THE DIVINING ROD.

in which he details the operation with the divining rod, thus: "The operation with the Virgulae divina is thus to be performed. tain words and ceremonies, at the cutting Some observe a set day and hour, with cerup of the same, which I have found to be little to the purpose. Thus I wrought: about midsummer, in a calm morning, I cut up a rod of hazel, all of the same spring's growth, about a yard long; then I tyed it to my staff, in the middle, with a strong thread, so that it did hang, even like the beam of a balance: thus I carried it up and down the mountains where lead growed, of a lead mine, which I tryed, having one and before noon it guided me to the orifice with me with an hatchet of iron and a spade;

THE following, is the first record with which we have ever met, of an attempt to experiment philosophically with the divining rod. The subject has often been the occasion of jocular remark, and has been successfully inwoven with two or three popular stories; but it has been seldom treated with that sobriety which it really appears to deserve. We recollect that several years since, in a Cincinnati newspaper, some curious details with regard to the hazel twig, were published and laughed at; and we remember that, when a boy, we knew several persons who had the divining gift, and whom we regard ed with superstitious veneration, while older and within two hours we found a vein of children considered them crack-brained, or treat-lead ore within less than a foot of the grass: ed them as impostors; but we do not recollect that we have ever met more than two or three persons in the world, who had any faith in the water-finding virtues of the divining rod. For ourselves, we are apt to believe that there is something in that to which such respectable testimony is borne as the following; and testimony equally credible, we have known borne with regard to a number of instances of the workings of the hazel switch and beech twig.

Mr. Lewis, of Llangollen, Kentucky, the writer of the subjoined communication, is a gentleman of respectability and enterprise. His veracity is unquestionable, as far as we have ever heard. We copy from the Frankfort Commonwealth.-HESPERIAN.

VIRGULA DIVIATORIA; OR, THE DIVINING ROD.

The signs that it sheweth is to bow down the root end towards the earth as though it would grow there near unto the orifice of a mine: When you see it does so you must carry it round about the place to see that it turneth in the string, still to the same place, on which side soever you stand: The reason of this attraction I conceived to be of

kin to the loadstone drawing iron to it by a secret virtue inbred by nature and not by any conjuration, as some have fondly imagined. And the reason of this, my opinion, was because that in divers of my practical experiments, I have observed an attraction betwixt several things like that of the loadstone and iron." In later times it is mentioned by many authors. The most authentic is contained in a letter from Mr. James Pedder to the editor of the "Farmers Cabinet," for June, 1839, Vol. 3, No. 11, published THIS is of very ancient use in the discov- in Philadelphia, by Prouthy, Libby and ery of metals and of water. It has been the Prouthy. The operator is a Mr. Injonville subject both of credulity and incredulity, in the island of Jersey, (England,) a highly but not of philosophical investigation, I be- respectable man, residing on his own estate, lieve. No accurate experiments to test the within a short distance of the town of St. truth of the statements in relation to it have Helliers, on the Trinity road. More than ever come to the knowledge of the writer two thousand wells have been dug under of this article. The use of the divining rod, his direction, without a single failure to find it is said, was introduced into England water. Mr. Injonville is advanced in years; among the Cornish miners, about the year the cultivator of his own estate, independent 1682, by a Spaniard; but I am not certain in his circumstances, has never received any that it is not mentioned in Cæsar's Com- reward for his services, and will receive mentaries as practised by the Druids, in Eng-none. He makes no secret about it, and land, or by the wise men of Germany who declares he is quite ignorant of the means followed Anovistus into Gaul. Certain it is, that in the year 1738, Mr. Gabriel Plattes, published a book at London, entitled "A discovery of Subterranean Treasure,"

by which he is enabled to operate. The green twig turns down uniformly in his hands when he comes over subterranean water or silver. In passing near a lady in

a crowd collected to witness his finding wa-tance in pursuit, and actually fixed upon the ter, the rod became agitated in an unaccount- identical spot that had been previously inable manner; in retracing his steps the rod dicated by the stonemason as the best place was affected in the same way. He enquired for digging a well. About three months if she had any considerable quantity of afterwards, another very respectable person, money with her, when she produced a large who was an operator with the divining rod, quantity of silver in her reticule, This was was conducted to my house by a neighbor removed, and the rod performed as usual. who had no knowledge of these facts, and I Sir T. Le Breton, the Lieut. Bailie of the proposed to him to exercise his art, and I island, Messrs. Jean and Marret, and Mr. endeavored to lead him some distance from James Hemely, are among the gentlemen the spot previously pointed out. He passed for whom Mr. Injonville has found water, about thirty yards below. His stick (for and the Rev. John Walker, of Gloucester he used his walking cane) turned down, county, in New Jersey, is called upon by and he began to meander about, saying that Mr. Pedder to communicate to the public he was following the stream of water. He what information he possesses on this sub- soon arrived at the very same spot indicated ject. Mr. Injonville discovered that this by the other two operators, and said, "Here power resided in himself, from seeing a the water is nearest to the surface, but not Roman Catholic Priest, who fled from France so abundant as it is higher up in your yard, to Jersey at the time of the first French rev- immediately under this bee-hive." The olution, find water with the divining rod. latter spot is about twenty four yards highHe took the rod and found, to his astonisher up the gentle ascent on which my house ment, that he possessed the power in a stands. These coincidences are certainly greater degree than the Priest. "The dis- remarkable. covery quite overcame me," says Mr. Injonville," and I should have fallen had I not supported myself against the wall."

They determined me to make some experiments. I attempted to use the rod myself, but to no purpose, it will not turn in my Before I had seen these accounts, the fol- hands. In order to make the experiments lowing facts had come within my own ob- intelligible, it is proper to say that the rod servation. About four years ago, an illite- used was a green forked twig. The kind Fate man, a stonemason, was employed here, of wood seems to be of no consequence, as on the walls of an addition to my house. one of peach tree, plum, and elm, and even He said he could find water with the rod, a green succulent weed, was used with the and pointed out a spot at which he said same results. The legs of the twig were water would be found. It was near the cor- about two feet long, with an accute angle ner of a house-I marked the spot, measur- at their juncture. These legs of the twig ed the distance and angle from the corner, were held a short distance from their extreand made a note of them. During the pres-mities, in the hands of the operator, with ent year, 1839, one of great drought in Ken- the palms turned upwards and parallel to tucky, and which has caused great search for water, I was visited by an aged gentle man of as much respectability as any in the United States, and as incapable of any attempt at deception. The drought, prevailing at the time of his visit, became the subject of conversation, and he asked me how far the spring which we used, affording an abundant supply of excellent water, was from the house, remarking at the same time, that if it was at an inconvenient distance he could perhaps find water nearer, as he used the divining rod. I immediately proposed that he should make the experiment. We accordingly walked out, and with a forked peach tree twig in his hands, without any intimation that any other person had operated previously, he walked about at some dis

the horizon, with the apex above the juncture of the twigs, about an inch long, perpendicular, and the arms slightly extended, so as to advance the twigs about fifteen inches in front of the body of the operator, and parellel to it. The twigs are firmly grasped in the palms of the hands by the closed fingers. This mode of holding the twigs, in order to elevate the point above their juncture, and to keep it perpendicular, necessarily bends the twigs where they issue from the hands, as the upturned knuckles are kept parallel to the horizon.

The first experiment was to hold one leg of the twig myself, while the operator held the other. When we came over the places at which the rod turned with the apex downwards, it would turn in spite of my efforts

to prevent it, and a succulent weed twisted in two where it entered my hand. This experiment was repeated with men, women and children, with uniformly the same results, when the operator held one leg of the twig the upper point turned down. It would turn in the hands of some when they held both legs of the twig, but in the great majority it would not turn unless the operator held one leg. The next experiment was to sharpen one end of the apex and to stick on it another twig, about six inches long, at right angles to the apex, and consequently parallel to the horizon, so that three inches would be on one side, and three on the other, and parallel also to the body of the operator, In passing over the places at which the rod turned down, this twig on the apex vibrated with an undulatory motion, which I have in vain, and all other persons whom I have seen make the experiment have in vain, attempted intentionally to give to it.

The third experiment was to place an electric-non-conductor on the head of the operator. Silk was used. The stick would not turn down unless the hands were raised above the head, in which latter case it turned as usual. The operator assured me that wax had the same effect placed on the apex of the rod.

The fourth experiment was made by attaching an iron wire to the apex, so short as not to reach within two feet of the ground when bent over. With this attached, the rod turned as usual. When a longer wire was used, so as to come in contact with the earth, or near to it, the rod would not turn. The fifth experiment was to wrap a piece of wire around the apex, and when the rod was in the act of turning in one direction, to present a piece of bright iron on the other side, and within about half an inch of the apex. Its motion, in its first direction, was not only arrested, but followed the iron, and flew to it with magnetic velocity. This was repeated many times.

The sixth experiment was to discard the twig, and bend a piece of iron wire into the form of the twig. With this, which was found to turn as well as the twig, the same experiments which had been made with the twig were repeated, and with precisely the same results. In order to make experiments with a person on whose probity and candor I could rely with implicit confidence, I rode thirty miles to the house of a gentleman who

was an unbeliever in the action of the divining rod, until he found it to turn in his hands. His integrity, honor and candour, are unimpeached and unimpeachable, and if we can rely on human testimony, or on the evidence of our own senses, there is some physical cause operating through the bodies of some persons, we must believe, to produce these remarkable phenomena. I find, from inquiry, that there are many persons in Kentucky who use the divining rod, and that they are frequently mistaken in the distance beneath the surface at which water is to be obtained by digging wells. This perhaps may be attributed to the geological differences of the localities where the experiments have been made. More or less perfect conductors of (the fluid?) the power may intervene at some places than at others, or the state of the atmosphere in relation to heat or moisture, may affect the impressions made upon the rod or the operator. Is it a modification of electricity or of electro-magnetism?

Had I exclusive regard to personal considerations, I should not have made this public communication under my own signature. But we owe something to philosophy as well as to ourselves; and its advancement is to be looked for from the diffusion of the knowledge of facts. They may lead to investigations and to experiments by sagacious and philosophic minds. At all events truth has nothing to fear even from the instantia crucis.

Llangollen, Sept. 13th, 1839.

THE GREAT AND THE SMALL. FROM the cottage to the palace, from the castle to the hovel, through all the imperceptible shades and grades of life and station that intervene between greatness and littleness; from the sage to the idiot, from the conqueror to the worm, fate, in darkness and in silence, with movements that men seldom see and never appreciate, is spinning that small, fine, but binding thread, which weaves their common destiny into one inextricable web. It is not alone that the mouse disentangles the lion from the toils; it is not alone that the stronger saves or destroys the weaker; but it is that every being, at every step, affects the destinies of millions of others, present and to come, and carries on the train of cause and event that is going on from eternity to eternity.

NEW MAGAZINE.

We have been much gratified by the occasional perusal of a new monthly periodical which was commenced at Boston about six months ago, by WILLIAM CROSBY AND CO. It is entitled the "Monthly Miscellany of Religion and Letters," and has among its correspondents the Rev. H. WARE, REV. E. PEABODY, Rev. C. A. BARTOL, Rev. S. OSGOOD, Rev. J. WALKER, and others The equally eminent as divines and writers. September issue contains an admirable little contribution from the very popular author of the "Three Experiments of Living," which we transfer to our pages, and warmly recommend to our readers. The class is very numerous, of those who "submit to inevitable evils," with an ease and patience that are truly marvelous. To such persons, almost all evils are inevitable. Let them read this little historiette in a proper spirit, and con its lessons well, and they may be benefitted thereby.-HESPERIAN.

SUBMISSION TO INEVITABLE EVILS.

much like my own. In all essential circumstances we were nearly equal. His garments were of a better quality and cut than mine, but they did not keep him warmer, nor were they more serviceable. The poor scholar fights as stoutly with our Alma Mater for his rights, as the rich one. I was never troubled with any feeling of inferiority-the truth was I never thought on the subject. Perhaps had Lewis assumed any disgusting airs of wealth or aristocracy, I might have had less indifference, but no one could have borne such advantages more meekly. He seemed born with an uncommon stock of philosophy. I never remember seeing him discomposed by any of the adverse circumstances of life. In this respect I ought in truth to acknowledge that we were widely different. I had, from my youth upward, a wonderfully combative propensity; perhaps this might have arisen from the idea, always held up to me, that being the eldest and designed for an educa tion, I was not only to fight my own way through life, but that of my brothers and sisters. Sometimes I almost envied the quiet, gentle acquiescence of my companion, under circumstances that put me into a fever, but he had one invariable reply, I" we must submit to inevitable evils."

TEN years have passed since I first embarked on the broad Ohio, and set out to seek my fortune in the western world. parted with much cordiality from my early I heard this observation so often repeated friend Lewis Gray, who, like myself, was by him that I learned to think it oracular, about to enter the highway of life. We and am now almost ashamed to say, that I agreed to keep up an intimate correspon- actually contended for it one day with a dence and meet when we could. Youth young student of divinity, as being a pasopens its heart to congeniality of age and sage of holy writ. The great beauty of circumstances rather than character. We the thing was that Lewis fully acted it out. had lived near each other, attended the same school, and were finally chums at college. This last arrangement was one of his own making, for his parents would gladly have had him fare more sumptuously than at commons, but he had become accustomed to my society, and I believe actually preferred it to pies and custards.

Lewis was an only son, and presumptive heir to a large estate. I was the eldest of five children, and presumptive heir to nothing but my father's good name. Added to this, it was strongly impressed upon my mind that every exertion had been made by my parents to give me an education for the benefit of my two younger brothers and two little sisters. They talked as if my education was to bud and blossom like Aaron's rod, and I had something of the same idea myself. The college life of Lewis was

He had an elegant gold repeater stolen from him during his college term. I was all bustle and tumult about it, and awoke him two or three times in the dead of the night to mention my projects for discovering the thief. He only roused up enough to reply, "If I do not find it, it is an inevitable evil that I must submit to."

Sometimes I expressed to him my admiration of his philosophy. "There is no merit in it," said he, with a good humored smile, "what can we do but submit to what is inevitable?" It is pleasant to me to recur to this period of my life. The influence of my friend's tranquil, acquiescent temper of mind did much towards allaying the turbulence of my own. I truly loved and honored him, and though many impatient words passed on my side, I never remember an unkind one on his..

I accomplished my purpose and embarked on the Ohio, with more dollars in my pocket than I had ever before owned at once. It was a clear, bright morning, and

We both became students at law, and at length the time arrived, when we were prepared to enter life. And now our destinies were to be wide apart. It was of little consequence to Lewis where he opened as I contemplated the sky, river, and majeshis office, or whether he had clients or not. tic trees on the shore, I felt a happy conTo me it was all important; my education sciousness that my mind had lost none of was expected to be the sinews and life of its susceptibility to the beauty of scenery. the family, and yet I stood alone, without There was a vividness, a freshness in my money or patronage. I confess it some- perception, that I had never had while times occurred to me, that my father had I was studying books. How I wished for better have made me a hewer of wood and Lewis Gray; I thought how his dark eye drawer of water, than thrown upon me would rest on every object, how his soul such painful responsibilities. The never- would repose in this Eden of beauty. He failing observation of my friend, however, always rose to my mind as the image of transtood me in stead; if it is an evil, it is in- quility. Are we not apt to think highly of evitable, and must be borne. I determined those powers which we have a difficulty in to strike out a new path, to quit the beaten acquiring. I have since thought that my track, and travel into the far countries of imagination invested my friend with an exthe West. aggerated degree of magnanimity, in oppo

I parted from my family with many as-sition to my own constitutional impatience. surances that they should reap the first It was some time before I fixed on my place fruits of my success; and from Lewis with of residence, and then, not for its tranquilimutual promises to write often and minutely. He would have forced upon me some of his superfluous money, as he called it, but I had a superstitious dread of beginning the world with debt, and so I departed in patriarchal style, with only my staff, and without scrip or purse. It is not to be expected that I should relate all my expedients for performing my journey. They were honest and resolute

I took the free school in a country town for six months. It was not an affair of the classics. On one side of me were arranged the boys, on the other the girls. It needed a hundred eyes to watch the urchins. Frequently showers of chewed paper made into balls passed over my head, and lighted on the soft curly hair of the girls, who were not slow in preferring their complaints.

ty, but because it was one of the most litigious places in the known world. When I first arrived, I found they seemed to regard me as a firebrand thrown amongst them, but I put up my sign and peacefully began my vocation. Much as it may seem against my interest, my first object was to promote a better state of feeling. I soon found that I had unwarily done essential service to myself as well as to them, for they began to make me an arbitrator, and I received pay on both sides. I have always found there was one sterling coin that would pass with all civilized nations and all classes of men, and that is, plain good sense. Genius requires genius to comprehend it. Talents may be used for evil as well as good. But what is called plain good sense soon enlists even selfishness on its side. Its great aim is to teach men what is really for their adI had always pitied that part of the canine vantage, and in spite of prejudice, ignospecies called turn-spits, and even the crimi-rance and passion, they soon comprehend nal at the tread-mill, but now the life of a it. country school-master absorbs all my com- I turned then all my attention towards the misseration. The wearisome spelling out of words, the succession of copies from little to capital letters and joining-hand, the everlasting cry of "master, please to mend my pen, it spatters the ink;" or, "it has Let no one seek a new country as a got too big a split." Then the hot, fever- land of promise; there are difficulties and ish atmosphere of the school-room. When trials to struggle with, which must be manchildren are at last dismissed, the poor turn- fully encountered, There is, likewise, often spit of a master has only time to prepare a moral degradation exhibited, which shocks for afternoon, and eat his dinner. At length common principle, but there are better ele

acquisition of plain good sense, and somehow or other, from being an impetuous, hair-brained fellow, found myself growing a useful man.