——“Spirits, when they please, Can either sex assume, or both; so soft And uncompounded is their essence pure, Not ty’d or manacled with joint or limb, Nor founded on the brittle strength of bones, Like cumbrous flesh; but in what shape they chuse, Dilated οr condens’d, bright or obscure, Can execute their airy purposes.” MILTON. Diabolus, a devil, or evil angel, is one of those celestial spirits cast down from heaven for pretending to equal himself with God. The Ethiopians paint the devil white, to be even with the Europeans, who paint him black. We find no mention made of the word _devil_ in the Old Testament, but only of Satan: nor in any heathen authors do we meet with the word devil, in the signification attached to it among the Christians; that is, as a creature revolted from God: their theology went no farther than to evil genii, or demons, who harassed and persecuted mankind, though we are well aware many names are given to the devil both in holy writ and elsewhere. “O thou! whatever title suit thee, Auld Hornie, Satan, Nick, or Clootie, Wha in yon cavern grim an’ sootie Closed under hatches, Spairges about the brimstane clootie, To scaud poor wretches.”—BURNS. Demon was the name given by the Greeks and Romans to certain _genii_ or spirits, who made themselves visible to men with the intention of doing them either good or harm. The Platonists made a distinction between their gods, or _dei majorum gentium_; their demons, or those beings which were not dissimilar in their general character to the good and evil angels of Christian belief; and their heroes. The Jews and the early Christians restricted the appellation of demons to beings of a malignant nature, or to devils; and it is to the early opinions entertained by this people, that the outlines of later systems of Demonology are to be traced. “The tradition of the Jews concerning evil spirits are various; some of them are founded on Scripture; some borrowed from the notions of the pagans; some are fables of their own invention; and some are allegories.” The demons of the Jews were considered either as the distant progeny of Adam or of Eve, which had resulted from an improper intercourse with supernatural beings, or of Cain. As this doctrine, however, was extremely revolting to some few of the early Christians, they maintained that demons were the souls of departed human beings, who were still permitted to interfere in the affairs of the earth, either to assist their friends or to persecute their enemies. This doctrine, however, did not prevail.