Richmond daily Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1842-1861, 1853-10-11
Modern Superstition.
From the London Times.

From the London Times.
Considerable light has been le, in upon the shrine Of
"Our Lady OF Saettc since first had occasion to
mark upon IT, In the OF last week printed
letter iom correspondent who wrote to from Grcno
BILE, and who is therefore in position to know something
more about this mystery than persons distance from
the of action In substance his statement amount
cd TO thi-Of all who have prclted By the miracle
the who has derived from the largest share OF
pora advantage is certain nnkeeper dwelling upon the
spot The well which such marvellous properties have
been attributed is actually his own aud from the sale Of
its waters he Is deriving a proporonatc TO the
ctcdUltN cf the faithful, in the that the
mineral wells bring in large income the Duke of Mas
sau. The Figaro of Gccno5e has in point Of fact
ted himself into dealer IN spiritual Settler, TO his
small advantage. Boundlsss virtues attributed
this well which has been rendered holy by the direct
presence of the Virgin, and a Qulck medicine its
bid fair to 30 lo,loNays Ointment PARIS
Life Fills IL possesses among other sovereign virtues
specific effect in Of bad eyes aud all persons who
afflicted with any Kind OF eye disease. and the
sime time crcdulousy disposed, iy foe relief the
SGctie waters just as persons baNe flown IN all ages
to the shop Of any ingenious knsye who was
clsver enough anu bold enough hold forth promises Of
unconditional relief to the nhrmc OF suffering human
~. This, however is not all. Mine host only drives
ourishing business in the export trade of Holy Eve
Of Our Lady OF Stlcitc but the well has become
the coRmon OF pilgrims and devout persons Now
however dcvout pilgrim may DC, he must occasionally
take snack of one Kind another and whenever hun
ger sczes upou the votaties of the well of La Salee
convenient caravausera at hand in which weary travel
cts may dine Ia cdrfe aud donbt much TO the inn
keepers profit We should be glad find among all the
letters which addressed to the subject OF hotel
charges from La Sietie-what is the price of bed
of dinner at the table Gro how much is paid for SCR
vice how much for olg,i,Is rss hcrb,, Nc-
However this may be- it Is perfectly that il is the
landlord and exporter Of holy water, has profted most
largely by the transaction. II might venturc to sup
pose that there had been special nterposon from on
Ugh for the advancement OF his fortunes no doubt the
appaFition has answered the purpose substantial inn
has been erected in place OF the howell in which the land
lord formerly mni-tcrci the comforts OF hungry French
men, and doubt, Il things 30 smoothly with the ARCH
coniaternity the asuc miraciemoHser will soon be able
retire from business and set up rHcr that last aim
of ambition TO ordinary Freuchmen.
But-and acre the doubts story has co, abopt
in the nciGhborhoot that the miracle is miracle at all
IL is said that it Virgin who appeared to the two
wretched children, hut flesh aud blood impostor The
suggestion the most natural that could be made
anu take leave 70 say without claiming any cred
IL Tor inordinate saCaCy, that offered LONG since
when this imposture first spoken Of Ii il o,yious
enough that the difficulty OF deceiVinca coupe of cno
peasant children OF the tender wears a. to the
reality OF an appariuon would bc slight indeed We would
venture 10 say that any two English children OF 10 and
years, or even OF higher age, who had been careful
nurtured in scepcIsm the subject of Borcv and tho
Old Crdcrmln, might at time be cheated into the be
lief of supernatural appearance at the expense of little
phosphorus and spaugles How much more is this the
with the French peasant child of Dauphiry who in
hales superstition at every BREATH and mbbes it at every
pore-whose dreams oiinsel-crowned Madonnas and
whose flcd with legends to the effect thai :,
Hppoyte in glory ouy las: year to ride COW
three times round the meadow OF Jean Marie Bonemus
in the neishbourng hamlet OF Domrem, French children
of the peasant class believe in such things German
child believes in Christmas tree, or an English child in
Noah's ark. We should be much more ready Ia
acqucsce in the suggestion that the children were duped
themselves than that they parties TO the conspiracy
Upon no other superstition could imagine that they
should We sustained the fire of the friendly
examination 10 which they subjected Ii was much
easier to deceive the children than the examiners il is
but proper TO add that the idle tale some time
treated by the country people of the nechborhood with
the contempt deserved, until the late Bishop Greene
ole, old man well Nigh If entirely. in his dotare
took II NJ, and lent the weight Of the episcopal name TO
the ridiculous impoSturc. When the present Bshop W
elected 10 the see correspondent adds he was com
reled to adopt the legend eucumbrance which ran
with the precrmen No SIiet;c Eye-water no bishopric
and the present Bishop shut his eyes and did A. other
men in 50 thoruy position have done before him. At
reeEooe ! publicly asserted that the police are
the track Of the woman who played the part of the
Virgin on the momcntouS occasion in question: but we
confess much doubt whether anything serious will be
brought before tie public by that machinery IL ! far
more probable dat all the weight OF Government action
viii be thrown into the scale Louis Napoleon too deep
u implicated with the Ir Dsirc TO run the risk of cover
ing them with shame and confusion By anv nconvepiept
disclosures Much more likely Is it that the wretched
creature will be quietly removed some place where
there will be an end OF her testimony and so Our Lady
OF S'e,te will boz a fl my maintained her pedestal as
any other saint 10 the Roman calendar.
After Whl; have written will j, be believed that in
the nineteenth century, at period when men know how
% make tigoDometrcl surveys. and run steam car
RACES along rways and communicate with distant cities
IN les than moment Of tmewhtn by the exercise of
their thought and reason, they have been permitted TO
tame the awful agencies of nature aud subdue them 10
their service cockantbu story such this has been
credi;ei-aye here IN Eng and-in country which
lays claim high If not the highest place in the
yauward OF civilization No LATER than Yesterday we
printed letter from wEetchei creature VINO to the shame
Of the locality, dates his letter from Stratordupou-A
and asks Subscriptions for know not what purposes
connected with this mpudeat mposture We believe a /
chapc! is 20 be built and masses be sung and hu-
man sins 10 be plrd1ned U the trlusgressors will ouv
have faith in the merits OF Our Lady OF la S.ette
We have lived to many strange things in the av of
theological development. There JoE SMITH of Nau-
VOC; but he kceu-ghted fellow with sharp eve 10
business, and WhO-Oeycr enlisted under his banner was
iolcraJy well secure o. temporal comforts here below
Then have the present IN Chiua-but that
occurs in China aud not 10 Europe The mpostor PRINcF
aud his AapcmOnc, in which salvation TO be obtained
by playing hockey offer perhaps the nearest parallel
TO this Of thc Eyewaer Of II Sl,eitc; but then
PRSCz has ony hs dozen votares while the farce of
La ette hls been adopted by the POFE and henceorth
remains obligatory poiut Of faith with the whole Ro
man Catholic world.