The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1879-11-12
MISCELLANY.
WITCHES NIGHT.

From the earliest times men have been try
ing to look ahead. The ancient Egyptians
had oracles where their gods were supposed
to answer the questions of men by dreams aud
other ways the ancient Greeks also had fa-
nous oracles, which people came from far off
lands to consult; the Romans killed certain
fowls or animals, and guessed at the future
by the looks of their internal organs the He.
brews aud the Babylonians had their own pc
cular ways of finding out what was to happen.
The world has not yet outgrown the longing
| to look ahead.
| The Hindoo to-day sets lamp afioat on
his sacred river, and judges of the future by
the length of time it burns; the Chinaman
cousults his wise men, who pretend to under
stand signs the ignorant African takes no.
tice of this cries of birds and animals the
English-not long ago-tried to learn by help
of what they call witches, and Spiritualists,
even now, believe the predictions Of me.
dunn No serious attempt to look into the
future has been made for a long time by intel.
ligent people, and the old customs have be-
come frolcsome trying Of charms especially
on one night of the year. IL is curious enough
that the night selected is the eve of the festi-
val of All Saints, which was established In the
seventh century by Pope of Rome in honor
of all the saints who had no particular place
assigned to them.
The Romans brought this festival to Eng
land there it became All Hallows, and the
evening before il Halloween or Hallow.e' en-,
and that was the night sacred to charms and
games. In the seventeenth century England
gave up the night to feasting and frolcking.
Nuts and apple were plenty from one end Of
the island to the other, and Nut crack
Night I" was the name given to it. In Eng
| land, the revels were for fun, such as diving
for apples floating in tub of water, and, of
course, getting very wet or trying to snatch
in the teeth an apple on end of a stick which
had lighted candle at the other end, and, be-
| ing hung by a string, could be spun around
very fast so that the players often seized the
candle instead of the fruit ; or playful for
tune telling by naming nuts roasting them
before the fire, and Watching their conduct
when Observation-Disclosures they burned steadily,
or bounced away, or burst away with a noise,
|
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