What connexion the oriental sorcery may have with the necro- 

 mancy of Homer and other ancient writers, I cannot say. The 

 Grecian bard asserts its antiquity in several instances, and espe- 

 cially in the most ancient of all denominations, the evocation of 

 the dead; by customs and ceremonies, similar perhaps to those 

 used by the infernal agent for calling up Samuel at the desire 

 of Saul. 



" There, in a lonely land, and gloomy cells, 

 " The dusky nation of Cimmeria dwells ; 

 " There the wan shades we hail, 

 " New wine, with honey-tempered milk, we bring, 

 " And living waters from the crystal spring; 

 " O'er these we strew'd the consecrated flour, 

 " And on the surface shone the holy store. 

 " Thus solemn rites and holy vows we paid, 

 " To all the phantom nations of the dead. 



" Know to the spectres that thy beverage taste 

 " The scenes of life occur, and actions past; 

 " They, seal'd with truth, return the sure reply, 

 " The rest repell'd, a train oblivious fly." 



Dacier, on these passages, proves that this kind of necro- 

 mancy prevailed before Homer's time, among the Chaldeans, and 

 spread over all the oriental world. vEschylus introduces it in his 

 tragedy of Persa: and thus it appears that there was a foundation 

 for what Homer writes, and that he only embellishes the opinions 

 of antiquity with the ornaments of poetry. 



From the story of Saul and the woman of Endor, there can be 

 no doubt of the general belief and practice of this kind of necro- 



