The Wilmingtonian, and Delaware register., 1824-08-12
TIIF. DININING ROD.

The natural magician smiled at the nlys-
tical dcvotuc, whom he affected 10 treat ci-
thcr as the lupc of his own enthusiasm, or
Us an impnstcv, Trusting onl, to the secret
powers of nature, lie paced along With the
dniainS rod Of hazel which turns III obc-
dicnct, attracted by the cffiuvia from the
metals concealed beneath the soil.
The employment of the .lcvining rod when
employed 10 discover ore or metci, was as
sociated with nany supcrstitious o5scrvan-
ccs. The fact, however, of the discovery of
water being effected by it when held in the
hands Of certain persons, seems indubitabe.
The following narrative which has been
lately communicated to us by friend resi-
ding i'll Norfolk, puts the subject i'll the clear
est point of view. Aud we shall simply
state that the parties, whose names are wcll
known to many Of our readers, arc utterly
incapable either Of ofdeceiving others, or Of be-
Ing deceived themselves.
"January 81, 18lS-It is just fifty year
since lady Ms attention was first called to
this subject; She was then sixteen Years Old,
and was on visit with hcr family at cha
teau in province, the owner of which wanted
to find 4 sprins to supply his house, ard for
that purpose had sent for n peasant who
could do So with a twig. The English party
rdiculed the idea, but still agreed to ac-
company the man, who, after walking some
way, pronounced that he had arrived at the
object Of his search, and they accordingly
dug and found him corrcct.-lle WAS quite
an uncducatcd man, and could give no ac-
count of The taculty i'll him or of the means
which he employed, bat many others he
said. could do the same.
"'rhe English party now tried for them
selves, but al in ain, till it came to the turn
Of Lady NJ, whtn to her ama2cmcnt and
;.!.sfn, she found the same faculty was in
her, rs in the peasant, and on her return to
England She uttcn cAcrtrd it, though in stu
dio,,s cohccalmcgt. She was afraid lest she
the name OF Il witch, and III either case she
thought She should certainly nc, er get Il hus-
band.
"Of late Years her scruplcs began To wear
away, aud when DR.. Huttoa published o.
anam's Researches in 1865, where the CT
feet Of the dryinns rod is treated as absurd,
(to. iv. y. 260-7.) she wrote a long letter to
him, signed \. i. H., stating the facts which
She knew. The Doctor answered it begging
further Information; Lady n. wrote again,
md he, i'll his second letter, requested the
iamc Of hi, correspondent: that lady n. al
SO gave.
".A few years afterwards she went, at DR..
UEtton'a particular request, to sec him at
Nooiwich, and she then Showed him the ex-
pertinent, and discovered spring in Il 6cll
which he had lately bought near the New
College, thea building. This s.,me field he
! has since sold to the College, and for lar
ger price in consequence of the spring.
LADY y. this morning shewcd the ex-
pertinent to Lord g., Mr.. 5. and me, in the
park at w. She took a thin, torkcd hazel
twig, about l6 inches long, and held it bv the
end the joint pointing ,lownwards. When
she came to place where water was under
the ground, the twig Immediately bent, and
the motion was more or less rapid as She ap-
preached or withdrew from the spriug.
When just over it, tie t7ciS turned so muck
as ~ Snah, breaking near her fnSers, which
by pressing it were Indicated, and heated,
and almost blistcrcd degree of agitation
was also visible in her face. When she first
made the experiment, she says this agita-
t on was great, and to this hour She cannot
wholly divest herself of il, though it gradu-
ally decreases. She repeated the trial sevc-
raj times i'll different parts of the park, and
her statements were always accurate. A
mong those persons in England, who have
the same faculty, she says she never knew it
so strong in any as in Sir G.. II. and Miss F.
1t is extraordinary that no effect produced
at well or dilch, or where earth does not
interpose between the twig and the water.
l he exercise of this faculty is independent
of any voliton.
! So tar our narrator, in whom, We repeat,
| the most implicit confidence NAV he Dlaced