Stephen, the spirit in a more extraordinary manner conversed with
men, and, in reply to their taunts, upbraided them openly with
everything they had done from their birth, and which they were not
willing should be known or heard by others. I do not presume to
assign the cause of this event, except that it is said to be the
presage of a sudden change from poverty to riches, or rather from
affluence to poverty and distress; as it was found to be the case in
both these instances. And it appears to me very extraordinary that
these places could not be purified from such illusions, either by
the sprinkling of holy water, or the assistance of any other
religious ceremony; for the priests themselves, though protected by
the crucifix, or the holy water, on devoutly entering the house,
were equally subject to the same insults. From whence it appears
that things pertaining to the sacraments, as well as the sacraments
themselves, defend us from hurtful, but not from harmless things;
from annoyances, but not from illusions. It is worthy of note, that
in our time, a woman in Poitou was possessed by a demon, who,
through her mouth, artfully and acutely disputed with the learned.
He sometimes upbraided people with their secret actions, and those
things which they wished not to hear; but when either the books of
the gospel, or the relics of saints, were placed upon the mouth of
the possessed, he fled to the lower part of her throat; and when
they were removed thither, he descended into her belly. His
appearance was indicated by certain inflations and convulsions of
the parts which he possessed, and when the relics were again placed
in the lower parts, he directly returned to the upper. At length,
when they brought the body of Christ, and gave it to the patient,
the demon answered, "Ye fools, you are doing nothing, for what you
give her is not the food of the body, but of the soul; and my power
is confined to the body, not to the soul." But when those persons