tivity, we meet with very little notice of the devil, and it would seem, that the effects which he could. produce on the material world, were considered as but very trifling. The wizzards of those days rather ascribed the efficacy of their conjurations to other gods; and therefore, in the Israelitish polity, witchcraft was commonly accounted a species of idolatry, and of course, most severely punishable. Hence orthodox theology, in the time of Moses, could look upon it in no other light, than an imposture: for no one could maintain, that it operated preternaturally, without admitting the existence of other gods, and their power over the material world."-The Jews before they entered Canaan knew nothing about the devil. Nor did its idolatrous inhabitants, for he was not known in that part of the world. If then, as now, he walked about seeking whom he might devour, it is very unaccountable he should not be familiarly known in Canaan, a land full of idols, and witches, and all manner of wickedness. It seems all these could exist in those days without any devil to produce them. Nor is Moses, or rather God, under any apprehension, that he would visit that country. We shall see that the Jews were obliged to go to a foreign land to find the devil.

2d. The Jews were carried to Babylon, and spent seventy years in captivity. Here, the Magian religion, revived and improved by Zoroaster, prevailed, and here we shall find that they became acquainted with the doctrine of the devil, and with other religious opinions not found in their scriptures. To this point I shall now turn the attention of the reader. Prideaux, vol. i. p. 219-240. gives us an account of Zoroaster, his religion, and its success, a few brief extracts from which I shall only make. He says"In the time of his (Darius Hystaspis) reign first appeared in Persia the famous prophet of the Magians,

whom the Persians call Zerdusht, or Zaratush, and the Greeks, Zoroaster. He was the greatest impostor, except Mahomet, that ever appeared in the world, and had all the craft and enterprising boldness of that Arab, but much more knowledge; for he was excellently skilled in all the learning of the East that was in his time; whereas the other could neither read nor write; and particularly he was thoroughly versed in the Jewish ligion, and in all the sacred writings of the Oldestament that were then extant, which makes it most likely, that he was as to his origin, a Jew. And it is generally said of him, that he had been a servant to one of the prophets of Israel, and that it was by this means that he came to be so well skilled in the Holy Scriptures, and all other Jewish knowledge; which is a further proof that he was of that people; it not being likely, that a prophet of Israel should entertain him as a servant, or instruct him as a disciple, if he were not of the same seed of Israel, as well as of the same religion with him; and that especially since it was the usage of that people, by principle of religion, as well as by long received custom among them, to separate themselves from all other nations, as far as they were able. And it is further to be taken notice of, that most of those who speak of his original, say, that he was of Palestine, within which country the land of Judea was. And all this put together, amounts with me to a convincing proof that he was first a Jew, and that by birth, as well as religion, before he took upon him to be prophet of the Magian sect.

"He did not found a new religion, as his successor in imposture, Mahomet did, but only took upon him to revive and reform an old one, that of the Magians, which had been for many ages past the ancient national religion of the Medes, as well as of the Persians for it having fallen into disgrace on the death

:

of those ringleaders of that sect, who had usurped the sovereignty after the death of Cambyses, and the slaughter which was then made of all the chief men among them, it sunk so low, that it became almost extinct, and Sabianism every where prevailed against it, Darius and most of his followers on that occasion going over to it. But the affection which the people had for the religion of their forefathers, and which they had been all brought up in, not being easily to be rooted out, Zoroaster saw that he revival of this was the best game of imposture that he could then play; and, having so good an old stock to graft upon, he did with the greater ease make all his new scions to grow which he inserted into it.

"The chief reformation which he made in the Magian religion was in the first principle of it: for whereas before they had held the being of two first causes, the first light, or the good god, who was the author of all good; and the other darkness, or the evil god, who was the author of all evil; and that of the mixture of these two, as they were in a continual struggle with each other, all things were made; he introduced a principle superior to them both, one supreme God, who created both light and darkness, and out of these two, according to the alone pleasure of his own will made all things else that are, according to what is said in the 45th chapter of Isaiah, 5, 6, 7. "I am the Lord, and there is none else: there is no God besides me; I girded thee, though thou hast not known me, that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil, I the Lord do all these things." For these words being directed to Cyrus, king of Persia, must be understood as spoken in reference to the Persian sect of the Magians, who then held light and darkness, or

good and evil, to be the supreme beings, without acknowledging the great god who is superior to both. And I doubt not it was from hence that Zoroaster had the hint of mending this great absurdity in their theology. But to avoid making God the author of evil, his doctrine was, that God originally and directly created only light or good, and that darkness or evil followed it by consequence, as the shadow doth the person; that light or good had only a real production from God, and the other afterwards resulted from it, as the defect thereof. In sum, his doctrine as to this particular was, that there was one supreme Being independent and self-existing from all eternity. That under him there were two angels, one the angel of light, who is the author and director of all good; and the other the angel of darkness, who is the author and director of all evil; and that these two, out of the mixture of light and darkness, made all things that are; that they are in a perpetual struggle with each other; and that where the angel of light prevails, there the most is good, and where the angel of darkness prevails, there the most is evil; that this struggle shall continue to the end of the world; that then there shall be a general resurrection, and a day of judgment, wherein just retribution shall be rendered to all according to their works; after which the angel of darkness, and his disciples, shall go into a world of their own, where they shall suffer in everlasting darkness the punishments of their evil deeds; and the angel of light, and his disciples, shall also go into a world of their own, where they shall receive in everlasting light the reward due unto their good deeds; and that after this they shall remain separated forever, and light and darkness be no more mixed together to all eternity. And all this the remainder of that sect, which is now in Persia and India, do without

any variation, after so many ages, still hold even to this day."

On these extracts, and other things stated in the pages referred to, I shall make a few general remarks. Zoroaster being a Jew, well acquainted with the Jewish scriptures, and skilled in all the learning of the East, was preeminently qualified for the game of imposture which he played. He did not invent a new religion, but only revived and improved the ancient Magian religion. As Prideaux says "He grafted all his new scions on this old stock and they grew." The Magian religion "had been for many ages past the ancient national religion of the Medes as well as of the Persians." Zoroaster's improved system soon became popular, national, and generally universal in the East. Though at first, it met with great opposition from the Sabians, yet he soon drew over to it Darius, whose example was soon followed by the "courtiers, nobility, and all the great men of the kingdom." The time in which he flourished-" was while Darius Hystaspis was king of Persia." The sect flourished from his time, which, to "the death of Yazdejard, the last Persian king of the Magian religion, was about eleven hundred years. But after the Mahometans had overrun Persia, in the seventh century after Christ, the Archimagus was forced to remove from thence into Kerman, which is a province in Persia, lying upon the Southern Ocean, towards India, and there it hath continued even to this day." But for these and other important statements I must generally refer to Prideaux's account. Malte Brun says this sect exists in Africa, and that in Congo-"The good principle is named Zamba M'Poonga; and the evil principle which is opposed to him, Caddee M'Peemba." Geog. B. 68. pp. 274. 328. Impostor as Zoroaster was, he did not choose to make "God the author of evil." His conscience appears