to whom, among other appellations, they gave that of Mordûd, or the Giver of Death. Michael, who was believed to be the provider of sustenance for human kind, they named Beshter. Besides these formidable angels, the Persians have two antagonistical head genii, one good and the other evil. These twain, who are respectively named Ormuzd (spirit) and Ahriman (matter), divide the government of the world between them. "One of these guides (says Didron) presides over virtue, and reigns during the day; the other one over evil, and governs the night. Ormuzd, the good genius, is luminous, sparkling, resplendent, as pure as the light which is subject to him; Ahriman, on the contrary, is dark and funereal as night and hell, over which he has dominion." Ormuzd was the highest of the seven bright and holy Arushapands, the other six being created by him for coadjutors in the dissemination of light; and, not to be outdone by his great rival, Ahriman also exerted his power, and called into being six coequal arch-devs, to countermine the beneficent designs of the pure spirits. Ormuzd then created twentyeight amiable gentry, named Izeds, and Ahriman follows suit with an equal squad of devs, unwholesome imps whose province it was to produce trouble and discord. After these, spirits on both sides sprang into being in such flocks as to defy enumeration, and dire was the strife which waged betwixt them, from the moment of espying one another. This reprehensible Ahriman shall, we are happy to be assured, be ultimately overpowered, purified, and forgiven, having first, as strict poetical justice demands, been handsomely tortured.

The Chaldeans held that the soul was originally endowed with wings, which, on its descent from its native element to commence its trial, or probation, on this comparatively darksome sphere, fell off, rendering impossible its returnward flight, until they should have been restored in full vigor and beauty. How to reproduce these celestial pinions became, matter of course, the all momentous question to every votary of the creed. To the inquiry of some of his disciples, by what means the wings of the soul might be made to grow again, Zoroaster replied:

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"By sprinkling them with the waters of life."

"But where are those waters to be found?" "In the garden of God," replied the sage.

Basilides, chief of a sect of Gnostics, who flourished in the second century, constructed, with clever ingenuity, a

celestial empire of superb magnitude. The first rank of intelligences, consisting of seven illustrious princes, or dions, who were divinely created, occupied stations in the highest sphere, within the effulgent attraction of the throne of Abraxas, the Supreme Lord. These princes, who, in their exuberance of bliss, were unwilling that such happiness should be restricted to a few, by permission of their sovereign, created a lower world, and an inferior class of beings to inhabit it; who, in their turn, created other and immense multitudes of angels, until the number of successive orbs and orders of aerial beings amounted to 365. Hence the superstition of the Basilideans in associating the angels with the days of the year, as they considered that each day bore upon it the impress of a grand work, the creation of a distinct order of celestial beings. The residents of the lowest sphere, coming in proximity with the rude mass of chaos, which sullenly rolled in gloom, conceived the project of shaping it into order and beauty, and of filling it with a new race of creatures, different from any heretofore made. This design they carried into execution, conferring upon man his physical nature, to which the Beneficent Supreme added the crowning endowment of a reasonable soul. Basilides also communicated to his disciples the history of the fatal rivalry and ambition which introduced fell discord among the heavenly harmonies, and forever untuned the silver music of the spheres. Space forbids us to more than allude to the angelic system of Dionysius, who enumerates nine orders of the angelic hierarchy; or to the theories of other worthies, who stoutly contend for an equal number of evil angels.

The Syrians, whose belief was fashioned very much after that of the Persians, pretended to have in their possession a testament of the patriarch Seth, in which was unfolded a complete theory of spirits, and an elaborate account of their several orders and offices. According to Kirsscher, the Syrians have the most regularly graduated theory of angelology of any nation of heathens. In the order of their several ranks, they distributed the celestial hierarchy through the planetary system, from the body nearest to the earth to that at the summit of light. The sphere of the moon was the home of the angels; that of Mercury contained the archangels; Venus and the sun the principalities and powers; and Saturn the thrones. The cherubim dwelt in the fixed stars, and the seraphim, the holiest and most exalted of all

the intelligences, in those luminous orbs which are so high up as to be almost imperceptible to human vision. The Curds pretended to equal erudition on the subject. The Sabæans had seven star-spirits, and twelve star-spirits of the zodiac, who were ever active in evil. To them they charged the origin of Judaism and Christianity, which they alike detested.

The entire theory concerning the existence and ministry of angels, Mohammed borrowed from the Hebrews, who themselves freely confess to having learned the names and offices of the superior intelligences from the Persians-the illuminati of the East-who pretended to vast and almost exclusive knowledge in medicine, astronomy, and the occult sciences; for, previous to the Babylonish captivity, there is neither angel nor archangel mentioned by name in Scripture. Many of the rabbins concur in the olden belief, that the holy angels were created of fire, in proof of which is adduced the passage in the 104th psalm, "Who maketh His angels spirits: His ministers a flame of fire." Some of the most eminent rabbies considered Michael and Gabriel to be endowed with eternal duration, but the vast multitudes of heavenly inhabitants to be merely ephemeral, being born every morn and dying every evening. The Talmudists, in their fertility of theoretic fancies, likewise hold to an inferior order of angels, whom they style Shedim, and who are of a similar kind with the Iris and Peris. The Jews, always in quest of forbidden novelties and devices, adopted the heresies of the East, and not only countenanced the speculative and specious fantasies there inculcated, but outrivalled them in absurd vagaries.

Many of the Talmudical legends outvie in puerility and folly the wildest rhapsodies of Alcoran. One of these is the story of the three angels, who are ceaselessly employed in weaving and making fragrant garlands out of the prayers of devout Israelites. The name of the first is Achtariel, that of the second Metatron, and that of the third Sandalphon. Metatron was esteemed to be the most illustrious of the angelic host, some believing him to be the second person of the Trinity; other learned rabbies identify him with the prophet Enoch; and one informs us, that when this eminent saint was in a course of translation to heaven, the numerous ranks of angels smelled the scent of him at the distance of five thousand three hundred and eighty miles, and mani

fested some dissatisfaction at the introduction of a human creature into their august assemblage, until God deigned to pacify them by an explanation of His benign purposes. The olfactories of those angels must have been delicately susceptible. Although Scripture mentions but one archangel, Michael, to whom is assigned the guardianship of Israel against its fierce antagonist, Samael, the cabalists pretended to domicile among the planets a heptarchy of mighty archangels, or angels of the Presence; and Kirsscher has favored the world with their respective titles and order of precedence. Schvetgen, a writer of ripe oriental learning, describes, in another wise, the heavenly disposition of the holy angels. "Four troops of ministering angels praise the holy, blessed God; the first is Michael, at the right hand; the next is Gabriel, at the left; the third is Uriel, before; and the fourth is Raphael, behind Him." Each of these puissant generals, be it underderstood, is accompanied by his subalterns and legions. The angel of death is named Duma, a terrible spirit, depicted by the superstitious Jews as covered all over with eyes; and it is asserted that in the closing hour of life he plants himself at the foot of the dying person's couch, and summons him by his full name. This formidable deity wields a naked, glittering sword, at the extremity of which hang suspended three drops of gall. When the sick person perceives his presence, he opens his mouth to cry out, when the poison falls in. The first drop produces death; the second, paleness and lividness; and the third causes the dissolution of the body in the grave. There exists among the Jews a singular custom, derived from this superstition. When a death occurs in a house, the water contained in every vessel is carefully poured out; the belief being, that the Angel of Death may have washed his sword therein, and left some of the fatal poison. The Talmudists likewise believe in the terrible inquisitorial visits of the Angel of the Grave, who tortures his victims with implacable cruelty. Nor is it sufficient to render the last hours of dissolving nature thus agonizing-dread horror pursues the hapless victim even to the silent precincts of the tomb. Accredited expounders of the Law teach, that when a Jew is buried, "the Angel of Death seats himself upon his grave, and, at the same time, the soul of the deceased returns to his body, and sets him upon his legs. Then the angel, taking an iron chair, one-half of which is as cold as ice, and the other half burning hot, strikes the body with it, and separates all

the members; he strikes it a second time, and beats out all the bones; then he strikes it a third time, and reduces the whole to ashes. After this, the good angels reunite the parts, and replace the body in the grave." Would they not have done better, had they prevented the necessity for their kindly offices? In the bondage of so sad a belief, it is no marvel that one of the Hebrew funeral prayers entreats the Lord to have compassion on the departed one, and to command the Angel of Death to stay his hand.

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The ancient religious systems of the inhabitants of India resemble, in divers respects, those of the Egyptians and RoLike them, they had swarms of topical deities, some say 330,000,000, both benevolent and evil, whom, with fear and trembling, they worshipped, and to whom they ascribed their misfortunes, accidents, and afflictions. According to popular opinion, these gods were supposed to be the spirits of deceased mortals, who carried with them, into the spiritual world, the same dispositions that they had in this, whether amiable or malignant-whether inclined to serve their favorites or injure their enemies. The Vedas, or sacred books of the Brahmins, on the contrary, assign to these numerous deities a more elevated position than mere sons of Adam, as well as a priority of existence. In the Vedas it is stated, that the Eternal, or Infinite Spirit, Bramh, first called into being the god Brahma, and then "created an assemblage of inferior deities, with divine attributes and pure souls, and a number of genii, exquisitely delicate." Those text-books, likewise, inculcate, that the tribes of inferior deities have unlimited control over human affairs, interfering with them whenever they choose, without regard to the content or discontent of those most concerned, and that against their unjust acts there is no appeal whatever; for "the Supreme Spirit has nothing to do with creatures, nor they with him." All the inspirations and favors of these gods are granted in answer to prayers and religious ceremonies and costly offerings. Ah, cold, cold and dreary is the creed which deprives its adherents of faith in a superintending Providence! To such hopeless orphanage, "Our Father" is an unknown expression. The Angel of Death has ever, by all classes of false religionists, been regarded as an inexorable monster, as a being whom it is impossible to conciliate. Homer averred that he was the only god who refused to be moved by the charms of music, and in whose honor no hymns were ever sung.