upon the whole, is any wrong done to _the Devil_ by this kind of
treatment, it only gives him the sovereignty of the whole army of Hell,
and making all the numberless legions of the bottomless pit servants;
or, _as the Scripture calls them_, Angels to _Satan_ the grand _Devil_;
all their actions, performances and atchievements are justly attributed
to him, not as the prince of _Devils_ only, but the Emperor of _Devils_;
the prince of all the princes of _Devils_.

Under this denomination then of DEVIL, all the Powers of Hell, all the
Princes of the air, all the black armies of _Satan_ are comprehended,
and in such manner they are to be understood in this whole work;
_mutatis mutandis_, according to the several circumstances of which we
are to speak of them.

This being premis'd, and my authority being so good, _Satan_ must not
take it ill, if I treat him _after the manner of men_, and give him
those titles which he is best known by among us; for indeed having so
many, 'tis not very easy to call him out of his name.

However, as I am oblig'd by the duty of an Historian to decency as well
as impartiality, so I thought it necessary, before I used too much
freedom with _Satan_, to produce authentick Documents, and bring
antiquity upon the stage, to justify the manner of my writing, and let
you see I shall describe him in no colours, nor call him by any name,
but what he has been known by for many ages before me.

And now, though writing to the common understanding of my Readers, I am
oblig'd to treat _Satan_ very coarsly, and to speak of him in the common
acceptation, calling him plain _Devil_, a word which in this mannerly
age is not so _sonorous_ as others might be, and which by the error of
the Times is apt to prejudice us against his Person; yet it must be
acknowledg'd he has a great many other names and sirnames which he might
be known by, of a less obnoxious import than that of _Devil_, or
_Destroyer_, &c.

Mr. _Milton_, indeed, wanting titles of honour to give to the Leaders of
Satan's Host, is oblig'd to borrow several of his Scripture names, and
bestow them upon his infernal _Heroes_, whom he makes the Generals and
Leaders of the armies of Hell; and so he makes _Beelzebub_, _Lucifer_,
_Belial_, _Mammon_, and some others, to be the names of particular
Devils, members of _Satan's upper house_ or _Pandemonium_; whereas
indeed, these are all names proper and peculiar to _Satan_ himself.

The Scripture also has som