GOOD AND EVIL DEMONS.
It was formerly commonly believed that not only kingdoms had their tutelary guardians, but that every person had his particular genius or good angel, to protect and admonish him by dreams, visions, etc.[85] Hence, in “Antony and Cleopatra” (ii. 3), the soothsayer, speaking of Cæsar, says:
“O Antony, stay not by his side:
Thy demon,—that’s thy spirit which keeps thee,—is
Noble, courageous, high, unmatchable,
Where Cæsar’s is not; but, near him, thy angel
Becomes a fear, as being o’erpower’d.”
Thus Macbeth (iii. 1) speaks in a similar manner in reference to Banquo:
“There is none but he
Whose being I do fear; and, under him,
My Genius is rebuked; as, it is said,
Mark Antony’s was by Cæsar.”
So, too, in “2 Henry IV.” (i. 2), the Chief-justice says:
“You follow the young prince up and down, like his ill angel.”
We may quote a further reference in “Julius Cæsar” (iii. 2), where Antony says:
“For Brutus, as you know, was Cæsar’s angel.”