498 MEMOIRS of the 
for him J they hold that God dwelt in a vacuity, before he 
had created the world 5 and that as he dwelt in that vacuity, 
he created fevcral beings out of himfelf ^ the firft were angels, 
the fecond fouls, the third fpirits, all differing in degrees of 
purity j the firft being more pure than the fecond, and the 
fecond than the third , the angels they fay neither aft good 
nor evil 5 the fouls either good or evilj but the fpirits or 
iDemotas^ as they call them, aft fcarcely any thing but evil 5 
they have a good opinion of the angels, and reckon their ilate 
mighty happy, hoping that when they die, they fhall be made 
partakers of the fame blils and pleafure : They believe that 
every thing that hath life, has a foul, but efpecially man ; and 
they accordingly affirm, that as thefe fouls behaved themfelves 
in their pre-exiflent flate, fo are their aftions in this world 
cither good or bad, by a fort of fatal necefiity, which is very 
hard to conquer, or overcome 5 hence it is, fay they, that 
there are fo many different humours and difpofitions of men 5 
for their fouls, before their entrance into their bodies, being 
tainted with different affeftions, caufes the like differences in 
the parries, whofe bodies are their vehicles 5 fo that if a man 
happen to have a fudden or unfortunate death, they imme- 
diately afcribe the fame to the perfbns own wickednefs, or the 
bad life that his foul led before it enter'd into his body 5 for, 
fay they, the afore-afted evil that his foul did in its other life, 
brought thefe aftions upon him, which, by being too powerful 
and ftrong, get the upper-hand of him^ and they believe, 
that fuch as die thus, have their fouls turn'd immediately into 
devils^ they maintain 'Pythagoras^ tranfmigration, or Metera- 
pfycJoofiSy but in a groffer fenfe than he did 5 for they believe 
that men's fouls, that have not lived fo well as they ought, are 
tranfmigrated as foon as the body dies, not oaly into birds and 
beafts, but even into thebafeft reptiles, infefts and plants, where 
they fuffer a ftrong fort of purgation, to expiate their former 
crimes 5 but as for the fouls of the Jogees or Fncheh., that is, of 
religious men and faints, they fancy that they go and dwell with 
the good iDewtas or angels amongft the ftars: As for the 
fpirits or inferior angels, they believe that they are very bad, 
and that they have a hand in all wickednefs, murders, wars, 
llorms, and rempefts^ fo that when they folemnize the fune- 
rals of the dead, they always prefent difhes of meat, as offer- 
ings to thofe fpirits, and fometimes they facrifice to them, that 
they may not hurt the fouls of the dead : As they acknowledge 
the being of the mighty God, fo they hold, that he created 
the 
