neither answer him by dreams, nor prophets : Therefore (fays he) I have called unto thee*, that thou mayft make known unto me what I Shall do.

Then faid Samuel, Wherefore then doft thou ask of me; feing the Lord is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy? And the Lord hath done for himself, as he spake by me; for the Lord hath rent the kingdom out of thine band, and given it to thy neighbour, even unto David: because thou obeyedft not the voice of the Lord, nor executedit his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the Lord done this thing unto thee this day.

IN this we fee the prophet foretels, that Saul fhould that day be ftript of the kingdom; and that the kingdom fhould be divided, and given to David. Then follows, what nothing but infinite and unerring prefcience could predict; an exact, minute, precife account of all the circumftances of the then depending event; Moreover, the Lord will alfo deliver Ifrael, with thee, unto the Philiftines; and to-morrow halt thou and thy fans be with me; and also the camp of Ifrael fall the Lord deliver into the hands of the Philiftines.

I own, I am aftonished at the inattention (fhall I call it!) or impiety, or both, of those critics and commentators, who could afcribe

*Saul expreffes himself here in the fame terms that David makes ufe of to fignify his praying to Go D: which perfuades me, that Saul invoked him, as fome deluded Chriftians do faints and angels.

this prediction to the fagacity of an impoftor, or even of the devil. I fhall take a proper time to refute them; and, in the mean time. go on with my hiftory.

of

WHEN Saul heard this dreadful fentence pronounced upon himself, his family, and his people, the terror of it ftruck him to the heart; and he hafted to get away from that fatal place: but as he went, his fears operating upon a mind weakened with guilt, and upon a body exhausted with fatigue and fafting, he loft all power motion, and fell at his full length upon the floor. The woman, feeing this, ran up to him; and, finding the diftreffed and weak condition he was in, endeavoured to persuade him, as well as he could, to take fome fuftenance: which he abfolutely refused. Then, calling his fervants to her aid, they all, in a manner, compelled him to confent: So he arofe from the earth, and fat upon the bed. And the woman had a fat calf in the house, and fhe hafted and killed it; and took flour, and kneaded it, and did bake unleavened bread thereof; and fhe brought it before Saul, and before his fervants, and they did eat. Then they rofe up, and went away that night.

WHAT remorse, what defpair, what defolation of mind, what horrors of guilt, what terrors, and anticipations of divine vengeance, haunted him by the way; may no reader of this history ever learn from his own experience!

CHA P. XXIII.

Other Opinions upon this Head examined,

I

FIND many learned men of a different opinion from me, in relation to the reality of Samuel's appearance on this occafion: fome imagining, that it was an evil spirit that now appeared unto Saul; and others, that the whole was the work of impofture.

I SHALL give my reafons; and the reader will judge for himself.

In the first place, then, I readily agree with one party of thofe that differ from me, that neither this Pythonefs, nor all the devils in hell, could raife up Samuel; nor is there one tittle in the whole narration, to fupport or countenance fuch a perfuafion: but I differ intirely from them, in fuppofing all this the work of a juggler.

Ift, BECAUSE I can fee nothing ascribed, in this relation, to Samuel, which is not intirely out of character in an impoftor, or absolutely out of the power of the fubtileft impoftor that ever lived. And,

2dly, BECAUSE I have as good an opinion of the author of this hiftory, his ability, his integrity, his knowledge of what he wrote about, and his undefigning to deceive, as I can have of any man that ever commented or criticized upon it: and therefore, when he gives

me to understand, that the woman faw Samuel, I absolutely believe, that he did.

ALLOW that the Scripture fpeaks of things according to their appearances, and that Saul and his companions might be deceived by an impoftor in Samuel's guife; Was this author deceived, or did he mean to deceive me, when he gives me to understand, that the woman faw Samuel, and was frighted at the fight?

SUPPOSE a poffibility, that Saul and his companions could be impofed upon by an impostor on this occafion; yet, furely, the highest probability is on the other fide. Saul was far from having an implicit faith even in Samuel, although the manner of his coming to the kingdom demonftrated the divinity of the prophet's miflion. And would he cafily be the dupe of a filly woman? He was perfectly acquainted with the voice, ftature, and figure of Samuel, He was a brave man; and, doubtless, his companions were fo. Can we doubt whether he chofe two of his old tried friends on this occafion? And, if he did, they all must have been acquainted with Samuel. They came upon the woman by night, and unprepared. Had they allowed her the leaft time for juggle or artifice, or fuffered her fo much as one moment out of their fight; would a facred hiftorian, whose bufinefs it was to expofe thefe practices, as far as truth would allow, omit thefe circumstances? Would he omit all mention of the preceding facrifices and incantations? Would he omit every circumstance that tended to detect the fraud ? Would

Would he omit every thing that tended to fhew it to be fraud, and infert every thing that tended to imply the real appearance of the prophet?

SHALL this author relate in plain terms, that Saul perceived it was Samuel himself *? And shall he relate this by a word which fignifies either certain knowledge, experience, or fenfible perception? And are we to understand by this word, (contrary to all the rules of grammar, and rational interpretation) that he neither knew, nor had fenfible evidence of this? that he only imagined it was Samuel, by the defcription of an impoftor? a description that would fuit ten thousand other men as well as Samuel! BUT the text fays not, that Saul faw Samuel.

TRUE: but it tells us fomething that plainly implies it; that he stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself.

WHEN Jacob met Efau, (Gen. xxxiii. 3.) the text tells us, that the handmaids, and Leah, and Rachel, and their children, bowed themselves; the facred penman does not tell us, that they faw Efau, or that it was to him they bowed. Are we to believe, for this reason, that they did not fee him? or did not bow to him upon feeing him?

2

WHEN David arofe out of his hiding-place, upon the fignal that Jonathan gave him, the text tells us, (1 Sam. xx. 41.) that he fell upon his face to the ground, and bowed himself. The text tells us not, either that he faw JonaIt is aftonishing, that the English translation fhould leave out this laft word, himself.

than,