The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-01-25
THE DEVIL AND DIR. FAUSTUS.


ana Margaret-before even Goethe's grand poem
had 6xed in the memory of reading people the
associated images of the philosophizing seducer
d and the mOCking fend-all the world had heard
ofthe Devil and DR.. Faustus. But at that time
perhaps, not one person in a thousand could
have told whence he had gained any acquaint-
ance he might possess with these personages, or
where even any book upon the subject could be
found; for most libraries might be searched in
vain for anything of the kind. Yet knowledge
20 widespread, however superficial, betokens
that there must have been at one time some
easily accessible common source whence the
general information was derived.
And this was, indeed, the case. There was q
period when the Faust legends were to the
people Of the North what the stories of the
''Arabian NightsD we're to the Orientals-and,
perhaps, more; for the former not only fur
nished amusement and grati6ed the love of the
marvellous, but appealed likewise to deeper
feelings. Fifty years ago, before books for the
million were scattered broadcast by a cheap
press some such place may have been occupied
in ''the cottage homes of England" by Bunyan's
great work; indeed, the history OF DR.. Faustus
might be not inaptly described as the medi@val
''Pngrims Progress" As compared with Bun
vans book, however, the fact OF the hero being
real instead of an allegorical parsonage, or at
least the embodiment of general beliefs rather
than the creation of an individual mind, gave
the story of Faustus wider range of interest;
since few could be Indifferent to professedly
accurate information on a subject about which
every one had already heard something.
Again, the reversed plan of the narrative,
delineating a retrograde movement from God in
stead Of an onward course in holiness, awakened
more universal sympathy. The introduction,
too, of proportion OF the comic element
mingled with its graver matter, gained ready
acceptance for it, where a story wholly serious
might have moved but slowly. IL is related
indeed, that at one time the whole library OF
the little islands in our Northern seas consisted
of a single bOOk-the said volume being the
"Hstory of the Devil and DR.. Faustus.' When,
rs a consequence OF circulating continually from
one reading household to another, it at last fell
TO pieces, 1t was resolved, at general meeting
OF the inhabitants, that one of their number
should be despatched to the mainland, to pro-
vide new supply OF reading for the comnu-
nifty. The question next arose-What work
should be selected? After long discussion on
the merits of the various books they had ever
seen or heard of, the good people at last
decided that they would send for another Dr.
BduStRS! This anecdote may possibly be
apOCrypha but at any rate it is no incorrect
illustration Of the popular favor which, for
very long period, attended this remarkable
work.
the form VI book that the Faust legends
attained their greatest celebrity; bat before
printing had even been invented they were
already widely known, the exact time and form
of their origin being lost in the obscurity of
remote ages. The growth of the story may, how
ever, In some measure be traced. The principal
characters, as every one knows, stand in the
relation OF vendor and purchaser, the soul of
the mortal being the object of traffic: and the
foundation of the story may, therefore, fairly be
sought in the earliest account of the sale of a
p,ulyN thnY - In.1-,
of the kind upon record is believed to be that of
the Greek priest Theophius, legends of whose
apostasy and reconversOn, says Mr.. Dasent lin
the preface to his polyglot version OF the tradi-
tom, once rang throughout Christendom from
Spain TO Iceland. 1t appears that in the time
of the Emperor Jusunian, about A. D. 53S,
this TheOphilus was Vice Dominus, a rank next
10 that OF Bishop, in Ada, a city of Cilicia.
Having, as the story says, declined presenta-
ton to the vacant bishopric he naturally felt
surprised and aggTieved when the Prelate who
accepted the appointment sought to depose him
from his subordinate position, Hurt and angry,
he applied for aid or advice TO a Jew necroman-
Ger, who appointed him to come the next night
to place near the city, where he need not fear
anything that he should see, but most carefully
a bstain from making the sign of the cross. On
reaching the spot he found it Illuminated with
numerous lights and crowded with figures in
white garments, surrounding one who seemed
10 be their prince, to whom the Jew introduced
MIN. Thls parsonage, who was no other than
Satan himself, promised that if he would be his
servant, he would render him any assistance he
needed; but he must first renounce Christ, aud
his mother Mary, signing a document to that
effect with his own blood: whereupon TheOphi-
lus kissed his feet, and complied with all the
required conditions The next day he was
received with much honor and favor by the
new bishop. But the compact he had made
weighed heavily on his conscience, and, soon
Tepentng his rash and sinful engagement
he repaired to church dedicated to the Vir
gin, and there remained fasting and praying for
forty days. At length Mary appeared to him
twice, promising 10 help him Anxious for
an assurance of his sin being cancelled. he
then begged her TO recover for him the deed
he had signed, when, after three more days of
prayer and abstinence, she came to him once
more, and, while he was asleep, laId thel,bond
upon his breast. On the next Sunday he went
TO church, and told the whole story TO the
bishop, who bade him throw the deed INTO a
ire before all the congregation, on doing
which his face was seen to shine like the sun.
For yet another three days he lay PROSTATE,
absorbed in Thanksgiving, upon the spot
where the Virgin had appeared TO him; and
then, probably worn out by these excessive
Ygls, died in all holiness and peace.
First narrated in Greek by Eutychus, the dis
ciple of TheOphlus, who declared that he had
heard the account from his masters own lips,
this tale was translated into Latin, and then
into French, Anelo-SaXOn, Icelandc, ETC.
spreading over nearly the whole of Europe, and
thus familarized the popular mind with the
idea OF human being entering into treaty with
the Evil Spirit, The same idea was thenCeforth
reproduced in many other stories told of various
persOnages, and in different countries, the dis
play of any extraordinary knowledge or of eX
tTaOrdinary luxury being commonly traced tC
some source of this kind, until at length il was
embodied in the History of DR.. Faustus."
That the story, or collection of stories, bear
ing this title, had been known long before they
were committed to print, or even, perhaps, tC
writing, IS sufficiently manifest from the preface
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