ABSTRACT
IIVJMONGSTallnationsthebeliefinthatmagical Iii)power,which,bymeansofcertainwordsand rites,commandstheevilspiritsandconstrainsthe godsthemselvestoobeyhimwhoknowsalltheir powerfulsecrets,hasproducedinthenaturalorder ofthingsadualsystemcorrespondingtothatofthe goodandbadspirits.Thesupernaturalpowerby whichmansucceedsinconqueringthespiritsmay beinitsnatureeitherdivineordiabolical,celestial orinfernal.'Inthefirstcaseitisconfoundedwith thepowerthatthepriestderivesfromthesuperior gods;itisexercisedinabeneficentmannerto avertmisfortunes,toconjurediseases,andto combatdemoniacalinfluences.Inthesecondcase itbecomesperverseandimpious,constitutingsorcery orwitchcraftwithalltheircriminalaberrations.This distinctionwasmadebytheChaldeans,anditexists
everywhere, except perhaps amongst some positively barbarous tribes, by whom the priest of magic is more feared for his sorcery than blessed for his beneficent conjurations.' Of course the sacred books, the remains of which we possess, only contain the formul<E-and incantations of the divine magic, of the conjuring and propitious art ; the diabolical and malevolent magic is excluded with horror, and its practices are energetically condemned.
