These Things leave us no room to doubt of what is advanced above, namely, that he, (the _Devil_) has a certain Residence, or Liberty of residing in, and moving about upon the Surface of this Earth, as well as in the Compass of the Atmosphere, vulgarly call'd the Air, in some manner or other: That is the general.
It remains to enquire into the manner, which I resolve into two Kinds;
1. _Ordinary_, which I suppose to be his invisible Motions as a Spirit; under which Consideration I suppose him to have an unconfin'd, unlimited, unrestrain'd Liberty, as to the manner of acting; and this either in Persons, by Possession; or in Things, by Agitation.
2. _Extraordinary_; which I understand to be his Appearances in borrowed Shapes and Bodies, or Shadows rather of Bodies; assuming Speech, Figure, Posture, and Several Powers, of which we can give little or no Account; in which extraordinary manner of Appearances, he is either limited by a Superior Power, or limits himself politically, as being not the Way most for his Interest or Purpose, to act in his Business, which is more effectually done in his State of Obscurity.
Hence we must suppose the _Devil_ has it very much in his own Choice, whether to act in one Capacity, or in the other, or in both; that is to say, of appearing, and not appearing, as he finds for his Purpose: In this State of Invisibility, and under the Operation of these Powers and Liberties, he performs all his Functions and Offices, as _Devil_, as Prince of Darkness, as God of this World, as Tempter, Accuser, Deceiver, and all whatsoever other Names of Office, or Titles of Honour he is known by.
Now taking him in this large unlimited, or little limited State of Action, he is well call'd, _the God of this World_, for he has very much of the Attribute of Omnipresence, and may be said, _either by himself or his Agents_, to be every where, and see every thing; that is to say, every thing that is visible; for I cannot allow him any Share of _Omniscience_ at all.
That he ranges about every where, is _with us_, and sometimes _in us_, sees when he is not seen, hears when he is not heard, comes in without Leave, and goes out without Noise, is neither to be shut in or shut out, that when he runs _from us_ we can't catch him, and when he runs _after us_ we can't escape him, is seen when he is not known, and is known when he is not seen; all these things, and more, we have Knowledge enough about to convince us of the Truth of them; so that, as I have said above, he is certainly walking to and fro thro' the Earth, _&c._ after _some manner or other_, and in some Figure or other, visible or invisible, as he finds Occasion. Now in order to make our History of him complete, the next Question before us is, how, and in what manner he acts with Mankind? how his Kingdom is carried on, and by what Methods he does his Business, for he certainly has a great deal of Business to do; he is not an idle Spectator, nor is he walking about _incognito_, and cloth'd in Mist and Darkness, purely in Kindness to us, that we should not be frighted at him; but 'tis in Policy, that he may act undiscover'd, that he may see and not be seen, may play his Game in the dark, and not be detected in his Roguery; that he may prompt Mischief, raise Tempests, blow up Coals, kindle Strife, embroil Nations, use Instruments, and not be known to have his Hand in any thing, when at the same time he really has a Hand in every thing.