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

Having thus brought the Devil within the Pale , I shall leave him among you for the present; not but that I may examine in its order who has the best claim to his brotherhood, the Papists or the Protestants; and among the latter the Lutherans or the Calvinists; and so descending to all the several denominations of churches, see who has less of the Devil in them, and who more; and whether less or more the Devil has not a seat in every synagogue, a pew in every church, a place in every pulpit, and a vote in every synod; even from the Sanhedrim of the Jews , to our friends at the Bull and Mouth , &c. from the greatest to the least.

It will, I confess, come very much within the compass of this part of my discourse, to give an account, or at least make an essay toward it , of the share the Devil has had in the spreading religion in the world; and especially of dividing and subdividing opinions in religion; perhaps, to eke it out and make it reach the farther; and also to shew how far he is or has made himself a missionary of the famous clan de propaganda fide ; it is true, we find him heartily employ’d in almost every corner of the world ad propagandum errorem : But that may require a history by it self.

As to his propagating religion, ’tis a little hard indeed, at first sight, to charge the Devil with propagating religion, that is to say, if we take it literally, and in the gross; but if you take it as the Scots insisted to take the oath of fidelity, viz. with an explanation , it is plain Satan has very often had a share in the method, if not in the design of propagating the christian faith : For example.

I think I do no injury at all to the Devil, to say that he had a great hand in the old holy war , as it was ignorantly and enthusiastically call’d; stirring up the christian princes and powers of Europe to run a madding after the Turks and Saracens , and make war with those innocent people above a thousand miles off, only because they entred into God’s heritage when he had forsaken it; graz’d upon his ground when he had fairly turn’d it into a common, and laid it open for the next comer; spending their nation’s treasure, and embarking their kings and people, (I say) in a war above a thousand miles off, filling their heads with that religious madness, call’d, in those days, holy zeal to recover the terra sancta , the sepulchers of Christ and the Saints, and as they call’d it falsly, the holy city , tho’ true religion says it was the accursed city, and not worth spending one drop of blood for.

This religious Bubble was certainly of Satan , who, as he craftily drew them in, so like a true Devil he left them in the lurch when they came there, fac’d about to the Saracens , animated the immortal Saladin against them, and manag’d so dexterously that he left the bones of about thirteen or fourteen hundred thousand Christians there as a trophy of his infernal politicks; and after the christian world had run a la santa terra , or in English a saunt’ring , about a hundred year, he dropt it to play another game less foolish, but ten times wickeder than that which went before it, namely , turning the crusadoes of the Christians one against another; and, as Hudibras said in another case,

Of this you have a compleat account in the history of the Popes decrees against the Count de Thoulouse , and the Waldenses and Albigenses , with the crusadoes and massacres which follow’d upon them, wherein to do the Devil ’s politicks some justice, he met with all the success he could desire; the zealots of that day executed his infernal orders most punctually, and planted religion in those countries in a glorious and triumphant manner, upon the destruction of an infinite number of innocent people, whose blood has fatten’d the soil for the growth of the Catholick faith, in a manner very particular, and to Satan’s full satisfaction.

I might, to compleat this part of his history, give you the detail of his progress in these first steps of his alliances with Rome ; and add a long list of massacres, wars, and expeditions in behalf of religion, which he has had the honour to have a visible hand in; such as the Parisian massacre, the Flemish war under the Duke d’ Alva , the Smithfield fires in the Marian days in England , and the massacres in Ireland ; all which would most effectually convince us that the Devil has not been idle in his business; but I may meet with these again in my way, ’tis enough, while I am upon the generals only, to mention them thus in a summary way; I say, ’tis enough to prove that the Devil has really been as much concerned as any body, in the methods taken by some people for propagating the christian religion in the world.

Some have rashly, and I had almost said maliciously charg’d the Devil with the great triumphs of his friends the Spaniards in America , and would place the conquest of Mexico and Peru to the credit of his account.

But I cannot join with them in this at all, I must say, I believe the Devil was innocent of that matter; my reason is, because, Satan was never such a fool as to spend his time, or his politicks, or embark his allies to conquer nations who were already his own; that would be Satan against Beelzebub , making war upon himself, and at least doing nothing to the purpose.

If they should charge him, indeed, with deluding Philip II. of Spain into that preposterous attempt call’d the Armada , ( anglice , the Spanish Invasion ,) I should indeed more readily join with them; but whether he did it weakly, in hope, which was indeed not likely , that it should succeed; or wickedly, to destroy that great fleet of the Spaniards , and draw them within the reach of his own dominions, the elements; this being a question which authors differ exceedingly about, I shall leave it to decide it self.

But the greatest piece of management, which we find the Devil has concern’d himself in of late, in the matter of religion, seems to be that of the mission into China ; and here indeed Satan has acted his master-piece: It was, no doubt, much for his service that the Chineses should have no insight into matters of religion, I mean, that we call christian; and therefore, tho’ Popery and the Devil are not at so much variance as some may imagine, yet he did not think it safe to let the general system of Christianity be heard of among them in China . Hence when the name of the christian religion had but been received with some seeming approbation in the country of Japan , Satan immediately, as if alarm’d at the thing, and dreading what the consequence of it might be, arm’d the Japoneses against it with such fury, that they expell’d it at once.

It was much safer to his designs, when, if the story be not a fiction, he put that Dutch witicism into the mouths of the States commanders, when they came to Japan ; who having more wit than to own themselves Christians in such a place as that, when the question was put to them, answered negatively, That they were not , but that they were of another religion call’d Hollanders.

However, it seems the diligent Jesuits out-witted the Devil in China , and, as I said above, over-shot him in his own Bow; for the mission being in danger by the Devil and the Chinese Emperor ’s joining together , of being wholly expell’d there too, as they had been in Japan , they cunningly fell in with the ecclesiasticks of the country, and joining the priestcraft of both religions together, they brought Jesus Christ and Confucius to be so reconcilable, that the Chinese and the Roman idolatry appeared capable of a confederacy, of going on hand in hand together, and consequently of being very good friends.