The preceding history of Joan of Arc, is taken from “Godwin’s Lives of the Necromancers.” Reader! we see in this tragical account, the dreadful effects of human credulity. The unfortunate; Maid of Orleans, who so well deserved a monument for her patriotism, was thus cruelly put to death. Her hard fate fully shows how superstition fortifies the mind against compassion and the dictates of common sense. In that the of religious intolerance, whole nations, had caught this theological fever. Kings and Parliaments, Judges and Generals, from the highest to the lowest, were alike the subjects of that awful contagion. Justice was banished from the earth, and humanity had no existence. From whence proceeded this state of savage barbarism? The answer is presented to us in bold relief. It was the effects of human credulity. It was brought on by believing without examination; and, in the New Testament, faith is urged as the thing most pleasing to God, and unbelief as the greatest sin. The existence of the Devil, and his enmity, to God and man, being supported by the New Testament, to be guilty of forming a contract with the Prince of Darkness was considered a horrid crime. The origin of sorcery, (which consisted in holding a communion with beings from the fabulous world of spirits,) is lost in the night and darkness of antiquity, but all ancient-nations and people were believers in its reality. It was of heathen origin, yet the Jews practised it, and individuals followed it for a livelihood, as, for instance, the witch of Endor. Christians have also been believers in it in connection with all the different branches of magic. But that which has established its truth among Christians, is the part performed by Jesus during his ministry. By his own temptation by the Devil, the Existence of the Devil is put beyond all doubt And when Jesus was about to cast out a devil, the devil is reported to have cried out to the Saviour, “_We know who thou art, and art thou come to torment us before the tinte?_” This mode of expression to Jesus by the Devil who was about to be cast out, implies that when the Devil was ejected, he had to return to hell, his native place of torment. It would lead us to infer that devils were permitted to leave their dread abodes, and take possession of men or animals, as a cessation of torture; but when cast out, they had to return home, their vacation being run out Admitting this to be warranted by the New Testament, we can account for those devils whose names were “Legion,” petitioning to _be permitted to enter the herd of swine_. So, then, it appears that the devils had other motives in taking possession of human beings than to rebel against God, or to torment men. It was a fine holiday to blow off the soot and ashes, and to get fresh air. At any rate, Jesus, by pretending to cast out devils, fully admitted their existence. And by the temptation of Christ, is proved a desire on the part of the Devil to enlist persons into his service.