All the ages of Paganism in the World have had this notion of _the Devil_: indeed in some parts of the World they had also some Deities which they honour'd above him, as being supposed to be beneficent, kind and inclined, as well as capable to give them good things; for this reason the more polite Heathens, such as the _Grecians_ and the _Romans_, had their _Lares_ or houshold Gods, whom they paid a particular respect to; as being their Protectors from Hobgoblins, Ghosts of the Dead, evil Spirits, frightful Appearances, evil Genius's and other noxious Beings from the invisible World; or to put it into the language of the day we live in, from _the Devil_, in whatever shape or appearance he might come to them, and from whatever might hurt them: and what was all this but setting up _Devils_ against _Devils_, supplicating one _Devil_ under the notion of a good Spirit, to drive out and protect them from another, whom they call'd a bad Spirit, the white _Devil_ against the black _Devil_? This proceeds from the natural notions mankind necessarily entertain of things to come; _superior_ or _inferior_, GOD and the _Devil_, fill up all futurity in our thoughts; and 'tis impossible for us to form any images in our minds of an immortality and an invisible World, but under the notions of perfect felicity, or extreme misery. Now as these two respect the Eternal state of man after life, they are respectively the object of our reverence and affection, or of our horror and aversion; but notwithstanding they are plac'd thus in a diametrical opposition in our affections and passions, they are on an evident level as to the certainty of their existence, and, as I said above, bear an equal share in our faith. It being then as certain that there is _a Devil_, as that there is _a God_, I must from this time forward admit no more doubt of his existence, nor take any more pains to convince you of it; but speaking of him as a reality in Being, proceed to enquire who he is, and from whence, in order to enter directly into the detail of his History.