ANGELI,
Angels, These are spiritual In∣telligences, which God makes use of, as his Ministers, to do Men Good or Evil, and to execute the Commands of his Divine Provi∣dence upon them. The Greeks and Latins ac∣knowledg'd Angels under the Name of Good or Evil Genii or Daemons. It is a Truth which Homer was well satisfi'd in, that Angels or Dae∣mons do stir up many Motions and divers Pas∣sions in the Mind and Heart of Man.
Hesiod tells us, that there are thirty thousand Gods or Angels dispers'd over all the Earth, to observe the Conduct of Men; Ter enim decies mille sunt in terra Dii Jovis, custodes mortalium hominum, qui judicia observant & prava opera, aere induti, passim oberrantes per terram: these Words Dii Jovis signifie Angels. 'Tis the Do∣ctrine of the Church, which even the Poets acknowledg'd with Hesiod, That the Provi∣dence of God watches over the Universe, and that he hath thirty thousand, i. e. an infinite number of Angels, the Ministers of his wrath. In fine, These Divine Guardians and Obser∣vers of our Actions are invisibly, yet most cer∣tainly in the midst of us, and encompass us on all sides.
Euripides, in Cicero, makes the unfortunate OEdipus say, that he withdrew himself for fear lest the Evil Genii should hurt the City upon his account, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. That's the Name he gives those Genii or Daemons which he believ'd were appointed to every particular Person, and were dispos'd to hurt them, as there were others who delighted to help and benefit them.
This Opinion of Hesiod, agrees with Varro's and Plato's, who also assign several Orders of Daemons or Intelligences in the Heavens, the Air, the Earth, and the subterraneous parts, that all the Universe might be fill'd with Life, Reason and Understanding, and consequently have a perfect Beauty. Nevertheless this Dif∣ference is remarkable, that Plato will have those Intelligences, which people and fill the whole Universe, to be created and appointed to their Offices from the beginning of the World; whereas Hesiod supposes them to be partly the Souls of the deceas'd.