The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1875-03-25
JACKSON c. H., OHIO THURSDAY, MARCH 25 1875.

! favor ceased to impart pleasure.
Next morning l called to inquire after
Julia Louise. She was in the room when
| l entered; her hand tremblt d as too \
it; her countenance was flushed, and her
| lip had assumed the delicate curve of de-
| spondency, peculiar to this expressive
I feature. She assured me she was quite
well; but there was a gentle trembling in
! her articulation, that satisfied me she did
not feel at ease. She spoke little, and
when ] alluded to the events of the pre-
ceding evening, the blood quilted her
! cheeks in moment and she sat before
me pale and motionless as marble.
was panied to see that fearful i'm
preston had been made upon this inno-
cent girl and endeavored to counteract it
by pointing out the absurdity of an old
woman of the lowest habits, and, more
| than probably, of the worst propensities,
| being endowed with the gift of prophecy.
| "Ah, sir" she said quickly, 'but the
witch of Endor, was she not a wicked old
woman p
mot, my child, that am aware Of
| She is not said to have been DID, neither
| is it directly stated that she was wicked,
/ though we are led to infer this from her
employment. That she was person of
some consequence of her having "a fat
cheer to receive her guest Besides, here
was one of those extraordinary occasions
where the Almighty acts by extraordina-
ry means. Many eminent commentators,
| moreover, consider that Saul, who was
melancholy and superstitious man, was
allowed by God to be the dupe of an art
! full iuggler,-and persons of distinction
| in those times, engaged in the practices
of what have been called magical arts,
| though no such arts really exist,--who
practised her delusions with the same
surprising success, which even to this
day, attend the tricks of iugglers in all
parts of the world, especially in the East
their performances, nevertheless, are
| known to be nothing more than skillful
| appliances of art"
But have you not known the predic
tions of fortune tellers in modern times
to come to pass?'
Never"
81 have. A gipsy prophesied that one
of my sisters, then quite an infant, would
die within the year. and it died within
three weeks after, of scarlet-fever
True. But was not the scarlet-fever,
at that time prevalent in the neighbor-
hood-nay, was it not in the next house?
Surely. then, very bunglng calculator
of chance might have predicted your lit
tie sisters death, and much nearer the
period, too without having the gift of
divination"
Then how is it that so many persons
| believe in fortune-tellers p
"Only because they are weak, silly peo-
pie. Surely, because weak people believe
a thing this is no proof that it is true"
"Well, l dare say l am silly but can
not help feeling very unhappy"
l found that my arguments produced
no favorable effect. She became occa-
sionally overcome by excess of agitation,
| and wept bitterly. l endeavored to make
her sensible of the criminality of giving
way to such weak apprehensions; and
although she acquiesced in my represent
ations, 1 could, nevertheless. perceive
that she was not convinced. Her uncle
was much distressed at the unhappy
issue of an indulge which he had con
sented to, under the idea of making his
niece and her young frienas merry, and
upbraided himself with having so easily
yielded to those solicitations, which, now
he discovered the mischief likely to ac-
crue, he felt he ought to have resisted.
quilted the house with painful pre-
sentiment; | could not shake it off. The
mind of that unhappy girl had evidently
received a powerful shock, and, with her
extreme sensiblity of Representative it was
! impossible to say what might ensue.
For several weeks after this time used
to see her every two or three days, being
upon terms of great intimacy with her
uncle, in whose house she lived, and feel
| ing lively interest in the niece, who,
| though weak, was an extremely amiable
| girl. At first l did not perceive any
| great change. She continued melan-
choly. timid, and at times labored under
/ such severe depression of spirit, that it
! 70 hoo
man to whom she was engaged to be mar
ried was greatly concerned at the evi-
IDENTIFY morbid state of her mind He Was
about to enter the Church and was to be
ordained upon living worth six hun
dred year, in the gift of his father. 1t
had been settled that he should marry
Julia as soon as he should be in Orders.
Since the night OF her encountering
the fortune-teller, whenever the young
man to whom she was engaged had called,
she met him with degree Of embarrass-
ment which gave him great uneasiness.
There was no longer that frankness in
her manner which she had ever before
exhibited; her conversation was con-
strained. She appeared reserved and
even shy, as if a change had come over
her heart; yet she assured him her senti-
ments were unaltered He attributed
this to the impression made upon her
by the fortune-tellers prophecy, and re-
conciled himself to her altered manner
towards him, under the persuasion that
time would subdue her melancholy, and
restore her spirits totheir wonted buoy
ancy.
Week after week, however, passed on,
and there was no change She gradually
became less and less gratified at his Wis
its, and, at length, never met him with
out betraying agitation. His endear-
ments were of no avail; she shrank from
Them as it there were something blight-
ing in his aspect. This he was in the
habit of communicating to me, when |
saw him after his visits, which l fre-
quently did, as we had been intimate
since his engagement to Julia Louise:
One morning the young man engaged
to marry Julia Louise called upon me- |
perceived that he was greatly agitated.
His eyes glistened with the tears that
started into them the moment | spoke
to him. When he was seated, | asked
him the cause of his apparent uneasiness.
MY dear sir" said he Il am just come
from Mr.. IS house, where | have re-
ceived Jnlia's refusal to fulfill her pledge.
OF late, as you know, the mental depres-
sion to which she has so long been vic
tim, has considerably increased. This
morning, l called, and found her unusu
ally excited. My presence caused par
oxysm, which subsidized after some time
and she appeared tolerably composed. l
took her hand it was cold and moist, as
if covered with the dews of death She
trembled, turned from me, and burst
into passion of tears. l tried to console
her,-but in vain She shook her head
as l spoke, and her eyes glared wildly, as