Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1880-07-22
SnDerstItI0n.

Superstition.
1t Is amusing to read the books and
treatises written n hundred years ago
and 70 note how Thoroughly the minds
of men were irf1bued with nperstitious
hllacies. Even the wfiittsorbg wfiittsorbg themselves
were in the habit OF taking things for
| granted which we in these latter days
are apt TO reject as the erossest absurdi-
ties. There were those who knew that
the delusions of the Salem witchcTaft
were carried altogether too far, and that
many people were grossly deceived by
designing men, but they at the same
time believed that. there WAL. a. great
dehl of witchcraft practiced, md that
ne witches could only be kept out OF
The hessse Z by CONSTANT fasang ,lfid
prayer, and that even this wis of no
avail unless aided and assisted by the
| potent talisman Of q horseshoe nailed
over the outer door. No wizard or
witch, however powerful, could make
any headway against this great remedy,
and he who had plenty of horseshoes to
ward off witches was regarded by his
neighbors a. thoroughly fortified against
L In those haH Il was considered ia
grant case OF flying in the face of the
Divine Providence To plant corn or po-
| tatoes in the wrong time OF the moon
Occasionally, however there would be
| a di ference OF opinion among the oracles
Of the neighborhood as - what consti-
tuted the wrong or right time of the
moon. and each oracle having his ad-
herents, the dispute would breed a
neiglIborhoOd quarrel as useless and
foolish as was the war Of the roses in
! Great Britain two centuries ago.
But, while il is TO be hoped that man
kind is gradually outgrowinR tlis non
sense, the fact remains that there is yet
a great deal OF old leagen of superstition
left in the minds Of people Of the present
day. There are many persons in the
| State of New York who claim 10 be in
telligent, and who would keenly resent
the imputation OF being superstitious,
who will not begin q piece Of work, OF
makea contract, or % Oh "A journey on
Friday They can give no reP son for IL,
and il pressed for one. are apt to reply
that they are not in the habit Of COM
mcncing any business on Friday, and
| that they were brought up to believe
that Friday is an unlucky day. If we
| were going TO trade here's on that day
| it might be that we should make an un-
lucky deal. But then it would be all
the more fortunate for the party Of the
second part, end he could truthfully say
| that Friday was a lucky day Tor him.
because our experience teaches Us that
it is a very unusual horse swop where
both the contracting parties are heaten
We have know tolerably intelligent
| men who will not plant cucumber seed
except upon the morning of the first
| Sunday in June at four o'clock. BY
| adopting this mysterious system, they
claim the bugs will never trouble them
| and that the crop is certain to be un-
| molested by those evils which would
otherwise inevitably destroy the fond
hopes Of the kitchen gardener. And
very many learned men are very ner-
| vous about sitting down az table where
they make the thirteenth in number.
When that fact is discovered. many Of
them doubtless feel as il they were hear
ing their death warrants read.
There is tl-at implanted in the human
breast that makes us dread the weird.
mysterious, and unearthly, and il will
take ages of philosophical research and
disquisition to entirely eradicate super
stiiious tendencies from the human
mind. By that time the votaTies of
church fairs and the patrons of lotteries
will have ceased TO believe in luck, and
even If they should try to procure the
ticket that is TO draw the capital prize,
they will estimate the probabilities at
he true standard. namely. one in one
hundred thousand. They will not place
any reliance on the dreams that they
may have concerning the lucky num-
bers, and spiritual mediums will have
TO work for their daily bread. But that
time is now in the dim vista of the dis
tant future; and until that time comes
people will have 20 be very careful
about first seeing the new moon over
the Jeff shoulder. and must rigidly OBJ
serve the signs and omens that their
ancestors so earnestly believed in.-AL
bdny Times.