Letters on demonology and witchcraft. Addressed to J. G. Lockhart, Esq / by Sir Walter Scott, Bart.
- Walter Scott
- Date:
- 1831
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Letters on demonology and witchcraft. Addressed to J. G. Lockhart, Esq / by Sir Walter Scott, Bart. Source: Wellcome Collection.
90/428
![of power the false gods of Heathendom, or devils in their name, might he permitted occasionally to exert, was, unquestionably, under the general restraint and limitation of Providence; and thoixgh, on the one hand, Ave cannot deny the possibility of such per- mission Ijeing granted, in cases unknown to us, it is ‘ certain, on the other, that the Scriptures mention no one s])ecific instance of siich inlluence, expressly recommended to our belief. Thirdly, as the Imcksliders among the Jews repeatedly fell off to the w'orship of the idols of the neighbouring Heathens, so they also resorted to the use of charms and enchantments, founded on a superstitious perversion of their own Levitical ritual, in which they endeavo\ired by sortilege, by Teraphim, by observation of augury, or the flight of birds, Avhich they called Nahas, by the means of Urim and Thummim, to find as it were'a by-road to the secrets of futurity : But for the same reason that withholds us fi’om delivering any opinion u])on the degree to which the devil and his angels might he allowed to countenance the impositions of the Heathen priesthood, it is impossible for us conclu- sively to pronounce what effect might be permitted by supreme Providence, to the ministry of such evil spirits as presided over, and, so far as they had liberty, directed, these sinful enquiries among the Jews themselves. We are indeed assured from the saci’ed writings, that the promise of the Deity to his chosen people, if they conducted themselves agree- ably to the law which he had given, was, that the communication with the invisible world would be enlarged, so that, in the fulness of his time, he would pour out his spirit upon aU flesh, when their sons](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22029667_0092.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
