V. 4. The evil angels are as numerous as the good, and they

whose power is recognised are legion, — Mark, v. 9. They have even a certain gradation of ranks. Beelzebub is the chief of the devils,— Matthew, xii. 24.
After the Jews had adopted the ideas of the Assyrians as to good and bad spirits, of mischievous and destruction- bringing angels, the faith in their number and might aug- mented in proportion to the decline of religion, and at the time of Christ had reached such a height that it became as necessary to purify men within as without, and to purge their bodies and spirits equally from diseases. Christ did not bring the spirit-world into religion, — he found it already there ; and his mission of emancipation consisted in this, that he conducted men to true virtue and freed them from the power of the devil. For the Prince of Darkness — he who dwells in the air — is cast by the God of peace under our feet, — Eomans, xvi. 20, In wickedness the "Wicked One had terrible address ; what misery he brought upon pious Job ! what anguish he occasioned to David by inducing him to number the people I But what availed his power against Christ ? His temptations had dared to attack the inner and divine principle : but Christ cast all those false pretences behind him ; and his power and authority were so great that he cast out the devils who had taken possession of others, and released the possessed from the pains of hell. But the fiends did not quit their hold on men without a fierce resistance, nor did they always disappear without a trace. The devils of two possessed who came out of the tombs, and were so terrible that they made the country of the Gerga- senes quite unsettled, implored the Lord that they might enter into a herd of swine : " and the whole herd ran head-
136 HISTOBY OF MAGIC.
long into the sea, and were drowned in the waters," — Matt. viii. 28 : a circumstance as interesting to the anthro- pologists as to the pious believers. The following passages in the gospel, the special anthropological interpretation of which I leave to the reader, are both expressive and important. For instance, "The devil sows tares amongst the good wheat," — Matt. xiii. 24. He assumes the form of an angel of light, — 11. Corinth, xi. 14. He goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, — I. Peter, v. 8. He pro- duces also bodily disease ; as the woman, who had the spirit of sickness for eighteen years, was bent and could scarcely look up, — Luke, xiii. 11. He blinds the senses " till they recover themselves out of the snares of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will," — IL Timothy, ii. 26. The following passages are also important : — " Heal the sick ; cast out devils," — Matt. x. 8. "And they said of John, he has a devil," — Matt. xi. 18 ; and of Christ, that he drove out the devils through Beelzebub. " Put on the whole armour of G-od, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil," — Ephesians, vi. 11. " Take the helmet of sal- vation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God." "The devil will throw some of you into prison. He who sins is of the devil." He is also called meta- phorically a devil in the Scriptures, who has a lying, ca- lumnious spirit. The tables of the devil are feasts dedicated to idols, and at the same time to the devil. Palse gods, as some literally interpret it, are imps of the devil. Subtlety bears the name of serpent; devilish cruelty is represented under the name of a lion (I. Peter, v. 8) ; dominion amongst the children of unbelief under the image of a prince. The devil has not so much power as a divine tolerance.
When the godless have resisted the gentle drawings of the Holy Spirit, and have rejected grace, till they have for- gotten God in their darkness, and are become as dry stubble, the devil finds in them his prey, and enters into them. If the pious are tempted like Job for the wise purposes of God, they kiss the paternal hand of God in humility, and hold fast their faith, so that to them who serve God and love their neighbours all things are well, — Eomans, viii. 28. The Holy Ghost enters into them, so that the hellish lion has no power over them. They arm thembelves with spiri-
THE SPIRITUAL IN THE MIND. 137
tual weapons out of the armoury of Christ, — Ephesians, vi. 11. They pray fervently, are " sober and vigilant," —