The Washington herald., 1909-07-11
SUPERSTITONS.

Among the portents OF the Great Plague
noted by Defoe was running about to
fortune-tellers. cunning men. and astroI
ogers" Sadly he reports that This trade
grew so open and so generally practiced
tl,at II became common TO have signs and
inscriptions set up at the doors; Here
lives the Fortune-teller.' and The like
This was go years ago. in an ignorant
age. Enlightenment has marched so far
and so fast since then that fortune-telIers.
clalrvoyants and the like" crowd the
fashionable streets with their advertise
nients. And nobody worth attention
thinks it a portent AT a bishops table
one may hear feIlow-gUests proclaim their
belief in palmistry-it is classed among
the sciences. Learned persons investigate
the wonders Of eIairvoyance- A flourish
ing Society of AsUologers holds debates
and issues literature So great has
been the progress Of knowledge and cul-
ture since Def0e's time. Il Is very en-
c0uraging for the future, says the Pail
Mall Gazette.
Does any one quite escape the snares
or superstition Not all are gross and
ralpable There Is a multitude OF private
observances. avowedly superstitious. 20
some Of which most Of as are devoted.
one need not turn back so far as Bacon
or Newton 20 find examples among the
wisest and gTaVest A man more absO-
lutely governed by pure reason than Lord
Macaulay could not well be found But
in his diary he refers 70 an after-dinner
>1k about the feeling which Johnson had
of thinking oneself bound 10 touch a
particular rail or post and 20 tread in the
middle Of a paving stone.
And he adds i certainly have this
very strongly" Such a fancy is not vul-
gar or undignfhed, like consulting a dis
reputable woman as an oracle. but IS II
less unreasonable In one OF his HIb-
bert lectures Max Muller said 10 the
students: Many OF you, I suspect. carry
ha'penny with a hole in il for luck. I
am not ashamed 10 own that have done
So myself fOr many years"
The case was cited as an Illustration OF
'survivals' from primeval fetichism. but
on his own account Max Muller confessed
that when sometimes he had left home
without this ha'penny talisman he felt
very uncomfortable" until his safe re-
turn.
Charles Dickens refused 20 lie down un-
less his bed were placed due north and
south. He gave notice Of the rule before
arriving az a friends house or a hotel
/ but compass was always handy ia his
| baggage 90 make sure. and the slightest
error must be corrected before he would
turn IN. Little scenes are said TO have
| occurred more than once when the host
was stubborn. Miss Justin Mccarthy has
/ told how Parneu gravely checked her
d -HHs ~fr.-~
sisted that she could take another cup.
/ A gentleman OF PoTtrush sent Lord Rob
/ erts an old horseshoe. when things looked
I III In South Africa. Gratefully acknowl-
/ edging IL. The general added that ne
would keep this horseshoe in company
/ with one I picked Up the day entered
/ the Orange Free State. and another I
/ found at Paardeburg the day before Gen
/ CrOnje surrendered.
When Macaulay and Max Muller con-
/ fess such weakness we are not only per-
mitted. but compelled 10 suppose that. few
mortals are exempt OF those who would
laugh. in all sincerity. az the charge OF
/ superstition. vast number are scrupu-
lous 10 perform certain daily exercises
( In "the right way" as Mr.. ParnelI stirred
1 his cosTee.
Ii may probably he the way approved
T.
/ thropUs erectus, moved By impulses
which we laboriously seek 20 analyze II
the present day; but they hold US In sub
/ lection still What proportion Of English
/ men and women are careful to put shoe
/ and stocking on the right foot first. and
I feel uncomfortable" mere OF less. ike
/ Max Muller. Il by chance they reverse the
4 proceeding? We happen 20 know that
I this fancy is as old as imperial Rome at
i least. for 10 Is recorded thar Augustus
/ once put on his left shoe first. and there
/ by caused a mutiny Of the Pretorians.
/ No harm comes Of these absurdities
] Sir MOuntstUart Grant Dun was not a
/ little surprised % learn. some time ago.
I that a public man occupying one CT the
/ highest nonroyal positions In Europe.
/ attributes much OF the success be has
\ had IN life 70 the possession of a man
/ drake root" II shows the gentleman S
| modesty. a creditabie trait of character.
I Prof MahafIy was shocked 20 discover
/ that "a woman OF good family. educated,
j the wife OF an n P. had put an amulet
/ on the leg OF her child. just bitten By a
\ dog" II the mother had faith she was
I spared q terrible anxiety. and II the boy
/ shared her confidence the amulet may
I well have saved her life. After all, in
I any case IL did no mischief. II is stated
/ on the best authority that a GepUtation OF
/ farmers from Northumberland waited on
/ Sir Thomas Lockhart IN 1856 70 beg a
/ gallon Of water in which his famous
/ Lee Penny had been dipped. wherevith
/ 10 dose their sick cattle; from a date un-
J know such supersutiOns have been adj
/ dressed 20 the representative OF the Lock
/ hart family.
/ one IS almost sorry 10 hear that the
1 deputation returned empty-handed. II they
/ had been allowed 10 carry on a hogsheac
] OF the blessed water neither they nor
/ their cattle would have been a penny The
4 worse. And It might have done the
| humans" good. at any rate, by cheer
| ing them UP. The mischief OF supersti-
/ rion begins when a person credits another
[ With occult powers. and trusts her. ol
/ him. accordingly. For the Individual
who lays himself out for such conhdenc'
4 must be a scoundrel.