt, nisi sensibile et præsens,
unde ab ipsis Deus nullo modo cognosci
potest. Quod si homunculus ille ait,
se cum aliis suis cognovisse Deum in carne
humana passum, hoc probat, quod aliquo
revelante habuit notitiam de Deo, sicut etiam
nos habemus de illo fidem revelatam; pariter
que Deum carnem humanam assumpsisse,
et in ea passum: quæ duo sunt articuli
nostræ Fidei principales, nempe Dei
unius, et trini existentia, et ipsius Incarnatio,
Passio, et Resurrectio; ex quibus
omnibus habetur, ut dicebam, illud fuisse
animal rationale capax divinæ cognitionis,
per revelationem, ut nos, et proinde pollens
anima rationali, et ex consequenti immortali. |
81. Thirdly, we must observe that he
said he knew that the common God had
suffered in human flesh. Those words show
him to have been a rational animal, for
brutes know nothing but what is sensible
and present, and can therefore have no
knowledge of God. If that little man said
that he and his fellows were aware of God
having suffered in human flesh, it shows
that, by means of some revelation, he had
acquired the notion of God, as we have
ourselves the revealed faith. That God assumed
human flesh and suffered in it, is the
essence of the two principal articles of our
Faith: the existence of God one and threefold,
His Incarnation, Passion and Resurrection.
All that shows, as I said, that it
was a rational animal, capable of the knowledge
of God through revelation, like ourselves,
and endowed with a rational, and
consequently, immortal soul. |
82. Quarto notandum, quod oraverit nomine
omnium gregis sui, cujus legatione
fungi se profitebatur, D. Antonium, ut communem
Deum pro illis deprecaretur. Ex
his deducitur, quod homunculus ille capax
erat beatitudinis, et damnationis, et quod non
erat in termino, sed in via: ex hoc enim,
quod, ut supra probatum est, se prodidit
rationalem, et anima immortali consequenter
donatum, consequens est, quod et beatitudinis,
et damnationis capax sit: hæc
enim propria passio est Creaturæ rationalis,
ut constat ex natura angelica, et humana.
Item deducitur, quod ipse erat in
via, et proinde capax meriti, et demeriti:
si enim fuisset in termino, fuisset vel beatus,
vel damnatus; neutrum autem potuit
esse, quia orationes D. Antonii, quibus se
commendabat, ipsi nullo modo prodesse
potuissent, si fuisset finaliter damnatus; et
si beatus fuisset, illis non eguisset. Quod
ipsi se commendavit, signum est eas sibi
prodesse potuisse, et proinde ipsum fuisse
in statu viæ, et meriti. |
82. Fourthly, we must observe that, in
the name of his whole flock whose delegate
he professed to be, he besought St Anthony
to pray for them to the common
God. Wherefrom I infer that that little man
was capable of beatitude and damnation,
and that he was not in termino but in via;
for, from his being, as has been shown
above, rational and consequently endowed
with an immortal soul, it flows that he was
capable of beatitude and damnation, the
proper share of every rational Creature,
Angel or man. I likewise infer that he was
on the way, in via, that is, capable of
merit and demerit; for, if he had been at
the goal, in termino, he would have been
either blessed or damned. Now, he could be
neither the one nor the other; for, St Anthony’s
prayers, to which he commended
himself, could have been of no assistance
to him, if finally damned, and, if blessed,
he stood in no need of them. Since he
commended himself to those prayers, it
shows they could be of avail to him, and,
consequently, that he was on the way to
salvation, in statu viæ et meriti. |
83. Quinto notandum, quod homunculus
ille professus est, se esse legatum aliorum
suæ speciei, dum dixit legatione fungor
gregis mei, ex quibus verbis plura deducuntur.
Unum est, quod homunculus ille
non solus erat, unde potuisset credi monstrum
raro contingens, sed quod plures
erant ejusdem speciei; tum quia simul congregati
gregem faciebant; tum quia nomine
omnium veniebat: quod esse non posset
si multorum voluntates in illum non
convenissent. Aliud est, quod isti profitentur
vitam socialem: ex quo nomine multorum
unus ex ipsis missus est. Aliud est,
quod quamvis dicantur habitare in Eremo,
non tamen in eo fixa est eorum permanentia:
siquidem cum D. Antonius in illa
eremo alias non fuisset (distabat enim illa
per multas dietas ab eremo D. Antonii),
scire non potuerunt quisnam ille esset cujusve
sanctitatis; necessarium igitur fuit,
quod alibi eum cognoverint, et ex consequenti
extra desertum illum vagaverint. |
83. Fifthly, we must observe that the
little man professed to be delegated by
others of his kind, when saying: “I am
on a mission from my flock”, words from
which many inferences may be deduced.
One is, that the little man was not alone
of his kind, an exceptional and solitary
monster, but that there were many of the
same species, since congregating they made
up a flock, and that he came in the name of
all; which could not have been, had not the
will of many centred in him. Another is,
that those animals lead a social life, since
one of them was sent in the name of many.
Another again is, that, although living
in the Wilderness, it is not assigned to
them as a permanent abode; for St Anthony
having never previously been in that
desert, which was far distant from his hermitage,
they could not have known who he
was nor what his degree of sanctity; it was
therefore necessary that they should have
become acquainted with him elsewhere,
and, consequently, that they should have
travelled beyond that wilderness. |
84. Ultimo notandum, quod homunculus
ille ait esse ex iis, quos cæco errore delusa
Gentilitas Faunos, Satyros et Incubos
appellant; et ex his verbis convincitur nostrum
intentum principale, Incubos nempe
esse animalia rationalia beatitatis, et damnationis
capacia. |
84. Lastly, we must observe that the
little man said he was one of those whom
the Gentiles, blinded by error, call Fauns,
Satyrs and Incubi: and by these words is
shown the truth of our principal proposition:
that Incubi are rational animals,
capable of beatitude and damnation. |
85. Talium homuncionum frequens est
apparitio in metallorum fodinis, ut scribit
Gregorius Agricola, lib. De Animal. subterran.,
prope finem. Isti nempe coram
fossoribus minerarum comparent induti
habitu, qualem habent fossores ipsi, et jocantur
inter se, tripudiantque, ac rident et
cachinnantur, parvosque lapides joco mittunt
in metallarios, et tunc signum est, ait
Auctor prædictus, optimi proventus, ac inventionis
alicujus rami, aut trunci principalis
arboris mineralis. |
85. The apparition of such little men is
of frequent occurrence in metallic mines,
as is written by Gregorius Agricola in his
book De Animal. subterran. They appear
to the miners, clothed like themselves, play
and caper together, laugh and titter, and
throw little stones at them for the sake
of amusement: a sign, says the above-named
Author, of excellent success, and of
the finding of some branch or body of a
mineral tree. |
86. Tales homunculos subterraneos negat
Petrus Thyræus Novesianus, lib. De
Terrificatio. Noctur., c. 2., per totum,
nixus argumentis sane puerilibus, quæ
sunt hæc: si darentur hujusmodi homunciones,
ubinam degunt, et quænam, et ubi
habent sua domicilia, qua ratione genus
suum conservant, si per generationem, aut
quomodo? si oriantur, et intereant, quo
cibo vitam suam sustentent; si beatitudinis,
et damnationis capaces sint, et quibus
mediis propriam salutem consequantur?
Hæc sunt argumenta Thyræi, quibus permotus
negat talem existentiam. |
86. Peter Thyræus, of Neuss, in his book
De Terrification. nocturn., denies the existence
of such little men, and supports his
denial upon the following truly puerile arguments:
given such little men, says he,
where do they live, how and where do they
dwell? How do they keep up their kind,
through generation or otherwise? Are they
born, do they die, with what food do they
sustain themselves? Are they capable of
beatitude and damnation, and by what
means do they procure their salvation?
Such are the arguments upon which Thyræus
relies for denying that existence. |
87. Sed viri parum cordati est negare
id, quod graves Auctores, fideque digni
scribunt, quodque quotidiana constat experientia.
Argumenta Thyræi nec minimum
cogunt, ac ea solvimus supra a no 45. et
seq. Remanet solum satisfacere quæstioni
ubinam locorum habitent hujusmodi homunculi,
seu Incubi? Ad quod dico, quod
ut supra dedimus no 71. ex Guaccio, istorum
alii sunt terrei, alii aquei, alii aerei,
alii ignei, quorum nempe corpora, aut
constant ex talium elementorum subtiliori
parte, sive licet ex pluribus constent elementis,
prævalet tamen in iis, aut aqua,
aut aer pro ipsorum natura. Mansiones
igitur, et domicilia eorum erunt in elemento
illo cujus natura in eorum corporibus
prævalet: ignei enim nisi violenter, et
forte nullomodo in aquis aut locis palustribus
morabuntur, cum hæc sint sibi contraria,
nec aquei ad superiorem ætheris partem
ascendere poterunt ob sibi repugnantem
regionis illius subtilitatem, quod etiam
videmus accidere hominibus, qui ad quorumdam
Alpium summa juga pervenire
nequeunt præ summa aeris subtilitate, quæ
homines crassiori aeri assuetos nutrire
nequit. |
87. But it really shows little judgment
in a man, to deny that which has been
written by grave and credible Authors, and
confirmed by every day experience. Thyræus’s
arguments are worthless and have
been already refuted, Nrs 45 and following.
The only question which remains to be
answered is this: where do those little
men, or Incubi, dwell? To that I reply: as
has been shown above (Nr 71), according
to Guaccius, some are earthly, some aqueous,
some aerial, some igneous, that is to
say, that their bodies are made of the most
subtle part of one of the elements, or, if of
the combination of many elements, that
yet there is one which predominates, either
water or air, according to their nature.
Their dwellings will consequently be found
in that element which is prevalent in their
bodies: igneous Incubi, for instance, will
only stay forcibly, may be will not stay at
all, in water or marshes, which are adverse
to them; and aqueous Incubi will not be
able to rise into the upper part of ether,
the subtlety of which region is repugnant
to them. We see the like happen to men
who, accustomed to thicker air, cannot
reach certain lofty ridges of the Alps where
the air is too subtle for their lungs. |
88. Pluribus sanctorum Patrum auctoritatibus,
quas congerit Molina in p. p. D.
Thom., q. 50., ar. 1. circa med., probare
possemus Dæmonum corporeitatem; quæ
tamen stante determinatione Concilii Lateranensis
de incorporeitate Angelorum, ut
dictum fuit supra no 37., exponi debent
de Dæmonibus istis Incubis, ac viatoribus
adhuc, non autem de Damnatis. Tamen ne
nimis longus sim, solius D. Augustini,
summi Ecclesiæ Doctoris, auctoritates
damus, quibus evidenter convincitur illum
fuisse in sententia, quam nos docemus. |
88. Many testimonies of Holy Fathers,
gathered by Molina, in his Commentary of
St Thomas, would go to prove the corporeity
of Demons; but, taking into account
the above-quoted decision of the Council
of Lateran (Nr 37), concerning the incorporeity
of Angels, we must understand that
the Holy Fathers had in view those Incubi
Demons which are still on the way to salvation,
and not those that are damned.
However, to make matters short, we merely
give the authority of St Austin, that eminent
Doctor of the Church, and it will be
clearly seen how thoroughly his doctrine
harmonizes with ours. |
89. D. Augustinus igitur, lib. 2. super
Genesim ad litteram c. 17. de Dæmonibus,
sic habet: “Quædam vera nosse, partim
quia subtiliore sensus acumine, partim
quia subtilioribus corporibus vigent,” et
lib. 3. c. 1., “etsi Dæmones aerea sunt
animalia, quoniam corporum aereorum
natura vigent.” Et Epistola 115. ad Hebridium
affirmat, eos esse “animantia
aerea, seu ætherea acerrimi sensus.” Et
de Civit. Dei lib. 11. c. 23., affirmat
“Dæmonem pessimum habere corpus
aereum.” Et lib. 21. c. 10. scripsit: “Sunt
sua quædam etiam Dæmonibus corpora,
sicut doctis hominibus visum est, ex isto
aere crasso et humido.” Et lib. 17. c. 23.
ait “se non audere definire, an Angeli corpore
aereo, ita corporati possint etiam
hanc pati libidinem, ut quomodo possint,
sentientibus fœminis misceantur.” Et in
Enarrat. in Psal. 85. ait “corpora beatorum
futura post resurrectionem, qualia
sunt corpora Angelorum;” et in Enarrat.
in Psal. 45. ait “corpus Angelicum inferius
esse anima.” Et lib. De Divinit. Dæmonum,
passim per totum, maxime c. 23.,
docet “Dæmones subtilia habere corpora.” |
89. St Austin, then, in his Commentary
on Genesis, book 2, ch. 17, writes as follows
concerning Demons: “They have the
knowledge of some truths, partly through
the more subtle acumen of their senses,
partly through the greater subtilty of their
bodies”, and, book 3, ch. 1: “Demons
are aerial animals, because they partake of
the nature of aerial bodies.” In his Epistle
115 to Hebridius, he affirms that they are
“aerial or ethereal animals, endowed with
very sharp senses.” In the City of God,
book 11, ch. 13, he says that “the worst
Demon has an aerial body”. Book 21, ch.
10, he writes: “The bodies of certain Demons,
as has been believed by some learned
men, are even made of the thick and damp
air which we breathe.” Book 15, ch. 23:
“He dares not define whether Angels, with
an aerial body, could feel the lust which
would incite them to communicate with
women.” In his commentary on Psalm 85,
he says that “the bodies of the blessed will,
after resurrection, be like unto the bodies
of Angels;” Psalm 14, he observes that
“the body of Angels is inferior to the
soul.” And, in his book De Divinit. Dæmonum,
he every-where, and especially
ch. 23, teaches that “Demons have subtle
bodies”. |
90. Potest etiam sententia nostra auctoritatibus
Sacræ Scripturæ comprobari,
quæ licet ab Expositoribus aliter declarentur,
non incongrue tamen ad nostrum intentum
possunt aptari. Prima est Psalmi
77., v. 24. et 25., ubi habetur: panem
Angelorum manducavit homo, panem cœli
dedit eis. Hic loquitur David de Manna,
qua cibatus fuit Populus Israel toto tempore
quo peregrinus fuit in deserto. Quærendum
ergo venit, quo sensu Manna dici
possit panis Angelorum. Scio quidem plerosque
Doctor es exponere hunc passum in
sensu mystico, aientes in Manna figuratam
esse Sacram Eucharistiam, quæ vocatur
panis Angelorum, quia Angeli fruuntur
visione Dei, qui per concomitantiam
in Eucharistia reperitur. |
90. Our doctrine can also be confirmed
by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures,
which, however diversely construed by
commentators, are yet capable of adaptation
to our proposition. First, Psalm 77, v.
24 and 25, it is said: “The Lord had given
them of the bread of heaven; man did eat
angels’ food.” David here alludes to Manna,
which fed the People of Israel during
the whole time that they wandered in the
wilderness. It will be asked in what sense
it can be said of Manna that it is the Bread
of Angels. I am aware that most Doctors
construe this passage in a mystical sense,
saying that Manna figures the Holy Eucharist,
which is styled the bread of Angels,
because Angels enjoy the sight of God who,
by concomitance, is found in the Eucharist. |
91. Sed hæc expositio aptissima est quidem,
et quam amplectitur Ecclesia in officio
Sanctissimi Corporis Christi, sed in
sensu spirituali est. Ego autem quæro sensum
litteralem: neque enim in illo Psalmo
David loquitur prophetice de futuris,
sicut facit in aliis locis, ut proinde facile
non sit sensum litteralem habere; sed loquitur
historice de præteritis. Ille enim
Psalmus, ut patet legenti, est pura anacephalestis,
seu compendium omnium beneficiorum,
quæ contulit Deus Populo Hebræo
ab egressu ipsius de Ægypto, usque ad
tempus Davidis, et in eo versu loquitur de
Manna Deserti, ut proinde quæratur quomodo,
et quo sensu Manna vocetur Panis
Angelorum. |
91. A most proper construction assuredly,
and which is adopted by the Church
in the office of the Most Holy Body of
Jesus-Christ; but it is in a spiritual sense.
Now, what I want, is the literal sense; for,
in that Psalm, David does not speak, as a
prophet, of things to be, as he does in
other places where a literal sense is not
easily to be gathered; he speaks here as a
historian, of things gone by. That Psalm,
as is evident to whoever reads it, is a pure
anacephalæosis, or summing up of all the
benefits conferred by God on the Hebrew
People from the exodus from Egypt to the
days of David, and the Manna of the Wilderness
is spoken of in it; how, and in
what sense is it styled the Bread of Angels?
that is the question. |
92. Scio alios, Lyran., Euthim., Bellarm.,
Titelman., Genebrard., in Psal. 77.
v. 24. et 25., interpretari Panem Angelorum
Panem ab Angelis paratum, seu Angelorum
ministerio a Cœlo demissum;
Hugonem autem Cardinalem Panem Angelorum
exponere: quia ille cibus hoc efficiebat
in Judæis, quod in Angelis efficit
cibus illorum, pro parte: Angeli enim non
incurrunt infirmitatem. Voluerunt enim
expositores Hebræi, ut etiam asseverat
Josephus, quod Judæi in Deserto vescentes
manna, nec senescerent, nec ægrotarent,
nec lassarentur; proinde illa esset tanquam
panis, quo vescuntur Angeli, qui nec
senio, nec ægritudine, nec lassitudine unquam
laborant. |
92. I am aware that others look upon
the Bread of Angels as bread prepared by
Angels, or sent down from Heaven by the
ministry of Angels. But Cardinal Hugo
explains that qualification by saying that
that food partly produced the same effect
upon the Jews, which the food of Angels
produces upon the latter. Angels, in fact,
are not liable to any infirmity; on the
other hand Hebrew commentators, and Josephus
himself, assert that whilst in the
Wilderness, living upon Manna, the Jews
neither grew old, nor sickened, nor tired;
so that Manna was like unto the bread that
Angels feed upon, who know neither old
age, nor sickness, nor fatigue. |
93. Istas quidem expositiones recipere
æquum est, utpote tantorum Doctorum
aucthoritate suffultas. Facessit tamen difficultatem,
quod ministerio Angelorum
Hebræis non minus parata fuere columna
nubis, et ignis, coturnices, et aqua de petra,
quam manna; nec tamen ista dicta fuere
columna, aqua, aut potus Angelorum. Cur
ergo potius vocari deberet manna, quia
parata ministerio Angelorum, Panis Angelorum,
quam Potus Angelorum aqua
eorumdem ministerio saxo educta? Insuper
in sacra Scriptura panis dum dicitur
panis alicujus, dicitur panis ejus qui illo
vescitur, non ejus qui illum parat, aut fabricat,
et de hoc infinita habemus exempla
in sacra Scriptura: ut Exod. c. 23. v. 25.
Benedicam panibus tuis, et aquis; lib. 2.
Reg. c. 12. v. 3. De pane illius comedens;
Tob. c. 4, v. 17. Panem tuum cum egenis
comede; et v. 18. Panem tuum super
sepulturam Justi constitue; Ecclesiast.
c. 11. v. 1. Mitte panem tuum super transeuntes
aquas; Isai. c. 58. v. 7. Frange
esurienti panem tuum; Jerem. c. 11. v. 19.
Mittamus lignum in panem ejus; Matth.
c. 15. v. 26. Non est bonum sumere panem
filiorum; Luc. c. 11. v. 3. Panem
nostrum quotidianum. Ex quibus locis
patenter habetur, quod panis dicitur ejus
qui eo vescitur, non vero, qui ipsum conficit,
affert, aut parat. Commode igitur in
loco citato Psalmi accipi potest Panis Angelorum,
cibus quo vescuntur Angeli non
quidem incorporei (isti enim materiali cibo
non egent), sed corporei, ista nempe rationalia
animalia, de quibus hucusque disseruimus,
degentia in aere, et quæ ratione
tenuitatis suorum corporum, ac rationalis
naturæ, quam maxime ad Angelos immateriales
accedunt, ut proinde nuncupentur. |
93. These interpretations should indeed
be received with the respect due to the authority
of such eminent Doctors. There is
however one difficulty in this: that, by the
ministry of Angels, the pillars of the cloud
and fire, the quails, and the water from the
rock were provided for the Hebrews, no
less than the Manna; and yet they were
not styled the pillar, the water or the beverage
of Angels. Why therefore should
Manna be called Bread of Angels, because
provided by their ministry, when the qualification
Beverage of Angels is not given
to the water drawn from the rock likewise
by their ministry? Besides, in Holy Scripture,
when it is said of bread that it is the
bread of somebody, it is always the bread
of him who feeds on it, not of him who provides
or makes it. Of this there are numberless
instances: thus, Exodus, ch. 23,
v. 25: “That I may bless thy bread and
thy water;” Kings, book 2, ch. 12, v. 3:
“Eating of his bread;” Tobit, ch. 4, v.
17: “Give of thy bread to the hungry,”
and v. 18: “Pour out thy bread on the
burial of the Just;” Ecclesiasticus, ch. 11,
v. 1: “Scatter thy bread over the flowing
waters;” Isaiah, ch. 58, v. 7: “Deal
thy bread to the hungry;” Jeremiah, ch. 11,
v. 19: “Let us put wood into his bread;”
Matthew, ch. 15, v. 26: “It is not meet to
take the children’s bread;” Luke, ch. 11,
v. 3: “Our daily bread.” All those passages
clearly show that, in Scripture, the
bread of somebody is the bread of him who
feeds upon it, not of him who makes,
brings or provides it. In the passage of the
Psalm we have quoted, Bread of Angels
may therefore easily be taken to mean the
food of Angels, not incorporeal indeed,
since these require no material food, but
corporeal, that is to say of those rational
animals we have discoursed of, who live
in the air, and, from the subtlety of their
bodies and their rationality, approximate
so closely to immaterial Angels as to fall
under the same denomination. |
94. Ducor, quia cum animalia sint, et
ideo generabilia et corruptibilia, egent
cibo, ut restauretur substantia corporea,
quæ per effluvia deperditur; vita enim sentientis
non consistit nisi in motu partium
corporearum quæ fluunt, ac refluunt, acquiruntur,
ac deperduntur, ac iterum reparantur;
quæ reparatio fit per substantias
spirituosas, materiales tamen, attractas
a vivente, tum per aeris inspirationem,
tum par fermentationem cibi, per quam
substantia illius spiritualizatur, ut rationatur
doctissimus Ettmullerus, Instit. Medic.
Physiolog., c. 2. |
94. I deduce that, being animals, consequently
reproducible through generation
and liable to corruption, they require food
for the restoration of their corporeal substance
wasted by effluvia: for the life of
every sensible being consists in nothing
else but the motion of the corporeal elements
which flow and ebb, are acquired,
lost and recruited by means of substances
spirituous, yet material, assimilated by the
living thing, either through the inhalation
of air, or by the fermentation of food
which spiritualizes its substance, as shown
by the most learned Ettmuller (Instit.
Medic. Physiolog., ch. 2). |
95. Quia autem eorum corpus tenue est,
tenui pariter, et subtili eget alimento. Hinc
est quod sicut odoribus aliisque substantiis
vaporosis, ac volatilibus suæ naturæ contrariis
læduntur ac fugantur, ut constat
ex historiis recitatis supra, no 71. et 72.,
ita paribus rebus sibi convenientibus delectantur,
et aluntur. Porro “manna non
est aliud, quam halitus aquæ, terræque,
solis calore exacte attenuatus et coctus, a
frigore secutæ noctis in unum coactus,
densatusque,” ut scribit Cornelius; manna
dico, quam demissam de cœlo comederunt
Hebræi, quæ toto cœlo differt a manna
nostrate, quæ in medicinis adhibetur; nam
hæc, ut scribit Ettmullerus Schroder. Dilucid.
Physiolog., c. 1. de Manna, fol. m.
154., “nihil aliud est, quam succus quarumdam
arborum tenuis, vel earum transsudatio,
quæ nocturno tempore permixta
cum rore, matutino tempore superventu
caloris solis coagulatur, et inspissatur.”
Manna autem Hebræorum diversis orta
principii calore solis non coagulabatur,
sed vice versa liquefiebat, ut patet ex Scriptura,
Exod. c. 16. v. 22. Manna ergo
Hebræorum utpote constans ex halitibus
tenuibus terræ et aquæ, profecto tenuissimæ
erat substantiæ, utpote, quæ a sole
solvebatur, et disparebat; optime ergo
potuit esse talium animalium cibus, ita ut
diceretur a David Panis Angelorum. |
95. But, their body being subtile, equally
subtile and delicate must be its food. And,
just as perfumes and other vaporous and
volatile substances, when adverse to their
nature, offend and put them to flight, as
testified by what we related above (Nrs 71
and 72), in the like manner, when agreeable,
they delight in and feed upon them.
Now, as is written by Cornelius, “Manna
is nothing but an emanation of water and
earth, refined and baked by the heat of the
sun, and then coagulated and condensed by
the cold of the following night;” of course,
I am speaking of the Manna sent down
from Heaven for the nourishment of the
Hebrews, and which differs all in all from
nostrate or medicinal manna; the latter,
in fact, according to Ettmuller (Dilucid.
Physiol., ch. 1), “is merely the juice or
transudation of certain trees which, during
the night, gets mixed up with dew, and,
the next morning, coagulates and thickens
in the heat of the sun.” The manna of the
Hebrews, on the contrary, derived from
other principles, far from coagulating,
liquefied in the heat of the sun, as is
shown by Scripture, Exodus, ch. 16, v. 22.
The manna of the Hebrews was therefore
undoubtedly of a most subtile substance,
consisting as it did of emanations of earth
and water, and being dissolved by the sun
and made to disappear: consequently, it
may very well have been the food of the
animals we are speaking of, and thus have
been truly called by David Bread of Angels. |
96. Alia auctoritas habetur in Evangelio
Joannis, in quo, Johannes, c. 10. v. 16.,
ita dicitur: Alias oves habeo, quæ non
sunt ex hoc ovili, et illas oportet me adducere,
et vocem meam audient, et fiet
unum ovile, et unus Pastor. Si quæramus
quænam sint oves, quæ non sunt ex hoc
ovili, et qualenam sit ovile de quo loquitur
Christus Dominus, respondent communiter
Expositores unum ovile Christi esse Ecclesiam,
ad quam perducendi erant per prædicationem
Evangelii Gentiles, qui erant
oves alterius ovilis, ab ovili Hebræorum:
opinantur enim Synagogam esse Christi
ovile, quia dicebat David, Psal. 94. v. 9:
Nos populus ejus et oves pascuæ ejus; et
quia Messias promissus fuerat Abraham
et David oriturus ex eorum semine, et a
populo Hebræo expectatus, et a Prophetis
qui Hebræi erant vaticinatus, et ejus adventus,
conversatio, passio, mors et resurrectio
in sacrificiis, cultu, et ceremoniis
Hebræorum legis erant præfigurata. |
96. We have another authority in the
Gospel according to St John, ch. 10, v. 16,
where it is said; “And other sheep I have,
which are not of this fold: them also I must
bring, and they shall hear my voice, and
there shall be one fold and one shepherd.”
If we inquire what are those sheep which
are not of that fold, and what the fold of
which the Lord Christ speaketh, we are
answered by all Commentators that the
only fold of Christ is the Church to which
the preaching of the Gospel was to bring
the Gentiles, sheep of another fold than
that of the Hebrews. They are, in fact, of
opinion that the fold of Christ was the
Synagogue, because David had said, Psalm
95, v. 7: “We are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand”, and also
because Abraham and David had been
promised that the Messiah should be born
of their race, because he was expected by
the Hebrew people, foretold by the Prophets
who were Hebrews, and that his
advent, his acts, his passion, death and
resurrection were prefigured in the sacrifices,
worship and ceremonials of the
Hebrew law. |
97. Sed salva semper Sanctorum Patrum,
ac aliorum Doctorum reverentia,
non videtur talis expositio ad plenum satisfacere.
Habemus enim quod de fide est
a principio mundi Ecclesiam Fidelium extitisse
unam, usque ad finem sæculi duraturam.
Cujus Ecclesiæ caput est mediator
Dei et hominum Christus Jesus, cujus contemplatione
creata sunt universa, et omnia
per ipsum facta. Fides enim unius Dei
Trini (quamvis non ita explicite), et Verbi
Incarnatio revelata fuit primo homini, et
ab ipso edocti ejus filii, et ab iis descendentes.
Hinc est quod quamvis plerique homines
ad idolatriam deflexerint, ac veram fidem
deseruerint, multi tamen veram fidem a
patribus sibi traditam retinuerunt, et legem
naturæ servantes in vera Ecclesia
Fidelium permanserunt, ut observat Cardinalis
Toletus in Job, c. 10. v. 16., et apparet
in Job, qui inter Gentiles Idolatras
sanctus fuit. Quamvis autem Deus populo
Hebræo speciales favores contulerit, peculiaremque
legem, ac ceremonias illi præscripserit,
ac a Gentilibus segregaverit, non
tamen ad eam legem Gentes tenebantur,
nec fideles Hebræi aliam Ecclesiam constituebant
ab Ecclesia Gentilium, qui fidem
unius Dei et Messiæ venturi profitebantur. |
97. But, saving always the reverence due
to the Holy Fathers and other Doctors,
that explanation does not seem quite satisfactory.
For it is an article of belief that
the Church of the Faithful has been the
only one in existence from the beginning
of the world, and will thus endure to the
end of time. The head of that Church is
Jesus-Christ, the mediator between God and
men, by whose contemplation all things
were made and created. Indeed, the faith in
the divine Trinity, though less explicitly,
and the Incarnation of the Word were revealed
to the first man, and by him taught
his children, who, in their turn, taught
them their descendants. And thus, although
most men had strayed into idolatry and
deserted the true faith, many kept the faith
they had received from their fathers, and
observing the law of nature, stayed in the
true Church of the Faithful, as is noticed
by Cardinal Tolet in reference to Job, who
was a saint among idolatrous Gentiles. And,
although God had conferred especial favours
upon the Hebrew people, prescribed
for them peculiar laws and ceremonials,
and separated them from the Gentiles, yet
those laws were not obligatory on the
Gentiles, and the faithful Hebrews did not
constitute a Church different from that of
the Gentiles who professed their faith in
one God and the coming of the Messiah. |
98. Hinc est, quod etiam ex Gentilibus
fuere, qui Christi adventum, et alia Christianæ
fidei dogmata prophetarunt, ut patet
de Balaam, Mercurio Trismegisto, Hydaspe,
ac Sibyllis, de quibus loquitur Lactantius,
lib. 1. c. 6., ut scribit Cardinalis
Baronius in Apparatu Annal. no 18. Et
quod Messias erat a Gentilibus expectatus
habet Isaias in pluribus locis, et luculentum
testimonium de hoc est prophetia Patriarchæ
Jacob de Messia, quæ sic ait,
Gen. c. 49. v. 10: Non auferetur sceptrum
de Juda, et dux de femore ejus, donec veniat
qui mittendus est, et ipse erit expectatio
Gentium. Item Prophetia Aggæi,
c. 2. v. 8: Movebo omnes Gentes, et veniet
desideratus cunctis gentibus, quem locum
explicans Cornelius a Lap. in Aggæ. c. 2.
v. 8. § Denique gentes, ait: “Gentes ante
Christum credentes in Deum lege naturæ,
æque ac Judæi expectabant ac desiderabant
Christum.” Pariter Christus ita se
prodidit, et manifestavit Gentibus, sicut
Judæis: si enim in ipsius nativitate per
Angelum ejus notitia data fuit Pastoribus,
per stellam miraculosam ad sui adorationem
vocavit Magos, qui cum essent Gentiles
fuerunt primitiæ Gentium in Christo
agnoscendo, et adorando, ut ait S. Fulgentius,
Sermon. 6. de Epiph., sicut Pastores
fuerunt primitiæ Judæorum. Itidem
manifestatio adventus Christi per prædicationem
(non quidem Apostolorum) prius
facta est Gentilibus, quam Judæis; siquidem
ut scribit Ven. Mater Soror Maria de
Agreda, in Vita J. C. et B. M. V., p. 1. l. 4. c.
26. n. 664: “Quando B. M. Virgo cum S. Joseph
portavit Puerum Jesum in Ægyptum,
fugiendo Herodis persecutionem, mansit
ibi per septennium: quo tempore ipsa
Beatissima Virgo prædicavit Ægyptiis veri
Dei fidem, et Filii Dei in carne humana
adventum.” Ulterius in Christi nativitate
multa fuere prodigia non solum in Judæa,
sed in Ægypto, ubi corruerunt idola, ac
oracula conticuere; Romæ, ubi fons olei
scaturiit; visus globus aurei coloris de
cœlo in terram descendere; apparuere tres
soles; ac contra naturam circulus variegatus
ad modum iridis solis discum circumscripsit;
in Græcia, ubi oraculum Delphicum
obmutuit, et interrogatus Apollo ab
Augusto ipsi sacrificante in proprio palatio,
ubi eidem aram extruxerat, de causa
silentii sui, respondit, ut referunt Nicephorus,
l. 1 c. 17., Suidas, verbo Augustus,
et Cedrenus, Compend. Histor.: |
98. And thus it came to pass that even
among the Gentiles there were some who
prophesied the advent of Christ and the
other dogmas of the Christian faith, to wit
Balaam, Mercurius Trismegistus, Hydaspes,
and the Sibyls mentioned by Lactantius,
book 1, ch. 6, as written by
Baronius, Apparat. Annal., no 18. That
the Messiah was expected by the Gentiles
is shown by many passages of Isaiah, and
plainly testified by the prophecy of Jacob,
the Patriarch, thus worded, Genesis, ch.
49, v. 10: “The sceptre shall not depart
from Judah, nor a law-giver from between
his feet, until Shiloh (he who is to be sent)
come, and unto him shall the gathering of
the people be.”—Likewise in the prophecy
of Haggai, ch. 2, v. 8: “I will
shake all Nations, and the desire of all
Nations shall come”; which passage is
thus commented by Cornelius a Lapide:
“The Gentiles before the advent of Christ,
who believed in God and observed the law
of nature, expected and desired Christ
equally with the Jews.” Christ himself
disclosed and manifested himself to the
Gentiles as well as to the Jews; for, at the
same time as the Angel apprized the shepherds
of his nativity, by means of the
miraculous star he called the Magi to
worship him, who, being Gentiles, were
the first among the Nations, as the shepherds
among the Jews, to acknowledge
and worship Christ (Vide St Fulgentius,
Sermon 6, upon Epiphany). In like manner,
the advent of Christ was made known by
preaching (I am not speaking of the
Apostles) to the Gentiles before it was to
the Jews. As is written by the Venerable
Mother, Sister Maria of Agreda, in her
Life of Jesus-Christ and the Blessed Virgin
Mary: “When the Blessed Virgin Mary,
fleeing with St Joseph, from the persecution
of Herod, carried the Infant Jesus into
Egypt, she tarried there seven years;
and, during that time, the Blessed Virgin
herself preached to the Egyptians the faith
of the true God and the advent of the Son
of God in human flesh.” Besides, the nativity
of Christ was attended by numerous
prodigies, not only in Judæa, but also in
Egypt, where the idols tumbled and the
oracles were hushed; in Rome, where a
spring of oil gushed out, a gold-coloured
globe was seen to descend from the skies
on earth, three suns appeared, and an
extraordinary ring, variegated like a rainbow,
encircled the disc of the sun; in Greece,
where the oracle of Delphi was struck
dumb, and Apollo, asked the reason of
his silence by Augustus, who was offering
up a sacrifice in his own palace where he
had raised an altar to him, answered: |
Me puer Hebræus, Divos Deus ipse gubernans,
Cedere sede jubet, tristemque redire sub orcum;
Aris ergo dehinc tacitis abscedito nostris.
|
“A Hebrew child, who sways the Gods, and himself a God,
Bids me quit my seat and return to the infernal regions;
Depart therefore from our altars, henceforward mute.”
|
Et multa alia acciderunt prodigia, quibus
prænunciabatur Gentilibus Filii Dei adventus,
quæ ex variis Aucthoribus recitat
Baronius, Apparat. Annal. Eccles. no 24.
et seq., et Cornelius in Aggæ. c. 2. v. 8. |
There were many more prodigies warning
the Gentiles of the advent of the Son of
God: they have been collected from various
Authors, by Baronius, and are to be found
in his Apparat. Annal. Eccles., and Cornelius,
Commentary upon Haggai. |
99. Ex istis patet, quod etiam Gentiles
pertinebant ad ovile Christi idem, ad quod
spectabant Judæi, puta ad Ecclesiam eamdem
fidelem; igitur non potest recte dici,
quod illa verba Christi: Alias oves habeo,
quæ non sunt ex hoc ovili, accipienda sint
de Gentilibus, qui communem cum Hebræis
habuerunt de Deo fidem, de Messia
spem, prophetiam, expectationem, et signa,
et prædicationem. |
99. From all this it is clear that the Gentiles
also belonged, like the Jews, to the
fold of Christ, that is, to the same Church
of the Faithful; it cannot therefore be
correctly said that the words of Christ:
“Other sheep I have, which are not of this
fold”, are applicable to the Gentiles, who
had, in common with the Hebrews, the faith
in God, the hope, prophecy, expectation,
prodigies and preaching of the Messiah. |
100. Dico igitur quod nomine aliarum
ovium commode possunt intelligi Creaturæ
istæ rationales, sive animalia, de quibus
hucusque disseruimus. Cum enim, ut
diximus, capaces sint beatitudinis, et damnationis,
et Christus Jesus sit mediator
Dei, et hominum, immo totius rationalis
creaturæ (creaturæ enim rationales, quæ
beatitudinem consequuntur, hanc obtinent
intuitu meritorum Christi per ab eo sibi
collatam gratiam, sine qua nequit beatitudo
obtineri), debuit omnis rationalis creatura
de eo venturo spem habere, sicut de
uno Deo fidem, et de ipsius in carne nativitate,
et de præceptis legis gratiæ manifestationem.
Istæ igitur erant oves, quæ
non erant ex hoc ovili humano, et quas
adducere Christum oportebat, et quæ ejus
vocem nempe notitiam de ipsius adventu,
et de evangelica doctrina, quantum per se,
tum per Apostolos Christus erat manifestaturus,
audire debebant, et ex iis ac hominibus
in cœlo beatificatis fieri unum
ovile, et unus Pastor. |
100. I therefore say that by the words
other sheep may very well be understood
those rational Creatures or animals of
whom we have been treating hitherto. They
being, as we have said, capable of beatitude
and damnation, and Jesus-Christ being the
mediator between God and man, as also
every rational Creature (for rational creatures
attain to beatitude in consideration
of the merits of Christ, through the grace
he confers upon them, without which beatitude
is impossible of attainment), every
rational creature must have cherished, at
the same time as the faith in one God, the
hope of the advent of Christ, and have had
the revelation of his nativity in the flesh
and of the principles of the law of grace.
Those were therefore the sheep which
were not of that human fold, and which
Christ had to bring; the sheep which were
to hear His voice, that is, the announcement
of His advent and of the evangelical doctrine,
either directly through Himself, or
through the Apostles; the sheep which,
partaking with men of heavenly beatitude,
were to realize one fold and one shepherd. |
101. Huic expositioni quam incongruam
non puto, vim addit id quod supra no 77.
ex D. Hieronymo retulimus de homunculo
illo qui rogavit D. Antonium, ut communem
Deum, quem in carne humana esse
passum cognoverat, pro se et suis deprecaretur.
Innuitur enim ex his, quod illi
notitiam habuerunt de adventu et morte
Christi, quem tamquam Deum optabant
sibi propitium, ut proinde ad hoc intercessionem
D. Antonii expostularent. |
101. To this interpretation, which I hold
to be in no way improper, force is added
by what we related, according to St Hieronymus,
of that little man who requested
St Anthony to pray, for him and his fellows,
unto the common God, whom he
knew to have suffered in human flesh. For,
it implies that they were aware of the
advent and of the death of Christ, whom,
as God, they were anxious to propitiate,
since they sought, to that effect, the intercession
of St Anthony. |
102. Facit ad idem id, quod ex Eusebio
de Præparat. Evang. l. 5. c. 9., et Plutarcho
l. de Defectu Oracul., refert Cardinalis
Baronius, Appar. Annal. no 129., et
recenset inter prodigia, quæ tempore mortis
Christi evenere. Recitat igitur ex citatis
Aucthoribus quod Tiberii Imperatoris,
sub quo passus est Christus, tempore, navigantibus
nonnullis a Græcia in Italiam,
circa Insulas Echinades, cessatis ventis,
noctu navigium appulit prope terram. Audita
fuit ab omnibus vox magna quæ vocavit
Tramnum. Erat is Nauclerus navigii,
quo resondente Adsum, replicavit
vox: “Quando perveneris prope quandam
paludem, annunciabis Magnum Pana mortuum
esse”: quod cum Tramnus fecisset,
auditi sunt repente multorum, imo multitudinis
prope infinitæ gemitus, et ululatus.
Profecto isti fuerunt Dæmones, seu Angeli
corporei, seu animalia rationalia prope
paludem degentia, utpote aquea, quæ audita
morte Christi, qui nomine magni Pan
efferebatur, in lacrymas et lamenta effusa
sunt; prout etiam Hebræi nonnulli visa
Christi morte percutientes pectora sua revertebantur
(Luc. c. 23. v. 48.). Ex hucusque
igitur deductis patet, quod dantur
hujusmodi Dæmones, succubi et incubi,
constantes sensu, et ipsius passionibus obnoxii,
ut probatum est; qui generantur,
corrumpuntur, et capaces sunt beatitudinis,
et damnationis, et ratione corporis
subtilioris, nobiliores homine sunt, et qui si
cum hominibus, maribus aut fœminis, carnaliter
commiscentur, peccant, et eo peccato,
quo peccat homo jungendo se cum bruto,
quod est homine ignobilius; proinde non
raro hi Dæmones consuetudinem habentes
cum homine, aut equabus, post longam
habitam communicationem eos interficiunt.
Causa porro hujus est, quod si
inter tales datur peccatum, cum sint in
via, dari etiam debet pœnitentia; sicut ergo
homini peccanti consuetudinaliter cum
bruto, ad tollendam occasionem recidivandi,
Confessarius injungit, ut brutum
tollat de medio, ita tali Dæmoni consuetudinario
in peccato, et tandem pœœnitenti
accidit, ut animal cum quo peccavit, sive
homo, sive brutum fuerit, occidat; nec
enim tali Dæmoni mors data homini peccatum
erit, sicut mors data bruto non imputatur
tamquam peccatum homini: ratione
enim essentialis differentiæ inter
Dæmonem hujusmodi, et hominem, idem
erit homo Dæmoni, quod est homini brutum. |
102. Thereto tends also the fact mentioned
by Cardinal Baronius (Appar. Annal.
no 129), after Eusebius and Plutarch,
as being one of the prodigies which took
place at the time of the death of Christ.
He relates that in the reign of the Emperor
Tiberius, when Christ suffered, whilst
mariners bound from Greece to Italy, were
by night, and during a calm, in the vicinity
of the Echinade Isles, their ship was
brought close to land. All the crew heard
a loud voice calling Tramnus, the master
of the ship. He having answered to his
name, the voice replied: “When near
such a marsh, announce that the great Pan
is dead.” Which Tramnus having done,
there arose suddenly, as from a numberless
multitude, groans and shrieks. Doubtless,
they were Demons, or corporeal Angels,
or rational animals living near the marsh
on account of their aqueous nature, and
who, hearing of the death of Christ, described
by the name of Great Pan, burst
into tears and bewailing, like some of the
Jews who, after witnessing the death of
Christ, went home smiting their breasts
(Luke, ch. 23, v. 48). From all that has
been deduced above, it is therefore clear
that there are such Demons, succubi and
incubi, endowed with senses and subject
to the passions thereof, as has been shown;
who are born through generation and die
through corruption, are capable of beatitude
and damnation, more noble than man,
by reason of the greater subtilty of their
bodies, and who, when having intercourse
with man, male or female, fall into the
same sin as man when copulating with a
beast, which is inferior to him. Also, it
not unfrequently occurs that those Demons
slay the men, women or mares with whom
they have had protracted intercourse; and
the reason is that, being liable to sin whilst
on the way to salvation, in via, they must
likewise be open to repentance; and, in
the same manner as a man, who habitually
sins with a beast, is enjoined by his confessor
to destroy that beast, with a view to
suppressing the occasion of relapsing, it
may likewise happen that the penitent demon
should slay the animal with which it
sinned, whether man or beast; nor will
death thus occasioned to a man be reckoned
a sin to the Demon, any more than
death inflicted on a beast is imputed as a
sin to man; for, considering the essential
difference between a Demon of that kind
and man, the man will be the same thing
to the Demon as the beast is to man. |
103. Scio multos, et forte plerosque,
qui hæc legerent, dicturos de me, quod
Epicurei et Stoici Philosophi nonnulli
dixerunt de Divo Paulo, Actor. c. 17.
v. 18.: Novorum Dæmoniorum videtur
annunciator, et datam doctrinam exsibillabunt.
Sed isti tenebuntur solvere argumenta
supra posita, et dicere quinam sint
Dæmones isti Incubi, vulgo Foletti, qui
exorcismos, res sacras, et Christi Crucem
non pavent, ac alios effectus istorum, ac
phænomena salvare, quæ nos ex data doctrina
ostendimus. |
103. I am aware that many, perhaps
most of my readers, will say of me what
the Epicureans and some Stoic Philosophers
said of St Paul (Acts of the Apostles,
ch. 17, v. 18). “He seemeth to be a setter
forth of strange gods”, and will deride
my doctrine. But they will none the less
have to answer the foregoing arguments,
to show what are those Incubi Demons,
commonly called Goblins, who dread neither
exorcisms, nor the holy things, nor the
Cross of Christ, and to explain the various
effects and phenomena related when propounding
that doctrine. |
104. Solvitur ergo ex his, quæ hucusque
deducta sunt, quæstio, quam proposuimus
supra no 30 et no 34: resolutive
innuimus, quomodo mulier potest ingravidari
a dæmone Incubo. Non enim hoc
præstare potest ex semine sumpto ab homine,
ut fert communis opinio, quam confutavimus
no 31 et 32: sequitur ergo, quod
ipsa imprægnatur a semine Incubi, cum
enim animal sit, et generet, proprio pollet
semine: et hoc modo optime salvatur generatio
Gigantum secuta ex commixtione
Filiorum Dei cum Filiabus hominum; nati
siquidem sunt ex tali concubitu Gigantes,
qui licet homini essent similes, corpore tamen
erant majores: et quamvis a Dæmonibus
geniti, viribus proinde pollerent, non
tamen Dæmonum vires et potentiam æquabant,
ut sequitur in mulis, hinnis et burdonibus,
qui medii quodammodo sunt inter
eas species animalium, a quibus promiscue
generantur, et superant quidem imperfectiorem,
non attingunt autem perfectiorem
speciem generantium: mulus enim superat
asinum, sed non æquat perfectionem
equæ, a quibus generatur. |
104. What we have hitherto deduced accordingly
solves the question laid down
Nrs 30 and 34, to wit: how a woman can
be got with child by an Incubus Demon?
In fact, it cannot be brought about by
sperm assumed from a man, agreeably to
the common opinion which we confuted,
Nrs 31 and 32; it follows, therefore, that
she is directly impregnated by the sperm
of the Incubus, which, being an animal
and capable of breeding, has sperm of
its own. And thus is fully explained the
begetting of Giants from the intercourse
of the Sons of God with the Daughters of
men: for that intercourse gave birth to
Giants who, although like unto men, were
of higher stature, and, though begotten
by Demons, and consequently of great
strength, yet equalled them neither in
might nor in power. It is the same with
mules, which are intermediate, as it were,
between the kinds of animals from whose
promiscuousness they are sprung, and
which excel indeed the most imperfect, but
never equal the most perfect: thus, the
mule excels the ass, but does not attain
the perfection of the mare, which have
begotten it. |
105. Confirmat autem hanc sententiam
consideratio, quod animalia genita ex commixtione
diversarum specierum non generant;
sed sunt sterilia, ut patet in mulis.
Gigantes autem non leguntur Gigantes
generasse, sed natos a Filiis Dei, puta Incubis,
et Filiabus hominum: cum enim concepti
fuerint ex semine Dæmoniaco mixto
cum humano, non potuerunt, tamquam
mediæ speciei inter Dæmonem et hominem,
generare. |
105. In confirmation of the above inference,
we observe that animals sprung
from the mixing of different kinds do not
breed, but are barren, as is seen with
mules. Now we do not read of Giants
having been begotten by other Giants, but
of their having been born of the Sons of
God, that is Incubi, and the Daughters of
men: being thus begotten of the Demoniac
sperm mixed with the human sperm, and
being, as it were, an intermediate species
between the Demon and man, they had no
generative power. |
106. Dicetur fortasse contra hoc, non
posse, ex semine Dæmonum, quod pro sui
natura opportet esse tenuissimum, fieri
mixturam cum semine humano, quod crassum
est; unde nec generatio sequi possit. |
106. It may be objected that the sperm
of Demons, which must, by nature, be
most fluid, could not mix with the human
sperm, which is thick, and that, consequently,
no generation would ensue. |
107. Respondeo quod, ut dictum fuit supra
no 32: virtus generandi consistit in
spiritu, qui simul cum materia spumosa et
viscida deciditur a generante; sequitur ex
hoc, quod semen Dæmonis quantumvis tenuissimum,
quia tamen materiale, optime
potest commisceri cum spiritu materiali
seminis humani, ac fieri generatio. |
107. I reply that, as has been said above,
Nr 32, the generative power lies in the
spirit that comes from the generator at
the same time as the spumy and viscous
matter; it follows that, although most
liquid, the sperm of the Demon, being
nevertheless material, can very well mix
with the material spirit of the human
sperm, and bring about generation. |
108. Replicabitur adhuc contra conclusionem,
quod si vere fuisset Gigantum generatio
ex semine Incuborum et Mulierum,
nunc quoque Gigantes nascerentur: non desunt
enim mulieres coeuntes cum Incubis,
ut patet ex gestis SS. Bernardi et Petri
de Alcantara, et aliarum historiarum, quæ
passim ab auctoribus recitantur. |
108. It will be retorted that, if the generation
of Giants had really come from the
combined sperms of Incubi and Women,
Giants would still be born in our time,
since there is no lack of women who have
intercourse with Incubi, as is shown by
the Acts of St Bernard and Peter of Alcantara,
and other stories related by
various authors. |
109. Respondeo, quod prout ex Guaccio
dictum fuit supra no 81: alii sunt hujusmodi
Dæmones terrei, alii aquei, aerei
alii, et alii ignei, qui respective in propriis
eorum elementis habitant. Videmus autem
animalia eo majora esse quo majus est
elementum in quo degunt, ut patet in piscibus,
inter quos licet multi sint minuti, ut
etiam sunt plura animalia terrestria minutissima,
et tamen quia elementum aquæ
majus est elemento terræ (utpote continens
majus semper est contento), ideo pisces a
tota specie superant in magnitudine molis
animalia terrestria, ut patet in balenis, orcynis,
pistis seu pistricibus, thynnis, ac
aliis piscibus cetaceis, seu viviparis, qui
quodvis animal terrestre longe superant.
Porro cum Dæmones hujusmodi animalia
sint, ut hucusque probatum est, eo erunt
majores in magnitudine quo elementum
majus pro sui natura inhabitabunt. Et cum
aer excedat aquam, et ignis aere major
sit, sequitur, quod Dæmones ætherei ac
ignei longe superabunt terrestres et aqueos,
tum in mole corporis, tum in virtute. Nec
contra hoc facit instantia de avibus, qui
licet incolant aerem, qui major est aqua,
tamen corpore minores sunt a tota specie
piscibus et quadrupedibus, quia aves, licet
per aerem volatu spatientur, revera tamen
pertinent ad elementum terræ, in qua
quiescunt; aliter enim pisces nonnulli qui
volant, ut hirundo marina, et alii, dici
deberent animalia aerea, quod falsum est. |
109. I reply that, as has been said above,
Nr 81, from Guaccius, some of those Demons
are earthly, some aqueous, some
aerial, some igneous, and they all dwell
in their respective element. Now, it is
well known that animals are of larger size,
according to the element they live in; thus
with fishes, many of which are diminutive,
it is true, as happens with animals that
live on land; but, the element water being
larger than the element earth, since the
container is always larger than the contents,
fishes as a species, surpass in size
the animals that dwell on land, as shown
by whales, tunnies, cachalots, and other
cetaceous and viviparous fish which surpass
by far all animals that live on land. Consequently,
these Demons being animals, as
has been shown, their size will be proportionate
to the extent of the element they
dwell in, according to their nature. And,
air being more extensive than water, and
fire than air, it follows that ethereal and
igneous Demons will by far surpass their
earthly and aqueous fellows, both in stature
and might. It would be to no purpose
to instance, as an objection, birds which,
although inhabitants of the air, a more
extensive element than water, are smaller,
as a species, than fishes and quadrupeds;
for, if birds do indeed travel through the
air by means of their wings, they no less
belong to the element earth, where they
rest; otherwise, some fishes that fly, such
as the sea swallow, would have to be
classed among aerial animals, which is
not. |
110. Advertendum autem, quod post diluvium
aer iste terraqueo globo citissimus
magis incrassatus est ex humiditate aquarum,
quam fuerit ante diluvium, et hinc
forte est, quod ex tali humido, quod est
principium corruptionis, fiat, quod homines
non ætatem ita producant, ut faciebant
ante diluvium. Ex ista autem aeris crassitie
fit, quod Dæmones ætherei, ac ignei,
cæteris corpulentiores, nequeunt diutius
manere in hoc aere crasso, et si descendunt
aliquando hoc fit violenter, et eo modo quo
urinatores ad ima maris descendunt. |
110. Now, it must be observed that,
after the flood, the air which surrounds
our earthy and aqueous globe, became,
from the damp of the waters, thicker than
it had been before; and, damp being the
principle of corruption, that may be the
reason why men do not live as long as
they did before the flood. It is also on
account of that thickness of the air that
ethereal and igneous Demons, more corpulent
than the others, can no longer
dwell in that thick atmosphere, and if
they do descend into it occasionally, do so
only by force, much as divers descend into
the depths of the sea. |
111. Ante diluvium autem, cum adhuc
aer non ita crassus erat, veniebant Dæmones,
et cum mulieribus miscebantur, et gigantes
procreabant, qui magnitudinem
corpoream Dæmonum generantium æmulabantur.
Nunc vero ita non est: Dæmones
enim Incubi, qui fœminas incessunt,
sunt aquei quorum corporis moles magna
non est: et proinde in forma homuncionum
apparent, et quia aquei etiam salacissimi
sunt; luxuria enim in humido est: ut
proinde Venerem e mari natam Poetæ finxerint,
quod Mythologi explicant de libidine,
quæ oritur ab humiditate. Cum
ergo Dæmones, qui corpore parvi sunt his
temporibus mulieres imprægnent, non gigantes,
sed staturæ ordinariæ filii nascuntur.
Sciendum porro quod si miscentur
corporaliter cum mulieribus Dæmones in
sua ipsorum corpulentia naturali, nulla
facta immutatione aut artificio, mulieres
illos non vident, nisi tanquam umbram
pæne incertam, ac quasi insensibilem, ut
patet in muliere illa, de qua diximus supra
no 28., quæ osculabatur ab incubo, cujus
tactus vix ab ea sentiebatur. Quando vero
volunt se visibiles amasiis reddere, atque
ipsis delectationem in congressu carnali
afferre, sibi indumentum visibile assumunt,
et corpus crassum reddunt. Qua vero hoc
arte fiat, ipsi norunt. Nobis curta nostra
Philosophia hoc non pandit. Unum scire
possumus, et est, quod tale indumentum
seu corpus ex solo aere concreto constare
nequiret, hoc enim esse deberet per condensationem,
et proinde per frigus; unde
oporteret, quod corpus illud ad tactum
esset veluti glacies, et ita in coitu mulieres
non delectaret, sed torqueret, cum tamen
contrarium eveniat. |
111. Before the flood, when the air was
not yet so thick, Demons came upon earth
and had intercourse with women, thus
procreating Giants whose stature was nearly
equal to that of the Demons, their fathers.
But now it is not so; the Incubi Demons
who approach women are aqueous and of
small stature; that is why they appear in
the shape of little men, and, being
aqueous, they are most lecherous. Lust
and damp go together: Poets have depicted
Venus as born of the sea, in order to
show, as explained by Mythologists, that
lust takes its source in damp. When,
therefore, Demons of short stature impregnate
women nowadays, the children that
are born are not giants, but men of ordinary
size. It should, moreover, be known
that when Demons have carnal intercourse
with women in their own natural body,
without having recourse to any disguise or
artifice, the women do not see them, or
if they do, see but an almost doubtful,
barely sensible shadow, as was the case
with the female we spoke of, Nr 28, who,
when embraced by an Incubus, scarcely
felt his touch. But, when they want to be
seen by their mistresses, atque ipsis delectationem
in congressu carnali afferre, they
assume a visible disguise and a palpable
body. By what means this is effected, is
their secret, which our short-sighted
Philosophy is unable to discover. The
only thing we know is that such disguise
or body could not consist merely in concrete
air, since this must take place
through condensation, and therefore by
the influence of cold; a body thus formed
would feel like ice, et ita in coitu mulieres
non delectaret, but would give them pain;
and it is the reverse that takes place. |
112. Visa igitur differentia Dæmonum
spiritualium, qui cum sagis coeunt, et Incuborum,
qui cum fœminis minime sagis
rem habent, perpendenda est gravitas
hujus criminis in utroque casu. |
112. Being admitted the distinction
between spiritual Demons, which have
intercourse with witches, and Incubi, who
have to do with women that are nowise
witches, we have to weigh the grievousness
of the crime in both cases. |
113. In coitu sagarum cum Dæmonibus,
eo quia non fit nisi cum apostasia a
Fide, et Diaboli cultu, et tot aliis impietatibus
quas recensuimus supra a no 12.
ad 24., est maximum quorumque peccatorum,
quæ ab hominibus fieri possunt: et
ratione tantæ enormitatis contra Religionem,
quæ præsupponitur coitu cum Diabolo,
profecto Dæmonialitas maximum est
criminum carnalium. Sed spectato delicto
carnis ut sic, et ut abstracto a peccatis
contra Religionem, Dæmonialitas redigenda
est ad simplicem pollutionem. Ratio,
et quidem convincentissima, est quia Diabolus,
qui rem habet cum sagis, purus
spiritus est, et est in termino ac damnatus
ut dictum supra fuit; proinde si cum sagis
coit, hoc facit in corpore assumpto, aut
a se formato, ut sentiunt communiter
Theologi. Porro corpus illud quamvis moveatur,
non tamen vivens est; sequitur
ergo quod coiens cum tali corpore, sive
mas sive fœmina fuerit, idem delictum
committit, ac si cum corpore inanimato
aut cadavere coiret, quod esset simplex
mollities, ut alias demonstravimus. Verum
est, quod, ut observavit etiam Cajetanus,
talis coitus effective potest habere deformitates
aliorum criminum juxta corpus a
Diabolo assumptum, et vas: si enim assumeret
corpus virginis consanguineæ, aut
sacræ, effective esset tale crimen incestus
aut sacrilegium, et si in figura bruti coiret,
aut in vase præpostero, evaderet Bestialitas
aut Sodomia. |
113. The intercourse of witches with
Demons, from its accompanying circumstances,
apostasy from the Faith, worshipping
of the Devil, and so many other
ungodly things related above, Nrs 12 to
24, is the greatest of all sins which can be
committed by man; and, considering the
enormity against Religion which is presupposed
by coition with the Devil, Demoniality
is assuredly the most heinous of
all carnal crimes. But, taking the sin of
the flesh as such, exclusive of the sins
against Religion, Demoniality should be
reduced to simple pollution. The reason is,
and a most convincing one, that the Devil
who has to do with witches is a pure
spirit, has reached the goal and is damned,
as has been said above; if, therefore, he
copulates with witches, it is in a body
assumed or made by himself, according to
the common opinion of Theologians.
Though set in motion, that body is not a
living one; and it follows that the human
being, male or female, coiens cum tali
corpore, is guilty of the same offence
as if copulating with an inanimate body
or a corpse, which would be simple
pollution, as we have shown elsewhere. It
has, moreover, been truly observed by
Cajetanus, that such intercourse can very
well carry with it the disgraceful characteristics
of other crimes, according to the
body assumed by the Devil, and the part
used: thus, if he should assume the body
of a kinswoman or of a nun, such a crime
would be incest or sacrilege; if coition
took place in the shape of a beast, or in
vase præpostero, it would be Bestiality or
Sodomy. |
114. In coitu autem cum Incubo, in quo
nulla habetur qualitas, vel minima, criminis
contra Religionem, difficile est rationem
invenire, per quam tale delictum Bestialitate
et Sodomia gravior esset. Siquidem
gravitas Bestialitatis præ Sodomia, prout
supra diximus, consistit in hoc, quod
homo vilificat dignitatem suæ speciei jungendo se
cum bruto quod est speciei longe
inferioris sua. In coitu autem cum Incubo
diversa est ratio: nam Incubus ratione
spiritus rationalis, ac immortalis, æqualis
est homini; ratione vero corporis nobilioris,
nempe subtilioris, est perfectior, et
dignior homine; et hoc modo homo jungens
se Incubo non vilificat, immo dignificat
suam naturam, et ita, juxta hanc
considerationem, Dæmonialitas nequit esse
gravior Bestialitate. |
114. As for intercourse with an Incubus,
wherein is to be found no element, not
even the least, of an offence against Religion,
it is hard to discover a reason why it
should be more grievous than Bestiality
and Sodomy. For, as we have said above, if
Bestiality is more grievous than Sodomy,
it is because man degrades the dignity of
his kind by mixing with a beast, of a kind
much inferior to his own. But, when copulating
with an Incubus, it is quite the
reverse: for the Incubus, by reason of his
rational and immortal spirit, is equal to
man; and, by reason of his body, more
noble because more subtile, he is more
perfect and more dignified than man. Consequently,
when having intercourse with
an Incubus, man does not degrade, but
rather dignifies his nature; and, taking
that into consideration, Demoniality cannot
be more grievous than Bestiality. |
115. Tamen gravior communiter censetur,
et ratio, meo videri, potest esse:
quia peccatum contra Religionem est, quævis
communicatio cum Diabolo, sive ex
pacto, sive non; puta habendo cum eo
consuetudinem aut familiaritatem, seu ab
eo petendo auxilium, consilium, favorem,
aut ab ipso quærendo revelationem futurorum,
relationem præteritorum, absentium
aut alias occultorum. Hujusmodi
autem homines, seu mulieres, concumbendo
cum Incubis, quos nesciunt animalia esse,
sed putant esse diabolos, contra conscientiam
erroneam delinquunt; et hoc modo ex
conscientia erronea ita peccant cum Incubis
se jungendo, ac si cum diabolis coirent:
unde et gravitatem ejusdem criminis
incurrunt. |
115. It is, however, commonly held to
be more grievous, and the reason I take to
be this: that it is a sin against Religion to
hold any communication with the Devil,
either with or without compact, for instance
by being habitually or familiarly connected
with him, by asking his assistance, counsel
or favor, or by seeking from him the revelation
of things to be, the knowledge of
things gone by, absent, or otherwise
hidden. Thus, men and women, by mixing
with Incubi, whom they do not know to
be animals but believe to be devils, sin
through intention, ex conscientia erronea,
and their sin is intentionally the same,
when having intercourse with Incubi, as if
such intercourse took place with devils;
in consequence, the grievousness of their
crime is exactly the same. |