I conclude with that memorable speech of a most noble and learned man,[ff] The Diuell is the Author and principall of all that euill which the Witch or Wisard committeth, not thereby to make them more powerfull, but to deceiue them by credulity and ouer-light beliefe, and to get himselfe a companion of his impiety, cruelty, and hatred, which he beareth both to God and man; and also of eternall damnation:  for indeed it is his worke, which the foolish and doating wisards coniecture is brought to passe by the words and inchantments which they vtter:  and is very busie thus to colour his proceedings, which neuer come abroad in their owne likenesse, because he enuieth the blessed estate of man, and his eternall saluation purchased by the perfect obedience of Christ the Redeemer, and hateth that Image of God which hee beholdeth in him; much like the Panther,[gg] who when hee cannot get hold of the man himselfe, is so inflamed with rage, that he teareth his picture in peeces violently which is cast vpon the ground to hinder his pursuit of the hunter who hath carried away his whelpes.  And [hh]so as Lactantius speaketh, these vncleane spirits cast from heauen, wander vp and downe the earth, compasse land and sea, seeking to bring men to destruction as a consort of their owne desperate and irrecouerable estate.

    [Footnote ff:  Iulius Scaliger de subtilitate, ad Cardanum,
    exercitatione 349. an venefici credulitas vim addat malefice.]

    [Footnote gg:  Basilius Homilia 21. in diuersos Scriptura locos
    sermone habito in non procul a fine.]

    [Footnote hh:  Lib. 2. qui est de origine erroris cap. 15.]

    The fourth Proposition.

Hauing shewed before, that the pracise of Witches receiueth the being and perfection from that[a] agreement which is made betweene them and Diuell, it now followeth necessarily, that we do enquire whether it bee possible that there may be any such agreement and league betweene them.  The cause of doubt ariseth from the diuersity or disparity of their natures, the one being a corporall substance, the other spirituall, vpon which ground some[b] haue supposed that no such contract can passe:  But we are to hold the contrary affirmatiue, both de esse, and de posse, that there may be, and is, notwithstanding this difference of essence, a mutuall contract of the one with the other:  for we read of sundry leagues between God & his people, and some with great solemnitie of ceremonies vsed in the same, a[c] Genesis 15. 9.17. and Deut. 5. 2. and in many other like places, yet is hee a simple essence,[d] free from all diuision, multiplication, composition, accidents, incorporeall, spirituall, and inuisible.  But in Angelicall creatures, though there be no Physicall composition of matter and forme, or a soule and a body; yet is there a metaphysicall, being substances consisting of an act and possibility, subiect and accidents.  And furthcr, betweene a spirit and a man, there is communication of the vnderstanding and will, the faculties and actions whereof must concurre in euery couenant, which is nothing else but the consent of two or more persons about the thing.