378 EXISTING SUPERSTITION. 



poacher, or his utter recklessness of the conse- 

 quence. I am much afraid that these characters 

 are but too common on the borders of extensive 

 heaths and forests, where poaching affords a pre- 

 carious existence, and leads eventually to almost 

 every other vice. Burnings, robberies and various 

 depredations are committed by these outcasts of 

 society, who are in as great a state of ignorance, 

 with respect to religion as it is possible to conceive 

 human beings to be. 



Some of the wives and mothers of this class of 

 men frequently make dupes of simple minded 

 country girls, by pretending to tell their fortunes, 

 or the fate of their lovers. In these enlightened 

 times, it might be thought that superstition had 

 been exploded, and that the reign of witches was 

 at an end, but this is far from being the case. An 

 observant Clergyman and Naturalist in Suffolk 

 states, that in numerous cottages in almost every 

 village in that country, a folded sheet is to be 

 found containing the fabulous description of our 

 Saviour's person, together with the letter of Lentu- 

 lus describing him, which, with a few prayers and 

 superstitious verses attached, is supposed to be a 

 preservative against danger or evil influence. This 

 sheet of paper is sometimes pasted on the cottage 

 walls, and sometimes carried in the pocket, and is 

 brought to the villages by the travelling pedlars. 

 My informant, stated that he had been offered 



