, by the name of
magic was understood "the worship of the gods." "According to a great
number of authors," says Apuleius, in his Apology, "the Persians
called those magi to whom we give the name of priests." St. Jerome,
writing against Jovinian, thus expresses himself--"Eubulus, who wrote
the history of Mithras, in several volumes, relates that among the
Persians they distinguish three kinds of magi, of whom the first are
most learned and the most eloquent," &c. Notwithstanding that, there
are still people to be found, who confound the chimera of pretended
diabolical magic with philosophical magic, as Corneillus Agrippa has
done in his books on "Secret Philosophy."

VII. Another reason which is brought forward to prove the reality and
the power of the magic art, is that the laws decree the penalty of
death against enchanters. "What idea," says he, "could we have of the
ancient legislators, if we believe them capable of having recourse to
such rigorous penalties to repress a chimera, an art which produced no
effect?" Upon which it is proper to observe that, supposing this error
to be universally spread, it would not be impossible that even those
who made the laws might suffer themselves to be prejudiced by them; in
which case, we might make the same commentary on Seneca, applied, as
we have seen, to the Twelve Tables. But I go further still. This is
not the place to speak of the punishments decreed in the Scripture
against the impiety of the Canaanites, who joined to idolatry the most
extravagant magic. In regard to the Greek laws, of which authors have
preserved for us so great a number, I do not remember that they
anywhere make mention of this crime, or that they subject it to any
penalty. I can say the same of the Roman laws, contained in the
Digest. It is true that in the Code of Theodosius, and in that of
Justinian, there is an entire title concerning _malefactors_, in which
we find many laws which condemn to the most cruel death magicians of
all kinds; but are we not forced to confess that this condemnation was
very just? Those wretches boasted that they were able to occasion when
they pleased public calamities and mortalities; with this aim, they
kept their charms and dark plots as secret as it was possible, which
led the Emperor Constans to say, "Let all the magicians, in whatever
part of the empire they may be found, be looked upon as the public
enemies of mankind." What does it matter, in fact, that they made