chievous imp, now as a devil, or even rose sometimes almost to a state of inspiration. This demon is always prophetic, even when false and evil, for it urges man on to wicked deeds and inclinations, at first gently, but afterwards with evergrowing power as soon as its whisperings are listened to. It seems that the devil seeks to rouse the evil lying dormant within us, to deride the attempted resistance, ridicules the timid, embitters the gentle, betrays the hopeful, and endeavours to cut off the path of reformation to all. Schubert says—“There is also that inclination of the devil to praise evil as something good, and to turn truth by this means in a dangerous lie; and also to praise goodness for the purpose of making it suspected."

The enthusiasm of real religion gives, however, evidence of a higher and invisible order of things, which acts upon the material world of man, and produces in him a touching and deep conviction, and a gentle and refreshing illumination. The soul, inspired by the divine breath, is no longer restrained in its working and activity, for its visions are not phantoms raised upwards by a mind agitated and distracted by fear, restlessness, or dissatisfaction; the body has not become through convulsions or voluntary mutilation a useless burden, a withered reed, or a broken casket, but is even in its natural weakness an untiring instrument of works and deeds, which scatter blessings over present and future ages.

If we regard these differences more narrowly, we shall have but little difficulty in defining the boundaries between the lower order, the magical ecstasy, and the higher and divinely inspired holy seers and prophets. The motives are as different in each as the actions. In the magic ecstasy of the Brahminic initiation, in the religious fanaticism of the hermits of the Theban Desert,—the self-torturers,—the visions and the imagined comunication with God take place by chance, or through artificial agencies; but in the real prophets and true saints the divine mission falls unexpectedly upon them from above. A self-arrogated excellence and self-sufficiency are the mainsprings of the former; it exists in seclusion, darkness, and solitude; it renounces every social bond of life, and every endeavour to cultivate the mind. In the latter, reign, on the contrary, humility, pleasure in light and life, with the impulse to

work openly and actively. No division of stations takes place, but every power is united to form a common whole; the prophet preaches the word of God and the belief in His power; the reward and punishment for good and evil deeds; and the love of God and our neighbours, is his open admonition. If in the former, pride in self, and contempt, or, at least, but small esteem for the world, is to be found, with the continual striving for a perfect apathy of the passions, so may we observe in the latter a wise use of life, a joyful peace in the service of God, with the continual remembrance of the weakness of human nature, with the continual prayer for divine assistance to understand and receive the knowledge of universal truth, and the true obedience and resignation to the will of God. The true prophet is a child in humility, a youth in action, and a man in counsel. The world is often a hell to the ecstasist; but, to the saint, a school, where duties are learned, and the scholar becomes a useful member of the scheme of nature. In the former, commands are given by the seer; in the latter, the prophet announces them as the revelations of God. There, the means of producing ecstasy are contempt and renunciation of the world, and unnatural mortification of the body: here, the world is arranged for enjoyment of life; and the true prophet makes use of no artificial means: he repeats the word directly received from God, without preparation or mortification of the flesh-communicates it-and lives with and among his fellow-men.

The visions of the magician are, even in the highest stages of enthusiasm, merely shadowy reflections, surrounded by which, the world, with its significations and even its inner constitution, may be seen by him: but the lips are silent in the intoxication of ecstasy and the dazzling light of his pathologic self-illumination. On this account, the many phantasmagoria of truth and falsehood; the changing pictures of the imagination, and the feelings, in disordered ranks and inharmonic shapes; the wanderings and convulsions of the mind and body. Their visions are not always to be relied upon, neither are they always understood. In the prophets, visions are the reflection and illumination of a divine gentle radiance on the mirror of their pure soul, which retains its whole indivi

duality, and never forgets its perfect dependence and connection with God and the outer world. The contents of these visions are the common circumstances of life-religious as well as civil; the words are teachings of truth, given clearly and intelligibly to all men and ages. The prophet neither seeks nor finds happiness in the state of ecstasy, but, in his divine vocation, to spread the word of God; not in an exclusive contempt, but in the instructing and active working among his brethren. The true prophet does not, therefore, sink into inner speculations, and forget even himself in his imaginative world, but retains his living connection with God and his neighbour in word and deed. As, in the higher states of inspiration, the causes and the manifestations vary, so do also the motives and the consequences.

The Brahminic seers complained of the gradual retrogression of the mind from its pristine radiance towards perishable nature, and the dominion of death, according to the various stages of the world, and deplored the misery, the dissatisfaction, the deterioration connected with it: all this we find in the mind and body of the degenerated heathen nations of India. On the contrary, how has not the illumination of the mind increased through the prophets of Israel in respect to religion, and through that also, gradually and historically, on the civil system! The spirit of Christianity, which rests upon the west, gradually extends its peaceful influence; and while other nations are everywhere else sinking into the torpor and darkness of Paganism, mountains are here transplanted through faith, and by word and deed, and by true Christian love, trees are planted whose fruit will some time refresh the heathen, but which can only be fully ripened in another world, to which our eyes must unceasingly be directed. The magical seer lives in the intoxication of his own visions; the prophet lives in faith; and actions, not visions, are signs of holiness. "Probatio

sanctitatis non est signa facere, sed unumquemque ut se diligere, Deum autem vere cognoscere," says St. Gregory. If we regard all this according to the causes and the results, we shall arrive at the following conclusion:

According to its origin, magic vision is the work of man planted in an unhealthy ground, whether it arises voluntarily or is produced by the science of the physician. An

abnormal state of health always precedes it-sleep, and an unusually exalted state of the faculties. Visionary ecstasy has its origin particularly from the body; and, however it may be produced, nature always holds the seer with a strong hand, even when he has reached the higher stages.

Prophetic inspiration is the result of the divine spirit. The voice of God comes unexpectedly, and irrespective of the physical state. The physical powers become perfectly dependent upon the mind, which uses them for noble and pure ends a state of sleep, with altered functions of the senses, is by no means necessary.

The magnetic ecstasist directs his attention towards objects which present themselves voluntarily, or are produced by himself, or by the skill of the physician, and the earthly life of man forms generally the sole field of his vision. He is influenced from without. The influence of the inclinations, the tendencies of human nature, are never absent in the magnetic circle of the seer; on which account his influence is but seldom of an elevated character.

There are no variations in the exhibition of the true prophet; he announces nothing from the magic circle, but alone the will of Him who is the beginning and the end. To instruct his neighbours in the divine knowledge-to spread the perception of truth and love among his fellow-men, is his one desire; he is therefore an unwearied and victorious antagonist to evil and wickedness. He seeks not anything worldlyselfishness, the passions, ambition, health, are disregarded by him. He preaches the future, not the present happiness of all, through the inspiration of God, and travels on, a mediator between God and man, gloriously radiant in word and deed. He does not seek seclusion, does not lose himself in visions and phantasies, prophesies nothing grievous, but great and universal truths to ages and nations. Armed with divine powers, he is able to perform miracles, as well himself as upon upon others. Comfort, peace of mind in suffering and trial, warnings against great dangers, the healing of grievous sickness, help in want and persecution, are his glorious powers; and to spread the dominion of Christ, and elevate mankind, is the object of his strivings. Self-advancement, and every worldly advantage, is disregarded by the men of God. The belief in His

power is the foundation of their actions; and they complete all commandments by the love they bear to all, and which is the greatest virtue.

Of the ecstatic states and visions of the Old Testament we shall have more to say at a subsequent time: but a few examples from the saints may be mentioned here. The trances of Saint Francis of Assisi are well known, in which the seraph burned the wounds of our Saviour into his body with a ray of fire; as well as the history of St. Anthony, the unwearicd combatant against the temptations and attacks of the evil one; the visions and ecstasies of St. Suso, Macarius, Bernard Ignatius, and many others. The following, however, is extremely important with respect to the foregoing remarks :

"The life of St. Catharine of Siena was but short-thirtythree years, but her deeds were great and numerous. With a very weak and fragile body, she was sometimes sunk in religious meditations in her cell; at others, bearing her words of fire through cities and countries, where the people who flocked around her were taught and instructed, she entered hospitals to visit those struck by the plague, and to purify their souls; accompanied criminals to the place of execution, and excited repentance in their obstinate hearts. She even stepped into the fierce tumults of battle, like an angel of the Lord, and restrained the combatants by her own voice; she visited the Pope at Avignon, and reconciled the Church; she changed the unbelief of sceptics into astonishment; and where her body was not able to go, there her mind operated by her fiery eloquence in hundreds of letters to the Pope, to princes, and the people. She is said to have shown a purity and inspiration in her poems which might have ranked her with Dante and Petrarch. Here is divine inspiration,-holy and miraculous power!"

St. Brigitta, a descendant of the Gothic kings, had spread so many teachings and religious writings among the people, during the fourteenth century, that the Concilium of Basle investigated her doctrines, and having found them to be true, had her words translated into every European language.

Thomas à Kempis describes the life of Lidwina, of Schiedam in the Netherlands, who was blind of one eye and weaksighted in the other, and yet saw events which took place in