organic character (beginning with its performances in the vegetative cell of the red snow plant, and rising upwards into the vital forces of the animal economy), we discover a line, which, though we fail to trace it, seems to point significantly to the nature and powers of the human spirit. It resembles spirit, in being correlative to matter without being matter itself, and in being void of those two great characteristic properties of matter, gravitation and impenetrability; and if force be not only incapable of being destroyed, but also incapable of being generated, may we not conclude that the physical energy possessed by the human spirit, and exercised upon the nervous system, has been elaborated, first by vegetation, then by animal life, and at last received its full development as spirit-energy?

There still remains the question, what relation does spirit-energy bear to spirit-substance? a question to which we possess no materials to provide a direct answer. We have indeed analogies of vegetation and animal life, but these cast rather an inquiring than an explanatory light upon the subject. That there is something in the plant more than its mere matter, that first converts and then wields the force which it appropriates, there can be no doubt; but what that something may be is the mystery-a mystery perhaps reserved for the studies of a future existence, when we shall know even as we are known.

The subject will again occupy our attention, when we come to speak of the soul or Psyche (which is distinct from the Pneuma). In the meantime we shall endeavour to collect and arrange what information we possess, regarding the functions and phenomena of spirit, as recorded in the historical narratives of Scripture.

CHAPTER XXIII.

DEMONIACAL POSSESSION.

THE spirit that is generated with or from the body will fit it best, just as a man's own coat will sit better upon him than the coat of another; and yet we find that other spirits are capable of affecting, or even taking possession of, bodies which are not their own. This susceptibility gives rise to different kinds of phenomena, which have been observed in all ages and in all countries, but which have been so mixed up with fable and imposture, that it would be difficult to obtain any certain information regarding them, were it not that in Scripture we have sufficient materials for the purpose; and these being authenticated by inspiration, may be used to throw light upon the corresponding passages of ancient and even modern history.

The most aggravated form of spiritual influence is that of demoniacal possession, in which the alien spirit usurps the place of a man's own spirit, receiving impressions from his nerves of sensation, and throwing the body into action by means of the motor nerves and muscles, using this usurpation for malignant purposes. This kind of possession appears to have been an epidemic of no ordinary severity during the ministry of our Lord and His apostles, visiting alike men, women, and children.

The value of these records, in a scientific point of view, cannot be overvalued, and for this reason we shall tran

scribe from different passages of the New Testament history, what may be regarded as leading features of the subject:

No. 1.

And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbade him, because he followeth not with us. And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us.-(Luke ix. 49, 50.)

No. 2.-(Harmonised.)

A certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of Jesus, and came and fell at his feet; and she cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs. And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord; yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs. And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter. And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.-(Mark vii.; Matt. xv.)

No. 3.

Then was brought unto him [Jesus] one possessed with a devil, blind and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the Son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.-(Matt. xii. 22-28.)

No. 4.

And in the synagogue there was a man which had a spirit of an unI clean devil, and cried out with a loud voice, saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And

when the devil had thrown him in the midst [and torn him], he [cried with a loud voice, and] came out of him, and hurt him not.—(Luke iv. 3335; Mark i. 23-26.)

No. 5.

And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit [he is a lunatic, and sore vexed]; and wheresoever he taketh him [he suddenly crieth out,] and he teareth him; and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away [and bruising him, it hardly departeth from him]: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out, and they could not. He answereth, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? Bring him unto me. And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed, foaming. And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? and he said, Of a child. And oft-times it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead, insomuch that many said, He is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose. And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out? And he said unto them, [Because of your unbelief; how beit] This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.-(Mark ix. 17-29; Matt. xvii.; Luke ix.)

No. 6.

And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit [which had devils a long time], who [wore no clothes, neither abode in any house, but] had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, and cried with a loud voice, and said, What have

I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not [art thou come hither to torment us before the time ?]. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. [For oftentimes it had caught him and he was kept bound with chains, and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.] And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many [because many devils were entered into him]. And he [they] besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country [and command them to go out into the deep]. Now there was there, nigh unto the mountains, a great herd of swine feeding [on the mountain]. And all the devils besought him, saying [If thou cast us out], [suffer us to go away], Send us into the swine. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine; and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea (they were about two thousand), and were choked in the sea. And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done. And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind; and they were afraid.—(Mark v. 2-15, Matt. viii. 28, Luke viii. 26.)

No. 7.

When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.-(Matt. xii. 43-45; Luke xi. 24-26.)

The first thing we have to notice in regard to demoniacal possession, is the name uniformly given to the unclean spirits. The word devil, which occurs so frequently in our English Testament, is the translation given to two different Greek words, which have not the same meaning, and which are never used indiscriminately, the one for the other. The first is daimon or daimonion, or, as we call it in English, demon. The other is diabolos, which is truly translated "devil." This fact has already been