Mysticism.

were famed ecclesiastics like the Abbe de Villars , Father Bougeant , Dom Pernetty , and others , who argued that the gods of antiquity were not "demons , " as the too severe " casuists " had asserted , and were not even " among the damned . " They p laced them in the class of " elementary spirits , " who , not having taken part in the great struggle which took place primitively between the angels and the demonswere neither destroyed nor cursed by Divine

jus-, tice , and were able , therefore , to enjoy a certain power over the elements and men until the arrival of Christ . The Abbe Villars even adduced the miracles as proofs , which the bible itself bears witness to , effected by the Ammonean Divinities , * the Philistines , aud others in favour of their people , and added that the prophecies were lished by the " spirits of Typhon . "

accomp He included among these latter the oracles of the Sib yls , favourable to Christ and the East ; the oracles of Apollo at Delphi , which were cited by the Fathers of the Church as witness of the mission of the Son of Man . f Rationalism and scepticism may find their cradle in Roman Catholic schools ! Alluding to this system , the whole of the ancient hierachy of the pagan divinities found its place in the thousand attributes Catholicism had

allotted to the ulterior functions to be accomplished in matter and space , and became what have been called the spirits or the genii , who are divided into four classes , after the number of the elements : the sylphs for the air , the salamanders for the fire , the ondines for the water , and the gnomes for the earth . On this question of detail alone a division was caused between Abbe de

Villars and Father Bougeant , Jesuit , which occupied for a long time the " beaux esprits" of the last century . Father Bougeant denied vehemently the transformation of the ancient gods into elementary genii , and asserted , that not being able to be destoyed in their quality of pure spirits , they had been destined to furnish souls to animals , as they passed , from one body to another , according to their affinities . J

In this system the gods loved the useful and kindly beasts , the demons ferocious and impure beasts . For this , Father Bougeant cited the opinions of the Egyp tians as to facts and that of the gospel as to the reasons . § These reasonings could be put forth in the middle of the eighteenth century without being taxed with heresy . It is quite clear that here only reference was made to the inferior deities , such as the fauns , the zephyrs , the nereids , the naiads , the satyrs , the

eyclopeans , etc . As gods and semi-gods they were supposed to have quitted the earth , as too dangerous after the establishment of the absolute reign of Christ , and to have beeen relegated to the stars , which had been from all time consecrated to them , in the same way as in the middle ages they relegated a rebellious prince , when he had made his submission , whether in his city or in his exile . This opinion existed fully during all the middle ages among the most

celebrated cabalists , and particularly among the astrologers and the medical men . It explains for the most part the conjurations founded on the astral invocations , the horoscopes , the talismans , and the results , whether of holy substances or apparitions , in relation to the movement and conjunction of planets . It is only needful to open a book of occult science to have the widest proof of this . ( To be continued ) .