count for their conduct on natural principles; I have seen them writhe and tear themselves in the most frantic manner. They burst asunder the cords with which they were bound, and fell on the ground as if dead. At one time they are silent and again. most vociferous; they dash with fury among the people, and loudly pronounce their imprecations. But no sooner does the exorsist come forward, than the victim becomes the subject of new emotions; he stares, talks incoherently, sighs and falls on the ground; and in the course of an hour, is as calm as any who are around him. Those men who profess to eject devils, are frightful looking creatures, and are seldom associated with, except in the discharge of their official duties. It is a fact, that they effect to eject the evil spirits by their prince of devils. Females are much more subject to these affections than men, and Friday is the day of all others on which they are most liable to be attacked." Bible Cyclo. Art. Possession.

It is no evidence that one is a saint because he casts out devils.

Says Christ,

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works ?

"And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."-Math. vii : 22.

"There shall not be found among you a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer, for all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD."-Deut. xviii: 11,12.

NECROMANCY is forbidden by Jehovah, treated in the Scriptures as a reality, and one of the greatest crimes. God has decreed that no man can be just who consults the dead. In consistency and equity he must also have decreed that spirits of the dead cannot be righteous who converse with men. Hence necromancers cannot hold intercourse with departed saints. The spirits of all saints ascend to heaven at death.

"The body without the spirit is dead."-James ii: 26.

"And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."-Acts vii: 59.

"I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day."-2 Tim. 1: 12.

Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise."--Luke xxiii: 43.

"Whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord... We are . . willing rather to be absent from the body and present with the Lord."-2 Cor. v: 6.

"Having a desire to depart and be with Christ."-Phil. i: 23.

When Paul was about to be executed he wrote:

"The time of my departure is at hand."-2 Tim. iii: 6.

'

Shortly I must put off this tabernacle."-2 Pet. i: 14.

"Then shall the dust return to dust as it was: and the spirit [of the saint] shall return unto God who gave it.”—Ecl. xii: 7. But to the unbelieving Christ said,

"Ye shall die in your sins: whither I go ye cannot come. John viii: 21.

Now since the departed saints are with Christ in heaven, and sinners are excluded, it is not unreasonable to suppose that the spirits of the wicked are on the earth with their leader, who "goeth about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour."

The course pursued by the woman of Endor, proves that she professed to call up the dead. Isa. 8: 19, shows that "familiar spirits" were believed to be spirits of "the dead-"

"And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?"

The woman of Endor had a familiar spirit which was believed to be a departed spirit, and she professed to be a necromancer. Nothing is said in the Bible to show that these claims were false. So far from it, the language of Isaiah proves that necromancy was a reality, and familiar spirits were spirits of the dead. If this had not been true, the pretence and deception would have been exposed, especially as this very belief and practice

was the chief root of all arts of divination and all idolatry.

The fact that Jehovah has made a law with a capital penalty against the discovery of secrets by the assistance of the dead, is sufficient of itself to prove that necromancy was a reality. The penalty is decreed against the practice, not against the pretence; and the idea that God has forbidden an impossibility on pain of death, is too absurd to be tolerated for a moment !

The following argument in proof that the demons noticed in the New Testament, were departed spirits, was given by Rev. A. Campbell, in a popular lecture in Nashville, Tenn., March 10, 1841.

"We have from a careful survey of the history of the term demon, concluded that the demons of Paganism, Judaism, and Christianity, were the spirits of dead men.

1. All the Pagan authors of any note, whose works have survived the wreck of ages, affirm the opinion that demons were the spirits of dead men. From Hesiod down to the more polished Celsus, their historians, poets, and philosophers occasionally express this opinion.

2. The Jewish historians, Josephus and Philo, also avow this conviction. Josephus says, 'Demons are spirits of wicked men who enter into living men and destroy them, unless they are so happy as to meet with speedy relief.'* Philo says 'The souls of dead men are called demons.'

3. The Christian Fathers Justin, Marty, Iræneus, Origen, &c., depose to the same effect. Justin, when arguing for a future state, alleges, Those who are seized and tormented by the souls of the dead, whom all call demons, and madmen.†

Lardner, after examining with the most laborious care the works of these, and all the Fathers of the first two centuries, says, 'The notion of demons, or the souls of dead men, having power over living men, was universally prevalent among the heathen of those times, and believed by many Christians.'I

4. The Evangelists and Apostles of Jesus Christ so understood the matter.

As this is very important, and of itself a sufficient pillar on which to rest our edifice, we shall be at more pains to illustrate and enforce it: we shall first state the philological law or canon of criticism, on the generality and truth of which all our dictionaries, grammars, and translations are formed.

Every word not specially explained or defined in a particular sense, by any standard writer of any particular age and country, is to be taken and applied in the current or commonly received signification of that country and age, in which the writer lived and wrote.

* De Bello Jud. cap. viii: 25; cap. vi: sec. 3. † Jus. Apol., b. i., p. 65, par. 12, p. 54.

‡Vol. viii., p. 368.