DEMONOLOGY OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANS.*
THE Demonology of the ancient Christians has been scarcely al- luded to by Sir WALTER SCOTT, although it was probably the immediate origin of the fiends and demons of the middle ages, and perhaps, remotely, of witchcraft. As this superstition was universal, the omission is the more surprising; and we shall endea- vour, however briefly and superficially, to furnish sonic account of an opinion which should occupy no inconsiderable place in the history of human error. The immediate cause of this belief was, doubtless, the miracles wrought by our Saviour and the Apostles in casting out devils ; but the origin of the demons themselves was assigned to a far earlier period, and was founded on a wrong, or at least a question- able construction of Genesis (chapter vi. verse 2). The demons were divided into two classes—celestial and terrestrial. The former consisted of those angels who, having contaminated themselves by their connexion with the daughters of men, had "lost the dignity of their heavenly substance.".{. " Grown gross by sinning," they were refused admission into heaven, and sinking down to earth, "became ministers and satellites of the Devil." Their offspring- " not men, but bearing a certain middle nature—" were rejected from hell as their fathers had been from heaven, and became demons of the earth, over which both kinds perpetually wandered
* The first part is principally taken from Lactantius, De Origine Er. roris, lib. ii., cap. 14, 15, 16 ; De Vera Sapientia, lib. iv. cap. 27; and Minucius Felix, cap. 26, 27 ;—the latter from the Opuscula of Sulpicius Severus.
1- Great confusion attends the ideas of the Fathers respecting the sub- stance of angels. Tertullian considered it was a sort of flesh, and it was generally admitted the demons had " grown grosser." Yet it will be seen that many of their actions could only have been performed by a purely spiritual being. sions," to force them to have recourse to their assistance. champion, however, nothing daunted, commanded the demoniac When they had possessed any one, they yielded only to the adju- to stand. He complied, not daring to disobey, but still continuing ration of the righteous, conjuring them by the Cross, or by the to grind his teeth and threaten ; whereupon " the saint thrust his name of God or of his Son. They would then confess that they fingers into his mouth, exclaiming, " if you have any power, . were demons; and publish the titles by which they were worship- devour these." " Then, as if he had received a red, hot iron in his ped. Nay, such power had the just over them, " by whose words jaws, he drew back his teeth, avoiding the fingers of the holy man ; they were smitten as by rods," that they were reduced.to avow and when the demon was compelled to depart in pain and torments, their real character even in their own temples and in the presence he was unable to go forth by the mouth, but "fceda relinquens of their 'worshippers. According to the faith of the sufferer, or vestigia,itaxu ventris egestus est." • . the grace of the exorcisor, they left their victim suddenly or by But his power was felt not only in his presence, but in his ab- degrees ; but mostly, it would appear, in agony, ." putting forth sence.. The monastery of the saint was distant about two, miles • loud cries, proclaiming that they .were burnt, that they were beaten, from the city ; and as soon as 'he crossed the threshold of is cell and psonsiaing instantly to go out." The Cross appears to have been to visit the church, the possessed began." to roar, and the damned theirsgrgatest terror, for if any one upon whom that tiered sign troop to tremble, on the coming, as it were of.their judge, so that had ,beentossfressed Was 'present at a sacrifice, the _pretiiiiled,deity , the groans of the demoniacs indicated to the.clergy the approach . put:' , , was put- a flight, and..futurity prevented froM app6aring in the of the bishop widen otherWite they knew not of his coning. I entrails of the victims. With what object they assumed the -clime- myself (Gallus, one of Ihs folloWerss) have seen, on leis approach, - ter of gods is doubtful.; AUGUSTIN held that it was from pride.; a possessed snatched aloft, and with his hands extended, remain in , Lacrasrrius from malice, and a desire to deprive mankind of that the air, .so. that he was unable to touch. the ground with his feet. • immortality they had themselves forfeited. The titleS by which When at any time he commenced exorcising, he handled no one, . they were known to their votaries, were, as it has been intimated, he rated no one, nor put forth a whirlwind oewords, as is thecus- merely fictitious ; for, " unable of themselves to affect divinity, they torn for the most part amongst others. But the demoniaes being assumed the names of once powerful kings." This point could be brought near, he commanded all the rest to depart, and the doors made evident to the senses. " If any one," says the 'fully of the being bolted, prostrated himself on the ground, and covered with , Christians, " desires to inquire more deeply, he may assemble sackcloth and ashes, remained in prayer. Then you might behold those who have the skill to call up souls from hell. They can call the miserable beings tormented in various ways. Some, with their forth Jove, Neptune, Vulcan, Mercury, Apollo, and the father of feet turned upwards, would hang, as it were, from the clouds, but all, Saturn. All will reply from the infernal pit, and interrogated, their garments fell not over their faces, lest the naked bodies should will speak, and will confess concerning themselves and God. interrogated, create shame. Others, grievously disquieted, would confess their this, let them call upon Christ, he will not be present ; he will not crimes without interrogation, and even betray their names, one appear ; for he was not more than two days in hell."—Lactantius, acknowledging that he was Jove, and another Mercury." We De Vera Sapientia, lib. iv., cap. 27. may add, that by long habitude, he became well acquainted with Their great object of hostility was of course the Church, and the their persons, (so to speak) and names : he was accustomed to Saints by whom their worshippers were converted; but in theirattack s describe Mercury as very troublesome, but Jove as somewhat dull they displayed thr more sagacity than the ministers of darkness at a and brutish. later period. To possess an animal, was a desperate resource, and The following is an instance of still greater power. Passing by seems mostly to have been adopted with an ulterior object. Their a village, he tarried a night in the church. After his departure, the more usual employments were, to excite persecutions against the nuns broke into the secretarium, " licking every place where the Christians,. to depress the ardent, to confirm the backsliding, to blessed man had either sat or stood, and dividing the straw on • harden the Gentiles against the truth, and to invent and dissemi- which he had slept." A few days after, one of them hung hers to nate. scandals against the Saints. Over a faithful Christian they the neck of a possessed, and " forthwith the demon was ejected." • had no actual power, though they might annoy him in various It must not, however, be supposed that the powers of darkness ways, but the weak or the wavering were liable to be possessed suffered in patience. Except in occasional brawling, they appear • (their most favourite mode of proceeding); and as, whether from indeed to have been fearful of a personal encounter ; but they made terror, enthusiasm, disease, or imposture, the number of demoniacs many indirect attacks, which ended, however, in their own dis- was numerous, a caster-out of demons was a character in much re- comfiture. Whilst sojourning at Treveri, for instance, the city quest, and held in great veneration. Till the age of CONSTANTINE, was terrified by hot reports of a barbarian invasion ; but MARTIN, this calling was exercised at some risk ; for, however terrible exorcising a demoniac in the church, discovered that they were the • the Cross might he to the spiritual, it was unavailing against the invention of sixteen demons, who were employed in disseminating secular power. On the public establishment of Christianity, all the rumours with the view of driving him from the town. One a danger ceased, and the influence which the profession obtained, demon possessed a cow, and urged her towards him with a hostile I added considerably to the numbers of the professors. . Of these, intention, the fiend sitting on her back. But a gesture of the saint many, doubtless, were cheats, and many fluctuated between fanati- arrested the course of the animal, and a word dismissed her tormen- eisin and imposture ; but some unquestionably were men of exalted tor, when the grateful beast prostrated herself before the feet of her though mistaken piety, who were the dupes of their own enthu- deliverer, and "milder than any lamb," rejoined her fellows. • siasm. - At another time, a wolf in sheep's clothing entered the monastery; Amongst these, St. MARTIN occupies a conspicuous place, in an but his conduct, at first edifying, soon became suspicious, the no- age (the latter end of the fourth .century) distinguished for its vice pretending he was a prophet, and that angels nightly passed • monks and miracles. His fame extended from India to the Frozen to and fro between him and God. The brethren doubting his pre- • Sea—his injunctions rung in the ears of kings—an empress -de- tensions, he offered to produce a white vest, which God on a. cer- seended to cook his dinrer, and his .frequent visitants were angels tarn night should send him. When the time arrived, all the mos The different classes of impostors who preyed upon the heathen pub- nastery "was shaken in its place, lights were seen in the cell of lie, are thus enumerated in the Constitution of Constantine. " .Nemo the pretender, whilst a clattering to and fro and the murmur of Aruspicem consulat-aut Attliematieim, nemo Ariolum ; Augurum et firtom pravo confesii6 eonticescat. Chee/thEi ac Maori et esters quos § Sir. WALTER. Scow, we believe, has made a slight slip of a formal maleficos oh facinorum tr apitudinem vulgus appellat, nee ad 'basic kind, when he represents the primitive Fathers as baptizing hundreds in pattern aliquid molientur. a day. The new converts, we think, becamecatechueni, (probationers?) Qf mankind." dead, and his power over the damns was absolute and resistless. The powers of these unclean spirits were held to be great, Our space forbids us to enter at length into the account even of and their occupations manifold. They could predict many things, his exploits.. We shall, thiTefore, compress a few of the more but not all, as they could not thoroughly penetrate the designs of striking narratives, in order to convey as clear an idea of the sub- God ; and on this account they were accustomed to . put forth ject as our limits will permit. doubtful responses. They were the authors of all the Pagan • The slave of Tetradius, a Pagan, and a mon of proconsular dig- miracles and prodigies ; assuming the forms of various divinities, nity, was possessed and grievously tormented. The assistance of making idols appear instinct with life, animating the entrails of the the saint was requested, and he commanded the patient to he victims, and, unsatisfied with the usual offerings, devising hu- brought to him. Dreading the result, the demon (breed his victim man sacrifices. - A favourite mode of deceiving was by oracles, into a cell, from which .all endeavours to withdraw him were vain. wherein they displayed considerable art ; for when they " foresaw At last Tetradius, falling at the feet of the bishop, besought him that any good was about to happen by the decrees of God, they to visit the possessed in propria persona ; but the saint refused to predicted it to their worshippers ; when evil was impending, they enter the house of a Gentile. The property of the heathen was feigned themselves offended." They werethe inventors of astro- dearer than his religion, and he promised that if the demon were logy, divination, necromancy, and magic, besides "all the other expelled, he would become a Christian. .This was an offer not to which either openly or secretly disturbed mankind." Upon be resisted : the holy man placed his hand upon the boy, and im- them depended all the art and power of the Magi, as well as of mediately ejected the unclean spirit. " Which being seen, Tetra- those who were vulgarly called " i'Ialefici;"t and when invoked by dius believed the Lord Jesus, and becoming a convert (euteehu- them in the exercise of their execrable arts, it was always by their menus) § was shortly after baptized, and always regarded MARTIN original names, " as they are read in the sacred writings." On with wonderful affection as the author of his own salvation." these occasions they deceived the eyes of men by.false representa- At one time, as lie was entering a house, he saw " a horrible de- tions, blinding them to things which were, and exhibiting others mon standing in the ball." Commanded to depart, the spirit which had no existence. They inspired the phrensies of their obeyed the letter of the order, but betaking himself into the inner priests and votaries, and " as they were spirits and impalpable, part of the building, possessed the cook, who immediately began they insinuated themselves into the bodies of men, and, working " snapping with his teeth, and tearing the flesh of all who opposed secretly on their viscera, vitiated their health, brought on diseases, him." Upon this the house was in commotion, the family was terrified their souls by dreams, and shook their minds by posses- disturbed, and the followers of the saint took to flight. The
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and were afterwards baptized.. many voices were heard." Coming forth, he prodUced "a tunic of great delicacy, of wonderful brightness, and of a glittering purple colour. Of what materials it was made no one could tell ; yet, how- over carefully viewed or handled, it appeared to be a vest." The re- mainder of the night was consumed by the astonished brethren in singing psalms and hymns. With the dawn they seized upon Anatolius, to drag him to the saint, well aware that no art of the Devil could deceive him. This intention, however, he strenu- ously resisted, exclaiming that he was interdicted from seeing him; when lo ! on their persisting, " the vest vanished in the hands of the halers."
Experience of the inutility of his ministers, induced the Devil to take the field himself. [We may say in a parenthesis, that when MARTIN in his youth abandoned the profession of arms to under- take a more arduous warfare, the Devil met him, and candidly avowed that whatever he did, or whatever he attempted, he would find him his perpetual opponent,1 After trying a thousand arts to delude him, without success, he changed his plan, (with what ob- ject is not quite manifest,) and appeared to him in various forms, sometimes in that of Jove, sometimes of Mercury, and often trans- formed himself into Venus or Minerva. He was, however, always driven away by the sign of the Cross or by prayer. One night, about the time of Anatolius's adventure, [when the coming of Antichrist was looked for by many] the Devil suddenly stood before the saint whilst he was engaged in his cell at prayer. " He was surrounded by a purple light, clothed in a regal vest, and crowned with a diadem of gems and gold ; his sandals were curiously wrought, his features benignant, and his counte- nance serene," so that no one would have suspected his nature from his appearance. The saint was startled, and both remained silent for a time. At last the Tempter introduced himself as Christ, and required the bishop to acknowledge him. But the holy man still preserving silence, he proceeded, "Why, 0 Martin, should you hesitate when you see ? I am Christ." By this time, the spirit had revealed to him the real character of his visitant ; and he replied, " The Lord did not predict his coming in purple and with a diadem. I will not believe that I see him, un- less he comes manifesting the sign of the Cross, [this was beyond the power of the Devil], and in that form, and with that habit in which he suffered." At these words the Tempter vanished like smoke, filling the cell with so foul an odour, that no doubt remained as to its being the Devil.
After a time, he became as, skilful in detecting Satan as he was in discOverin-'' his satellites ; " having him so subjected and palpable to his 'eyes,' that .whether gin .his own or. in, any, hoin im2diatelY penetrated the 'fraud: When hiS. antagonist per- ceived that he was unable to delude him, he contended ife longer, for victory, but revenge; changing his mode of attack; and annoy- ing him by brawls-, whom he could not deceive by snares, and ordering a crowd of demons to "rate him with saucy words." Many of the brethren testified to hearing the Devil himself upon- one occasion railing at him for the vices of some of his disciples, [who had relapsed after baptism, but whom he had received again on their repentance], detailing the crimes of each with editcins, minuteness, and insisting that no penitence would avail a back! slider ; a doctrine which the saint denied, and held out a prospect of salvation to Satan himself, if he would turn from the errors of his ways. At another time, the fiend broke into his cell with a loud clattering, holding the bloody horn of an ox in his hand, and, greatly rejoicing, exclaimed, " Where, [the Devil appears to have been no orator] 0 Martin, is your strength. I have but nowslain one of your followers." This, however, was a falsehood, unbecoming a prince, even though he were only a prince of darkness. On a scrutiny, the whole of the brethren were discovered to be safe ; but a rustic whom they had hired to draw wood was found dying at a short distance from the monastery, having been gored by one of his own oxen, as he informed them with his last breath.
We had marked several other passages, and one where, to say the truth, Satan in some degree obtained an advantage, and afforded a handle to the bishop's enemies. But a devil as po- tent as the antagonist of St. MARTIN, warns us to conclude ; and we must abandon to other and to abler labourers, the task of exploring the chambers of these long-deserted mines.
R The word "monastery" sometimes signifies the devotees, who, in the early age;, frequently did not- inhabit a building, but dwelt in separate caves in the wildest and most inaccessible places. This choice of situa- tion was originally made with a view to security from persecution, and was subsequently adopted from the love of solitude, or perhaps from habit. When a devotee of great sanctity retired from the world, he was followed by many of his disciples, who formed their cells near to that of their master, and thus established a religious community.
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