Daniel Defoe - The History of the Devil, As Well Ancient as Modern - In Two Parts

It is true, the Learned give a great many differing interpretations of the word Devil ; the English Commentators tell us, it means a destroyer , others that it signifies a deceiver, and the Greeks derive it from a Calumniator or false witness; for we find that Calumny was a Goddess , to whom the Athenians built altars and offer’d Sacrifices upon some solemn occasions, and they call her Διαβολὴ from whence came the masculine Διάβολος which we translate Devil .

Thus we take the name of Devil to signify not persons only, but actions and habits; making imaginary Devils, and transforming that substantial creature call’d Devil into every thing noxious and offensive: Thus St. Francis being tempted by the Devil in the shape of a bag of money lying in the highway, the Saint having discover’d the fraud, whether seeing his Cloven-foot hang out of the purse, or whether he distinguish’d him by his smell of sulphur , or how otherwise, authors are not agreed; but, I say, the Saint having discover’d the cheat, and out-witted the Devil , took occasion to preach that eminent sermon to his disciples, where his Text was, Money is the Devil.

Nor, upon the whole, is any wrong done to the Devil by this kind of treatment, it only gives him the sovereignty of the whole army of Hell, and making all the numberless legions of the bottomless pit servants; or, as the Scripture calls them , Angels to Satan the grand Devil ; all their actions, performances and atchievements are justly attributed to him, not as the prince of Devils only, but the Emperor of Devils ; the prince of all the princes of Devils .

Under this denomination then of Devil, all the Powers of Hell, all the Princes of the air, all the black armies of Satan are comprehended, and in such manner they are to be understood in this whole work; mutatis mutandis , according to the several circumstances of which we are to speak of them.

This being premis’d, and my authority being so good, Satan must not take it ill, if I treat him after the manner of men , and give him those titles which he is best known by among us; for indeed having so many, ’tis not very easy to call him out of his name.

However, as I am oblig’d by the duty of an Historian to decency as well as impartiality, so I thought it necessary, before I used too much freedom with Satan , to produce authentick Documents, and bring antiquity upon the stage, to justify the manner of my writing, and let you see I shall describe him in no colours, nor call him by any name, but what he has been known by for many ages before me.

And now, though writing to the common understanding of my Readers, I am oblig’d to treat Satan very coarsly, and to speak of him in the common acceptation, calling him plain Devil , a word which in this mannerly age is not so sonorous as others might be, and which by the error of the Times is apt to prejudice us against his Person; yet it must be acknowledg’d he has a great many other names and sirnames which he might be known by, of a less obnoxious import than that of Devil , or Destroyer , &c.

Mr. Milton , indeed, wanting titles of honour to give to the Leaders of Satan’s Host, is oblig’d to borrow several of his Scripture names, and bestow them upon his infernal Heroes , whom he makes the Generals and Leaders of the armies of Hell; and so he makes Beelzebub , Lucifer , Belial , Mammon , and some others, to be the names of particular Devils, members of Satan’s upper house or Pandemonium ; whereas indeed, these are all names proper and peculiar to Satan himself.

The Scripture also has some names of a coarser kind, by which the Devil is understood, as particularly, which is noted already, in the Apocalypse he is call’d the Great Red Dragon , the Beast , the Old Serpent , and the like: But take it in the Scripture, or where you will in History sacred or prophane, you will find that in general the Devil is, as I have said above, his ordinary name in all languages and in all nations; the name by which he and his works are principally distinguish’d: Also the Scripture, besides that it often gives him this name, speaks of the works of the Devil , of the subtilty of the Devil , of casting out Devils , of being tempted of the Devil , of being possess’d with a Devil , and so many other expressions of that kind, as I have said already, are made use of for us to understand the evil Spirit by, that in a word, Devil is the common name of all wicked Spirits: For Satan is no more the Devil , as if he alone was so, and all the rest were a diminutive species who did not go by that name; But, I say, even in Scripture, every Spirit, whether under his Dominion or out of his Dominion, is called the Devil , and is as much a real Devil , that is to say, a condemn’d Spirit, and employ’d in the same wicked work as Satan himself.

His Name then being thus ascertain’d, and his Existence acknowledg’d, it should be a little enquir’d what he is ; we believe there is such a thing, such a creature as the Devil , and that he has been, and may still with propriety of speech, and without injustice to his Character be call’d by his antient name Devil .

But who is he? what is his original? whence came he? and what is his present station and condition? for these things and these enquiries are very necessary to his History, nor indeed can any part of his History be compleat without them.

That he is of an antient and noble original must be acknowledged, for he is Heaven-born , and of Angelic Race , as has been touch’d already: If Scripture-evidence may be of any weight in the question, there is no room to doubt the genealogy of the Devil ; he is not only spoken of as an Angel , but as a fallen Angel , one that had been in Heaven , had beheld the face of God in his full effulgence of glory, and had surrounded the Throne of the most High; from whence, commencing rebel and being expell’d, he was cast down, down, down, God and the Devil himself only knows where; for indeed we cannot say that any man on Earth knows it; and wherever it is, he has ever since man’s creation been a plague to him, been a tempter, a deluder, a calumniator, an enemy and the object of man’s horror and aversion.

As his original is Heaven-born , and his Race Angelic , so the Angelic nature is evidently plac’d in a class superior to the human, and this the Scripture is express in also; when speaking of man, it says, he made him a little lower than the Angels.

Thus the Devil , as mean thoughts as you may have of him, is of a better family than any of you, nay than the best Gentleman of you all; what he may be fallen to, is one thing , but what he is fallen from, is another ; and therefore I must tell my learned and reverend friend J. W. LL. D. when he spoke so rudely of the Devil lately, That in my opinion he abus’d his Betters.

Nor is the Scripture more a help to us in the search after the Devil ’s Original, than it is in our search after his Nature: it is true, Authors are not agreed about his age, what time he was created, how many years he enjoy’d his state of blessedness before he fell; or how many years he continued with his whole army in a state of darkness, and before the creation of man. ’Tis supposed it might be a considerable space, and that it was a part of his punishment too, being all the while unactive, unemploy’d, having no business, nothing to do but gnawing his own Bowels, and rolling in the agony of his own self-approaches, being a Hell to himself in reflecting on the glorious state from whence he was fallen.