i. 14, wherein, after speaking of angels, the writer asks--"Are they not

all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?"--a sentence which implies the idea that those who are not heirs of salvation have not angels which minister for them. The doctrine was certainly not exclusively Christian. Of this any one may assure himself by referring to Eccles. v. 6--"Neither say thou before the angel that it was an error; wherefore... should God destroy the works of thine hands?"

Again, we find an angel seated between two young folk of opposite sexes, and archaeologists tell us that the winged creature thus figured is a nuptial god--one whose business is to induce appropriate couples to meet, to love, and to marry. Such a celestial match-maker was the Jewish Raphael, who, though "one of the seven holy angels, which present the prayers of the saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One" (Tobit xii. 15)--yet condescended to conduct Tobias a long way to meet Sara, and instructed him how he could marry her with safety, and defeat a devil.

Amongst other individuals, in the Etruscan mythological paintings who are winged, are the following, which are named thus by the authors who describe the vases, &c., whether rightly or wrongly it is not necessary for me to prove:--Janus; Furina, the goddess of thieves; Mercury, the messenger of Jupiter and the patron of robbers; Vacuna, or Desideria, or Venus, the goddess of indolence, desire, or love; Hymen, the angel or god of marriage; Cupid, the god of love; Victory, Bacchus, Silenus, Dryads, Calliope, Tempest, Fame, Proserpine; Iibitina, the goddess of funerals; Venus, infera, Nemesis, or fate; Death, life, Charybdis, The Furies, Geryon, Justice, Peace, Iris, and Diana. On such a subject the reader may consult with advantage Augustine (_de Civitate Dei_, b. vl. c. 9); Arnobius (_Adversus Gentes_, b. iv. c. 7); and Tertullian (_Ad Nationes_, b. ii. c. 11).

We may now refer to a remarkable series of drawings, representing the funeral of Patroclus, described by Homer, which were discovered in the Etruscan sepulchre of the Tarquinii near what once was Vulci and is now "Ponte della Badia," in the year 1857, and which is described in _Noël des Vergers L'Etrurie et les Etrusques_, and in _Corpus Inscriptionum Italicarum_ (Turin 1867), the latter of which I use as my authority. In one of the scenes we find depicted the sacrifice of the Trojan youths at the grave of Patroclus. The artist has not left to the fancy of the observer the identification of his figures, but has written in Etruscan letters the modified names of the actors. Beginning from the right hand, we find Ajax Oileus, and next to him a naked Trojan youth, whose hands are bound behind his back, and who is guarded by Telamonian Ajax. Behind and besides him is Charon, and in front of the latter is another Trojan youth, nude, seated on the ground, and receiving his death-wound from Achilles. Behind the latter stands a winged, draped, tall female figure, whom at one time I took to be the glorified soul of Patroclus; but, having seen a similar figure on other Etruscan designs depicting human sacrifice or death, and finding over the head of this one the word _fanth, vanth, or fano_--according to the value which we assign to the digamma or F and O--which is, I think, equivalent to the Latin _Fatum_, fate, &c., we must regard the figure as resembling Azrael--"the angel of death." Besides and behind her stands a draped man unarmed, having a fixed countenance of settled melancholy, and regarding without a shade of exultation the death of the young Trojan whom Achilles slaughters. Over his head are the words _hinthial patrucles_, which is believed to signify "the shade of Patroclus." The last figure in the group is Agamemnon.

This and the other sculptures in the tomb are extremely interesting to the archaeologists, firstly, because they bear evidence of a very superior style of art; secondly, because they testify to the antiquity of Homer's _Iliad_, and its popularity in other nations than the Greek. They show, moreover, that the wealthy men amongst the Etrurians were not ignorant of the Grecian language, or rather literature, although they had difficulty in adapting the Hellenic words to their own alphabet; lastly, they ought to be especially valuable to us inasmuch as they demonstrate the existence of a belief in ancient Italy of the resurrection of the body, and of the existence of angels precisely the same in shape as those which pious Christians delight to see in their churches, and in their manuals of devotion. It is worthy of notice that upon some Etruscan vases in the museum at Munich there are angelic warriors covered with armour--a winged female carrying a caduceus, and winged horses--like Pegasus, and probably like those seen by Zechariah, the Hebrew vaticinator.

We consider it best to omit making any remarks respecting the ideas entertained about angels by the Phoenicians, for we have scarcely any information about their mythology beyond the names of certain gods and goddesses. It will be more profitable to pass on to the Greeks, and inquire into the general system of their theological belief. This is, we think, a matter of some importance, for this people, as victors and masters, came into contact with the Jews in the time of Joel, about b.c. 800; and if any captive Hebrews came back from Grecia (see Joel iii. 6), we believe that they would naturally bring back with them much of the Hellenic lore of their conquerors. The reader must not be carried away here with the once popular notion that everything which was found in heathendom, which resembled something biblical or Jewish, came of necessity from scriptural or Israelitish sources. The reverse is much more likely, for the Hebrews in old times are described by their historians and preachers as hankering after novelty--"going whoring after other gods," as the Bible has it. They, on the other hand, were encouraged to keep themselves aloof from others, and were never a missionary nation; nor, had they been so, were they sufficiently honourable or wealthy, as a race, ever to command respect. They were, indeed, generally despised by the people round about them, who would no more think of adopting Jewish fables than we should care to learn theology and cosmogony from African negroes.

If we endeavour to reduce Grecian mythology to its simplest expression, we find that it consisted of a belief in a creator--grand beyond conception, and one whom the mind could not conceive, nor pencil nor the chisel depict. Under him there was thought to be a host of minor deities, who agreed, more or less, amongst themselves, each having a particular department of creation to preside over, or a definite function to perform. Jupiter, for example, had the air and the heavens generally under his management; Neptune superintended the sea; Rhea, or Gaia, or Gee, was the goddess of the surface of the earth; and Pluto had the management of the interior of the globe and of those who were buried therein. If corpses were unburied, they did not come under his immediate cognizance. Then, as it was quite possible that one deity might be counteracting another, as, indeed, they are represented to have done during the Trojan war, another god was necessary to be a medium of communication between the others, and Mercury became the messenger, or go-between.

Below the major gods was an infinity of smaller ones, who presided over physical and moral matters. There were, for example, wood and tree nymphs; Dryads and hamadryads--gods of rivers, such as Simois and Scamander. Pan presided over husbandmen; Hermes, over thieves, &c. Others, like Eros, fulfilled the duty of bringing the sexes together. Hymen secured them in marriage, and Venus had the duty of insuring connubial happiness, whilst Lucina's business was to bring the offspring of the marriage into the world--with as little pain or danger as possible. Then, again, Fortune brought good luck. The "furies" brought evil, and the "fates" ruled the destiny of mortals.

Against some of these gods others rebelled. For example, there were the Titans, the sons of Heaven and Earth (Cælus et Terra), who were all of gigantic stature, and may be said to be identical with the giants spoken of in Gen. vi. 2-4, as being the offspring of the sons of God and the daughters of men. These Titans were much disliked by their father, and confined in the bowels of the earth, or, as we should say, in Hell; but their mother relieved them, and they in turn revenged themselves upon their progenitor. When Jupiter succeeded to Cronos or Saturn, the giants, the sons of Tartarus and Terra, or Hell and Earth, united with their half-brothers, the Titans, and attacked Olympus, and its gods, in dismay, assumed disguises and fled into Egypt--a rare spot, whence also came as history tells us, the founder of Christianity and the doctrine of the Trinity. To regain his position, Jupiter found a man--a son of his own--whom he had begotten by lying three nights in the heart of the earth, or, as the fable has it, in the arms of Alcmena--Hercules by name, to attack the allied monsters, and thus with the aid of a mortal the gods became victorious. Just as in more modern days the divine mission and position of Jesus of Nazareth and Mahomet of Mecca, have been determined by the arms of human warriors. The power of men in heaven is wonderful, considering how great is their weakness upon earth! It is probable, that to the Greeks, Milton owed his ideas of _Paradise Lost_.

According to the ordinary ideas of angels, the gods, demigods, goddesses, genii, and the like, were essentially the same amongst the Hebrews as the archangels and inferior hierarchy are in modern christian mythology. We shall the more readily see this if we inquire into the ideas of the Greeks respecting _demons_. "The latter were regarded as spirits which presided over the actions of mankind, and watched over their secret intentions." Many Greek theologians thought that each man had two, the one good, the other bad. These sprites could change themselves into any form, and at death the individual was delivered up to judgment by these companions, who testified to his actions during life. Socrates often spoke of his own peculiar "spirit." Not only were these creatures supposed to influence men, but they were also believed to guard places, and a genius loci was the same as the God of Ekron, or any other locality.

It is almost impossible for a thoughtful man not to compare with the Greek ideas those held by moderns. We hear in familiar discourse, and read in popular books, about a good angel and a bad one. God is said to use both (see Ps. lxxviii. 49, and 1 Kings xxii. 21, 22.) Many, too, of the readers of Sterne will remember the remarks which he makes about a recording angel who was obliged to register an oath, but who contrived to blot out the entry with a tear (com. Mal. iii. 16.) As we have already adverted to the belief of Jesus that every child had an angel, who is always in the presence of. God, we need not remark again upon the matter.

But though the Grecian gods and demigods were the counterparts of the archangels and lesser powers of the Jews and Christians, they were not pictorially depicted, as they were in other places, like winged men or other creatures.

Arnobius, for example, in _Advenus génies_, when writing about the divinities of the heathen, remarks, that they are so like ordinary men and women, that the artist has to resort to some contrivance to show that any offspring of his brush, or of his chisel, is a god or goddess. A painter, he observes, will select the finest young women he can discover--or the handsomest prostitute in his country, and from one maiden, or from the collective charms of many, will paint a lovely woman and style her Venus; yet she is only a courtezan after all. His remark is a certainly true one. Jupiter is never represented otherwise than as a man, nor does Minerva ever figure except as a woman. None of the greater gods of Hellas are winged like the tutelar gods of the Assyrians and Persians were. Even Hermes, though he does bear pinions, does not carry them in the usual form. Instead of having powerful wings behind his arms, like the Gabriel or Michael of Christian mythology, he has little nippers attached to each side of a cap, of a pair of socks, and of a curiously-shaped wand--all of which he can put off when he pleases, or don when he is sent with a message. Jupiter's thunders bear similar wings. But such minor deities, or devils, as Eros or love; Hymen or marriage; Fame, or victory; Aurora, or day-break; the winds, the Genii, the Gorgons, the Furies, the Harpies, Iris, Isis, Hebe, Psyche, and even Pegasus--a wondrous horse, are winged with pinions which resemble those of the eagle.

If we now pause for a moment to compare one thing with another, we readily see that Hymen may fairly be described as the angel of the covenant of marriage, and that Mercury is identical with Raphael. The "genius loci," the "dryad" or "hamadryad," is the counterpart of the cherubim guarding the ark and the mercyseat of the Jewish temple. Apollo is the angel in the sun (Rev. xix. 17.) Neptune is "the angel of the waters" (Rev. xvi. 5.) Nay, we may--indeed we must go further, and affirm that either the angel Gabriel, or "the power of the Highest," which, we are told in Luke i. 26, 35, overshadowed Mary, the espoused wife of Joseph, is a perfect counterpart of the Hellenic Jupiter who overshadowed Alcmena.

Both produced a being equally celebrated--for we may fairly assert that Hercules was believed in by as many individuals as have faith in Jesus. For ourselves, we do not credit the myth of the Hellenists; of the very existence of a Hercules we are profoundly incredulous. Yet we do not doubt for a moment that Jesus of Nazareth lived as a man upon this earth, and founded, with the subsequent assistance of Paul, the religion which is called Christian. But of the supernatural conception of Mary and of her impregnation by a deity we are intensely sceptical.

Of the theology of the Romans in the times prior to, and somewhat subsequent to, our era, we need say little. It resembled both the Etruscan and the Greek at the first, and subsequently it was modified by the Egyptian and by the Persian. But it was in Rome, whilst pagan, that the present pictorial type of angels was perfected (see Plates ix. to xiii, Lajard's _Culte de Venus_), in which allegorical figures, from old Roman bas-reliefs, precisely like modern angels, are represented killing the Mithraic bull. I may also add, in passing, that the crozier borne by Romanist bishops is a reproduction of the Etruscan _lituus_, the augurs' or diviners' staff of office.

The Roman nation, like the Papist and Peruvian religions, was omnivorous, and not only venerated the old gods of the soil, but adopted new divinities eagerly. Whoever chose to import a new deity, and a novel style of worship was hailed, patronized and enriched, much in the same way as at London during recent times, Mesmerists, "spirit rappers," "cord-conjurors," clairvoyants, male and female, spiritualists like Home, very High Churchmen, and many other classes of a similar stamp have been encouraged. As in Athens, we are told that "the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing" (Acts xvii), no matter whether the novelty was religious or otherwise, so it has been elsewhere. London really, and Rome metaphorically are constantly adopting new ideas, some highly commendable and philosophical, others quite the reverse. Amongst the latter, we may mention that which professes that a certain man can, like Jesus is said to have done, heal by a touch. This assertion, however, is only sparsely credited on the Thames. Far more general is the belief which professes, that an Ecumenical Council can by a vote make one man and his official successors "infallible."

We cannot pass by this subject without remarking that instability in religion is evidence of infidelity; and the adoption of new tenets is a proof of the low estimation in which old ones have been held. Even the new, or Christian dispensation, as it is called, is founded upon the insufficiency of the old or Jewish covenant, which, by those who adopt the one, is a confession that they believe the other was imperfect and therefore not of God. Consequently, when we find a "church," like the Roman, habitually patching its old clothes, we conclude that its leaders are dissatisfied with them and desire better. A lover who finds his mistress perfect neither seeks nor wishes to change her for another; nor endeavours to induce her to modify her attire until he is dissatisfied therewith. When he insists upon an alteration it is because his ardent love has faded. The philosopher may see clearly why certain prelates desire to have some infallible man to appeal to--for it is easier to find out the opinion of one individual than to harmonize the contradictory hypotheses of fifty dogmatical or authoritative writers. Yet the same man will not fail to see that such a proceeding, whilst it strengthens the hold of the church upon the weak-minded, cuts it adrift from the strong. The policy is not altogether bad, for it seeks to bind closer those who, whilst wearing the chains of captivity, regard them as ornaments. But all those who adopt such tactics ought, boldly and unequivocally, to withdraw from the rank of truth-seekers, and of envoys of that God who is not "the author of confusion but of peace."

We may now proceed to the consideration of the angelic mythology of the Old and New Testaments. In our inquiry we shall endeavour to arrive at the ideas contained in the words which are used, and not content ourselves with simple quotation. There is strong reason to believe that Christians in general rarely examine into the real signification of words which they are taught to use, or which, from some fancy or other, they commit to memory. They imagine--if they think on the subject at all--that to repeat a text or a creed is to perform an act of faith, which, in itself, is praiseworthy and a good work. Such do not, in any appreciable degree, differ from the Thibetans, described by the Abbé Hue, who perform their devotions by turning round upon their axles certain cylinders, upon which some prayers are engraved. Not only these Asiatics, but Europeans of large mental calibre are often contented with vague ideas; and when they are challenged to support "the faith which is in them," show that they have never yet examined it. If, for example, they are asked how they can believe in the truth of such passages, "I have seen God (Kohim) face to face" (Gen. xxxii. 30); "The Lord (Jehovah) spake unto Moses face to face as a man speaketh unto his friend" (Exod. xxxiii. 11); "Moses whom the Lord knew face to face" (Deut. xxxiv. 10), and the opposite one, "Thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me and live" (Exod. xxxiii. 20)--the sole reply rendered is that the first passages are figurative, passing by entirely the comparison in the second, which asserts that God talked with Moses as one friend with another.

As a farther illustration of my meaning, I may point to the glibness with which Christians talk, sing, and listen to discourses about blood. If people really gave heed to what they chant, and to the words of their ministers, they would really be puzzled to find a distinction between the god whom they worship and that idol deity of Mexico, which called constantly for the hearts and the blood of his worshippers. "Without shedding of blood is no remission" (Heb. ix. 22) is a dogma that puts the Europeans' God on the same level as the deities worshipped in pagan Africa, New Zealand, and by the Anthropophagi generally.

In like manner, if ordinary people are asked to reconcile such passages as the following--"Who maketh his angels spirits;" "A spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have" (Luke xxiv. 39)--with a host of others, in which angels are said to have appeared, talked, and acted like men, they allege that "much of the phraseology of the Bible is metaphorical." But if it be granted that the language is metaphorical, must we not equally believe that the facts referred to are mythical; and if so, how much of the so-called inspired book can we trust? If metaphor and figure-imagery are cities of refuge for theologians, those who fly to them must remember, that there they must remain and live therein all their days; they cannot be citizens of the world, and yet never leave their asylum: if, for them, facts are fictions, by parity of reason fictions are facts.

If, when an individual, said to be a prophet, and, as such, the mouthpiece of the Holy Ghost or of Jehovah, tells us that he saw and talked with an angel, who imparted to him such and such information, we are bound either to believe the whole statement or to reject it as valueless, _quoad_ revelation. If the man did see an angel, and that angel spoke, it must have been material; and if material, it could not be a spirit, and if not a spirit, it was not an angel.* If to this it be answered that individuals do see what they deem to be spirits--just as many a drunken man avers that he sees "blue devils," we grant it at once. We go still farther, and state that we know individuals in full possession, apparently, of all their senses, who see, occasionally, men, women, horses, dogs, and other things, which have no more existence than the figures which appear to us in dreams. Such men not only see imaginary beings, but they hear conversations or speeches which have no reality in them. But we cannot for a moment allow that such delusions of the senses are sterling, and such utterances, messages from the Almighty delivered by angels. To be logical, therefore, the theologian must either accept the stories told in the Bible about angelic beings as literally true, to the exclusion of all metaphor, or believe that every thing tainted by such celestial mythology is entirely of human invention.

* The authority for this is Ps. civ. 4; Heb. L 7, 14,--"Who maketh his angels spirits;" "Are they not all ministering spirits?"

As an illustration, let us consider two episodes in the history of Elisha. We find in 2 Kings ii. 11, that a chariot of fire and horses of fire, appeared to this prophet, and parted him from Elijah, with whom he was walking, and carried the latter away into heaven; and we see in 2 Kings vi. 17, that Elisha's servant could really see a multitude of chariots and horses of fire round about his master. We must also remember that "the chariots of the Lord are thousands of angels" (Ps. lxviii. 17; see also Ps. xxxiv. 7.) Now these were, or were not, realities--if the chariots and horsemen existed, then we infer that some sort of stables and ostlers exist in heaven; if none such exist, then the chariots and horses could neither have been seen, nor have separated the two prophets.

It may be urged that supernatural beings do exist for those who can see them, and for no other; just as the angel was seen by Balaam's ass thrice (see Numbers xxii. 22-33) before he was recognized by her master. But this observation is worthless, for it amounts to nothing more than this--viz., that the persons seen in dreams exist for the dreamers and for no one else; but it in no way proves the reality of the asserted apparition.

It would be as useless to discuss, at this point, the actuality of what are called "spectres," as of other things named fairies, pixies, gnomes, or sprites. Of the existence of such there is abundance of evidence; and for hundreds of years there was not a human being who did not believe in them. But there was even stronger proof that the world stood still, and the sun went round it, and during untold centuries all who thought on the matter believed the statement. Yet in these days all the testimony is regarded as worthless in the presence of the stern facts of science; and ghosts are only believed in by such as write treatises upon squaring the circle, perpetual motion, and the plane figure of the earth. We shall take up the subject at length in our next chapter.

If we were to follow the bent of our inclination, we should now endeavour to prove that the Jews had no idea of an angelic mythology prior to the Babylonian captivity, and that they had no distinct literature prior to the Grecian and Edomite captivity referred to in Joel, Amos, Obadiah, and Micah, except possibly such records and written laws as may be styled "annals" or "year-books;" and, as a consequence, that all parts of the Old Testament in which angelic beings figure are comparatively modern, having been fabricated after the long sojourn of the Jews in Babylon. But to carry out this intention would require a treatise rather than an essay, and I must content myself with saying that I believe it to be affirmed by all Hebrew scholars, that up to the time of Nebuchadnezzar--or Hezekiah--the sole unseen power recognized by the Jews was Jehovah alone. They did not believe either in angel or devil What their ideas were we may shortly describe*:--

* Long after the remark in the text was written, and long before it was in type, Dr. Kalisch, in his second part of a commentary on Leviticus, published his views upon the point referred to. When I can refer my readers to so masterly a composition as his essay upon Angels in the Jewish theology, it is seedless for me to say much on the subject. I may also refer those who are interested in the matter to a work entitled _The Devil: his Origin, Greatness, and Decadence_ (Williams & Norgate, London, 1871--small 8vo., pp. 72). My essay supplements these, and in no way clash therewith.

1. Angels were spirits, being also ministers (Heb. L 7.) They were a flaming fire (Ps. civ. 4); compare Jud. xiii. 20, and Acts vii. 35--that is, spirits are made of a combustible material which is, however, incombustible!

2. They could assume the form of men, and were identical with God (see Gen. xviii. 19; Tobit, and Luke i.): that is to say, they were masters, yet servants--the sender and the sent at the same time!

3. Their faces were terrible (Jud. xiii. 6); but they also shone (Acts