Some have rashly, and I had almost said maliciously charg'd _the Devil_ with the great triumphs of his friends the _Spaniards_ in _America_, and would place the conquest of _Mexico_ and _Peru_ to the credit of his account.
But I cannot join with them in this at all, I must say, I believe _the Devil_ was innocent of that matter; my reason is, because, _Satan_ was never such a fool as to spend his time, or his politicks, or embark his allies to conquer nations who were already his own; that would be _Satan_ against _Beelzebub_, making war upon himself, and at least doing nothing to the purpose.
If they should charge him, indeed, with deluding _Philip_ II. of _Spain_ into that preposterous attempt call'd _the Armada_, (_anglice_, the _Spanish Invasion_,) I should indeed more readily join with them; but whether he did it weakly, in hope, _which was indeed not likely_, that it should succeed; or wickedly, to destroy that great fleet of the _Spaniards_, and draw them within the reach of his own dominions, the elements; this being a question which authors differ exceedingly about, I shall leave it to decide it self.
But the greatest piece of management, which we find _the Devil_ has concern'd himself in of late, in the matter of religion, seems to be that of the mission into _China_; and here indeed _Satan_ has acted his master-piece: It was, no doubt, much for his service that _the Chineses_ should have no insight into matters of religion, I mean, that we call christian; and therefore, tho' _Popery_ and the _Devil_ are not at so much variance as some may imagine, yet he did not think it safe to let the general system of Christianity be heard of among them in _China_. Hence when the name of the christian religion had but been received with some seeming approbation in the country of _Japan_, _Satan_ immediately, as if alarm'd at the thing, and dreading what the consequence of it might be, arm'd the _Japoneses_ against it with such fury, that they expell'd it at once.
It was much safer to his designs, when, if the story be not a fiction, he put that _Dutch_ witicism into the mouths of the States commanders, when they came to _Japan_; who having more wit than to own themselves Christians in such a place as that, when the question was put to them, answered negatively, _That they were not_, but that _they were of another religion call'd_ Hollanders.