South-eastern Independent. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1871-1871, 1871-09-29
MESMERISH AND MATRIMONY.
BY B. p. sHILLABER.

D. had backed and filed, and hesitated a
q doubted about entering upon the blissi
q estate " of matrimony, until the fire
e youthful passion was all spent, and mat
+ mony had become problem to him
e dry and formal as one in old Walsl
:, arithmetic, to be ciphered out for an al
l. swer, as much as that proposition abo
n carrying the fox, goose and a tag of cor
across the creek, that everybody "pro
/ remembers. Being phrenologi
9 he left the province of hearts altogethe
e and went to examining heads, to ascerta
/ By genealogical developments a woman
fitness for the position of wife to Marti
Speed, Esq, as letters came addressed |
? him at the Speedwell postofics Tn
2 town of Speedwell was named for an 81
! cestor of his, and boasted of several thou
sauds of inhabitants, AID, as it was q fat
. tory place. it had goodly share of good
looking, marriageable girls.
Martin studied Combe and Spurzheir
and Gall, and grew bitter as disappoint
ment saw him enter his forty-firs year
bachelor. He looked back on the past
and saw the chances he had neglected, an
the happiness of those who had startet
with him, and were now portly people
the heads and fronts of families; and hi
delicate damsels he had slig ghted, respected
mothers in Israel, and exemplary and ami
able wives. He sought every opportunity
for examining the heads of such as woulC
submit themselves to his hand with hopC
of catching the bachelor; for they knew
his weakness, and he was well-todo anC
an eligible match. But in vain he looked
for perfection. The bumps would not be
arranged as he wished them. If he took a
liking to a pretty face, phrenology i'm.
pertinetly gave it the lie straight, and he
at once avoided ii.
1t was at this juncture that biological
lectuIer-a grave professor in that science
came to Speedville and gave a series of
exhib tons. These Martin attended, and
biology at once became an intensity"
with him-a new emotion" He ATTENDED
all the exhibitions; saw men porsonate
roosters, and crow; hens, and scratch !;
shiver with cold or burn with heat, at the
will of the operator; saw miser endeavor
to clutch an eagle held out 10 him while
under the influence of the wonderful spell,
and the tongue of woman stilled who
for twenty years had been the pest of
Speedwell by her loquacity.
This put the mind of Martin on a new
track. He sold his old chronological works,
and devoted himself to the study of the
wonderful science through which such
marvels were performed. The professor
was a fine teacher, and Martin placed him
self under his tuition. He succeeded ad-
mirably. In a short time he surpassed his
and had more than his powers
in influencing the susceptible among his
weak brethren and sisters.
He formed a resolution to himself, that
through this means he would gain wife.
Could he find one that his science could
sontrol-0ne that at Q glance he could
.ransfix, like the man who was stopped by
h. mesmerizer half way down, as he was
alling from the roof of house-he would |
marry her for the reason, dear reader, |
hat Martin had not married, was that he |
lsd heard of wives wearing the - au-
hor.ty over their lord, and he was timid |
nan.
In this new science he saw security, and |
edulously sought for one of the right de-
cTiption. at every party where he was
invited, at every sewing circle, at every
rot of factory girls IN which he mingled
n the summer evenings, he tried the art,
ut without success. At last, when on
be point of despair, accident gave what
e had failed of obtaining by earnest seek
lg.
A widow-dsngerous to bacheloric
eace, as edged tools are to the careless
ands of the inexperienced-came to the
illage on a visit. The weeds had not
cen removed that marked her bereaVe-
lent, and the merest touch of melancholy
ested on her brow; but her eye Was
Gughing, and sweet curl strayed away
nd lay like a chiseled eddy upon the mar
lie of her cheek. She had jewel on her
aud, and the black dress she wore was
ut jGdiciously, the dreS smaker that cut
had been widow herself, and knew how
manage such matters showing a beau
full white shoulder, and revealing bust
rare lovliness.
Martin met the widow at the residence
{ friend, and liked her. He had never
,en SO preposSessing woman, he thought. ;
ut she had buried one husband, and
lat was rather a drawback. One visit !
d to another, the liking still increasing, (
ntil he broached the subject of biology, !
ith wish, fervently felt, that this might
: the woman he sought She was fully =
,quainted with it, and, in answer to his
lestion il she was susceptible to its in
lence, she replied that she didn't know
1T was willing to have the fact tested.
Whist position for Martini Seated by
sr side on a sofa, with her hand laid in
IS, her rich dark eyes resting upon his {
til look equsl to that which the widow 1
Tadmsn poured into the ears of the un- {
specting Toby in the stiffness of a sum-
er eveningl But science held him
cure, and his nerves were calm as the '
INNER day of that evening. By and by I
heapf;f,l lido drONY,ad tho hoad harf / a
.ntlY forward, and the widow, with a Z
yeet smile upon her lips, lay fast asleep.
sItin could have shouted Eureka" In I
5 delight at the discovery. Now his S
llse quickened, and he stopped to kiss the /
didn't. BY the exercise of his power q
awakened her, and she was much sur 1
ised at being caught mapping, and blush a
at the strangeness of it; and blushed s
ore when Martin told her how he had O
en- tempted, and how gloriously he had b
sisted; and laughed little when she b
ipped his cheek with her fingers as he U
ok pay from the widows lips for his f
If-denisl, and went home half crazy with o
= at his new-foGnd treasure, more like q
Y of nineteen than a matured gentleman S
forty. a
Livery nlSH6 4OuHu niu NlSlbOI al
e widows, aud every night the success 4
the science was proved, until by mere il
* or wave of the hand the beautiful il
dow became subject to his will and he v
came at the same time subject to hers
e was such splendid creature, too n
~ would not find in a long journey p
other fairer, or more intelligent, or more t
-tuous. The question might be asked e
lich magne ism was the most pleasant, a
most powerful. his or hers. But he 81
ought only of his own, not deeming b
It he was in a spell more powerful, that fl
s irrevocably binding him. What
lld an old bachelor know of such a Il
ng? d
This state of things grew 10 crisis at G.
t, and Martin finally proposed to the el
dow that the two should be made one, p
the transmutation of the church. To
S she assented; and it was announced
III after, to the astonishment of all, that Y
Irtin Speed had married the widow fc
ode, The punster of the village made cs
Iotable pun about Good-Speed, at which il
ople laughed very much; and the edi-
of one of the papers, who was very
my man, put it in print. III