one who practises magic, or hath the power of doing wonderful feats by the agency of spirits.

Among the eastern nations it seems to have been formerly common for the princes to have magicians about their court to confer with upon extraordinary occasions. And concerning these there hath been much disputation: some supposing that their power was only feigned, and that they were no other than impostors who imposed on the credulity of their sovereigns; while others have thought that they really had some unknown connexion or correspondence with evil spirits, and could by their means accomplish what otherwise would have been impossible for men. See the article MAGIC.