THE DEVIL IN BRITAIN AND AMERICA [Illustration: FACSIMILE OF THE ONLY KNOWN SPECIMEN OF THE DEVIL’S WRITING.] THE DEVIL IN BRITAIN AND AMERICA BY JOHN ASHTON AUTHOR OF ‘SOCIAL ENGLAND UNDER THE REGENCY,’ ‘SOCIAL LIFE IN THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE,’ ‘VARIA,’ ETC. ‘Nam ut vere loquamur, superstitio fusa per gentes oppressit omnium fere animos, atque hominum imbecillitatem occupavit.’ CICERO--_De Divin._, Lib. ii. 72. _WITH FORTY-SEVEN ILLUSTRATIONS_ WARD AND DOWNEY _Limited_ 12 YORK BUILDINGS, ADELPHI W.C. 1896. [_All rights reserved._] PREFACE To my thinking, all modern English books on the Devil and his works are unsatisfactory. They all run in the same groove, give the same cases of witchcraft, and, moreover, not one of them is illustrated. I have endeavoured to remedy this by localizing my facts, and by reproducing all the engravings I could find suitable to my purpose. I have also tried to give a succinct account of demonology and witchcraft in England and America, by adducing authorities not usually given, and by a painstaking research into old cases, carefully taking everything from original sources, and bringing to light very many cases never before republished. For the benefit of students, I have given--as an Appendix--a list of the books consulted in the preparation of this work, which, however, the student must remember is not an exhaustive bibliography on the subject, but only applies to this book, whose _raison d’être_ is its localization. The frontispiece is supposed to be the only specimen of Satanic caligraphy in existence, and is taken from the ‘Introductio in Chaldaicam Linguam,’ etc., by Albonesi (Pavia, 1532). The author says that by the conjuration of Ludovico Spoletano the Devil was called up, and adjured to write a legible and clear answer to a question asked him. Some invisible power took the pen, which seemed suspended in the air, and rapidly wrote what is facsimiled. The writing was given to Albonesi (who, however, confesses that no one can decipher it), and his chief printer reproduced it very accurately. I am told by experts that in some of the characters may be found a trace of Amharic, a language spoken in its purity in the province of Amhara (Ethiopia), and which, according to a legend, was the primeval language spoken in Eden. JOHN ASHTON. CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER I. Universal Belief in the Personality of the Devil, as portrayed by the British Artist--Arguments in Favour of his Personality--Ballad--‘Terrible and Seasonable Warning to Young Men’ 1 CHAPTER II.