The Opelousas courier., 1899-05-06
PHILOSOPHY oP pALM,srRY,
Lsgts Wastsa On Those Who Consult
Fo~ftune-Telisrs

Fortuns-TelIsrs.
Last week q poor. egotistical crea-
ture who had been employed as a bar
maid drowned herself, chiefly, as would
seem freR her letters, on account Of
the sinister predictions which she
read IN her palm, combined with her
planets" No doubt this girl was
weak-ninded, If not actually insane,
but there Ii a good deal in her Ease
worth shiAking about, says London
Truth. Some years ago, when / con-
Quoted some researches into palms.
try. with the assistance of a lady who
Stained to be an expert in that craft,
l put the question to her: What IL
you see Indications in a palm that the
ewner Of the hand will die or incur
some awful misfortune at an early
date?" The lady answered that in such
O case shs always d~issemblsd. and,
she led me to understand hat it WIS
q matter Of Professional st!qutfte
among really considerations pal. fists
not to make known the truth den 1t
was Of such a mare that to impart it
might be dangerous. This Is all very
Well. but no one can prevent people
Who dabble In palmistry or %astrology
Or other occult mean Of reading the
future from discovering their own fate
Icr themselves. Those who discover
~ such means that the outlook for
them Is very black may not all COM
NIT suicide, like the unfortunate bar
maid. but such knowledge is bound to
nave an injurious effect on all but
persons OF the toughest moral fiber;
and persons Of the toughest moral
aoer, I may remark, are not in the
habit az dabblins in the occult SCI
snces. Az a rule, fortune telling in its
various shapes il chiefly denounced as
q svindls and a means Of obtaining
money under false pretsnsss, but I
question whether the moral mischief
which may result from efforts to as
certain what the future has in store
for US may not be far worse than any
tridinS financial loss. Nothing Is more
certain than that 1t Ia to the advan-
tase OF mankind, on the whole, not to
know the future. In saying this I do
not lose sight of the fact that 1t
would DO a profitable thing to many to
know, for instance, who is going to
win the next years Derby. or the price
at which any particular stock will
stand at the end Of the next account.
This knowledge, however, can only be
profitable so long as it is in the ex-
elusive possession Of one or two in
divtduals. II 1t were made accessible
to all, the knowledge Of the future
would cease to have any more value
than the knowledge Of the past. On
the ether hand, the knowledge of CON-
Ing mtsfortune-if it is so ~preordained
that It can be predicted-can only have
q demoralizing effect, and on the whole
life has generally as much OF the I'M
pleasant as Of the pleasant in store
for the majority Of human kind. How
many youths Of 20 are there who, IL
they could ascertain everything that II
yeing to happen to them during the
next fifty years. would think the game
worth the candle? I doubt II there are
many. On the other hand, living in
ignorance OF what is coming, taking
the good with the bad as each day
brings it. and necessarily hoping for
better things from the inexhaustible
possibilities Of the future, va manage
tor the most part to combat our mis-
fortunes az they turn up and cling to
life as long as 1t Is left in US. The
proverb says that az long as there Is
afs there is hope, and tho converse is
Equally true that as long as there is
hope there is life. Destroy the one and
Il 10 ten to n that you destroy the
Dthsr. My impression Is that so far
- the chances Of individual life 60, no
NE has ever known the future or ever
sal know it. But whether it be knowl-
dgs or not, the person who desires to
know 1t Is a fool.