d, he there affirms that a number of persons, not specially
distinguished from the rest of the world by the mark of the beast in
their foreheads, are "devoted in secret to the operations of Black
Magic, communicate or seek to communicate with Spirits of Darkness, for
the attainment of ambition, the accomplishment of revenge, the
satisfaction of their passions, or some other form of ill-doing." He
affirms also that there are facts which cannot be concealed and from
which only one deduction can be made, namely, that the existence of
Satanism is undeniable.

To understand the first of these facts I must explain that the attempt
to form a partnership with the lost angels of orthodox theology, which
attempt constitutes Black Magic, has, in Europe at least, been
invariably connected with sacrilege. By the hypothesis of demonology,
Satan is the enemy of Christ, and to please Satan the sorcerer must
outrage Christ, especially in his sacraments. The facts are as
follow:--(a) continuous, systematic, and wholesale robberies of
consecrated hosts from Catholic Churches, and this not as a consequence
of importing the vessels of the sanctuary, which are often of trifling
value and often left behind. The intention of the robbery is therefore
to possess the hosts, and their future profanation is the only possible
object. Now, before it can be worth while to profane the Eucharist, one
must believe in the Real Presence, and this is acknowledged by only two
classes, the many who love Christ and some few who hate Him. But He is
not profaned, at least not intentionally, by His lovers; hence the
sacrilege is committed by His enemies in chief, namely, practisers of
Black Magic. It is difficult, I think, to escape from that position; and
I should add that sacramental outrages of this astonishing kind, however
deeply they may be deplored by the Church, are concealed rather than
paraded, and as it is difficult to get at the facts, it may be inferred
that they are not exaggerated, at least by the Church; (b) The
occasional perpetration of certain outrageous crimes, including murder
and other abominations, in which an element of Black Magic has been
elicited by legal tribunals. But these are too isolated in place and
too infrequent in time to be evidence for Satanic associations or
indications of a prevalent practice. They may therefore be released from
the custody of the present inquiry to come up for judgment when called
on; (c) The existence of