3. Nay, many nations have worshipped, and some even still worship, the devil, as such as the following extracts from reliable authors clearly prove. Thus, Mr. Ives, in his Travels through Persia gives the following account of devil-worship:-"These people (the Sanjacks, a nation inhabiting the country about Mosul, the ancient Nineveh), once professed Christianity, then Mahometanism, and last of all, devilism! They say it is true that the devil at present has a quarrel with God, but the time will come when the pride of his heart being subdued, he will make his submission to the Almighty; and as the Deity cannot be implacable, the devil will receive a full pardon for all his transgressions, and both he and all those who paid him attention in his disgrace will be admitted into the blessed mansions! This is the foundation of their hope, and THIS chance for heaven they esteem to be a better one than that of trusting to their own merits, or the merits of the leader of any other religion whatsoever! The person of the devil they look on as SACRED, and when they affirm anything solemnly, they do it BY HIS NAME ! ! All disrespectful expressions of him THEY WOULD PUNISH WITH DEATH, did not the Turkish power prevent them! Whenever they speak of him, it is with the utmost respect; and they always put before his name a certain title corresponding to that of HIGHNESS OR LORD"! !!

The celebrated traveller, Niebuhr, also found the worshippers of the devil in the same country, in a

1 Travels, page 306.

village between Bagdad and Mosul, called Abd-el-asis, on the great Zab (a river which empties itself into the Tigris). This village, he says, is entirely inhabited by people who are called Isidians, and also Danâsins.1 There are also devil-worshippers even now in many other parts of the world, as for instance in several of the countries bordering upon Koordistan, &c.

4. Nay, if the sceptical writer of " Aut Diabolus aut nihil," in Blackwood's Magazine for October, 1888, is to be believed (and he assures his readers that the account he gives, is "the true story of a hallucination”) : then the SECRET worship of SATAN has already commenced! The writer, in concluding his narrative, says: "Such is the true story of a meeting with the devil in Paris not many years ago—a story TRUE IN EVERY PARTICULAR, as can be easily proved by a direct application to any of the persons concerned in it, for they are all living still! The key to the enigma we cannot find, for we certainly do not put faith in any one of the theories of Spiritualists; but that an apparition, such as I have described, did appear IN THE WAY AND UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES we have related IS A FACT, and we must leave the satisfactory solution of it to more profound psychologists than ourselves "!

The chief persons named in the narrative are a Russian Prince, named Pomerantseff, and a French Abbé, named Girod, who was a sceptic! The conversation at a dinner party at the Duc de Frontignan's, at

Travels, part ii., page 344.

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which both the Russian Prince and the Abbé were present, having turned upon Spiritualism"; the Duke said that he had "seen the Spirit of Love:" whereupon the prince said, that he "had seen the devil!"

"Mon ami, you are insane,' cried Girod. 'Why, the devil does not exist!'

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"I tell you I have seen him—the God of all Evil, the Prince of Desolation,' cried the other, in an excited voice, and, what is more, I will show him to you !'"

This offer, the Abbé at first firmly rejected; but on further conversation with the Prince, he seemed fascinated, and accepted it-the Prince imposing only one condition upon him, that he should trust himself entirely to him, until they reached the place of meeting. And "so the matter was now arranged, and he, the Abbé Girod, the renowned preacher of the celebrated Church, was to meet that very night by special appointment, at half-past nine, the Prince of Darkness; and this in January in Paris, at the height of the season, in the capital of civilization,-la ville Lumière !"

"At half-past nine o'clock precisely the Prince arrived. He was in full evening dress, but contrary to his usual custom-wearing no ribbon or decoration, and his face was of a deadly pallor."

The Abbé "remarked, with some surprise, that the carriage awaiting them was not the Prince's.

"I have hired a carriage for the occasion,' said Pomerantseff, quietly, noticing Girod's glance of sur

prise. I am unwilling that my servants should suspect anything of this.'

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They entered the carriage, and the coachman, evidently instructed beforehand where to go, drove off without delay. The Prince immediately pulled down the blinds, and taking a silk pocket-handkerchief from his pocket, began quietly to fold it lengthwise.

"I must blindfold you, mon cher,' he remarked simply, as if announcing the most ordinary fact.

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Diable!' cried the Abbé, now becoming a little nervous. This is very unpleasant; I like to see where I am going. I believe, Pomerantseff, you are the devil yourself.'

“Remember your promise,' said the Prince, as he carefully covered his friend's eyes with the pockethandkerchief, and effectually precluded the possibility of his seeing anything until he should remove the bandage.

"I wish I had not come,' the Abbé murmured to himself. Of course the whole thing is folly; but it is a great trial to the nerves, and I shall probably be upset for many days.'

"On they drove; the time seemed interminable to the Abbé.

"Are we near our destination yet?' he inquired at last.

"Not very far off now,' replied the other in what seemed to Girod a most sepulchral tone of voice!

"At length, after a drive of about half an hour, but which seemed to the Abbé double that time, Pomerant

seff murmured in a low tone, and with a profound sigh, which sounded almost like a sob,' Here we are;' and at that moment the Abbé felt the carriage was turning, and heard the horses' hoofs clatter on what he imagined to be the stones of a courtyard.

"The carriage stopped, Pomerantseff opened the door himself, and assisted the blindfolded priest to alight.

"There are five steps,' he said, as he held the Abbé by the arm. 'Take care.'

"The Abbé stumbled up the five steps. They had now entered a house, and Girod imagined to himself it was probably some old hotel like the Hôtel Pimodan. When they had proceeded a few yards, Pomerantseff warned him that they were about to ascend a staircase, and up many shallow steps they

went. When at length they had reached the top of the stairs, the Prince guided him by the arm through what the Abbé imagined to be a hall, opened a door, closed and locked it after them, walked on again, opened another door, which he closed and locked likewise, and over which the Abbé heard him pull a heavy curtain. The Prince then took him again by the arm, advanced him a few steps, and said in a low whisper :

"Remain quietly standing where you are. I rely upon your honour not to attempt to remove the pockethandkerchief from your eyes until you hear voices.'

"The Abbé folded his arms and stood motionless, while he heard the Prince walk away, and then suddenly all sound ceased.