This hazel twig is the divining rod, in whose efficacy in finding water or metal under ground thousands believe most firmly, even amid the unutterable radiance of this gas-lighted century. It must be remarked, however, that in America the wand follows certain. laws unknown to Europe.

We are told that in Cornwall, the hazel rod, which is the only one employed, moves whenever the operator passes over a vein of metal or an underground spring of water. Here we discover a grand defect in the transatlantic instrument. The responses of the oracle, like those of Delphi, are ambiguous. The speculator in iron mines may fancy that the omens point out a bed of ore, whereas the fact may be that only a subterranean current of water affects the rod; and thus great expense may be incurred in fruitless excavations. But in our own land, the proverbial acuteness and enterprise of the people have improved the art of divining, and carried it far beyond all the old world ever knew. It has been discovered that the witch hazel, and certain other kinds of twigs, indicate the presence of metal; while, in order to detect currents of water, it is necessary to employ the branch of some tree cultivated for its fruit. Let no skeptic smile profanely while we remark that the peach twig meets with general preference among professional water finders. That hazel twigs were used in searching for metals is proved by a remark in the "Living Library, or Historicall Meditations," published in 1621 :-"No man can tell why forked sticks of hazill (rather than sticks of other trees growing upon the very same places) are fit to shew the places where the veines of gold and silver are the stick bending itselfe in the places, at the bottome, where the same veines are." Other authorities state that the hazel, willow, and elm, are all attracted by springs of water. The American distinction is a very important discovery, if its truth can be demonstrated.

There is also a variation, on the two sides of the Atlantic, in the diagnosis of a successful operation. The writer in Blackwood quotes from the book of a certain Count de Tristan, who claims the credit of having investigated the subject at great length, having made a series of experiments, and noted down the results with the most scrupulous accuracy. The philosophic count thus describes the movements of the divining rod :—

"When two or three steps have been made upon the exciting tract of ground, the fork (which is held horizontally, with its central angle downward) begins gently to ascend; it gradually attains a vertical position-sometimes it passes beyond that, and, lowering itself with its point toward the chest of the operator, it becomes again horizontal.

If the motion continue, the rod descending, becomes vertical with the angle downward. Finally, the rod may again ascend, and reassume its first position, having thus completed a revolution. When the action is very lively, the rod immediately commences a second revolution; and so it goes on as long as the operator walks over the exciting surface. It is to be understood that the operator does not grasp the handles of the fork so tightly but that they may turn in his hands. If, indeed, he tries to prevent this, and the fork is only of hazel twig, the rotary force is so strong as to twist it at the handles, and crack the bark, and finally fracture the wood itself."

It is remarked, that although the general style of performance on the part of the rod is accurately described in the above extracts, yet there are some, a small proportion only, in whose hands the wand moves in the opposite direction. This anomaly the writer above quoted attributes, with great acuteness, to the probable fact of their being left handed. It was also discovered that a coating of sealing wax upon the handles of the rod, or a cover of silk, entirely arrested its operation. The same effect was observed when the operator, as he carried the rod, also grasped long branches of the hazel, trailing upon the ground. We commend these facts to those who design to give the subject a thorough investigation.

The American mode of holding the divining rod is the same as that above described, but its motion is entirely dissimilar. In the Gallic experiments, the rod is represented as rising under the mystic influence; in America, it declines. After much inquiry, we can find no traces of this upward tendency. The count also speaks of complete revolutions; but nothing of the kind is known in democratic divination. With us, the strength of the downward tendency is the criterion of the degree of excitement. And old practitioners claim to have arrived at that degree of skill which enables them, by this alone, to decide accurately what depth it will be necessary to excavate in order to reach the object. Indeed, we have been told of a practitioner who professes to be able to tell the different strata of earth and stone which the workmen will encounter; and whose pretensions, extravagant as they may seem, are received by many with implicit faith.

In this country the divining rod has been considerably used, not only to discover ore in the mine, but to detect hoards of buried treasure. Irving alludes to this use of it in some of his writings. The pirate Captain Kid is thought to have buried, in various places, great store of pearls, diamonds, and golden ingots. Some locate his hiding places on Long Island; some on the banks of the Hudson; others, on Staten Island: and the aid of the wand

has many times been invoked to discover the hoarded wealth. It was believed in those days that to seek Kid's money was to embark in a most perilous enterprise. Tradition asserted that when the pirates secreted their plunder, they always shot one of their number, and buried him with the spoil, that his ghost might guard it from depredation. The popular superstition on this point may be learned from the fragment of an old witch-song, which belongs to the traditions of West Jersey :

"I saw them bury their golden store at the foot of the pirate-tree:

Bold Blackbeard cried, 'Who 'll guard this wealth?' and, O! 't was mercy

to see,

How even the wretch, who fears not hell, turns pale at the thought of

death!

But one bold knave stood bravely out, and offer'd himself for scath,

'I'll watch it!' quo' he; for these forty years I've wander'd o'er land

and sea,

And I'm tired of doing the devil's work, so bury me under the tree;

And better I'll rest, as I guard this wealth, than you in the realms below, Where the soul cannot burst amid endless groans-where the pirate's soul must go.'

So they shot him dead with a charmed ball; and they laid a broad flat stone

Deep in the earth above the gold, and they stood the corpse thereon.
Now wo betide the daring fool who seeketh that gold to win ;

Let mortals beware of the noble wretch who standeth that grave within."
Hist. Coll. of New-Jersey.

Inasmuch as the treasure was guarded by spirits, it was believed that nothing but spells and incantations of great power could wrest the gold from the custody of the fearful sentinels. The magic wand was employed a few years ago, as Mesmerism has since been, to discover the location of the hoard; and then all that remained to be done was to get possession of it. This latter part of the exploit was by far the more difficult and dangerous, as the spirits sometimes proved unmanageable.

We have heard of an instance in which three men performed their midnight incantations over the place where treasure had been buried, but could not succeed in laying the spirits; and there rose upon their vision the grim spectre of a negro with his throat cut, and the blood streaming down his breast in torrents. The catastrophe of some of these speculations was not so deeply tragic.

An old gentleman, yet resident at Port Richmond, on Staten Island, once related to us an adventure in which, in the days of his youth, he was personally engaged; and as it will illustrate the

superstitions and mystic arts we are discussing, we will give the substance of it. Tradition had asserted that vast hoards of treasure of various kinds lay buried upon the shores of Fresh Pond, a little sheet of water which lies about a mile inland from NewBrighton. It was currently reported that certain adventurers had, on one occasion, dug almost down to the gold; but just as they were upon the point of grasping the treasure, the ghostly sentinel rose upon them, and threw them entirely out of the hollow which they had excavated, and drove them away. It was supposed that their failure resulted from the absence of a charm strong enough to lay the spirits. Our friend was invited to accompany a party of men in a nocturnal expedition to the haunted spot. The Jason of this modern attempt to gain the golden fleece was an old withered Guinea negro, who had the reputation of being a great adept in practical demonology, having doubtless been initiated into the mysteries of the devil bush before leaving his native land. This dark dealer in the black art, on this occasion, gave his disciples many instructions for their guidance, one of the most important of which was, that when they arrived upon the enchanted ground they must not utter one syllable, or the charm which he contemplated would be dissolved. They arrived at the spot duly equipped with spades and picks, and also a goodly bottle of whisky, which was designed to keep up their courage in this perilous enterprise. The old African commenced his incantations in solemn silence. He first ascertained the precise place for excavation; then he walked round it three times in a circle, sowing mustard seed; then he drew forth a rusty sword, and marched round in the same path, hewing and cutting the air in all directions; and the spell was complete. No spirits (punning aside) could exist within that charmed circle. The master of ceremonies gave the signal, and they silently commenced the task of exhuming the gold, which no doubt lay buried there. They toiled on without cessation, save that occasionally some one of the number would lay aside his instrument, and, with the flask aforesaid applied to his lips, pass a few moments in pensive contemplation of the stars. And now cometh the catastrophe. One of the diggers, a very thirsty soul, applied the flask to his lips, and raised it to a horizontal position, in vain he elevated it by degrees till it approached the zenith.. His worst fears were realized; and, in the extremity of his consternation, he burst out, "The whisky is all gone!" This unhappy exclamation destroyed the spells wherewith the spirit sentinels had been bound. The horror-stricken Ethiopian commanded them to desist from their labors, as they were at the mercy of the

spirits; and they abandoned the enterprise, and left the ground in dismay.

Though the idea that spirits keep guard over buried coin is now, as far as we know, an exploded superstition, yet a part of the appliances resorted to by the money diggers has not become. wholly obsolete. In the mining districts, both in England and America, there are a few believers who hold in respect the ancient art of wand divination. In some minds this fanciful notion, as some would term it, survives in all its strength. The Rev. Mr. Ban able minister of the gospel, who died in this county in the year 1840, was a decided enthusiast in the art; and he not only believed that it was possible to render a twig an unerring guide to ore in the mine, but he believed just as firmly that he himself could perform the mystic operations with success. We have heard of his practically exemplifying his faith. He and a clerical friend were once rambling over a mountain near Morristown, New-Jersey. Mr. B. cut a twig of the orthodox description, and carried it in position as he walked. Suddenly it was apparently drawn down toward the earth. He called his companion's attention to the fact, remarking that there was a bed of ore of some description. After passing around in various directions, with his diviner, he pointed out the course in which, according to the indications, the vein ran; and remarked that at the foot of the declivity they might possibly find the outcroppings of the stratum. They sought these revelations, and discovered something which the operator, who was gifted with a brilliant imagination, declared proof positive of the presence of iron ore. We ought to remark, in justice to the subject which we are so gravely discussing, that the performer did not adopt his theory on this side of the ocean, but brought it with him from his native land; and, consequently, his performances may serve to indicate the present state of the art in England.

The most common kind of divining now practiced is that which is resorted to in order to find suitable locations for wells. Many instances of its application have come to our knowledge; and we have met with not a few true believers. An acquaintance of ours, by way of testing the abilities of a professional water finder, requested him to pass over a certain lot, and ascertain if water could be found near the surface. The diviner, after walking around in divers directions with his instrument, pointed out a particular spot where the twig was drawn down very powerfully; he then traced an irregular line diagonally across the inclosure, stating that in this direction there ran an underground current, and that it passed be