Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-01-04

ated her feet with its thorns whenrush-
ing to the aid Of Adonis. The fragrance
of the rose is said to be derived from a
cup of nectar thrown over it by Cupid,
and its thorns to be the stings of bees,
with which his bow was strung. The
appletree is celebrated in the mythology
of the Greeks, Druids, and Scandina-
VANS. The Druids used, on special oc-
casions, to bless apples and distribute
them among the people as a safeguard
against evil. They also regarded the
miseltoe with sacred reverence, anddis-
tributed it as preventive against evil
spirits, witchcraft, and disease. If
any portion of it fell to the
ground during the distribution it
was a sign that some great evil
was about to befall the nation, and two
white bulls were Immediately sacrificed
to break the spell. Strange tales have
been told of the far-famed upas-tree of
Java-that its odor poisons the air for
hun dreds of yards around, that birds
shun it, and vegetation beneath its
branches is destroyed, and that even
men cannot approach it with impunity.
1t was an ancient belief that the spirit
of the tree had committed some great
crime, and this was its curse. Such
assertions are said, by those who Lave
studied the character of the tree from
live specimens, to be unfou2ded. The
tree does contain poison, which is ex-
tracted from the sap, but this circum-
stance has given rise to many fabulous
stories. Keats poem, ''The Eve
of st. Agnes" is founded on
the ancient superstition that on
that night a girl could obtain
by divination knowledge of her future
husband. She must take a row of pins
and stick them one after another in her
sleeve, singing during the process a
Pater-noster, and so insure that the
important parsonage should appear
that night in her dreams. We find the
following in MoOre's "Lalla Rookh."
among the Hindoos the usual way of
offering up vows for the safe return of
those who had gone ON dangerous voy-
ages, was by filing a small lamp with
cccoa-nut oil, placing it In an earthen
dish adorned with flowers and launch
ing it down the Ganges. If the lamp
sunk at once the omen was disastrous;
but if it went shining down the stream
and continued to burn till out of sight,
the return of the beloved one was con-
sidered certain" To this day in some
countries charms or amulets are worn
against disease, and IN some
parts Of Scotland sprains are dealt with
by the old device of incarnation. \
piece Of wooden cloth knCtted nine
times is passed around the affected
part, the operator meantime chanting
certain verses. The practice Of the
royal touch originated in England with
Edward the Confessor. Shakespeare
describes this In his tragedy Of Mae
beth. The editions Of the bookOf Com
mon Prayer printed in 1907 and 1903,
contain form of prayer to be read at
the ceremony of touching for the Kings
evil. This, however, was omitted soon
after. In all ages and among all ma
tons we find lucky and unlucky, good
and evil days. Arabianp philosopher
SAYS there are three Mondays IN the
wear which are unfortunate 10 begin
any notable work: The first Monday
in April, on which day Cain was
born; the first Monday in August, the
day in which SOdom and Gomorrha
were destroyed; and the last Monday in
December, the day on which Judas Is
CARROT was born. In Chambers Ms
,eUaHy We read Of a manuscript calen-
dar, of the time of Henry VI, IN
which the writer says there are thirty
two days IN the year when 1t Is perilOus
to take any sickness, to be welded, or
a Journey, to be hurt in, or
any enterprise; and then fol-
lows the list. The writer evidently be-
lieved In these black days, although
after giving them he winds up with the
rather inconsistent statement, "Ssd
taH5ea IA Domino c0atido" But, not
I VIII trust in the Lord.
We must pass by the thousand and
one superstitions such as, ''lfyOu sweep
a room after shutdown you sweep away
prosperity from the threshold; "a bit
Of homemade bread carried IN the
pocket Will do away with homesick-
ness" etc. etc; also the fruitful topic
Of superstitions Of sailors. Some
writer has said that the belief in these
fancies Is pardonable IN a sailor from
the very sphere he is placed in. Being
forced to place implicit reliance on
such mysterious agents as the rising
and falling Of the tides, the needle
a secret law, and seeing
the tickle and inconstant wind
change for one that never
varies, ali this predisposes
him to superstition" Yet it seems
that one who Is 50 bold and
daring asregardsphysical danger from
constant exposure to peril should be
such a slave to groundless and absurd
fears. a sort of mystical power and
awe was in olden times attached TO the
seven; and among the sacred
and wonderful list We find seven metals,
seven planets, and seven wonders of
the world, all Of which modern dis
coverers have shown the fal!acy Of.
In the early days Of ignorance fiction
was hallOwed, and the inventions
of the learned men OF those times
were listened to with eager credulity.
When we remember this and the
idolatry out OF which all these
old tales emerged, we find some excuse
for the ancient believers, and from them
We may at last learn one lesson-tbat
faith and zeal in what We really believe,
which cannot be answered. In this en-
age almost all superstitlons
can be explained away either by chance,
coincidence, "a natural connections;
and while an inherent love Of the mar
velous and a yeaTning to know some
thing Of the mysterious and hidden
make some fancy they have faith in
these idle whius, ne fall back upon the
truth of what Sir Humphrey Davy
said: 'It is only the superficial thinker
who is strong in this species Of unbe-
liei."
A REMARKABLE REVIVAL.
The town of Washington, Ohio, Is
a remarkable revival. There
has been an awakening" IN that Ar
cadian village upon the subject OF tenn
perance. The husbands and sons Of
the good women of that town have been
locking too much of late upOnth wine
when it was red, and the Adair law be-
ING but a feeble Instrument, the good
women have resorted to moral sUasiOn.