harden him against the truth, and even against the pleadings of his own natural reason, and the surrounding evidences of a power, goodness, holiness, that he refuses to acknowledge; we may partly conceive what active duty is required of each several angel among the fallen host and how prodigious must be the diligence of their leader, overseeing and directing such a complicated work.

In this instance alone, we have gone beyond the track of Scripture history; but not beyond that of prophecy. The Bible sets forth what should come to pass; and we look at what has occurred and will yet occur, before our eyes. The prolonged bondage and wretchedness of Canaan's race, the unbelief, dispersion, and continued degradation of Israel, and the great apostacy from the Christian Church, with its duration and consequences, are all most exactly foretold. And Satan as "the god of this world,” ""the prince of the power of the air," "the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience," is distinctly shewn to be their governor, until, by the operation of the Holy Ghost, they are delivered out of his hand, and translated to the kingdom of God's dear Son.

VII.

SATANIC KNOWLEDGE.

THERE is a wisdom peculiar to the powers of evil, whereof the apostle speaks, "This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish," James iii. 15. and there is a knowledge gained by close, continued observation, apart from any divine aid whatever, and which fits a man to deceive and defraud his neighbour. In this, we may believe Satan abounds; and we are quite sure that he has the power of communicating it, because the scriptures distinctly say so. He can enable his servants to prophecy, but not true things:. John saw an unclean spirit proceed out of the mouth of the false prophet, Rev. xvi. 13. He can endow them with miraculous powers; as witness Pharaoh's enchanters, and the predicted apostacy of him “whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders," 2 Thess. ii. 9. and who, under another name is described as he that "doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on

the earth, in the sight of men; and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth, by the means of those wonders which he hath power to do in the sight of the beast." Rev. xiii. 13, 14. The heaven here spoken of is, of course, the upper region of our atmosphere; for, to the heaven of God's presence Satan cannot extend his influences, however he may by some mysterious mandate be made to appear there, as we have already noticed. By devilish wisdom he may devise many crafty plans, and by devilish power carry them into most destructive operation: and it is important to consider this point, lest we fall into the very common snare of despising and neglecting what we are bound most vigilantly to watch and to guard against.

Men, by accurate observation of the phenomena of God's works, and tracing effects to their causes, sometimes make marvellous discoveries; and by a judicious application of the knowledge acquired, by analogical reasonings, fit combinations, and often by apparent accidents, occurring in the course of their curious investigations, they produce results that bear the character of amazing inventions. Yet how limited, how clouded, how defective, how utterly insignificant is the widest sphere of man's laborious observation, compared with what Satan can take in at a glance. The painful calculations of the astronomer, arrived at after years of sleepless nights, and requiring probably as many more studious days to render them intelligibly credible to

others, are simple matters of common observation to him. Those hidden laboratories where the elements in mystery and darkness work, are so far open to him as created intelligence is permitted to explore them; and he certainly knows our frame far better than we ourselves know it. We have the direct, explicit, reiterated testimony of God himself, that Satanic influence could quench the sight, close the hearing, fetter the tongue, paralyze the limbs, distort the body, madden the brain, nd impart to man the force of a powerful, ferocious beast. Instances of all this have been adduced from scripture, in the preceding sections; as also the marvels wrought, as in the case of the Egyptian sorcerers, probably by the application of Satanic skill in what we call chemistry, natural history, and other branches of science. We may doubt, or rather deny his ability to raise a tempest; for the stormy winds fulfil God's word; (Psalm cxlviii. 8;) but he can at least do more than Columbus did, when by calculating and foretelling an eclipse of the moon, he terrified the poor ignorant natives into compliance with all his demands.

An instance of his subtlety occurring a few years since, and attested by unimpeachable evidence, may illustrate this. The writer had it from one who was on the spot; and it has also been published. The late Lady Hester Stanhope, it is well known, fell into a snare of the devil, abjured her faith, and lived among the mountains of Djourni as an eastern princess, wholly

divorced from all former ties, not only to her country, but to her God; she affected a knowledge of futurity, peculiar to those who practice witchcraft. Her house was visited by many strangers, including Englishmen ; and they were hospitably entertained. At the time now alluded to, some zealous Christians occasionally took up their temporary abode with her; the Rev. Lewis Way, Joseph Wolff, and others, who earnestly longed to lead into the fold this wandering sheep and her infidel household. This, of course, would raise Satan's opposition in no common degree; for the smallest portion of good leaven lodged in that lump, might work the ruin of his kingdom in a place where every inch of territory is an important possession. Among the members of her establishment was a Dervish, a pretender to superior knowledge and sanctity, a teacher and worshipper of false gods, therefore of devils: held in esteem by Lady Hester, and in great awe and admiration by her dependants. This man's influence could not co-exist with that of a Christian minister; and though it does not appear that he took any part in resisting them, Satan contrived so to establish his character as to seal up his followers in deeper darkness than before. A tremendous earthquake buried Aleppo in ruins: the city was overthrown, and the inhabitants perished. Situated many miles distant from the scene of devastation, without the possibility of any human communication, and indeed before it took place, this Dervish