Their Brahmins, or Gymnosophists, were regarded with as much reverence
as the magi, and probably were more worthy of it. Some of them dwelt in
woods, and others in the immediate vicinity of cities. Their skill in
medicine was great; the care which they took in educating youth, in
familiarizing it with generous and virtuous sentiments, did them
peculiar honour; and their maxims and discourses, as recorded by
historians, prove that they were much accustomed to profound reflection
on the principles of civil polity, morality, religion and philosophy.


JEWISH MAGI.

Of the magi of the Jews, it is proved by Lightfoot,[5] that after their
return from Babylon, having entirely forsaken idolatry, and being no
longer favoured with the gift of prophecy, they gradually abandoned
themselves, before the coming of our Saviour, to sorcery and divination.
The Talmud, still regarded with a reverence bordering on idolatry,
abounds with instructions for the due observance of superstitious rites.
After their city and temple were destroyed, many Jewish impostors were
highly esteemed for their pretended skill in magic; and under pretence
of interpreting dreams, they met with daily opportunities of practising
the most shameful frauds. Many Rabbins were quite as well versed in the
school of Zoroaster, as in that of Moses. They prescribed all kinds of
conjuration, some for the cure of wounds, some against the dreaded bite
of serpents, and others against thefts and enchantments. Their
divinations were founded on the influence of the stars, and on the
operations of spirits, they did not, indeed, like the Chaldean magi,
regard the heavenly bodies as gods and genii, but they ascribed to them
a great power over the actions and opinions of men.