832 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



KUSTIC SUPERSTITION". 



THAT "the days of superstition are past" is an announcement fre- 

 quently and triumphantly made by those who advocate the dis- 

 establishment or destruction of any institution or belief that happens 

 not to be in accordance with their own interests or theories. Little, 

 indeed, must such speakers know of the minds, not only of the poorer 

 classes, but of those whose education, as one would suppose, should 

 have raised them above the influence of the grosser and more vulgar 

 forms of superstition. "We are not now speaking of the newly invented 

 astral bodies or telepathy ; these are the latest refinements of spirit- 

 ualism, and may die out ; we refer to the fine old-fashioned belief in 

 ghosts, witches, wizards, and " uncanniness," which is still far more 

 prevalent than even the believers themselves realize, they being usu- 

 ally more or less ashamed of and reticent as to the faith that is in 

 them. 



Mr. Hardy, who has an unusual knowledge of rustic life and habits 

 of thought, in a recent novel, " The Mayor of Casterbridge," gave a 

 wonderful sketch of a local soothsayer, his patrons, and his profits ; 

 and though the date of the story lies as far as some fifty or more years 

 behind us, there can be little doubt that the sorcerers of whom " Wide- 

 oh " is the type still flourish in our midst. To this fact the daily pa- 

 pers bear witness, since we often read of some wretched old woman 

 being haled before the bench, and sentenced to fine or a term of im- 

 prisonment for pretending to tell the fortunes of servant-girls with a 

 pack of dirty cards or the dregs in a coffee-cup, though, by-the-way, 

 there is considerable inconsistency in a legislation which punishes the 

 old woman and yet permits turf-touters to advertise with impunity 

 that they have the winner of the next three Derbies in their pockets, 

 and are willing to part with the information on the transference of a 

 certain number of half-crowns from those of a credulous public. Still, 

 though the wise woman, usually a denizen of cities, is occasionally 

 caught napping, owing perhaps to an infelicitous habit of mixing up 

 magic with the reception of stolen goods, the wise man of the prov- 

 inces is more wide-awake and carries on his trade without interference 

 from the police, his specialty being the cure of warts, toothache, and 

 certain cattle-diseases by incantation or other mystic rites. 



We happened not long ago to meet a young, well-to-do, and well- 

 educated farmer in a market town not on a market day, and in the 

 course of conversation casually asked what particular business he had 

 on hand. "A very bad toothache," he replied. The next and natural 

 question was to inquire if he had " been and had it out." Blushing to 

 his eyes he said : " I dare say you'll think me very foolish, sir, but I've 

 been to a wise man to have the pain charmed away. Folks say as he's 



