SAUL CONSULTING THE WITCH OF ENDOR.

"Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.

"And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.

"And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou ? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.

"And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself." -1 Sam. xxviii. 11-14.

UPON this portion of Holy Writ the following questions have been proposed:-"Was it really the spirit of Samuel, assuming a visible form, which Saul saw," or, "Was it an evil spirit personating Samuel," or, "What is the true meaning of this passage of Scripture ?"

It must be admitted that this portion of sacred truth appears to be encompassed with many difficulties. In attempting to arrive at its correct meaning, it is of the utmost importance to adhere to the ordinary principles of sound Biblical criticism, and to resort to no interpretation which the word of God does not suggest and sustain.

The translation must be carefully examined. A construction must be put upon the words employed, that is in accordance with their ordinary meaning and application. All the circumstances of the narrative must be separately and minutely considered. The results accomplished by that illicit consultation to which Saul resorted must be set forth; and the purposes for which this narrative was left on record must be sought after.

Adopting this course, we may hope, in dependance on the aid of the Spirit of all truth, to come to the real meaning of this passage.

In examining the translation, we find, that the sentence," and Saul perceived," is much calculated to induce the English reader to suppose that Saul derived his conviction from clear, ocular demonstration; but it is evident, from the nature of his inquiries, that he had seen nothing: yet, when the woman told him that it was an old man, and that he was covered with a mantle, by using the

very word which is employed in Exod. xxviii. 31, to designate the sacred official part of dress, such as Samuel was probably accustomed to wear, he had an idea, or imagined, that it was Samuel

whom he wished to consult. Had he seen by the physical organs of vision, which most readers think is the meaning of the word "perceived," the verb would have been used instead of y the latter, most generally referring to mental perception, or understanding, the same as the former relates to physical vision. And hence this sentence may with greater accuracy be read, "And Saul was made to understand (from the description given) that it was Samuel." This emendation, though it may by some be regarded as trivial and unimportant, yet is not without its influence in determining the conclusion. It is the accumulation of many concurrent though apparently small testimonies which lead to a correct verdict.

The ordinary meaning of scriptural language will uniformly be found in accordance with popular use, or, as the critics say, with the usus loquendi. And hence we read of "sunrise," and "sunset," terms not to be misunderstood, because in accordance with popular use; yet no one ever thinks of referring to these terms as furnishing evidence. to subvert the Newtonian theory of the solar system. In the temptation of our first parents,

when it is written, " And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die," no one thinks of quoting this to prove that in the early days of man's history, serpents had the power of speech like human beings; but that the fact recorded is one of an extraordinary nature, where Satan, assuming the form of a serpent, gave utterance to the fatally seducing words. We know that, when some persons wish to put an interpretation on any given passage of Scripture, they frequently pretend to attach importance to the very words, and the literal meaning of the words which may be under consideration. And hence many of the Romanist commentators, and others, adopt this plausible mode of teaching and propagating their pernicious errors. The doctrine of the real presence in the wafer is taught and enforced by them on this principle. And in order to sustain the doctrine of purgatory, they quote the case of Samuel appearing to Saul, and insist on the words employed and their literal meaning. They assert that it was really the spirit of Samuel, assuming a visible form, which Saul saw and heard. Now, as it has been shown that the Scripture says, "The serpent said," and "he said," when it is

evident, that the idea conveyed is, that Satan, hidden in the form of a serpent, was the speaker, it is only consistent with the same use of Scripture phraseology, to interpret the fact now under consideration on the same principle, and to understand the words employed as according with the appeal made to the senses, while the real speaker was invisible. Another illustration of the usus loquendi of Scripture, may be taken from the tale of the Egyptian magicians in their imitating the miracles of Moses. They are said to do what they appeared to do.

In proceeding to consider separately and minutely all the circumstances of the narrative, we notice that Saul was a man of exceedingly nervous temperament and subject to paroxysms of depressive melancholy. Saul had grieved the Spirit of God, and God had refused to give counsel unto Saul in the way and by the means which he had appointed.

God had prohibited witchcraft in every form (Deut. xviii. 10-12), and therefore would not have permitted the spirit of his honoured and faithful servant, Samuel, to have lent his presence to the will and design of a woman in the practice of this