The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1877-03-21
MODERN sUPERSTITION.
ny yERITAs.

NOu lONHNh NhNh
principle, in proportion to the clearness
in which you explain it, The eagerness
with which the mysterious is sought and
grasped. though it may be contrary to all
reason or common sense principles, seems
to justify the often repeated adage, that
"the world loves TO be humbugged."
notions perVade many oil
the important business pursuits oil lie;
standing directly in the way OF sensible
and successful prosecution OF these purs
suits. Agriculture is trammelIed ana
manacled, and scientific investigation
choked down, by notions born and nur"
tured in ignorance. Sensible men-men
capable Of scientific investigation-iook
to the moon to learn when to plant their
crops, build their fences, cover houses
and operate upon their stock. All the
known influence that the moon exerts
upon the earth is through the power OF
attraction. But this is uniform, does
not increase and diminish with the
changes OF the moon and hence, favor
able and uniayorable seasons can not
arise therefrom. The change Of the
moon is nothing more than the increas-
ing or diminishing quantity Of the suns
I"ys rsaa"'ins upon our part of the
Earth, caused by the relative position of
Earth, moon and sun. To suppose that,
because the rays Of light from the moon
are being diminished, it is the best time
to plant crors that grow beneath the sur
face of the ground and crops that gov
above the surface, SHOULD he planted
when the light is increasing, s simply
superstitous. Equally so is the notion,
that fence built in the increase Of the
moon will sink deeper into the ground
than it would if built in the decrease
or one position of the moon in its orbit
Is more favorable for the healing OF
wounds on stock than some other. The
influence Of the moon upon the Earth,
through its attraction, (the only way it
effects the EARTH, the same all the
lime.
Another subject about which there is
much superstition is that of fortune telling.
Persons travel miles, and pay their mon
ey to learn something about future events
But, if such persons would reflect a mo-
ment. they surely would know tina. these
fortune tellers can not know any more
about the future than they do themselves.
God only, knows the future. Aud no one
has ever been able to predict the future
OF human being certainly, unless God
revealed it to him. But no one pretends
that these fortune tellers are inspired.
And there is no other way by which to
learn what they pretend to tell. When
God inspired persons To speak to their
fellows about their future, he gave them
something more important TO talk about,
than the height, color of eyes, hair, &c. =,
Of a husband or wife. To talk about
the shutting of cards, turning Of cups,
or the mnmbling over obscure and I'M
meaning sentences revealing the future
is SIMPLY burlesque upon common sense
On a level with the foregoing, is mod
ern faith dOctOriHg. Many good people
are ready TO lift their hands in holy hor-
ror at the slightest disparaging remark
upon this subject. Many have for these
faith doctors, a sort Of holy reverence
and to express want of confidence in
their ability. is regarded, BY such, as sac~
religious. If these men do what they
profess TO do-(and what many of them
believe they do,) remove disease without
the use Of means--they perform miracles.
But can they do hisf They themselves,
say no. They make no such pretensions.
And yet, if they do what many think
they do, and that they themselves try to
do, 1t is really miracle. Sometimes the
friends of faith doctors tell us they can
perform miracles, and refer to the Bible
to sustain it. Those who cured disease
without the use of means referred to in
the Bible, gave God credit of the cure
admitted the cure TO be uperhuman-a
miracle God gave men whom he inspir>
ed to speak his word, the power to per>
form miracles ia attestation OF the truths
they uttered. But with the establish>
ment OF the will Of God, the necessity for
miracles ceased, and the power to per-
form them is now withheld. The super
stitions lcoking to faith doctors for help,
is often more than foolish waste OF time
Diseased action that might, with the use
OF appropriate means, be stopped, is suf-
fered to go beyond control, and serious
irjury or death may be the result. To
the superstitious reverance OF many per,
sons upon this subject, there seems not to
be scarcely any bounds. Take this case
az illustrative Of the subject: A Bap>
fist preacher Of Ohio county. called to see
a neighbours child, badly burned few
hours before. In answer to his inquiry,
as to how much the child was burned,
the mother removed the covering go that
ne could see. He looked and went away
In short time the father of the child
an I'LL \