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344 THE WILL IN NATURE.
them anything in return for their services, in a hell-com
pulsion 1
(Hollenzwang). But all these mere interpreta
tions and outward trappings of the thing were received so
entirely as its essence and as objective processes, that
writers like Bodinus, Delrio, Bindsfeldt, &c., whose know
ledge of magic was second-hand and not derived from per
sonal experience, all assert the essential characteristic of
Magic to be, that it does not act either through forces of
Nature or in a natural way, but through the assistance of
the Devil. This view was, and long remained, current
everywhere, locally modified according to the religions
which prevailed in different countries. The laws against
sorcery and the trials for witchcraft were based upon it ;
likewise, wherever the possibility of Magic was contested,
the attacks were generally directed against this opinion.
An objective view, such as this, was an inevitable conse
quence of the decided Realism which prevailed throughout
ancient and mediaeval Europe and which Descartes was the
first to disturb. Till then, Man had not learnt to direct
the light of speculative thought towards the mysterious
depths of his own inner self, but, on the contrary, had
sought everything outside himself. Above all the thought
of making the will he found within him rule over Nature,
was so bold, that people would have been alarmed by it :
therefore it was made to rule over fictitious beings, sup
to have command over
posed by the prevailing superstition
Nature, in order through them to obtain at least indirect
mastery over Nature. Every sort of god or demon more
over, is always a hypostasis, by which believers of all sects
and colours bring to their own comprehension the Metaphysi
cal, that which lies behind Nature, that which gives her
existence and consistence and consequently rules over her.
Thus, when it is said, that Magic acts by the help of demons,
1
Delrio,
Vanit. Scient." c. 45.
"
Disq. mag." L. ii. qu. 2. Agrippa a "
Nettesheym, De