make ourselves obeyed by invisible
substances which are unknown to us? Let a man study as much as he will
the pretended soul of the world, the harmony of nature, the agreement
of the influence of all the parts it is composed of--is it not evident
that all he will gain by his labor will be terms and words, and never
any effects which are above the natural power of man? To be convinced
of this truth, it suffices to observe that the pretended magicians
are, and ever have been, anything but learned; on the contrary, they
are very ignorant and illiterate men. Is it credible that so many
celebrated persons, so many famous men, versed in all kinds of
literature, should never have been able or willing to sound and
penetrate the mysterious secrets of this art; and that of so many
philosophers spoken of by Diogenes Laertius, neither Plato, nor
Aristotle, nor any other, should have left us some treatise? It would
be useless to attack the opinions of the world at that time on this
subject. Do we not know with how many errors it has been infatuated in
all ages, and which, though shared in common, were not the less
mistakes? Was it not generally believed in former times, that there
were no antipodes? that according to whether the sacred fowls had
eaten or not, it was permitted or forbidden to fight? that the statues
of the gods had spoken or changed their place? Add to those things all
the knavery and artifice which the charlatans put in practice to
deceive and delude the people, and then can we be surprised that they
succeeded in imposing on them and gaining their belief? But let it not
be imagined, nevertheless, that everyone was their dupe, and that
amongst so many blind and credulous people there were not always to be
found some men sensible and clear-sighted enough to perceive the
truth.

IV. To be convinced of this, let us only consider what was thought of
it by one of the most learned amongst the ancients, and we may say,
one of the most curious and attentive observers of the wonders of
nature--I speak of Pliny, who thus expresses himself at the beginning
of his Thirtieth Book;[673] "Hitherto I have shown in this work, every
time that it was necessary and the occasion presented itself, how very
little reality there is in all that is said of magic; and I shall
continue to do so as it goes on. But because during several centuries
this art, the most deceptive of all, has enjoyed great credit among
several nations, I think it is