, 1889-12-26

~
tiers indulged In the practice at all
times and places when bad luck
could be 80 averted. The mystical
three was irreverently connected
with the Trinity.
1t Is one of the worst things pos.
sible to turn a garment which had
been accidentally put on wrong side
out; 1t must be 80 worn until sun
SGT, or turned by some member. of
the household while n wish ls made.
ITO see q pin and not pick y up,
luck"
This was probablya shrewd means
of teaching economy and has
prompted many man and woman
TO stoop and pick 1t up when other
wise IL would have been swept into
the dust heap. To find 1t, front
foremost Is good luck; head fore
most, luck of the dullest. To sneeze
before breakfast is q sure indication
that You will cry before night; to
sing Vefore breakfast, that you will
be in the same mournful frame of
mind, or will have quarrel before
supper. To sit on a table brings
keen disappointment but If there be
three lights burning to n woman 1t
presages speedy marriage. Finding
horseshoe Is, to u young woman
another means of determining her
matrimonial fate, the number of nails
indicating the years that shall elapse
before the event shall occur. Count
ing thirty white horses is another
means of settling the matter, the
first acquaintance met after the
magical number has been counted
being the future husband. The
wishbone over the door also throws
n flood of light on the all-important
question, the man passing under II
being, "whether he will or no." the
future sharer of her grief and joys
THE UMBRELLA. .,,
The commonplace umbrella Is the
subject of a whole chapter of super
stitions. 1t Is as prolific in this way
as 1t is In furnishing jokes for the
pleasant paragrapher.
There Is no record that to return q
borrowed one will make one
"healthy, wealthy, happy and
WISE" as rising early in the morn.
ing will do. Nor will similar good
further reward one who refrains
from exchanging bad one for Il
good one, though there is crying
need for Just some such sign: The
omens for which 1t Is responsible are
dismal. To open one in the house
forbodes death; to lay one on the
bed has like significance, while the
thoughtlcss individual who lays one
on the table, will be soundly disap-
pointed for his untidiness. Let any
one or anything pass between two
persons walking together Will
certainly occasion n failing out"
which can not be easily made up,
and this may account for the tenac-
ity with which Mary Ann clings to
the arm of her young man. she
wants no falling out if 1t can be pre-
vented.
For bride to display or try on
her wedding dress before the mar
riage ceremony Is calamitous. Char
lotte Bronte shows what may fol-
low such shortsightedness In the
fate that befell Jane Eyre.
In the rural districts signs and
omens are as thick as hops. There
are localities, into which the rail-
road and the telegraph have only
recently penetrated, where the moon
IL the arbiter of domestic destiny.
In the light or the dark moon all
things must bc done in decency and
in order-the crops planted and
harvested, the apples gathered, the
soap boiled and the garden made,
And you could no more
make the honest old farmer
believe that there was moth
ing in II than you can make
him believe that the earth moves
or that 1t is, as the geographers say
"a sphere tlattcned ut the poles. v
There are numbcrlcss circumstances
affecting the cattle, the dairy, the
health and longevity of the family
which he regards with melancholy
shake of the head and remark
"Mighty bad sign"
However, we are growing more
rational and more skeptical every
day. Imagination is dying natur
al death. The world IL substituting
the verities of exact science for re
ligion. He has been eliminated
from the belief of thousands whC
were taught the Westminster cate
chism by force OF arms, and In child
hood believed 1t to be q luridly pic
turcsque and populous region, will
wide-spreading atmosphere of SUI
peratition, all its own. The miracle
are doubted by thousands more, anI
the coming man, ii Is more thai
probable, will accept nothing tina
can not be demonstrated by proof o
the senses.
With this elimination of the su
pernatural from religion will com'
reign of cold, intellectual, passion
less morality; an atmosphere IL
which the imagination can no
thrive. In those days nobody will
, be scared by the devil, nor cajolc,
/, into good behavior by intangible
, promises of future reward; not II sigl
will be left, nor anomen. All mus
perish in the general decay of be
lief.
. Tho Car Drivers Saturday Night.
tTho Irish Christian Advocate.
, Journey and journey back,
Scarcely time for u bite;
Six long days on the rack,
And now it is Saturday night.
/, o, tor day of rest!
O, for quiet Sunday,
To ease burdened breast
, Betwixt to- night and Monday!
Hardly minute to kiss
The birds at home in our nest
, All that ! say Is this
E o, for little rest
Rest from the hurrying start;
Rest from the stony rattle;
Rest for the head and heart;
, Rest for rs and the cattle.
All! no Sunday for me;
Only the old old rOnd.