Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1874-06-27

monism rapidly increasing and givinI
signs of Medo Persian influence. Ii
the books we find you mentioned b,
name; you are there called Satan, bu
are represented as a minister of tn,
Almighty, performing the function o
accuser and sedueer. 1t was you, ac
cordiDg to |. Chronicles, xxi, /, whC
stirred up David to number the peo.
pie; but, on the other hand, in the
older account of the same act given in
ii. Samuel. XIV, /, David's impulse
is attributed to an angry God, your fig.
ure being then not very clearly invent
ed. | am afraid, my friend, that down
to this time, your existence is unprov-
ed"
His guest smiled again. Perhaps
you are right" he said carelessly,
knocking the ashes off his cigar; but
do not, l beg, interrupt your argu-
ment."
By no means. As we all know, Sa-
tan becomes prominent in Job, but
that book is only a poem, while the
Talmud says expressly that it is an al
legory, and nothing but an allegory.
So we will not give any more credence
to you there than to the witches in
Macbeth In Zahariah, iii, l, you
are depicted as resisting the angel of
God, and also as falsely accusing the
high priest Joshua. Still, you are not
yet represented as being positively
evil, but as taking pleasure in active
wrongdoing. In word you are the
adversary-the literal meaning of Sa-
tan-or marplot. l could prove this
at length, but comparison ofthe pas
sage from Chronicles and Samuel
which | have already referred to is
sufficient You go with me, hope? ?"
The devel laughed. "You.are reas-
Oning admirably, but | am not quite
convinced"
In the Apochryphal books" con-
tlnued Peter, you are seen growing In
importance and power, and here you
assume many traits of the Persian
Ahriman, or active evil. Only a small
portion of the Apocrypha is Of Pales-
dain- Persian (as, for instance, Tobias
and Baruch), or Egypto-Alexandrain
(as the Book Of WIsdom). The old
Hebrew doctrine of misfortune being
caused by Jehovah himself, through
an angel, fades from sight, and we
have instead demons or evil spirits in
the New Testament meaning of the
word pneumatic ponera. Many of
these we know by name among others
Asmodeus, the demon Of pleasure who
figures so prominently in the Book To-
bit. He is undoubtedly of Persian
origin. But the first trace of head
of this organization is in the Book of |
Wisdom, ii, "a, where you are spoken
of in connection with Eve"
Yes" said the devil pensively, 81
the circumstances she was
very handsome.
Peter was too engrossed in his sub
ject to notice the reflection.
During the time from the close of |
the Apocrypha to the appearance of |
Jesus the Jewish theory of demonolo-
gy developed RAPIDLY. 1t was mainly |
derived from the system of Zeroaster,
grown familiar to the Jews during
their long and close communion with |
the Persian Empire. But as they !
could not accept the coequal powers Of |
Ormuzd and Ahriman, the belief was
modified to agree with the national
You and your demons
we're supposed to be angels fallen from
your former state, and therefore hos
tile to Jehovah. These opinions
spread extensively amongst the lower
classes, while many of the higher re-
pelled them"
There have always been people
who would not believe in me" said
the devil sadly.
"Well," Peter resumed briskly, I'VE
now see daylight when Jesus came
upon the scene. He found Palestine
swarming with demons, all of whom
we're firmly seated in the popular imag-
nation. They came from various
'ources-many from tradition, many
rom ignorant superstition, many of
hem were Roman gods. About this
lime you began to look like Pan, and
we're supposed to have possession of
every one who did not bel6ng to the
whence the ceremony of bap-
ism or exorcism. In the eighth GEN.
Jury Pope Gregory took you in hand,
md mingling popular notions with the
prevalent theolonical ideas, made of
he mixture a church doctrine To him
you owe much of your prominence and
! good deal of your personality.
81 have squared accounts with him"
nuttered the devil "he called me
itupid beast.
"There is no need to trouble you or
myself any farther, " said Peter, leaning
pack in his chair and playing with his
Gregory made of you
distinct entity and caused you to be
considered an integral part of the uni
yerse. But | have shown very plainly
low and in what manner you came to
De first believed in; how you acquired
and whence you derived
t." He gazed at his visitor with
,omplacent aiF,
And your conclusion is"
AS | said before that you are hum
pug. Under pretence of being an evil
spirit you are nothing but collection
IF miscellaneous ideas; relic of bar
Darism, and very poor one at that"
Now, young man" said the devil,
,ternly, rising from the chair, which
,moked as he left it, :" L have been pa
lent, although you twice called me
lumbug. / am not in the habit of
having such language addressed to me,
1ut | prefer employing gentle means
when possible, and should like to con-
vert you"
Rubbish !" exclaimed Peter, rude
y interrupting him. " am a philos-
5pher, and will never, never believe in
rou. | don't believe even now that | am
,alking to the devil. 1t will take bet
er proof than you can give to satisfy
ne.
1T will, eh?" shouted his majesty,
lis eyes flashing fire. By st. Dun
stan, I'll show you whether / am the
levil or not.
There was blaze of lurid light, a
,lap OF thunder, and Pster Leplet van
shed forever from this world.
The next morning people commented
On the storm of the previous night,
md were very much puzzled to account
FOR the smell of birthstone in his room.
WacTF No TINE Thine lost can