Demonologia.
OBSERVATIONS ON ANCIENT AND
MODERN SUPERSTITIONS, &c.
The mind of man is naturally so addicted to the marvellous, that, notwithstanding the brilliant eructations of knowledge that have been elicited and diffused out of chaotic darkness since the establishment of the Christian religion, and the revival of learning and the arts, the influence still of ancient superstition is by no means entirely annihilated. At the present period, however, it is principally confined to the uneducated portion of the community; although, at a more remote period, its limits were by no means so circumscribed. A belief in the existence of apparitions, witches, sorcerers, and magicians, is still credulously supported in many parts of the world, though less so in civilized Europe than in other countries, Lapland and some parts of Sweden and Norway excepted. But how much must it astonish us when we look back to the distant ages of Greece and Rome, the nurseries of the sciences and the arts, to find the greatest heroes and statesmen imbibing and fostering the same ridiculous prejudices, and strenuously cultivating the same belief, paying obedience to augurs, oracles, and soothsayers, on whose contradictory and equivocal inferences their prosperity or adversity was made to depend. In fact, little more than a century ago, do we not behold things still more extravagantly credulous and ferocious; namely, the burning of women for the imaginary crime of witchcraft, incidents of which we have given in the body of this work, a crime much more innocent than that of priestcraft, which triumphantly prevailed at the very same period, and which still holds the minds of thousands in subjection?
A belief in judicial astrology was supported and cultivated by men remarkable for their extraordinary genius and talents.
Legends, miracles, prophecies, &c. are relics of superstitious ages. What also is extraordinary, is, that few species of superstition, if any, originated with the populace. They were the inventions of barbarous ages before the dawn of reason—afterwards the fabrications of men actuated by ambition, and a desire to servilize the human mind.
As regards the Romans only, a people whom we are taught from our infancy to respect, and who, indeed, in their better days, were truly venerable for their virtue and valour, what is there in their history more astonishing than their implicit belief in augury[[1]]? Their belief in omens or preternatural appearances of the heavenly bodies, in eclipses, comets, and dreadful thunder-storms, may be forgiven. They had made small progress in astronomy; they had not learnt that an eclipse is a matter of common calculation; and that storms are, in most cases, highly beneficial to the earth, and nowise connected with past or future events. But when we find them giving implicit credit to their priests, who thought proper to predict good or evil, merely from the appearance of the entrails of sacrificed animals, from the flight of birds, from chickens, foxes, &c. we are at a loss to conceive how a deception of this kind could have prevailed, without being detected and exposed by the good sense of the people. The mob alone, or the common soldiers and sailors, were not merely influenced by the reports of the augurs[[2]]; their kings or commanders undertook no expedition without consulting these oracles, and were always unsuccessful, if they confided so much in themselves as to disregard their opinions. In some cases, it is easy to suppose that they might have been in concert with the augurs, to promote some favourite point, to raise an enthusiasm in the people in their favour, or to inspire the soldiers with fortitude in some dangerous enterprise. But it is not so easy to suppose that this was always the case, because, upon the evidence of their historians, it appears that there was generally but little connexion between them; and that, although the people looked to the commander for orders, they regarded the augurs as superior beings who were to grant success.
The art of augury the Romans had from the Tuscans, and the Tuscans from the Greeks, who probably derived it from the Chaldeans; but the progress of the art is as absurd as the origin of it is obscure. The only wonder is, that it had so much influence upon a people, in the whole of whose history we find so many brilliant examples of solid sense, of learning, and of eloquence. Their historians, who rank among the most learned of their writers, and of whose abilities we can even now be judges, gravely relate the process of consulting augury, and the success of it. Yet the augurs were men following one another in regular succession. Was there none to betray the secret? Was the art of juggling an hereditary secret without one interruption? Tyranny first broke the chain. When Rome was governed by tyrants, these despised augury, and prosecuted their wicked purposes, whatever might be the appearance of the entrails of an ox; and as they, no doubt, often succeeded in their enterprises, augury would naturally fall into disrepute. These circumstances, in the great chain of causes and events, would naturally pave the way for a more rational religion. We are indebted to Henry VIII. for the commencement of the reformation; but, if the pope would have sanctioned his lust and his extortion, that advantage would have probably been derived from a better sovereign.
It is a circumstance no less remarkable, that, notwithstanding we read of the superstitions of the Greeks and Romans with wonder and some degree of contempt, we cannot acquit ourselves of having yet retained a very considerable portion Of the same superstitious spirit. We are even indebted to them for almost all our popular whims. A hare crossing the way—a person sneezing—stumbling—hearing strange voices—and the falling of salt upon the table, were all with them omens of good or evil, according to circumstances, and remain so with thousands at the present time, and in this enlightened country. Persons of otherwise no mean understanding have been greatly perplexed, and have even turned pale at such occurrences. To the above may be added, a coal starting from the fire[[3]]—the death-watch—the sediment of the sugar rising to the top of the tea-cup, and many others. We may also mention the success of those impostors, who pretend to calculate nativities (see Astrology) and predict events; and the many foolish instances for belief in the success of lottery-tickets.
Ignorant as the Romans were of a superintending Providence, and of the revealed will of the Divine Majesty, their trust in such omens was pardonable, and deceived as they were by the artifices of their soothsayers, who could contrive to time their prophecies, and express them in such a manner that they should appear to be punctually fulfilled, we cannot wonder if the wisest among them were induced to place confidence in imposture. But that we should be as much attached to this species of divination is a weakness, than which there is none we ought more to blush at. Although we boast of our superior understanding, improved as it is by the knowledge of eighteen centuries, we are guilty of a weakness which is excusable only in an unenlightened heathen. This subject might, perhaps, be treated with the ridicule of satire, or the silence of contempt, but the more we consider it, the more we should be inclined to doubt the fact, that there can exist a human and reasonable being so weak, as to believe that futurity can be revealed by trifling events, or by the lowest of mankind, under the name of conjurors. But the fact cannot be doubted: cases of the kind occur every day; and the happiness of individuals and families often lies at the mercy of such impostors.