Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1847-10-07

Horao,
Than alc drcomt of in your philosophy"
TMoUGH every person, at certain seasons,
experiences a craving for excitement, it must
necessarily be subject to various modifca-
tons in different individuals, owing to the
dssimilarity of temperament, as well as to
the influence Of the particular class of OBJ
jects by which they are surrounded
The inhabitants of thinly settled coun-
tries are likely to feel this want more sensi-
bly, than those of populous towns, and when
as was the case with our Pilgrim Fathers
and their more immediate descendants, it
does. not find relief in fervd, religious
faith, and in that negative kind of penance
an austere and sell-denying lfe--it is apt
to turn to supernatural wonders, and endeav-
or TO test their capability of so far linking
themselves with the material world as to adj
dress themselves to the sight or hearing
Hence, according to the accounts of those
who were young half century since, moth
ing was more common, at that time, among
the youthful portion Of a thinly inhabited
country, than what was called, "Trying the
Fortune" For this purpose methods al
most innumerablc were resorted to. While
the more timld lass placed four-leafed clo-
yer in the shoe worn on her right foot, with
the expectation that the first man she after
: wards met would be the one she was to mar
ry; one less fearful, before retiring to rest,
would, while repeating some rude rhymes,
in the form of an invocation, strew ashes
by the side of her bed, in which she wrote
her name expecting in the morning, unless
doomed to an early death, or " life of sim
-1--oblessedness, to find that of her future
husband written over it,
Those still holder and more daring ven
turedto perform certain incantations, which,
it was supposed would at the witching
hour of night" summon to the presence OF
the person by whom they were wrought, the
phantom of the one whom he or she was
destined to wed.
In these days of magazines and newspa-
pers, conveyed by the power of steam with
almost winged speed to every section of the
country we hear little about trying the for
tune. The Imagination finding a wider
range, is less impatient, less likely to make
self the central point of attraction, and less
likely to become so heated as to eXalt itself
into wild and gloomy enthusiasm state
of mind which thrusts reason too far into the
background to be either safe or desirable.
Many years ago there was a small coun-
FIREPLACE in New England, which would not
be recognized now by the description APP
piled to it then-the principal road, at that
time being quite narrow, uneven and wind
. ing, and deeply fringed on either side by
scraggy bushes, and the weather-beaten
farm-houses, their shingled roofs, half COW
cred with moss, rising at such distant inter
walls that the inmates could scarcely discern
the smoke of their nearest neighbours chin
ney.
One of these houses was the dwelling O
man who used often to visit family thai
lived six or seven miles distant. His avow
ed motive was to enjoy the religious CONVEX
sation of the heads Of the family, though thu
real attraction, without doubt, was tbe
niece, handsome dark-eyed damsel of sew
enteen He was a widower, and beln!
more than twenty years her senior, withou
any personal attractions to recommend HIM
she regarded him with coldness bordering
on aversion. Neither did her uncle or aun
encourage his addresses, though he was
person of correct habits, and in possession
OF what was considered handsome proper
ty; for they imagined there were times wheI
he manifested incipient signs of insanity
Their conjectures were not without cause
as within few years afterwards he exhibit
ed unequivocal marks of mental alteration
which ultimately settled down in conflrme
lunacy.
His temperament partook largely of tn
melanchoic, and like all such persons h
was inclined to enthusiasm, and as nerve
were easily excited. While obedient to tn
admonition of the poet, he should have
Sought the cheerful haunts
men, aud mingled with the busy crowd !"
he lived almost entirely excluded from 81
ciety, except that twice or thrice year j
attended huskng or a quilting,
He spent much of his time i'll the di
solitudes of the forest, and often when
paused in his labors, the echoes of his ow
axe seemed to him the mysterious voices
spirits. At such times, according to h
own confession many years afterwards, viii
on visit to the family alluded to, he fe
an irresistible longing to look into the VIC
ume of fate, III order to ascertain if he wei
destined to wear out his life lonely bac
lor, or to wed some cheerful, lght-heartt
maiden, whose presence would shed glea
of sunshine through his then dreary habit
ton.
He was at length, though not witho
many misgivings as to its entire freedom fro
guilt, constrained to listen to what appear
to him " this supernatural soliciting" !
accordingly, after retiring to his chamb
one night, performed a certain incantatio
which, he had been told, would SUNNI
the phantom of his future wife to his be
side, if wife he was destined to have, WI
the incantation was, he did not reveal, Il
he intimated with kind Of shuddering he
ror, that the sacred volume was made su