Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1888-10-04

pack Of tho ninc OF hearts, which is the
wish card tho required answer Is
adduced. Sometimes the Wish card Il
made to represent The person OF tho in.
dividual consulting the oracle, and
whatever fortune is cut and dealt oui
10 this Is regarded as the same as hav.
ing been dealt 10 the suit Of the indi.
vidual.
SO much for the sysicm Of fortune
telling by cards II Is all humbue
from beginning to end. There Is
no law against it. and II there was II
Is extremely doubtful n the practice
could ever DO suppressed. The world
is full Of dupos, they bristle upon every
cornor, and II Is much 20 be believed
that man is never so perfectly happy
rs when he is being fooled the most
What says the old songp
"ouack, quack. nothing like crackery,
Quacklng my friend Of the day Is the order"
and we have II practised in our very
midst 10 the fullest extent
Tho following anecdote is related Of
a fortune teller Of the past century:
Isaac Tarrat was a man Of some liter
AIRY attainments in London, and was
contributor TO the Ladies Diary and
the GenHemdn's Magazine. He was
originally linen draper. and thrlv-
ing one, but from various causes he
proved unfortunate, and in his seven-
tieth year knew not where 10 turn in
order to provide his bread. In this
extremity he was reduced TO be-
come fortune teller. In mean
street near the Middlesox Hospi-
tai there was an obscure shop
kept by an elderly woman who had
long made livelihood by means Of
oracle maintained on tho premises IL
now became the Office OF Mr.. Tarrat to sit
In the upper room in a fur cap, n white
beard and flowing worsted damask
nightgown, and by He cards tell the
fortunes OF all who might apply, re-
ceiving for his labors a shilling n day
and his meals. The woman sat In tho
front shop and received the company
and their money. Tarrat admitted
that his mistress treated him kindly,
always giving him a small bowl Of
punch after supper; there was no great
discomfort in his situation, beyond the
constant distress OF mind he suffered
from rejecting upon the infamous
character Of his occupation. He had
occasion TO remark with surprise that
many OF the customers were OF less
mean and illiterate appearance than
might have boen expected. At length.
stter having scraped together sufii-
cient amount OF cash, Tarrat gave up
the place, ald, as II appears, just In
the nick OF time, as his successor had
not been q month in Office when he was
taken up as an impostor. Tprrat
found a retreat in the Charter house,
where he lived till his eighty-eighth
year. dying in 1889.
Cup reading does not obtain 10 the
extent Of divination by cards, and
from inquiries made by the writer the
only Information he has been enabled
to obtain leads him 10 believe that it
Is practised only to a limited extent.
But where two or three old crones are
gathered together for the purpose OF
taking tea, be sure that one of them at
least viii endeavor TO steal a look into
futurity by aid OF the grounds left in
her teacup. An old writer says: "Oh,
the bright conceit, that our horoscope
should be revealed to us In n cup, and
our fate be prefgured in the HERO
glyphical writings OF coffee grounds
and tea leaves, or shuffled out TO us in
the oracular demonstrations OF the
four suits. The practice OF paganism
long survived its belief, so has
that Of divination. unless we
arc 10 suppose that the young
persons of the fair sex, and the old
women Of both, are serious proseiytes
to its efficacy. when they interpret the
cabalistic writing OF coffee or tea
grounds in a cup. or determine their
destiny by the casual upturning Of the
cards" Perhaps all OF us are more
or less tinciured by superstition, and a
faith In divination will never want
converts so long as IL affords us a
scapegoat for our follies, and ii may
be, our crimes. II we meet with sue
II
merit OF that success to our own pru-
dence and forethought, and II we fail,
our bad luck bears all the blame OF our
failure. King Lear says: This Is the
excellent foppory Of the world, that
when we are sick in. fortune. often the
surfeits Of our own behavior, we make
guilty Of our disasters the sun. moon
and stars, as II we were villains or
necessity, liars by divine thrusting on.
adultercrs and drunkards by an en-
forced obedience to planetary inlu-
ence."
Lord, what fools these mortals be-"
Fortune-telling is all humbug. but
perhaps an excuse may be found for it
on the principle set down in these
words: There is one sense in which,
without the Inspiration Of prophecy or
the charge OF imposture, one may rea-
sonably and benehoially venture to in
dulge in the mystery Of '5rtune telling.
Knowing that, in the established sue
cession Of human affairs certain causes
will produce corresponding effects, one
may read the future in the past, and
boldly predict that the spendthrift will
come TO want, the debauchee TO prema-
ture decay, the idler 10 contempt, the
gamester TO bitterness OF soul, II not TO
suicide, tho pronigate 10 remorse and
the violator OF the laws 10 punish
ment" And all this without money
and without price, and without the aid
OF tea or coffee grounds. cups or cards.
Mole-Hill and Mountain.