The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1854-04-12

among other things-"I am he that
maketh all things. that stretcheth eui
the heavens. that spreadeth abroad the
earth, that frustrateth the tokens of the
liars, and maketh fhe diriaers mad. .
This form Of expression shows at least.
that madness was common result Of
the practice Of diyination In that day
so common as 10 justify that form Of
aliusion TO IL; while il implies that his
making diyiners mad was as clearly a
recognized fact. as was his spreading
out the earth and heavens. or that he
as often made them mad as he frustra~
ted their tokens.
ANY one form of diyination is not
specified here. But the.form which
the Hebrew Law forbade under penalty
Of death. was the having of familiar
spirits-which Is fully equivalent TO
what i pretended to by the spirit rap
pers. A striking example Of the an
cient practitioners Of this art was had
in the Witch Of Endor. She was one
who professed to bring others into con-
verse with the spirits Of the dead. And
Saul consulted her, TO be put in COM
municatien with Samuel. She did not
really effect such things. She did not
know Samuel. For by the miraculous
power Of God. aud to confound both
her and Saul, Samuel made his appear
ancc before she commenced her ma
gical formula. The asionishmcnt which
she exhibited, shows that the event
was unexpected, and therefore unpro-
cured by her. But her case was clear
~ one Of the mediums" who profess
to consult the dead. And when Isaiah,
in another place. reproyes the people
for seeking unto thuse that have
familiar spirits, those that peep and
mutter." he Indignantly asks" shalt
the living consult the dead !" This
reveals plainly the idea that consulting
the dead was the form OF divination
then in vogue. and that these were
the di,iners whom God made mad.
Madness then, as now, was doubt
less, not the result Of miracle, but a
natural effect Of that peculiar violence
that is done to the structure and sem
sibilities nf the human mind by this
form OF imposturc; that violence which
was part Of the reason why this form
OF imposturc was punished with death.
Ii was not SO punishable simply as an
imposturc, but as an imposture as.
suming the prerogati,cs of God in
his revelation, and setting it aside,
abusing the human mind in its relations
10 God and eternity. This insanity
comes about by natural causes, and
yet, in multitudes Of cases, SO as to
show the special intent Of Providence
to punish sin. God works, through
second causes, the thing which he in
tends, as easily as we work, through
our fingers, what We intend. And ma
turc's laws no more fcttcr his working
just what he wills, than the laws of our
physical nature, which promote the
motion of our fingers, hinder our work.
ing by them. lie makes the laws of
nature his instruments Of punishment.
As in the Hebrew law, he testified
his adherence OF this form of impos-
ture, by saving, | will set my face
against that man, and will cut him off
from among the people; 50 now he ties.
tilics his adherence Of the same thing,
BY letting the e,scry elements which are
in the sin work out the mental derange-
ment of those who practice it.
But to US it seems plain case, that
as he is now wont to make the diyiners
mad, SO he did in the days of the pro-
phct; and that he would not in this form
have alluded to such fact, as SO no.
tortous that mere allusion to it was
enough TO cause il to be understood by
all, IL it had not 50 often occurred
as to have struck the observation of
all. But ii there is that in this sin,
which in times SO distant has wrought
this same result, and il it be so con-
spicuous fact in the providence Of
God that the divincrs are made mad,
there is reason enough for our letting
divinatinn alone.
1t matters not il any suggest that
this text speaks of dlyination in the
generic sense, and does NOT specify
this particular form Of it which is now
practiscd BY the spirit rappers, and
was formerly pracsised BY the witch
Of Endur. Possibly other forms of di-
sination, Or Of imposture touching such
sacred things, produced the same re-
suit. But II the term IS general it IN
cludes the particulars; and this was
one of the forms of diyina,ion which
tended to madness, and in which God
assures US his had was put forth.
Par.da Recorder.
During recent visit to the interior,
We heard Of an incident not yet cold
IL Io..t ~