The words and other the illusions of witches, charmers, and conjurors, though they be not such in operation and effect, as they are commonlie taken to be: yet they are offensive to the majestie and name of God, obscuring the truth of divinitie, & also of philosophie. For if God onlie give life & being to all creatures, who can put any such vertue or livelie feeling into a body of gold, silver, bread, or wax, as is imagined? If either preests, divels, or witches could so doo, the divine power shuld be checked & outfaced by magicall cunning, & Gods creatures made servile to a witches pleasure. What is not to be brought to passe by these incantations, if that be true which is attributed to witches? & yet they are women that never went to schoole in their lives, nor had any teachers: and therefore without art or learning; poore, and therefore not able to make any provision of metal or stones, &c: whereby to bring to passe strange matters, by naturall magicke; old and stiffe, and therefore not nimble handed to deceive your eie with legierdemaine; heavie, and commonlie lame, and therefore unapt to flie in the aire, or to danse with the fairies; sad, melancholike, sullen, and miserable, and therefore it should be unto them (_Invita Minerva_) to banket or danse with _Minerva_; or yet with _Herodias_, as the common opinion of all writers heerein is. On the other side, we see they are so malicious and spitefull, that if they by themselves, or by their divels, could trouble the elements, we should never have faire weather. If they could kill men, children, or cattell, they would spare none; but would destroy and kill whole countries and housholds. If they could transfer corne (as is affirmed) from their neighbors field into their owne, none of them would be poore, none other should be rich. If they could transforme themselves and others (as it is most constantlie affirmed) oh what a number of apes and owles should there be of us! If _Incubus_ could beget _Merlins_ among us, we should have a jollie manie of cold prophets. ♦An ample description of women commonlie called witches.♦ The fourth Chapter. _Why God forbad the practise of witchcraft, the absurditie of the lawe of the twelve tables, whereupon their estimation in miraculous actions is grounded, of their woonderous works._