up; Lazarus, come forth! and he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave-clothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin, &c. But what is this word, which is sharper than a two-edged sword? It is the Divine spirit, which is ever present, ever active; it is the Divine breath which inspires man. In all ages, and in every nation, there have been men who possessed miraculous powers; but they were inspired by religion-turned towards God in prayer and unity, The Almighty sees the heart of the supplicant, and not alone their words; he sees the belief and intention, and not the rank or education. Even the pious heathens prayed to God; and their peculiar worship maintained the connection, and brought about a still closer union, between individuals and God, and enabled them, in some measure, to pierce the veil of ignorance and darkness. And the pious heathen endeavoured with all his energies to raise himself to a more intimate relation with God, and, therefore, a peculiar force lay in the means employed; and what could be more powerful than prayer? and God, in his comprehensive love and affection, would not leave these supplicants unanswered. It would be superfluous to enumerate many instances of the efficacy of prayer, as exemplified in pious and believing men, which we might meet with in all ages, and among all nations. In later times many are well known. I shall, however, mention one, which appears to me the clearest and least doubtful. Kiersen relates as follows: "I knew a seer who gained a power of foretelling the future by prayer during the night on a mountain, where he was accustomed to lie on his face; and he used this power for the assistance of the sick in the most unpretending manner. His visions are partly prosaic, partly poetical, and have reference not only to sickness, but also to other important, and even political, events, so that he has much resemblance to the prophets of the Old Testament." For those to whom the universe is a piece of clockwork, or a perpetual motion, which continues moving for ever of its own accord to whom the everlasting power and wisdom and love in eternity and nature is as nothing, prayer and supplication must seem objectless and insipid; but they will never be able to perform the works of the soul. To these, the magical effects are just as inexplicable (and, therefore, untrue) as the magical phenomena are unknown. But, with all their knowledge and wisdom of the world, nature will ever remain to them a mystery. This is not the place to enter more fully into this subject; but it may not be superfluous to remember that in every word there is a magical influence, and that each word is in itself the breath of the internal and moving spirit. A word of love, of comfort, of promise, is able to strengthen the timid, the weak, or the physically ill; but words of hatred, censure, enmity, or menace, lower our confidence and selfreliance. How easily the worldling, who rejoices under good fortune, is cast down under adversity, and despair only enters where religion is not-where the mind has no inward and divine comforter. But there is, probably, no one who is proof against curse or blessing. FOURTH SECTION. THEORETICAL VIEWS ON THE SUBJECT OF MAGIC AMONG THE ANCIENTS IN GENERAL. ACCORDING to the investigations of G. Naudé (Apologie pour toutes les grandes personnages qui ont êté faussement soupçonnées de Magie, à la Haye, 1653,) magic was very early divided into four classes: : 1, Natural; 2, White Magic-Theurgy of the angels and good spirits; 3, the Black Art; and 4, Divine Magic. But it was not unfrequently the case that these classes were confounded, and that persons were accused of sorcery who often were merely politicians; as was the case in Greece, where legislators declared that they received their laws from the gods, for the purpose of causing their readier acceptance. It was thus that Trismegistus announced his laws as given by Mercury; Zamolais, by Vesta; Charondas, by Saturn; Minos, by Jupiter; Lycurgus, by Apollo; Draco and Solon, by Minerva; Numa Pompilius, by the Nymph Egiera; and Mahomet, as given by the angel Gabriel. Certain theories and doctrines were also occasionally classed with Magic which had, in fact, no connection whatever with it,—as for instance, the theories of Anaxagoras, particularly that of the ellipses;-even Plato, as he himself writes to Dionysius, was obliged to bring forward his views under a false name, that he might not be made responsible for them; and Socrates died because his differed from the generally accepted philosophy. There were many other causes which would confuse the idea of magic, and bring the system into discredit; the heathenish doctrines, enmities, ignorance, superstition, scepticism, and the premature judgments of shallow authors. Magic, therefore, was classed with paganism, because some of its professors were heathens, or were considered to be such as Simon Magus, Menander, Marcus, Valentinian, Carpocrates, Priscillian, Berengatius, Hermogenes; or because the magic arts followed in the footsteps of Heathen ism, as, after the Arians, in Spain, the devil was visibly seen to torment men. Apulejus was accused of magic through the enmity of his wife's parents. The Maid of Orleans was charged with sorcery by the English, who had been conquered by her bravery and enthusiasm. Ignorance and prejudice were great among the Greeks, still more so among the Romans, and in the Middle Ages rose to the highest pitch, and carried with them a superstitious belief in marvels and omens, for instance, that certain people could make hail- and thunder-storms at will, and that others could sail in ships through the air, for the purpose of collecting the treasures which had flown up among the clouds; and so deeply was this rooted in the mind of the people, that in 833, Agobert, the Bishop of Lyons, had the greatest difficulty in rescuing, from the fury of the mob, three men and a woman, who were supposed to have fallen to the earth from such a ship. Lastly, we would observe, how much easier it is to defame and blacken certain authors, than to understand their true and intended meaning. The first magician, who is recorded as such, and who gave distinct teachings on the subject of magic, is Zoroaster. The genius of Socrates, of Plotin, Porphyrius, and Iamblychus, of Chicus and Scaliger, and Cardanus, is then placed in the first rank, which included inward (magic) sight, and the motives of unusual appearances. The dream was regarded as an universally natural gift, as a brother of death, teaching us more of that unfettered vision and action which we shall possess in the last sleep, when all these bolts and bars are withdrawn, which in sleep are but loosened. "In somnis ignota prius mysteria disco, The views of the ancients on dreams will be found in extenso in "Dissertatio de somnis, Halæ, 1758," by D. L. Schulze. The views respecting divination and dreams, among the Greeks and Romans, are clearly set forth by Cicero in "De divinatio et de natura deorum." Plutarch and Pliny have also communicated numerous particulars, from the olden philosophers, respecting divinatory mania; ecstasy, which we shall notice more minutely at a later time, only giving a few general particulars in advance. Cicero mentions two species of divination, artificial and natural; he remarks that in the human mind a divine principle exists, shewing itself in every nation; in dreams; in sickness before death, and occasionally at other and unusual times. (Divino afflatu, Tuscul. I. 24, 27.) Socrates and Antipater collected almost every interesting particular respecting this subject. The explanation of a seeming contradiction, namely, foretelling the future, is explained by Cicero in this manner:— that it is not concerning something which has no existence, but only of that which is not yet revealed; for everything exists, although the time has not yet arrived to unfold it, "sunt enim omnia, sed tempore ab sunt." As the dormant vitality lies hidden in the seed, so does the future lie concealed in its causes; and this future is, therefore, seen by the unfettered soul in sleep or when roused by other influences, or reason and experience draw conclusions. Cicero then extracts copiously from the various ancient philosophers on this subject. '66 According to Posidonius," says Cicero, "man dreams in a threefold manner by divine impulse: firstly, the soul sees the future through its relationship to the gods; secondly, the air is full of immortal spirits, in whom, as it were, the signs of truth are impressed; thirdly, the gods themselves converse with the sleeper; and this is of more frequent occurrence when death approaches, so that the soul beholds the future." Cratippus: The souls of men are, on one side, entirely of a divine nature, by which we understand that the soul, besides its divine portion, also possesses one which is entirely human. The earthy part which maintains the senses, motion and appetite, is not to be separated from the activity of the body; and that portion with which reason and reflection are connected is then most active and powerful when it is separated and uninfluenced by the body. Chrysippus explains soothsaying in the following manner. There is a power which understands and explains the signs of all things, lent to man by the gods. By the means of soothsaying, we perceive the feelings of the gods towards man; the signs they give us; how they are to be made favourable to us, and in what manner we may conciliate them. The same may be said of dreams." Pythagoras considers the conscious portion of the soul to |