Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1871-10-05
MESMERISM AND MATkIMONY.
BY Il, u. 8HILLABER.


MARTIN SPEED was q bachelor. He
had backed and filled, and he>ltatcd AID
doubted about nt,riDg upon the "blissiul
estate" of matriu'ony, until the fire OF
youthful passion was all spent, and matrl-
mony had become problem to him as
dry and formal as one in old Walsh's
arithmetic, to be ciphered out for an an
swer, as much as that proposition about
carrying the fox, goose and bag of corn,
across the creek, that everyb idy "prtb-
lemly" remembers. Being phrenologlst
he left the province OF hearts altogether,
and went to examining heads, to ascertain
BY genealogical developme' IS Woman's
fitness for the position of wife to Martin
Speed, ESQ, as letters came addressed to
him at the Speedwell postofflce. The
lown of SpeedWell was named for an an
cestor Of his, and boasted Of several thou
sa, d. Of inhabitants, and, as it was fac
! tory pace it had a goodly share of good
looking. manageable girls.
Martin studied Combe and Spurzheim
and Gall, and grew bitter as disappoint'
ment saw him enter his forty'first year a
bachel,r. He looked back on the past,
and saw the chances he had neglected, and
t, happiness of those who had started
with him, and were now portly people,
the ht ads and fronts of families; and The
delicate damsels he had sli4 hted, respected
mothers in Israel, and exemplary and ami
able WIVES. He sought every opportunity
for examining the ht ads of such as would
submit themselves to his hand with hope
of catching the bachelor; for they knew
his W. akness, and he was we'll to. do and
an eligib match. But in vain he looked
for perfection. The bumps would not be
arr ,nged as he wished them. If re took a
liking to pretty face, phrenology i'm
peltinetly gave it the lie straight, and he
at once avoided it.
1t was at this juncture that biological
lecturer-a grave professor in that scie nee
came to epeedville and gave series OF
exhib tions. 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; sa y miser endeavO1
to clutch an eagle held out to him while
under the influence of the wonderful spell
and the tongue Of woman ttilled who
for twenty years had been the pest Of
Speedwell by her loquacity.
This put the mind of Martin on new
track. He sold his old chronological works
ard devoted himself to the study of the
marvels were performed. The professor
was a fine teacher, and Martin placed him
self under his tuition. He succeeded ad
mirably In short time he surpassed h,s
instructor and had more than hls powers
in influencing the susceptible among hif
weak brethren and sisters.
He formed resolution to himself, thai
through this means he would gain wife
Could he find one that his science coulG
control-one that at a glance he could
transfix, like the man who was stopped by
tn mesmerizer half way down, as he wat
falling from the roof Of a hOuse-he wOulC
marry her for the reason, dear reader
that Martin had not married, was that he
had heard Of wives wearing the - au
thor.ty over their lord, and he was timiC
man.
In this new science he saw security, and
sedulously sought for Que of the right de-
scription. At every party where he wat
invited, at every sewing circle, at every
krot OF factory girls IN which he mingled
ia the summer evenings, he tried the art
but without success At last, when or
the point of despair, accident gave what
he had failed of obtaining by earnest seek
ing
A Acknowledgements tU bnUhc1or1t
peace, as edged tools are to the careless
hands of the observation-disclosures to the
village on u visit. The weeds had not
been removed that marked her beTeave
ment, and the merest touch of melancholy
rested on her brow; but her eye wot
laughing, and sweet curl strayed away
and lay ike chiseled eddy upon the mar
BILE of her cheek. She had jewel on bel
hand, and the black dress she wore was
cut judciously, the dret smaker that cut
it had been widow herself, and knew how
to manage such matters showing beau
tiful white shoulder, and revealing bust
of rare lovliness.
Martin met the widow at the residence
of friend, and liked her. HI had never
seen so prepossessing woman, he thought
But she had buried one husband, and
that was rather drawback. One visit
led to ano; her, the liking still increasinl
until he broached the subject of biology
with wish, fervently felt, that this might
BE- the woman he sought. She Was fully
acquainted wi h it, and, in answer to his
question ii sue was susceptible to its in
tiuence, she replied that she didn't kno "
but was willing to have the fact tested.
What position for Martin! Seated by
her side on sofa, with her hand laid in
his, her rich dark eyes resti: 6 upon his
with a look equ,l to that v hich ,he widow
suspectng Thy in the stiffness of sum-
mer evening! But science held him
secure, and his nerves were calm rs the
summer day of that evening By and by
the bean'itul lids dropped, the head bent
gently forward, and the widow, with a
sweet smile upon h. r lips lay fast asleep.
Martin could have shouted Eureka" in
his delight at the discovery. Now h g
pulse Quickened and be stopped to kiss the
lips that lay ueresisting bef,,re him; but
he didn't. BY the Csc of his power
he awakened her, and she was much sur
pIised at beng caught mapping, and blush
ed at the strangeness of it; and blushed
more when Martin told ber how he had
been tempted, and how gloriously he had
resisted; and LAUGHED ]ittle when she
slapped his cheek with her fingers as he
took pay from The widows lips for his
selfdenial, and went home half crazy with
joy at his new-found treasure, moro like a
boy of Linetcen than matured gentleman
of f rty.
Every night found him visitor at
the widows, AID every right the success
If the scien:e was pr.ved until by a mere
To- or wave of the hand the beautiful
widow became subject to his Will and he
became at the same time a subject to hers
She was such splendid creature, too !
You would not find in a long Journey
another fairer, or more intelligent, or IL ore
virtuous. The question might be asked
which magne ism was the most pleasant,
or most powerful his or hers. But he
thought only OF his own, not deeming
that he was in a spell more powerful that
was irrevocably binding HIM. What
could al old bachelor know of such a
thing?
This state of things grew 10 a crisis at
last, and Martin finally proposed to the
widow that the two sh uld be made one
by the trabsmutatiOn of the church. To
this she assented; and it was announced
soon after, to the astonishment of ALL that
Martin Speed had married the widow
Goodc The punster of the villag, made
notable pun about Gooh-Speed, at which
people laugh: d very much; aud the edi.
'or OF one of the papers, who was a very
funny man, put it in print
1t happened, shortly after the marriage
that they had Eamt u party, and some of
the guests bantered Martin about his mar.
riage, upol which ho told them of the
manner it came about. They were lit
tie incredulous, and he volunteered to give
them some specimens of his remarkable
power over his wife.
She was in another room attending to
some female friends, when he called her to
him. She came obcdiently, and he asked