Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1888-05-12
The Terror Brought to King Saul
BY the Witch Of En6or.
It Skaters the Nervous Sys-
tenn, Resulting in the Ruin
of Body and Soul.
The Consulters of Familiar Spirits
Arc An AbOminatiOn Unto
the Lord OF Hosts.

y. n pm -O.-Ahlh'l az =
T. Dewitt Talmage, ID. D., had in his
well known manner cXpounded the SCRIPT
s-es, the multitude Of people who thrcng
tee tabernacle and all the entrances,
packing every available space Of stand,
Ing and sitting room, united in singing:
''salyationl let the echo fly
The spacious earth around,
While all the armies OF the sky
C|onspire to raise the sound.
DR.. Talmage announced his subject:
Modern Spiritualism.
He took for his text: "BChold, there
is a woman that hath a familiar spirit ut
En-dor. And Saul disguised himself,
and put on other Taimcnt, and he went,
and two men with him, and they came to
the woman at night, and he said, | pray
thee, divine unto me 10y the familiar
spirit. and bring me him up, whom | shall!
name unto thee. i Saumcl xvii. Z, ..
Following is the sermon in full:
have recently bccoXe spiritualist.
At least SO some Of the journals Of that
belief declare. This, together with the
fact that ''mediams' are now being tried
in the criminal courts, setting millions OF
people to make INJURY in regard 10 com
munication between this world and the
next, leads me to preach this sermon.
Trouble to the right Of HIM, and trouble
to the left oghim, Saul knew not what TO
do. AS "A last resort, he concluded to seek
out a spiritual medium, or a witch, or
anything that You please TO call Lcr-at
any rate, a woman who had communities
ton with the spirits Of the eternal world.
1t was very difficult thing to DO, for
Saul had either slain all the witches, or
compelled them TO sop business. y ser
want, one day, said TO King Saul: Il
know Of a spiritual medium down at the
village Of En-dor.' DO YOU" said the
king. Night falls. Saul, putting of his
kingly robes, and putting on the dress Of
a plain citizen, with two servants, goes
out to hunt up this spiritual medium. 1t
was no easy thing for Saul to disguise
himself fer the tallest people inthcc oun-
try only came up 10 his shoulder, and
think from the strength of the man and
the way he bore himself, he must have
been well proportional. 1t must have
been a frightful thing TO see a man walk.
ing along in the night eight or nine feet
high. ! suppose, as the people saw him
pass. they said: "'Who is that. He is as
tall a. the king'-haying no idea hat in
such a plain dress there really was pas
sing the king. saul and his servants
after awhile reached the village. and tEcy
say: Il wonder if this the house and
they looked IN and they see The haggard,
weird and shrivcllcd up spiritual medium
sitting by the light, and on the taolc
]sculpturcd images. AM diyining rods: and
poisonous herbs, and bottles, aud vases.
They say: ''lcs, this must be thoplacc.'
One loud rap brings the woman TO the
door, and as she stands there. holding the
candle or lamp above her head and peer.
ing out into the darkness, shestys: Nv ho
is thcrc?" The tall king Informs her that
he has come to have his fortune told.
When she hears that, she trcmblcs anU
almost drops the light, for she knows
there is no chance for a fortunc-tellcr on
spiritual medium in all the land. But
Saul having sworn that 10 harm shall
come To her, she says: well, who shall
bring up from the deadT'' Saul says
Bring up Samuel That was The
prophet who had died a little while be,
fore. | see her waving a wand, or stir,
ring IN some poisonous herbsi in a caldron,
or hear her muttrring over some mean
t%atiOns, or stamping with her foot, as she
cr.cs out to the realm Of the dead; sam.
uel, Samuelr' Lo, the freezing horror
The floor Of the tenement opens, and the
grey hairs float up, and the forehead, the
eyes. the lips, the shoulders, the arms, thu
feet, the entire body of dead Samue
wrapped in sepulchral robe, appearing tc
the astonishcd group, who stacecr back
and hold fast, and catch their breath, anC
shiver with terror. The dead prophet
white and awful fromthc tomb. begins {,
move his ashen lips, and he glares upof
King Saul, and cries out: What die
you bring me up for? Why did you
break my long sleepg What do YOU mean
King SaulT" Saul. trying to compose anC
control himself, makes this s%tammerinG
and aifrighted u~tteTance, as he says tC
the dead prophet: THE Lord is agains'
me, and | have come to you for help
What shall | dog' The dead prophc'
slictChtu lOrln his llngcr 10 hlhg Saui
and said; Die tomorrow Come viii
me into the sepulchre. | am going now
Come, come witt inel' And 10, the ilool
again opens, and the feet Of the deaC
prophet disappear, and the arms, and the
shoulders, and the forehead. The foo
closes. Nothing is left in the room bu
Saul and the two servants, and the spirit
ual medium, and the sculptured images
and the divining rods, and the bottles
and the vases, and the poisonous herbs
d, that was an awful scance,
learn first from this subject that spir
itualism is a very old religion. II is nat
ural that people should want to know The
origin and the history of a doctrine which
is SO widespread in al the villages towns
and cities OF the civilized world, gettins
hcw converts every day-a doctrine VIII
which many OF you aIc already Hinged