The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1874-02-10
.Curiosities of superstition.

louis Napoleon, in his will, empha-
sizes the solemn declaration: "With re
gard to my son, let him keep as a tails
man the seal used to wear attached to
my watch" This piece of fetichism
wonld appear to have formed yet anoth-
er link between the imperial exile that
hasipassed from our midst and those
Lstin races whose cause he effected to
represent, whose superstition he GER
tainly shared Indeed, the ancient Ro-
mans degraded priest because his mi
ire fell, and unmade a dictator because
a rat squeaked. Caesar crossed the Ru-
bieon, because on the opposite bank he
saw man with fine figure. His ne.
paew felt confdent of winning the bat
SsfssA ctipin, becapsehe met. 9 peas
aai of the name of Nicolaus, mounted
on an ass Wolsey was warned of his
doom by corsair-head; Sejanus, by a
fight of crows DR. Johnston object,
ed to going under ladder. Montague
avoided giving his left foot priority in
putting on his stockings Alexander
was believed to have united the Cor
dan knot with his sword. For good
lnek's sake, Augustus wore some por-
ton of sea-calf; Charlemague some
trinket of unknown value. Mohammed
was all fate; Bonaparte all star and des-
tiny. Cromwell believed in Sept. 8, and
Louis Napoleon in Dec. g. Sulla called
himself Felix, the favorite child Of for
tune, and Timoleon turned his house
Iato temple of chance Alexander, il
we may credit the account given by
Quntus Curtis, was terrified by blood
flowing from inside his soldiers bread
during the siege of Tyre in 332 B c.
His seer, Aristander foresaw in this
crimson effiuX of the vital stream out OF
the commissariat happy issue for the
Macedonians; and the warriors thus
nerved took Tyre From the year 1904,
the alarming spectacle of the bleeding
host of bread. as we'll as the bewitched
bloody milk, several times in each cen
tdry, gave simple folk scare; thus. ii
was noticed in 1864, under Urban ",
at Bolsena,no far from Civita Vechina;
and Rapheal has taken this for the sub.
ject Of his picture called "Miraculo de
BoIsena,' which is at all events mira
Gle of the pencil. In 1888, when Helm
rich Won Bulow destroyed the village
and church of Wilstach, drops Of blood
were found eight days afterward on the
host placed ON the altar. But the vic
TINS of superstition have the bump oi
casualty remarkably developed and 10
1910, thirty-eight Jews were burnt to
ashes because thev tortured the conse-
Grated host until il bIed Again, the
sight was seen on the Moselle in 1924,
and in l84S the famous Ehrenberg ana
lyzed the terrible portent. After stoop
ing with his microscope over the rec
stains of bread, cheese and potatoes
this savant declared they were caused
I Ssssral Eonads or vihrois, which hav.
a red color, and are so minute tina
from 46 656 600, 600 to 3S4, 4,736, ,000, 900
900 distinct beings adorn the space o
Zone cnbic inch Unfortunately, when
Fin 1880, thirty-eight Israelites, as w
have seen, were burnt to ashes, no sci
entitic Ehrenberg existed to point ou
to their superstitious butchers that wha
they call proof Of the consecratet
host being tortured until it bled, wa.
merely due to aggregation of hungry
Fred insects.