s inspired by God in the blessings which he
gave to the people of the Lord, and in the prediction which he made of
the coming of the Messiah; but we must acknowledge, also, the extreme
corruption of his heart, his avarice, and all that he would have been
capable of doing, if God had permitted him to follow his bad
inclination and the inspiration of the evil spirit.

Diodorus of Sicily,[151] on the tradition of the Egyptians, says that
the Chaldeans who dwelt at Babylon and in Babylonia were a kind of
colony of the Egyptians, and that it was from these last that the
sages, or Magi of Babylon, learned the astronomy which gave such
celebrity.

We see, in Ezekiel,[152] the King of Babylon, marching against his
enemies at the head of his army, stop short where two roads meet, and
mingle the darts, to know by magic art, and the flight of these
arrows, which road he must take. In the ancients, this manner of
consulting the demon by divining wands is known--the Greeks call it
_Rhabdomanteia_.

The prophet Daniel speaks more than once of the magicians of Babylon.
King Nebuchadnezzar, having been frightened in a dream, sent for the
Magi, or magicians, diviners, aruspices, and Chaldeans, to interpret
the dream he had had.

King Belshazzar in the same manner convoked the magicians, Chaldeans,
and aruspices of the country, to explain to him the meaning of these
words which he saw written on the wall: _Mene_, _Tekel_, _Perez_. All
this indicates the habit of the Babylonians to exercise magic art, and
consult magicians, and that this pernicious art was held in high
repute among them. We read in the same prophet of the trickery made
use of by the priests to deceive the people, and make them believe
that their gods lived, ate, drank, spoke, and revealed to them hidden
things.

I have already mentioned the Magi who came to adore Jesus Christ;
there is no doubt that they came from Chaldea or the neighboring
country, but differing from those of whom we have just spoken, by
their piety, and having studied the true religion.

We read in books of travels that superstition, magic, and fascinations
are still very common in the East, both among the fire-worshipers
descended from the ancient Chaldeans, and among the Persians,
sectaries of Mohammed. St. Chrysostom had sent into Persia a holy
bishop, named Maruthas, to have the care of the Christians who were in
that country; the King Isdegerde having discovered him, treated him
with much