THe fourteenth day of September in the yeare 1612. I went with one of the Elders of the Church of Maſcon, to the claſſicall meeting held at the Borough of Couches, and five daies after we returned. Being come home, I found my wife and her mayd in a very great conſcernation, apparent in their face and countenance. And when I enquired of the cauſe of that great alteration, my wife told me that the night after I went out of towne, ſhe being in bed, her firſt ſleepe was broken by ſome thing, ſhe knew not what, that drew her curtaines with great noiſe and violence. That her maid that lay in another bed in the ſame roome, hearing that, aroſe in haſt and ran to her, to ſee what it was, but ſaw nothing; yea that ſhe found the doores and windowes of that roome very cloſe as ſhe had ſhut them before ſhe went to bed. My wife told me alſo that the night following ſhe made the mayd lie with her, by reaſon of that accident. That as ſoone as they were in bed they felt ſomething that pulled off their blankets: That then the mayd getting out of the bed went from that roome, which is on the backſide of the houſe, to goe to a kitchin which is in the midſt of the houſe, but that ſhe found the doore bolted, not within onely, as ſhe had bolted it herſelfe, but without alſo, which before ſhe could perceive, after ſhe had unbolted the doore and would open it, ſhe felt reſiſtance, as if a man had beene on the other ſide thruſting againſt her. That the mayd finding herſelfe ſhut up called a youth that lay in another roome on the foreſide of the houſe, who roſe to open her the dore, to whom ſhe would ſay nothing of that diſorder leſt he ſhould be frighted, but lighting the candle ſhe found in the kitchin the pewter and braſſe throwne about, wherewith the ſame night and the following nights the evill Spirit made ſuch a noiſe as they uſe to make when they give aA Charivary is a mad kind of ſerenada muſique of pans and kettles given to old widowes when they marry. charivary, or when they will hive bees.

Upon this relation I will not diſſemble that I was ſeized with ſome amazement, yet ſo that I tooke a reſolution not to be too credulous at ſuch a ſtrange ſtory, nor too incredulous neither. Severall thoughts came to my mind. Sometimes I conſidered the frailty and timorouſneſſe of women, Sometimes I thought that it might be the impoſture of ſome knave hidden in the houſe; Wherefore afore I would goe to bed I carefully ſearched all the corners of the houſe and ſet bolts and barricadoes to all the dores and windowes of the houſe, ſtopping even the very cat-holes of the dores, and leaving nothing that might give way to ſuſpicion of impoſture: And after I had prayed with my family I went to bed, while my wife and her mayd ſate ſpinning by the fire, with a lampe upon the table.

Scarce was I in my bed, but I heard a great noiſe from the kitchin, as the rolling of a billet throwne with great ſtrength. I heard alſo a knocking againſt a partition of wainſcot in the ſame kitchin, ſometimes as with the point of the finger, ſometimes as with the nailes, ſometimes as with the fiſt, and then the blowes did redouble. Many things alſo were throwne againſt that wainſcot, as plates, trenchers and ladels, and a muſique was made with a braſſe cullender, gingling with ſome buckles that were at it, and with ſome other inſtruments of the kitchen. After I had given attentive ear to that noiſe, I roſe from my bed, and taking my ſword, I went into the roome where all that ſtirre was kept, the maid holding the candle before me, and did ſearch narrowly whether I could find ſome body hidden, but finding nothing I returned to my bed. The noiſe beginning againe, I roſe againe. and ſearcht againe, but all in vaine. Then did I beginne to know indeed that all this could not proceed but from a wicked Spirit, and ſo did I paſſe the reſt of the night, in ſuch an aſtoniſhment as any man may imagine.

The next day very early I gave notice of it to the Elders of the Church. Yea I thought fit to make it knowne to Mr Francis Tornus a Royall Notary and a Procurator of Maſcon, although he was a Roman Catholique, and very zealous of his religion. What reaſons I had for it, I will ſay afterwards. Since that time both he and all the others to whom I had imparted it did not faile to viſit me every evening, either together or by turnes, as long as that perſecution continued, ſitting up with me till midnight, and ſometimes longer.

The firſt night that they came, and ſome other following nights, the wicked ſpirit kept himſelfe from making any noyſe or ſtirre in their preſence, as not willing to be knowne to them. But in the end, upon the twentieth of September about nine a clock he made himſelfe openly knowne for ſuch as he was; For in the preſence of us all, Mr Tornus being one of the company, he began to whiſtle three or foure times with a very lowd and ſhrill tone, and preſently to frame an articulate and intelligible voyce though ſomewhat hoarſe, which ſeemed to be about three or foure ſteps from us, He pronounced theſe firſt words ſinging vingt & deux deniers, that is two and twenty pence, a little tune of five notes which whiſtling birds are taught to ſing. After that, he ſaid and repeated many times this word Miniſter, Miniſter. Becauſe that voyce was very terrible to us at the firſt, I was long before I would anſwer any thing to that word, but only, Get thee from me Satan, the Lord rebuke thee. But as he was repeating againe very often that word Miniſter, thinking (belike) thereby to grieve me much, I was provoked to tell him. Yes indeed I am a Miniſter, a ſervant of the living God, before whoſe Majeſty thou trembleſt. To which he anſwered, I ſay nothing to the contrary. And I replied, I have no need of thy teſtimony. Yet he continued to ſay the ſame, as if he would winne us to a favorable opinion of him.

Then he would offer to transforme himſelfe into an Angell of light, ſaying of his owne accord and very lowd, the Lords Prayer, the Creed, the morning and evening prayers, and the ten Commandements. It is true that he did alwaies clip and leave out ſome part of it. He ſung alſo with a lowd and audible voyce part of the Pſalm. 81. Then ſaid many things which might be true, as ſome particular paſſages belonging to my family, as among other things that my father had beene poiſoned, naming the man that did it, and why, and ſpecifying the place, and the manner of the poiſon.

That very night he ſaid that he came from Pais de Vaux, that he had paſt through the village of Allamogne which is in Bailliage de Gez, at the dore of my elder brothers houſe, where he had ſeene him with Mr Du Pan Miniſter of Thoiry. That they were ready to goe to ſupper together at my brothers houſe. That they were neighbours and deare friends. That he had ſaluted them, and asked whether they had any thing to command him to deliver to me, becauſe he was going to Maſcon. That they had ſhewed themſelves very kinde to him and deſired him to remember their love to me, 'yea and had invited him to drinke with them. Thou wicked fiend (ſaid I to the ſpirit) had they knowne thee they would not have beene ſo kind to thee.

Some truth there was in his ſtory, for M Du Pan hath ſince told me and many others, that they remembred very well how at that very time a man of ſuch and ſuch a ſhape, riding on a very leane horſe, that hung downe his head, had ſpoken with them, and that ſuch diſcourſes paſt betweene them.

The Demon told us alſo of another brother of mine living in the Vale of the Lake de Joux in the Countrey of Vaux ſaying that one day when ſome of our neere kinred were come to viſit him, he to give them ſome recreation made them goe upon the lake without a boate, upon floating wood tyed together: And that they being farre on the Lake a ſtormy wind did ariſe, which conſtrained them to returne in haſte to the ſhore. Not farre from which all that floating wood was overturned and they all welnigh drowned. Which ſtorme he affirmed to be of his raiſing. The relation of that paſſage being very true, it may be true alſo that he had raiſed that wind, as we reade in the booke of Job, that Satan raiſed a great winde that made the houſe fall upon the children of that holy man.

Another night the Demon ſpeaking to Claude Repay a bleacher of linnen cloath, one of them that uſed to come to me at night, asked him whether he remembred not that upon ſuch a day, after he had ſet in order ſome pieces of cloath and skeanes of yarne, he found them a while after removed out of their place and out of order, and then ſaid that it was his doing. He asked another bleacher called Philibert Guillermin, who was alſo in the company, whether he remembred not that one day as he was ſtooping to turne ſome pieces of cloath and skeanes of yarne, lying upon the graſſe, ſomething pulled him behind by the skirts of his doublet, and made him goe back two or three ſteps, and that the next evening as he lay in his bleaching houſe, his hat which he had hanged on a naile by his bed-ſide was flung at his face, and made him ſtart out of his ſleepe. That (ſaid he) was of my doing. Both Repay and Guillermin acknowledged that theſe things had happened to them, but who had a hand in theſe accidents they knew not before.

That Philibert Guillermins brother, a merchant of Lovan comming from Lyons lodged in his brothers houſe, and had a mind to viſit me the firſt night, but his brother would not let him. The Demon failed not to tell us of it, ſaying, I know why Mr Philibert came not to ſit up here yeſter-night. His Brother had a good minde to have beſtowed a viſit upon us, but Philibert diſſwaded him, becauſe he would not that his brother ſhould heare what noiſe we keepe in this houſe.

He ſpake alſo of a late quarrell betweene one James Berard a cutler of Maſcon and one Samuel du Mont who had ſo beaten the ſayd Berard that he had brought him to deaths dore, which was true and told many particulars of that quarrell which were not knowne. He told us how at the late fayre of St Lawrence, upon which the citizens of Maſcon march in armes under their ſeverall colours, one Francis Chickard had beene hurt with a musket ſhot in the legge, which afterwards being gangrened was cut off; And he named the man that had ſhot him, and ſaid that he had done it to be revenged of Chickard, to whom he bore a malice, which might very well be true.

He related a notable ſtory of thoſe that lived before in the houſe where we dwelt, Philibert Maſſon and Guillauma Blane his wife, commonly called la Challonoiſe; that one day, they being fallen out, the wife tooke her time when her husband would goe downe into his ſhop, and puſht him behind with ſuch violence that he fell downe the ſtares ſtarke dead. And that ſhe preſently by another paire of ſtaires went downe and called the prentices and journeymen from the ſhop to their drinking, that they finding their maſter in the bottome of the ſtaires dead, might impute his death to ſome ſudden ſickneſſe. This ſecret revealed by the Devill many have believed to be a truth.

Another night the Demon ſpeaking to one of our company told him ſuch private and ſecret things that the man who affirmed never to have told them to any perſon came to believe that the Devill knew his thoughts, till I had diſabuſed him.

Then he began to mock God and all Religion, and ſaying Gloria Patri, he skipt over the ſecond perſon, and upon the third perſon he made a foule horrible and deteſtable equivocation. Whereupon I being incenſed with a juſt anger told him: But rather thou wicked and abominable Spirit, ſhouldeſt have ſaid Gloria Patri, creatori coeli & terrae, & Filio ejus Jeſu Chriſto, qui deſtruxit opera Diaboli: That is Glory be to the Father, Creatour of heaven and earth, and to his Sonne Jeſus Chriſt, who hath deſtroyed the workes of the Devill. He then deſired us with great earneſtneſſe that we ſhould ſend for Mr Du Chaſſin the Popiſh Parſon of St Stevens Pariſh, to whom he would confeſſe himſelfe, and that he ſhould not faile to bring holy water along with him, for that (ſayd he) would ſend me away packing preſently.

We wondered that the dog of the houſe who uſed to be very watchfull, and would barke at the leaſt noiſe, yet never barked at the loud ſpeaking and hideous noiſe of the Demon: He ſaid of his owne accord without asking, You wonder that the dog barketh not, It is becauſe I made the ſign of the Croſſe upon his head.

Then being upon a merry pinne, he fell a ſcoffing and jearing, and among others things ſayd that he was one of thoſe that ſcaled the walls of Geneva, and that the ladder being broken he fell from the wall into the ditch, where he had beene neere to have beene eaten by the frogs, whoſe croaking he did perfectly imitate. He ſaid that a Jeſuite called Father Alexander ſtood at the foot of the ladder, exhorting the Savoyards to goe up boldly, aſſuring them that they ſhould take the city, and winne Paradiſe: And that when the thirteene that were got up and taken, were led to the gallowes, the women of the towne ſayd to the hangman, Courage Tabaſan, thou ſhalt have mony to drink.

Speaking of Pays de Vaux he ſaid that it was a countrey where they made goodly carbonadoe's of witches, and at that he laughed very loud. He delighted much in jeſting with the mayd of the houſe calling her Breſſande (that is a woman of the countrey of Breſſia) and counterfeited her language. One night as ſhe went up to the garret to fetch coales he told her, Thou art very bold to paſſe ſo neere me, and making a noiſe as if he had clapt his hands together, he told her, I will put thee in my ſack.

He ſeemed alſo to delight much in jeaſting with one Michael Repay who came almoſt every night to us with his father, calling him often Michel Mihell. He told him once that he would bring him to warre with the Marqueſſe of St Martin who was raiſing a troope of horſe in Breſſia to go to Savoy. But Michael Repay anſwered him ſmiling, ſhould I goe to warres with ſuch a coward as thy ſelfe, ſince thou profeſſeſt that thou didſt flie from the ſcalado of Geneva? To which the Demon anſwered. And do you think that I would goe and be hanged with my camrades? I was not ſuch a foole. Continuing to jeaſt with Michael Repay he put him in mind that the Sunday before going to Church with one Noel Monginot to the village of Ʋrigny, he was ſaying that the way to catch the Devill was to ſpread a net for him, and then he told him, Wilt thou now ſpread thy net to catch me? At the ſame time he did ſo lively counterfeit the voyce of Michael Repay's mother that he ſaid laughing to his father, Father, truly he ſpeakes juſtilike my mother.

Another time he told us in a faint and moaning tone that he had a mind to make his will becauſe he muſt needs goe preſently to Chambery where he had a law-ſuite ready for the triall, and that he feared to dye by the way; wherefore he had the mayd to goe for a Notary naming Mr Tornus, father to that Tornus of whom we ſpake before; Of his family he ſaid many particularities, of which, as alſo of all the paſſages of this Demon acted in his preſence, the ſayd Tornus the ſonne, a Royall Notary as his father, hath left a relation, written, and ſigned with his owne hand, which I have in my keeping for confirmation of all that is here related. And it was to have ſuch an authenticall teſtimonie that I adreſt my ſelfe to him when this vexation came upon me.

In that relation he mentioneth the ſeverall legacies which the Demon declared that he would leave, to one this, to another that. One of them to whom he ſayd that he would give five hundred pounds, anſwered him, that he would have none of his money, and wiſht that it might periſh with him. He named another to be his heire generall, who alſo anſwered, that he would not accept the inheritance, I free thee of it (ſayd the Demon) for ſix pence and a piece of bread.

A while after he counterfeited that he was not the ſame Spirit that had ſpoken before, but his ſervant onely, That he came from waiting upon his Maſter, who had charged him to keepe his place in his abſence, while he was in his journey to Chambery. And when I rebuked him in ſuch words as God put in my mouth, he anſwered with much ſeeming lenity and reſpect, I beſeech you Sir to pardon me, you are miſtaken in me, you take me for another. I never was in this houſe before, I pray Sir what is your name? As he was thus ſpeaking one Simeon Meiſſonier, that uſed to reſort often to my houſe upon that occaſion, ruſht ſuddenly to the place whence the voyce ſeemed to come, and having ſearcht it againe and againe, as others had done before him, and found nothing, he returned to the place where we were all, bringing with him ſeverall things from the place where the voyce ſounded, among other things a ſmall bottle. At which the Demon fell a laughing and ſaid to him. I was told long ſince that thou wert a foole, and I ſee now that thou art one indeed, to believe that I am in that bottle: I ſhould be a foole my ſelfe to get into it, for ſo one might take me with ſtopping the bottle with his finger.

One night when Abraham Lullier a goldſmith was comming into the houſe, where he ſeldome fayled to be at that houre, the Demon ſaid, Goe, open the doore to Lullier who is comming, and at the ſame time Lullier knockt at the doore. As ſoone as he was come in, the Demon told him, that he deſired to learne the goldſmiths trade of him, and that for his prentiſhip he would give him fifty Crownes. Then giving him faire words, I love thee well (ſaid he) thou art an honeſter man then ſuch a man, (naming another goldſmith a man of Geneva) who hath coſened ſuch a Lady of Maſcon, who was gone to viſit ſome of her kinred at Geneva, in the ſale of ſome rings, Jewells, and plate. Upon which when Lullier told him I have no need of thy love, I am content with the love of my God, Neither will I take ſuch a prentice as thee. The Demon anſwered Since thou wilt not teach me the Goldſmiths trade, let Maſter Philibert teach me to be a Bleacher. Then acting againe the part of a ſervant he complained that he was poore and ill clad, that he ſtarved for cold, and that his wages were but twelve crownes a yeare. He told us that if we would have him to goe away quickly we ſhould give him ſomething, and that any thing would pleaſe him. I told him that he knockt at the wrong doore, and that I would not give him the paring of my nailes. He anſwered You have then very little charity.

Againe he obſtinately affirmed that he was not the ſame that had bin in the houſe from the beginning, but his ſervant, yea that he was not the ſame that had bin in the houſe the night before, that then one of his fellow ſervants was waiting, and that they two were expecting their maſters returne from his Journey to Chambery whence he ſhould returne within few daies.

Howſoever whether it was the Maſter Devill that then ſpake, or one or more of his ſervants, I have beene informed by worthy witneſſes that at the ſame time there was a Spirit in the houſe of Monſieur Favre the firſt preſident of Chambery, who for his learning in law was one of the illuſtrious men of his age: To him the Spirit ſpake, and told him, among other things, that he came from Maſcon and had paſt through Breſſe, and ſeene ſuch and ſuch kinſmen of his.

To returne to what was in our houſe at that time, the Spirit beſpoke aloud great preparations of proviſion, as turkies, partriges, hares, and the like for the comming of his Maſter. Then he ſung many prophane and bawdy ſongs, among others that which is called le filou. He counterfeited the voyce of Juglers and mountebankes, and eſpecially that of huntſmen crying aloud holevrier ho levrier, as hunters uſe to ſhoute when they ſtart a hare.

He offered to tempt us by covetouſneſſe (one of the ordinary temptations of the Devill for which reaſon he is called Mammona.) Divers times he would peremptorily affirme that there was ſix thouſand crownes hidden in that houſe, and that if any of us would follow him he would, ſhew us where the money was hid. But I can ſay with a good conſcience before God and his holy Angels, that I never ſearcht for it, nor employed others about it, nor ſuffered any to looke for it, or ever had any will to make benefit by it.

He would try us alſo by curioſity, ſaying that if we had a mind to ſee him in any ſhape of man, woman, lyon, beare, dog, cat, &c. he would give us the ſport of it, Which motion we did much abhorre and reject, ſaying that we were ſo farre from deſiring to ſee him in any of theſe ſhapes, or any other, that we were very deſirous, if it might be Gods pleaſure, never to heare him; but that we hoped that God would ſhortly deliver us from all his temptations.

In the end he became very angry, firſt againſt me becauſe I had told him Goe thou curſed into the everlaſting fire prepared for the Devill and his Angels. Whereupon he told me. Thou lieſt, I am not curſed, I hope yet for ſalvation by the death and paſſion of Jeſus Chriſt. This he ſayd perhaps to make us believe that he was the ſoule of a woman deceaſed a little before in that houſe, the daughter of a woman whom I had ejected by law out of that houſe, for there had beene a rumour that when ſhe died ſhe prayed to God that ſhe might returne to the houſe after her death to vexe us.

He told me in great wrath that he would doe this and that to me. Among other things he told me that when I ſhould be a bed he would come and pull off my blankets & pull me out of the bed by the feete. I anſwered him the ſame thing that the Royall Prophet David ſaid to his enemies, I will lay me downe and ſleepe for the Lord maketh me dwell in ſafety. I told him alſo that which Jeſus Chriſt ſaid to Pilate, Thou hadſt no power on me but what is given thee from above, Whereupon he anſwered me repeating two or three times theſe words It is well for thee, It is well for thee.

He was alſo very angry with one of the company who had called him ſtinking hee-goate, and gave him many ill words, as theſe Thou wouldeſt appeare a good man, but thou art but an hypocrite, thou goeſt often to Pontdeville, pretending to goe heare Sermons: But when thou goeſt thou takeſt thy boxe of bills; & bonds along with thee, to exact thine arreares & vſe money. Goe, thou wouldſt make no conſcience to hang a man for twenty ſhillings, as Mr Denis doth; That maſter Denis was the hangman of Maſcon. Then making a noiſe as if he had clapt his hands together, he ſayd agaíne to the ſame man, Thou makeſt heare the ſhew of a valiant man, having brought thy ſword along with thee this night, but if thou beeſt ſo bold as to come hither without a light, it ſhall be ſeene which of vs two is the moſt valiant.

Having ſayd all theſe things of the time paſt, & preſent, he would alſo ſpeake of the future. Speaking of thoſe that profeſſe the reformed Religion within the Kingdome of France, he made once this exclamation! O poore Hugonots! you ſhall haue much to ſuffer within a few yeares! O what miſchiefe is intended againſt you! & more words to the ſame purpoſe.

He ſayd of my wife that was with childe, & neare her time, that ſhe ſhould have a daughter, & ſayd it two or three times. The caſe ſhe was in made me feare, that ſhe ſhould get ſome harme in her childbearin, by a fright, cauſed by our infernal gheſt. Wherefore, I deſired her to goe out of the houſe, & goe to her grandmother the Lady Philiberta de la Mouſſiere with whom ſhe had bin bred from her infancy, & to lye in at her houſe. But ſhe did excuſe herſelfe from it very courageouſly, ſaying, that going away would be miſtruſting the power & mercy of God: That ſince it pleaſed God to viſit vs ſo he might find vs as well in another houſe, & that to reſiſt the Devill we muſt not flee from him. Wherein verily I acknowledged her to be in the right, becauſe wee are often exhorted in the Scripture, to • eſiſt, & fight, & wreſtle with the Deuill, • ut never to flee from him, which would be • eilding to him the victory. For he is like he wolfe, or the crocodile, whom if you and againſt ſtoutly they will runne away, but if you feare them & runne from them they will run after you.

The Demon ſayd one night before vs all, • hat without fayle I ſhould dye within three • eares, thinking thereby to torment me with a continual apprehenſion of death, & ſo make me fall if he could into ſome melancholy, & ſo into ſicknes thereby to have made his words good. But I anſwered him in the words of St Paul Act 20. None of theſe things moue me neither count I my life deare vnto my ſelfe, ſo that I might finiſh my courſe with Joy & the miniſtery which I have received of the Lord Ieſus, to teſtifie the Goſpell of the grace of God.

The Demon having uſed all theſe wiles againſt us was forced to ſay that he could not prevaile againſt us, becauſe we did call two much upon the name of God. To ſhew the efficacy of our prayers, this is an obſervable truth, that every time that the Devill ſaw that wee began to kneele to goe to our prayers he left talking, and many times told us theſe words, While you are at your prayers I'le goe take a turne in the ſtreet. Really, whither he went forth or ſtaid we had a wonderfull ſilence during our prayer; But no ſooner was the prayer done but he began againe as before, and urged and ſollicited us to ſpeake with him▪ And ſo continued ſpeaking and provoking us to ſpeake till the 25 of November when he ſpake theſe laſt words Ha ha je ne parleray plus, that is, Alas alas I ſhall ſpeake no more: From that very time he gave over, and ſpake no more.

I might adde many other diſcourſes of this Demon, but I confeſſe that I purpoſely omit them becauſe they offend either Religion or the State or the good name of ſome great perſons and honorable families, or becauſe they are foule and diſhoneſt as proceeding from an uncleane Spirit: So much as wee have related is ſufficient to ſhew how ſtrange and admirable was this ſpeaking of the Devill.

As his words were ſtrange and admirable ſo were his actions, for beſides thoſe which I have related, done in my abſence, he did many more of the ſame kind as toſſing about very often a great roll of cloath of fifty ells which a friend had left at my houſe to be ſent to Lyons by water. Once he ſnacht a braſſe candleſtick out of the maids hand leaving the candle lighted in her hand: He would very often take that mayd's coates and hang them over the bed poſts, ſetting over them a rough hat ſuch as the countriwemen of Breſſe uſe to weare for ſhe was of that countrey.

Sometimes he would hang at thoſe poaſts a great ſtarching plate with coards ſo tyed and with ſo many knots that it was impoſſible to untie them and yet himſelfe would ſuddenly untie them in a moment. Once I found my bootes ſo intangled within a winding blades that they could not be taken off. And many times he hath ſo twiſted radiſhes together that the like could not be done unleſſe it had bin ſtudied with a very long patience and leiſure.

One afternoone a friend of mine one Mr Connain a Phyſitian of Maſcon, beſtowed a viſit upon me; As I was relating unto him theſe ſtrange paſſages we went together to the chamber where the Demon was moſt reſident: There we found the featherbed, blankets, ſheets, and boulſter, layd all upon the floore. I called the mayd to make the bed, which ſhe did in our preſence, but preſently we being walking in the ſame roome, ſaw the bed undone and tumbled downe on the floore as it was before.

In the roome over that, where I had my ſtudy, I found ſeverall times part of my books laid on the floore, and my houre-glaſſe unbroken, and no other harme. As I was once ſitting in my ſtudy the Demon made a noiſe as it had beene a great voly of ſhot in the roome above. Sometimes he would be the groome of my ſtable rubbing my horſe, and platting the haire of his tayle, and maine, but he was an unruly groome, for once I found that he had ſaddled my horſe with the crupper before, and the pommel behind.

He was a good while in the houſe before we could perceive that he reſorted to my bedchamber. But one night after all were retired that were come to heare him, my ſelfe and my family being all a bed, the dores and the windowes of the houſe being well ſhut, he came in and began to whiſtle ſoftly and by intervalles, as if he had bin afraid to awake us: he knockt as if it had bin with his finger upon a trunk neere my bed, as he did many times ſince. He would throw our ſhooes about the roome, thoſe of the maid eſpecially, who feeling him once taking one of her ſhoes laid hold preſently on the other, and ſayd ſmiling. This thou ſhalt not have. Under the table in the ſame roome he did once imitate the noiſe of hempdreſſers that beate the hempe foure together ſuch as we had in our neighbourhood, and keeping the ſame equall meaſure.

He made us heare for a long time a harmonie not unpleaſant of two little bells tyed tohether which he had taken among ſome ruſty irons in my houſe. When I heard them firſt, and knew by their ſound that they were mine, I went to the place where I had layd them, but did not find them. Neither did the Demon uſe theſe bells in my houſe onely, but he carried them about to many places both of the towne and countrey. Upon a Lords day morning as I was going to officiate at Ʋ rigny, with ſome elders of my Church we heard the ſound of thoſe bells very neere our eares. Mr Lullier, one of our company, affirmed unto me that he had heard thoſe bells many times at his houſe. Many others have heard them very neere, but could never ſee them.

Neither did that Demon play his tricks onely at my houſe, Mr Lullier hath told me of many of his actions in his houſe and both ſhop. As the taking and hiding of his jewels or tooles, and then putting them againe where they were before. While Mr Lullier was telling me of this, he layd a golden ring which he had then in hand upon the table with the toole that he held it with, but preſently he found them miſſing and in vaine ſought them halfe an houre; wherefore he betooke himſelfe to other worke; but then he and I ſaw both the ring and the toole fall, we knew not from whence, upon the table againe.

One night that Lullier had not ſet up with us as he uſed to doe, two that came from my houſe very late ſtayd by Lulliers ſhop to give him an account of the Demons actions and words that night. While they were talking the Demon ſmote three times very hard upon a ſhed of boards that was over the ſhop.

The next night after, Lullier and Repay comming from my houſe met a woman alone at the corner of the ſtreete in a countrey habit ſpinning by Moone-ſhine. But when they came neere to know what ſhe was, ſhe vaniſhed from their ſight.

Leaving now ſuch actions as the Demon did out of my houſe as things of which I cannot ſpeake with the like certainty as thoſe which I have ſeene & heard my ſelfe. I will but adde his laſt actions at my houſe, and indeed the moſt troubleſome of all, as they ſay that the Devill is alwaies more violent in the end then in the beginning, and is then moſt fierce when he muſt be gone. He threw ſtones about my houſe continually the tenne or twelve laſt daies from morning to evening, and in great quantity, ſome of them of two or three pounds weight.

One of thoſe laſt daies Mr Tornus comming to my houſe about noone, would know whether the Devill was there ſtill, and whiſtled in ſeverall tones, and each time the Devill whiſtled to him againe in the ſame tone. Then the Demon threw a ſtone at him, which being fallen at his feete without any harme to him, he tooke it up and marked it with a coale, and flung it into the backſide of the houſe which is neere the towne wall and the river of Saone, but the Demon threw it up to him againe, and that it was the ſame ſtone he knew it by the marke of the coale: Tornus taking up that ſtone found it very hot and ſaid he believed it had beene in hell ſince he had handled it firſt.

Finally after all theſe words and actions the Demon went away the 22 day of December; And the next day a very great viper was ſeene going out of my houſe, and was taken with long pincers by ſome naylours our neighbours, who carried it all over the towne crying, Here is the Devill that came out of the Miniſters houſe, and finally left it at one William Clarke's houſe Apothecary, where it was found to be a true and naturall viper, a ſerpent rare in that countrey.

All the time that the Demon haunted my houſe God permitted him not to doe us any harme, neither in our perſons nor in our goods. Thoſe bells which he did ſo toſſe and carry about, he hanged at a naile over the chimney of the roome where he was moſt converſant, the day that he left the houſe. He had not ſo much power given him as to teare one leaſe of my bookes, or to breake one glaſſe, or to put out the candle, which we kept lighted all the night long. Wherefore I bow my knees, and will as long as I live, unto my gracious God to give him thanks for that great mercy.

This is the plaine and true relation of that Demons words and actions. And Marcelin a Capuchin that preacht at the ſame time at Maſcon hath truly related many of theſe paſſages in a booke of his, printed at Grenable againſt Mr Bouterove, ſaying, that he had the ſtory from diverſe perſons, eſpecially from Mr Fovillard Lievtenant Generall in the Balliage of Maſcon, who upon the generall rumour of that ſtrange accident, ſent his brother in law Mr Francis Gucrin and Mr Guichard an Advocate to my houſe, to deſire me to come to him, as I did, to tell him the whole matter. Yet (by Marcellins leave) it is not true that which he and other prejudicate and paſſionate men doe inferre out of it to diſgrace my perſon and my profeſſion, namely, that I had communication with evill Spirits. For God beares witneſſe to my conſcience that I never had communication with thoſe horrible creatures, and know no more of them then what it hath pleaſed his divine wiſdome to let me know by his word & by this domeſtique experience; and that my chiefe curioſity was to improve the little talent which God hath given me to inſtruct my ſelfe and others in the true and ſolid ſcience of eternall ſalvation, which is to know him the onely true God and Jeſus Chriſt whom he hath ſent.

And truly Marcellin and others that have ſpoken and written of this hiſtory to my diſadvantage herein, contradict both Mr Fovillard Lievtenant Generall of Maſcon, and the Lord Gaſpard Divet then Biſhop of Maſcon, who upon the common report of theſe paſſages ſent for Mr Tornus to know the truth of them; And for more certainty ſent his owne Secretary Mr Chamber to learne the particulars of them from mine owne mouth, to whom I related all without concealing or diſguiſing any thing. Theſe two Gentlemen Tornus and Chamber have told me ſince that the Biſhop had heard that ſtory with great admiration, and had made ſome records of the ſame.

If any now enquire of me what may the cauſe be of this admirable accident (as there is nothing more ordinary or more naturall to every man then to enquire of the cauſes eſpecially of things extraordinary) I will anſwere that conſidering the circumſtances of time, and place, and perſons, which I had then to doe with, many cauſes ſeeme to have concurred for it.

Firſt, whereas there are times in which Devils are in a manner unchained and have more liberty to doe their feats, and other times when they are tyed ſhort and reſtrained from acting, as we learne in the twentieth chapter of the Revelation. Truly one may with good reaſon ſay that when the Demon made himſelfe ſo bold in my houſe it was a time when the Devill was, as it were, let looſe; for then the world was full of ſtories of the extraordinary pranks of thoſe wicked Spirits.

This may be juſtified by the booke written by Mr de l' Anere one of the Kings Counſellours joined in Commiſſion with Mr D' Eſpagnet Preſident at Toloſa to Judge the witches of the country of Labour, otherwiſe the Countrey of the Baſques neere the Pyrenean mountaines, the title of the booke is A repreſentation of the inconſtancy of Demons and wicked Spirits, where ſuch ſtrange and horrible things are repreſented, as will make the readers haire to ſtand.

To which joine the horrible ſtory of Lewis Gauffredi, a Prieſt of Marſeilles one of the greateſt inſtruments of the Devill that ever Hell brought forth, who had beene burnt a little before by the order of the Court of Parliament of Aix in Province.

At the ſame time a Demon appeared at Lyons in the ſhape of a fine Gentlewoman to the Lieutenant of the Knight of the watch named la Jacquiere, and to two others of his companions, which three had carnall knowledge of that Demon, and thereby came to a moſt tragicall and fearefull end. Which ſtory is printed among many other tragicall ſtories of our time.

At the ſame time, which was in the year 1612, the like ſtory to that of Lyons was publiſht, how in Paris, the firſt of January of that yeare, a perſon of quality had cohabitation with a Demon, which to him appeared a beautifull Lady, but the next morning that Lady being viſited by Juſtices and Phyſitians was found to be the body of a woman that had beene hanged a few dayes before.

About the ſame time the priſons of Maſcon were filled with a great number of men and women, young and old of the village of Chaſſelas, and other townes neere it, all indicted of witchcraft, who being condemned at Maſcon, appealed to the Court of the Parliament of Paris, and were conducted to Paris by a maſſinger and ſome guards. In the way a coach met them, and in it a man that looked like a Judge, who ſtaid, and asked the maſſinger what priſoners he led, whence they came, and whether they went. The maſſinger having ſatisfied him, the man (if one may call him ſo) eying theſe priſoners ſayd to one of them, calling him by his name, Ho now! art thou one of them? Feare nothing, for neither thou nor any of thy company ſhall ſuffer. And his words proved true, For ſoone after they were all releaſed.

At the ſame time a girle of Maſcon about 13 or 14 yeares of age daughter to one of the chiefe citizens of the towne, lying with the mayd of the houſe, perceived that ſhe abſented her ſelfe many times in the night, and once asked her whence ſhe came, the maid anſwered that ſhe came from a place where there was good company, gallant danſing, and all kinds of ſports and merriment. The girle taken with this report deſired the mayd to bring her to that place. Whereupon the maid anointed her, and made her doe the ordinary ceremonies preſcribed to witches by the Devill, after which the girle was carried up into the ayre by a Demon, as ſhe reported, but ſeeing herſelfe above the convent of the Capucin fryers, ſhe was afraid, and called upon God, who did helpe her and cauſed the Demon to lay her downe in their garden about midnight: The Capucins hearing her lamenting voice came to her helpe, and when ſhe had told them who ſhe was, and what had happened to her, ſhe was ſecretly conducted by two of them to her Fathers houſe. This relation I have heard from many perſons, affirmed as moſt certainly true. That girle I have often ſeen, and I was told that ſhe was maried ſince.

At the ſame time the common report was, that a Demon haunted the houſe of a woman baker of Maſcon, in the ſtreet de na Tupinerie, in a mans ſhape, with a red cap. and would looke out of the window by moone light. This many perſons have affirmed to me to be very true, the foreſaid Abraham Lullier being one of them. I doubt much whether the Demon hath yet left the houſe notwithſtanding all the exerciſing, and the judiciall courſe alſo which was uſed to eject him.

At the ſame time a Demon kept a great ſtirre at St Stevens Church of Maſcon, turning over many graves, which being bruited about the towne, I ſaw, as living in that neighbourhood, great part of the people flock thither.

The like happened alſo in the Church of St Alban neere Maſcon, and at the ſame time.

Againe, at the ſame time a widowes houſe at Marigny les Nonnains, not farre from Maſcon, was for three moneth haunted by a Demon who did there a great deale of harme, letting out the wine in the cellar, and beating untragiouſly ſeverall perſons among others a lockſmith that came into the houſe drunk, and gave many ill words and threatnings to that Devill, who preſently was even with him, for he tooke one of the andirons, and grievouſly beat him with it, till he ran away out the houſe, which he did in all haſte. By theſe relations, and many of the like kinde, which I omit, it is evident that at the time that the Demon was at my houſe; the Devill was in a manner unchained.

I conceive alſo that this Demon might be ſent to me by ſome that were incenſed againſt me, for procuring a licence from the King to build a Church for our Reformed congregation neere the walles of Maſcon; for that very day that the Devill began that diſorder in my houſel, was threatened by one before the civill corporation of Maſcon, that ſome evill would overtake me preſently, and that man was ſuſpected to be a diſciple of one Ceſar a knowne Magician, who had lived Maſcon a little before.

Many have attributed the comming of that Demon to my maid Breſſande, of whom I ſpake before, for ſhe was ſuſpected to be a witch, borne of parents ſuſpected to be guilty of witchcraft as ſome doe report: I remember that once ſhe asked of me, whether any of thoſe that had given themſelves to the Devill, could find mercy before God. And that another time, when ſhe ſaw me afraid leſt the Devill ſhould hurt two youths that lay in a roome next to that where he was heard, ſhe told me Feare not, he will doe them no harme. And the truth is that ſhe would jeſt and be familiar with him. For beſides that I ſaid of it before, ſhe would once expoſtulate with the Demon that he brought her no wood, whereupon he preſently threw downe a fagot for her at the ſtaire foot; And whereas upon her offering to leave our ſervice another came to ſerve us in her place and lay in the ſame bed with her, the Demon, who never hurt her, would beate that new maid in the bed, and powre water upon her head till he forced her to goe away. My ſuſpicion of that Breſſande was increaſed by a relation which ſhe made unto me, one day that I was ſick, of a tall black man that had appeared unto her the night before by mooneſhine, holding a viall in his hand like a Phyſitian. This and other like things gave me an ill opinion of her, as one that might be a concurrent cauſe of the comming of that helliſh gheſt.

To theſe adde the circumſtance of the place; for in the ſame houſe a murther had beene committed, if the Demons words and the common report may be credited. As it is not unuſuall that houſes where ſome murther or ſome other foule fact hath beene committed will be haunted by the Devill. Cardan relateth that there is a caſtle at Parma belonging to the noble family of the Torelli, in one of whoſe chimney's a wicked ſpirit appeares in the ſhape of a foule old wife every time that one of the family is to die, ever ſince that an old woman very rich was ſlaine in that houſe by her covetous nephewes, who cut her in pieces and threw her into the jakes.

But the moſt likely cauſe is that after I had recovered that houſe by law, and was put in poſſeſſion by the power of juſtice, the woman whom I came to diſpoſſeſſe was found under a chimney calling upon the Devill and uſing terrible imprecations againſt me and my family, ſaying that ſhe would be content to be hanged, yea to be damned, and to be in the bottome of hell with all the Devills if ſhe might but be avenged of me and mine. Which words being related to me, I preſented a Petition aganſt her to the Judge of Maſcon Lieutenant Generall Foillard who bound the woman to her good behaviour, forbidden her to annoy us either in our perſon or our Goods upon great penalties; And I and my family were put under the protection of the King and juſtice. Of which proceſſe I keepe ſtill with me the judiciall Acts. But without ſtaying any more upon the ſecond cauſes, I attribute all to the diſpoſition of the firſt, and lift up mine eyes to the hand that gave the blow, ſhewing together his ſtrength in my weakneſſe, his mercy in my ſinfulneſſe, and his wiſe, moderate, and admirable dealing with me in that he ſuffered me not to be tempted above my ſtrength, but gave me with the temptation away to come out, that I might be able to beare it. Great reaſon I have to ſay with the Royall Prophet David. Our ſoule is eſcaped as a bird out of the hand of the fowlers, the ſnare is broken and we are eſcaped, Our helpe is in the name of the Lord who maat heaven and earth, To him be glory for it, now and for evermore, Amen.