MAGIC. 30? 
fenfe in which that word can be taken. We are there¬ 
fore ftrongly inclined to adopt the opinion of thofe who 
bold that it was Samuel himfelf who appeared and pro- 
phefied, not called up by the wretched woman or her dae¬ 
mons, but, to her utter confufion, fent by God-himfelf to 
rebuke Saul’s madnefs in a moil affecting and mortifying 
way* and to deter all others from ever applying to magi¬ 
cians or daemons for afiiltance when refuted comfort from 
heaven. See 1 Sam. xxviii. 7-19. 
The fudden and wonderful deftraftion of the army of 
Brennus the Gaul, has likewife been attributed to magic, 
or, what in the enquiry amounts to the fame thing, to the 
interpofition of evil fpirits, whom the priefts of Apollo 
invoked as gods. Thofe barbarians had made an inroad 
into Greece, and inveited the temple of Apollo at Delphi, 
with a view to plunder it of the facred treafure. Their 
numbers and courage overpowered all oppofition; and 
they were juft upon the point of making themfelves maf- 
ters of the place, when, Juitin informs us, that, to en¬ 
courage the befieged, the priefts and prophetefs “called 
aloud that the god had arrived : that they had feen him 
leap into the temple through the aperture in the roof: 
that, whilft they were all humbly imploring his help, a 
youth of more than human beauty, accompanied by two 
virgins in armour, had run to their aifiltance from the 
neighbouring temples of Diana and Minerva; and that 
they had not only beheld thefe things with their eyes, 
but had alfo heard the whizzing of his bow and the clangor 
of his arms. They therefore earneftly exhorted the be- 
iieged not to negleft the heavenly lignal, but to fally out 
upon their enemies, and partake with the divinities of 
the glory of the victory. With thefe words the foldiers, 
being animated, eagerly rulhed to battle ; and were them¬ 
felves quickly fenlible of the prefence of the god ; for 
part of the rock, being torn away by an earthquake, rolled 
down upon the Gauls; whofe thickeft battalions, being 
thus thrown into confulion, fled, expofed to the weapons 
of their enemies. Soon afterwards a temped arofe, which 
by cold and the fall of hailltones cut off the wounded.” 
This was unqueftionably an extraordinary event; and 
at muft be afcribed either to the immediate interpofition 
of the Supreme Being, to natural means, or to the agency 
of daemons; there is no other alternative. But it is al¬ 
together incredible that the Supreme Being (hould have 
niiraculoufly interpofed to defend the temple of a pagan 
divinity. It is very difficult to fuppofe that an earth¬ 
quake, produced in the ordinary courfe of nature, (hould 
have been foretold by the priefts, or that it could have 
happened fo opportunely for the prefervation of their 
treafure from the hands of fierce barbarians. Nothing, 
therefore, it has been laid, remains, but either to allow 
the earthquake to have been produced by evil fpirits, or 
to deny the truth of the hiftorian’s relation. But the ca» 
taftrophe of Brennus’s army is recorded in the fame man¬ 
ner by fo many ancient writers of good credit, that we 
cannot call in queftion their veracity ; and therefore, be¬ 
ing unwilling to admit the agency of daemons into this 
affair, it will be incumbent on us to fhovv by what human 
contrivance it might have been effe&ed ; for its arrival at 
fo critical a juncture will not eafily fuft'er us to fuppofe it 
a mere natural event. “ The inclination of a pagan pried 
(fays bifhop Warburton) to afiift his god in extremity, 
•will hardly be queftioned ; and the inclination of thofe 
at Delphi was not ill feconded by their public management 
and addrefs. On the firft rumour of Brennus’s march 
againft them, they ifl'ued orders, as from the oracle, to all 
the region round, forbidding the country people to fecret 
or bear away their wine and provisions. The effects of 
this order fucceeded to their expectations. The half- 
ftarved barbarians, finding, on their arrival in Phocis, fo 
great a plenty of all things, made fhort marches, difperfed 
themfelves over the country, and revelled in the abun¬ 
dance that was provided for them. This refpite gawe 
time to the friends and allies of the god to come to his 
afiiftance. Their advantages of fituation likewife fup- 
Vol. XIV. No, 959. 
ported the meafures which they had taken for a vigorous 
defence. The town and temple of Delphi were feated on 
a bare and cavernous rock, defended on all fides with pre¬ 
cipices inltead of walls. A large recefs within aflumed 
the form of a theatre; fo that the (houts of foldiers, and 
the founds of military inftruments, re-echoing from rock 
to rock, and from cavern to cavern, increafed the clamour 
to an immenle degree ; which-, as the hiftorian oblerve-s', 
could not but have great effects on ignorant and barbarous 
minds. The playing off thefe panic terrors was not in¬ 
deed of itfelf iufficient to repulfe and diflipate an hoft of 
fierce and hungry invaders; but it enabled the defenders 
to keep them at bay till a more folid entertainment was 
provided for them, in the cxplojion and fall of that portion 
of the rock at the foot of which the greater part of the 
army lay encamped. Among the caverns in the facred 
rock, there was one which, from an intoxicating quality 
difcovered in the (team which iffued from it, was rendered 
very famous by being fitted to the recipient of the prieftefs 
of Apollo. Now, if we only fuppofe this, or any other 
of the vapours emitted from the numerous fiflures, to be 
endowed with that un&uous, or otherwife inflammatory, 
quality, which modern experience (hows to be common 
in mines and fubterraneous places, we can eafily conceive 
how the priefts of the temple might, without the agency 
of daemons, be able to. work the wonders which hiftory 
fpeaks of as effected in this tranfaflion. For the throw¬ 
ing down a lighted torch or two into a chafm whence fuch 
a vapour ifiued, would fet the whole into a flame; which, 
by fuddenly rarefying and dilating the air, would, like 
fired gunpowder, blow up all before it. That the priefts, 
the guardians of the rock, could be long ignorant of fuch 
a quality, or that they would divulge it when difcovered, 
cannot be fuppofed. Strabo relates, that one Onomar- 
fchus, with his companions, as they were attempting by 
night to dig their way through to rob the holy treafury, 
were frightened from their work by the violent fhaking 
of the rock ; and he adds, that the fame phenomenon had 
defeated many other attempts of the like nature. Now, 
whether the tapers which Onomarchue and his companions 
were obliged to ufe while they were at work inflamed the 
vapour, or whether the priefts of Apollo heard them at it, 
and let fire to a countermine, it is certain a quality of this 
kind would always (land them in ftead. Such then (pre¬ 
fumes the learned prelate) was the expedient they em¬ 
ployed to diflodge this neit of hornets, which had fettled 
at the foot of their facred rock. 
Still it may be faid, that in magic and divination events 
have been produced out of the ordinary courfe of nature; 
(fee particularly the article Algiers, vol. i. p. 327 ) 
and, as we cannot fuppofe the Supreme Being to have 
countenanced fuch abominable practices by the interpo¬ 
fition of his power, we muft neceflarily attribute thofe ef¬ 
fects to the agency of daemons, or evil fpirits. And it 
may be added, that we have a vaft number of hiftories of 
witches, who in the lalt century confefled, that they were 
prefent with the devil at certain meetings; that they, were 
carried through the air, and faw many Itrange feats per¬ 
formed, too numerous and too ridiculous to be here men¬ 
tioned. But we may be affured, that the devil has it not 
in his power to reverfe in a fingle inftance the laws of na¬ 
ture without a divine permiflion ; and we can hardly con¬ 
ceive an occafion on which fuch permiflion could be given 
confidently with the wifdom and the goodnefs of God. 
All the tales, therefore, of diabolical agency in magic and 
witchcraft mult undoubtedly be falfe ; for a power, which 
the devil is not himfelf at liberty to exert, he cannot 
communicate to a human creature. Were the cafe other- 
wife; were thole powers, “ which (according to Johnfon) 
only the controul of Omnipotence reftrains from laying 
creation walte, fubfervient to the invocations of wicked 
mortals; were thole fpirits,— 
---of which the lealt could wield 
The elements, and arm him with the force 
Of all their regions,”——-permitted to work miracles, and 
13 h either 
