FORTUNE-TELLING AND OTHER SUPERSTITIONS--THE EVERY-DAY OMENS THAT WE
HALF BELIEVE--ORIGINS OF THIS WEAKNESS--FORTUNE-TELLERS OF NEW YORK,
BOSTON AND WASHINGTON.
While Tom Leslie has gone around to Broome Street on his undeclared
errand, and while the ladies are making an excuse to while away the time
until his return, in the discussion of the after-dinner provocatives to
indigestion recommended, let us enter a little more closely upon a
subject merely indicated in the foregoing chapter, and then sneered at
by at least one of the conversationists--that of the fortune-telling
imposition which so largely prevails, especially in the great cities,
and the general course of human superstition in connection with it.
It may be set down, as a general principle, that every man is more or
less superstitious--that is, impressed with ideas and omens which go
beyond the material world and bid utter defiance to reason. Every woman
is certainly so. It is not less undeniable, meanwhile, that nearly every
man and woman denies this fact of their natures and considers the mere
allegation to be an insult. Oftenest from the fear of ridicule, but
sometimes, no doubt, because any discussion of the matter is deemed
improper,--few acknowledge this peculiarity of nature, even to their
most intimate friends: some, who must be aware that they possess it,
deny it even to themselves. The subject is set down as contraband,
universally, unless when the weakness of a third party is to be
ridiculed, or a personal freedom from the superstition asserted; and yet
this very silence and the boasting are both suspicious. No man boasts so
much over his own wealth as he who has little or none; and no man is so
silent, except under the influence of great excitement, as he who has a
great thought oppressing him or a great fear continually tugging at his
heart-strings. The most hopeless disbelievers in the Divine Being, that
can possibly be met, are those who seldom or never enter into a
controversy on the subject; and the least assured is he who oftenest
enters into controversy, perhaps for the purpose of strengthening his
own belief. There _are_ Captain Barecolts, of course, who go bravely
into battle after venting boasts that seem to stamp them as arrant
cowards, and who come out of the conflict with stories staggering all
human comprehension; but these cases are rare, and they do not go beyond
the requisite number of exceptions to justify the rule.
Perhaps the most general of the ordinary superstitions of the country is
the indefinable impression that the catching a first sight of the new
moon over the right shoulder ensures good fortune in the ensuing month,
while a first glance of it over the left is correspondingly unlucky. (It
may be said, in a parenthesis, that the fast phrase, "over the left," so
prevalent during the past few years, to indicate the reverse of what has
just been spoken, has its derivation from the impression that such an
untoward sinister glance may neutralize all effort and bring notable
misfortune.) Of a hundred men interrogated on this point, ninety-five
will assert that they hold no such superstition, and that they have
never even thought of the direction in which they first saw the new moon
of any particular month. And yet of that ninety-five, the chances are
that ninety are in the habit of taking precautions to meet the young
crescent in the proper or lucky manner, or of indulging in a slight
shudder or feeling of unpleasantness when they realize that they have
accidentally blundered into the opposite.
Next in prevalence to this, may be cited the superstition that any
pointed article, as a knife, a pin, or a pair of scissors, falling
accidentally from the hand and sticking direct in the floor or the
carpet, indicates the coming of visitors during the same day, to the
house in which the omen occurred. Hundreds and even thousands of
housewives, not only the ignorant but the more intelligent, immediately
upon witnessing or being informed of such an important event, make
preparation, on the part of themselves and their households, if any are
felt to be necessary, for the reception of the visitors who are sure to
arrive within the time indicated by the omen. Some, but not so many, add
to this the superstition that the involuntary twitching of the eye-lid
or itching of the eyebrow indicates the coming of visitors in the same
manner; and many a projected absence from the house is deferred by our
good ladies, from one or another of these omens and the impression that
by absence at that particular time they may lose the opportunity of
seeing valued friends.
Next in generality, if not even entitled to precedence of the last, is
the superstition that the gift of a knife or any sharp article of
cutlery, is almost certain to produce estrangement between the giver and
the receiver--in other words, to "cut friendship." Ridiculous as the
superstition may appear, there is scarcely one of either sex who does
not pay some respect to it; and of one thousand knives that may happen
to be transferred between intimate friends (and lovers) it is safe to
say that not less than nine hundred and ninety have the omen guarded
against by a half playful demand and acceptance of some small coin in
return, giving the transfer some slight fiction of being a mercantile
transaction. The statistics of how many loves or friendships have really
been severed by non-attention to this important precaution, might be
somewhat difficult to compile, and the attempt need not be made in this
connection.
Thousands of musically inclined young ladies have serious objections to
singing before breakfast, quoting, not altogether jocularly, the proverb
that "one who sings before breakfast will cry [weep] before night,"
which no doubt had its origin in a proverb derived from the Orientals,
that that--
"The bird which singeth in the early morn,
Ere night by cruel talons will be torn."
Not less unaccountable, and yet impressive, are some of the
superstitions connected with marriage, death, and the departure of
friends. A belief very generally prevails that when a couple enter a
church to be married, if the bride steps at all in advance of the
bridegroom, he will be found an unwilling and unfaithful husband; while
if the opposite should happen to be the order of precedence, even by a
few inches, the marriage tie will prove a happy and long-enduring one.
The belief that the bridal hour should occur during clear weather, is
perhaps a natural one, and derived from well-understood natural laws
affecting the physical systems of those entering into such intimate
relations; but the superstition goes further and considers sunshine on
the bridal day a specific against all the possible ills of matrimonial
life. This feeling supplies half of a doggrel couplet which came to us
from the Saxons, and which blends marriage and burial somewhat
singularly:--
"Happy is the bride that the sun shines on;
And blessed is the corpse that the rain rains on."
There are thousands of persons who have objections to counting the
number of carriages at a funeral, from the superstition that the one who
does so will very soon be called to attend a funeral at home; and the
same objection exists to putting on, even for a moment, any portion of a
mourning garb worn by another, under the impression that the temporary
wearer will in some way be influenced to wear mourning very soon for
some lost relative. No doubt fifty other and similar superstitions
connected with death and burial might be adduced, even without alluding
to those of more frightful import and now very little regarded, which
belong more peculiarly to the Eastern world, and which inculcate the
leaving open of a window at the moment of death, to allow the
unrestrained flight of the passing soul, and reprobate the leaving of
any open vessel of water in the vicinity of the death-chamber, in the
fear that the disembodied spirit, yet weak and untried of wing, may fall
therein and perish!
One more superstition, connected with the departure of friends, must be
noted--the more peculiarly as there is a sad beauty in the thought. Very
many nervous and excitable people fear to look after those who are going
away on long journeys or dangerous enterprises, under the fear that such
a look after them may prevent their return. One peculiar instance of the
indulgence of this superstition, and its apparent fulfilment, happens to
have fallen under notice, during the present struggle. When the
President's first call for volunteers was made, among those who
responded was one young lad of eighteen, a mere handsome boy in
appearance and altogether delicate in constitution, who left a
comfortable position to fulfil what he believed to be a stern duty. He
had two female cousins, of nearly his own age, and with whom he had been
in close intimacy. Going away hurriedly, with little time to bestow on
farewells, he called to bid them good-bye one dark and threatening
night. Some tears of emotion were shed, and the sad farewell was spoken.
When he passed down the walk, both the cousins stood without the door
and watched his figure as it grew dimmer and disappeared in the dusk of
the distant street. When they returned to the cheerfulness of the
lighted room, the younger burst into tears.
"We have doomed him," she said. "We watched him when he went away, and
looked after him as long as he could be seen. He will never come back.
His young life will fade out and disappear, just as we saw him fading
away in the darkness."
A month later the young soldier was dead; and something more than
ordinary reasoning will be necessary to persuade the two cousins--the
younger and more impressive, especially--that their gazing after him did
not cast an evil omen on his fate and a blight upon his life. Another
near relative has since gone away on the same patriotic errand; but when
the farewells were spoken in the lighted room, the two girls escaped at
once and hid themselves in another apartment, so that they should not
even see him disappear through the door. When last heard from,[10] fever
and bullet had yet spared him; and what more is needed to make the two
young girls hopelessly superstitious for life, at least in this one
regard? They are not the only persons who have seen and felt that
_fading out in the darkness_ as an omen; for the same observer who once
stood on the bluff at Long Branch, as a heavy night of storm was
closing, and saw the "Star of the West" gradually fade away and
disappear into that threatening storm and darkness--unconscious that she
was to emerge again to play so important a part in the drama of the
nation's degradation,--the same observer saw the same omen at Niblo's
not long ago, when the poor Jewess of Miss Bateman's wonderful "Leah"
fell back step by step into the crowd, as the curtain was dropping, her
last hope withered and her last duty done, and nothing remaining but to
"follow on with my people."
[Footnote 10: February 1st, 1863.]
And at all such times Proserpine comes back, as she may have cast
wistful glances towards the vanishing home of her childhood, when the
rude hands of the ravishers were bearing her away from the spot where
she was gathering flowers in the vale of Enna; and we think of Orpheus
taking that fatal, wistful last look back at Eurydice, with the thought
in his eyes that _could not_ give her up even for a moment, when
emerging to the outer air from the flames and smoke of Tartarus. Wistful
glances back at all we have lost are embodied; and all these long,
agonizing appeals of the eye against that fate of separation which
cannot be longer combated with tongue or hand, are made over again for
our torture.
It has been said that some persons endeavor to deceive themselves with
reference to their holding any belief in omens and auguries. And some of
those who by position and education should be lifted above gross errors,
are quite as liable as others to this self-deception. Quite a large
circle of prominent persons may remember an instance in which a leading
Doctor of Divinity, renowned for his strong common-sense as well as
beloved for his goodness, was joining in a general conversation on human
traits and oddities, when one of the company alluded to popular
superstitions and acknowledged that he had one, though only one--that of
the "moon over the shoulder." Another confessed to another, and still
another to another, while the Doctor "pished" and "pshawed" at each
until he made him heartily ashamed of his confession. The man of the
lunar tendencies, however, had a habit of bearding lions, clerical as
well as other, and he at last turned on the Doctor.
"Do you mean to say that _you_ have no superstitions whatever, Doctor?"
he asked.
"None whatever," said the Doctor, confidently.
"You have no confidence in supernatural revelations in any relation of
life?" pursued the questioner.
"None whatever," repeated the Doctor.
"And you never act--try, now, if you please, to remember--you never act
under impression from any omen that does not appeal to reason, or are
made more or less comfortable by the existence of one? In other words,
is there no occurrence that ever induces you to alter your course of
action, when that occurrence has nothing whatever to do with the object
in view, and when you can give no such explanation to yourself as you
would like to give to the outside world, for the feeling or the change?"
"There is nothing of the kind," replied the Doctor to this long
question. Then he suddenly seemed to remember--paused, and colored a
little as he went on. "I acknowledge my error, gentlemen," he said. "I
_have_ a superstition, though I never before thought of it in the light
of one. I am rendered exceedingly uncomfortable, and almost ready to
turn back, if a cat, dog or other animal chances to run across the way
before me, at the moment when I am starting upon any journey."
The laugh which began to run round the company was politely smothered in
compliment to the good Doctor's candor; but the fact of a universal
superstition of some description or other was considered to be very
prettily established.
But the conversation did not end here; and one who had before borne
little part in it--a man of some distinction in literary as well as
political life,--was drawn out by what had occurred, to make a statement
with reference to himself which exhibited another phenomenon in
supernaturalist belief--_a man who not only had a superstition and
acknowledged it, but could give a reason for holding it._
"Humph!" he said, "some of you have superstitions and acknowledge them
without showing that you have any grounds for your belief; and the
Doctor, who has also a superstition, does not seem to have been aware of
it before. Now _I_ am a believer in the supernatural, and I have had
cause to be so."
"Indeed I and how?" asked some member of the company.
"As thus," answered the believer. "And I will tell you the story as
briefly as I can and still make it intelligible,--from the fact that a
severe head-ache is the inevitable penalty of telling it at all. I
resided in a country section of a neighboring State, some twenty
years-ago; and about three miles distant, in another little hamlet of a
dozen or two houses, lived the young lady to whom I was engaged to be
married. My Sundays were idle ones, and as I was busy most of the week,
I generally spent the afternoon of each Sunday, and sometimes the whole
of the day, at the house of my expectant bride, whom I will call
Gertrude for the occasion. I kept no horse, and habitually walked over
to the village. I had never ridden over, let it be borne in mind, as
that is a point of interest. I very seldom rode anywhere, and Gertrude
had never seen me on horseback.
"It happened, as I came out from my place of boarding, one fine Sunday
afternoon in mid-winter, that one of the neighbors, who kept a number of
fine horses, was bringing a couple of them out for exercise. They were
very restive, and he complained that they stood still too much and
needed to have the spirit taken out of them a little. I laughingly
replied that if he would saddle one, I would do him that favor; and he
threw the saddle on a very fast running-mare, and mounted me.
Accordingly, and of course from what appeared a mere accident, I rode
over to the place of my destination.
"There was a small stable behind the house occupied by the family of my
betrothed, across a little garden-lot, and I rode round the house
without dismounting, to care for my horse. As I passed the house, I saw
Gertrude standing at the door, and looking frightfully ill and pale. I
hurried to the stables, threw the saddle from my horse, and returned
instantly to the house. Gertrude met me at the door, threw herself into
my arms (a demonstration not habitual) and sobbed herself almost into
hysterics and insensibility. I succeeded in calming her a little, and
she then informed me of the cause of her behavior. She was frightened to
death at seeing me come on horseback; and the reason she gave for this
was that the night before she had dreamed that I came on horseback--that
her brother, a young man in mercantile business a few miles away, also
came on horseback (his usual habit)--and that while her brother and
myself were riding rapidly together, I was thrown and his horse dashed
out my brains with his hoofs!
"Here was a pleasant omen, or would have been to a believer in the
supernatural; but I belonged to the opposite extreme. I laughed at
Gertrude's fears, and finally succeeded in driving them away, though
with great difficulty, by the information that her brother had gone West
the day before and could not possibly be riding around in this section,
seeking my life with a horse-shoe. She was staggered but not
satisfied--I could see that fact in her eye. Still she shook off the
apparent feeling, and we joined the family. Half an hour after, her
brother rode up and stabled his horse--he having been accidentally
prevented leaving for the West as arranged. At this new confirmation of
her fears, very flattering to me but very inconvenient, Gertrude fell
into another fit of frightened hysterics; nothing being said to any of
the members of the family, however. I succeeded in chasing away this
second attack, with a few more kisses and a little less scolding than
before. With the lady again apparently pacified, we rejoined the
company, and the evening passed in music and conversation. The shadow
did not entirely leave the face of Gertrude, and she watched me
continually. For myself, I had no thought whatever on the subject,
except sorrow for her painful hallucination.
"At about ten o'clock, the brother rose to go for his horse, and I
accompanied him to look after mine but not to go home, for the
"courting" hours--the dearest of all--were yet to come. At the stable,
as he was mounting, we talked of the speed of his horse and of the one I
rode; and he bantered me to mount and ride with him a mile. There was a
splendid stretch of smooth road for a couple of miles on his way, and
without a moment's thought of Gertrude I threw the saddle on my horse
and rode away with him, the people at the house being altogether unaware
that I had gone farther than to the stables.
"I have no idea what set us to horse-racing on that Sunday night; but
race we did. Both horses had good foot and the road was excellent,
though the night was dusky. Before we had gone half a mile we were
going at top speed. When we reached the end of the hard road he was a
little ahead, and I banteringly called to him to 'repeat.' He wheeled at
once, and away we went like the wind. From turning behind, I had a
little the start, and kept it. Perhaps we were fifty yards from the
house, when my mare stepped on a stone, as I suppose, and went down,
throwing me clear of the stirrups, up in the air like a rocket, and down
on my head like a spile-driver. I of course lay insensible with a
crushed skull; and the brother was so near behind and going at such
speed that he could not have stopped, even if he had known what was the
matter.
"Noise--lights--confusion. Gertrude bending over me in hysteric
screams--so they told me afterwards. Part of the hair was gone from one
side of my head, dashed off by the foot of the brother's horse, that had
just thus narrowly missed dashing out my few brains. That is all,
gentlemen. The dream-prophecy was fulfilled within that hair's-breadth
(excuse the bad pun), by a succession of circumstances that were not
arranged by human motion and could not have been expected from anything
in the past; and until some one can explain or reason away the
coincidence, I shall not give up my belief that dreams are sometimes
revelations."
Perhaps it is idle to enter upon any speculations as to the origin of
these superstitions in the human mind; as they may almost be held to be
a part of nature, having a corresponding development in all countries
and all ages. Some of the worst and most injurious of superstitions--those
which involve the supposed presence of the dead, of haunting spectres
and evil spirits, destroying the nerves and paralyzing the whole
system--unquestionably have much of their origin in the "bug-a-boo"
falsehoods told to children by foolish mothers and careless nurses, to
frighten them into "being good." Thousands of men as well as women never
recover from the effects of these crimes against the credulous faith of
childhood--for they are no less. Then there are particular passages in
our literature, sacred and profane, which do their share at-upholding
the belief in the supernatural, especially as connected with the
uninspired foretelling of future events--"fortune-telling." The case
of the Witch of Endor and her invocation of the spirit of Samuel, which
is given in Holy Writ as an actual occurrence and no fable, of course
takes precedence of all others in influence; and the superstitious man
who is also a religionist, always has the one unanswerable reply ready
for any one who attempts to reason away the idea of occult knowledge: "Ah,
but the Witch of Endor: what will you do with _her_? If the Bible is
true--and you would not like to doubt that--she was a wicked woman, not
susceptible to prophetic influences, and yet she did foretell the future
and bring up the spirits of the dead. If this was possible then, why
not now?"
From the church we pass to the theatre, and from the Book of all Books
to that which nearest follows it in the sublimity of its
wisdom--Shakspeare. No one doubts "Hamlet" much more than the First Book
of Samuel, and yet the play is altogether a falsehood if there is no
revelation made to the Prince of the guilt of his Uncle; and the
spiritual character of the revelation is not at all affected by the
question whether Hamlet saw or _thought he saw_ the ghost of his
murdered father. Again comes "Macbeth," and though we may allow Banquo's
ghost to be altogether a diseased fancy of the guilty man's brain, yet
the whole story of the temptation is destroyed unless the witches on the
blasted heath really make him true prophecies for false purposes. These
sublime fancies appeal to our eyes, and through the eyes to our beliefs,
night after night and year after year; and if they do not create a
superstition in any mind previously clear of the influence, they at
least prevent the disabuse of many a mind and preserve from ridicule
what would else be contemptible.
It was with reference to fortune-telling especially that this discussion
of our predominant superstitions commenced; and this indefensibly
episodical chapter must close with a mere suggestion as to the extent to
which that imposition is practised in our leading cities. Very few, it
may be suspected, know how prevalent is this superstition among
us--quite equivalent to the gipsy palmistry of the European countries.
Of very late years it has principally become "spiritualism" and the
fortune-tellers are oftener known as "mediums" than by the older
appellation; and scarcely one of the impostors but pretends to physic
the body as well as cure the soul; but the old leaven runs through all,
and all classes have some share in the speculation. Sooty negresses, up
dingy stairs, are consulted by ragged specimens of their own color, as
to the truth of the allegation that too much familiarity has been
exercised by an unauthorized "culled pusson" towards a certain wife or
husband,--or as to the availability of a certain combination of numbers
in a fifty cent investment at that exciting game known as "policies" or
"4-11-44," erewhile the peculiar province of that Honorable gentleman
who (more or less) wrote "Fort Lafayette." And, _per contra_, more
pretentious witches (the women have monopolized the trade almost
altogether, of late years) are consulted by fair girls who come in their
own carriages, as to the truth or availability of a lover or the
possibility of recovering lost affections or stolen property. How many
of those seeresses are "mediums" for the worst of communications, or how
many per centum of the habitues of such places go to eventual ruin, it
is not the purpose of this chapter to inquire.
There are three recognized "centres" in the loyal States--each a city,
and supposed to be an enlightened one. New York, the commercial,
monetary and even military centre; Boston, the literary and
intellectual; and Washington, the governmental and diplomatic. Taking up
at random the first three dailies of a certain date, at hand--one from
each of the three cities--the following regular advertisers are shown,
quoting from each of the three "astrology" columns and omitting the
directions.
New York: eleven. No. 1.--"Madame Wilson, a bona-fide astrologist, that
every one can depend on. Tells the object of your visit as soon as you
enter; tells of the past, present and future of your life, warns you of
danger, and brings success out of the most perilous undertakings.
N.B.--Celebrated magic charms." No. 2.--"Madame Morrow, seventh
daughter, has foresight to tell how soon and how often you marry, and
all you wish to know, even your thoughts, or no pay. Lucky charms free.
Her magic image is now in full operation." No. 3.--"The Gipsey Woman has
just arrived. If you wish to know all the secrets of your past and
future life, the knowledge of which will save you years of sorrow and
care, don't fail to consult the palmist." No. 4.--"Cora A. Seaman,
independent clairvoyant, consults on all subjects, both medical and
business; detects diseases of all kinds and prescribes remedies; gives
invaluable advice on all matters of life." No. 5.--"Madame Ray is the
best clairvoyant and astrologist in the city. She tells your very
thoughts, gives lucky numbers, and causes speedy marriages." No.
6.--"Madame Clifford, the greatest living American clairvoyant. Detects
diseases, prescribes remedies, finds absent friends, and communes
clairvoyantly with persons in the army." No. 7.--"Madame Estelle,
seventh daughter, can be consulted on love, marriage, sickness, losses,
business, lucky numbers and charms. Satisfaction guaranteed." No.
8.--"Mrs. Addie Banker, medical and business clairvoyant, successfully
treats all diseases, consults on business, and gives invaluable advice
on all matters of life." No. 9.--"Who has not heard of the celebrated
Madame Prewster, who can be consulted with entire satisfaction? She has
no equal. She tells the name of future wife or husband--also that of her
visitor." No. 10.--"The greatest wonder in the world is the accomplished
Madame Byron, from Paris, who can be consulted with the strictest
confidence on all affairs of life. Restores drunken and unfaithful
husbands; has a secret to make you beloved by your heart's idol; and
brings together those long separated." No. 11.--"Madame Widger,
clairvoyant and gifted Spanish lady; unveils the mysteries of futurity,
love, marriage, absent friends, sickness; prescribes medicines for all
diseases; tells lucky numbers, property lost or stolen, &c."
Boston: thirteen. No. 1.--"The great astrologer.
"The road to wedlock would you know,
Delay not, but to Baron go.
A happy marriage, man or maid,
May be secured by Baron's aid.
"He will reveal secrets no living mortal ever knew. No charge for
causing speedy marriages and showing likenesses of friends." No.
2.--"Astonishing to all I Madame Wright, the celebrated astrologist,
born with a natural gift to tell all the events of your life, even your
very thoughts and whether you are married or single; how many times you
will marry; will show the likeness of your present and future husband
and absent friends; will cause speedy marriages; tells the object of
your visit. Her equal is not to be found--has astonished thousands by
her magic power." No. 3.--"Madame F. Gretzburg will ensure to whoever
addresses her, giving the year of their birth and their complexion, a
correct written delineation of their character, and a statement of their
past, present and future lives. All questions regarding love, marriage,
absent friends, business, or any subject within the scope of her clear,
discerning spiritual vision, will be promptly and definitely answered
... so far as she with her great and wonderful prophetic and perceptive
powers, can see them." No. 4.--"Prof. A.F. Huse, seer and magnetic
physician. The Professor's great power of retrovision, his spontaneous
and lucid knowledge of one's present life and affairs, and his keen
forecasting of one's future career," etc. No. 5.--"Mrs. King will reveal
the mysteries of the past, present and future, and describe absent
friends, and is very successful in business matters. Also has an article
that causes you good luck in any undertaking, whether business or love,
and can be sent by mail to any address." No. 6.--"Mrs. Frances,
clairvoyant, describes past, present and forthcoming events, and all
kinds of business and diseases. Has medicines," etc. No. 7.--"Prof.
Lyster, astrologer and botanic physician." No. 8.--"Madame Wilder, the
world-renowned fortune-teller and independent clairvoyant ... is
prepared to reveal the mysteries of the past, present and future." No.
9.--"Madame Roussell, independent clairvoyant, is prepared to reveal the
mysteries of the past, present and future." No. 10.--"Madame Jerome
Nurtnay, the celebrated Canadian seeress and natural clairvoyant, ...
will reveal the present and future." (This one clairvoyant, it will be
observed, has no _past_.) No. 11.--"Mrs. Yah, clairvoyant and healing
medium ... will examine and heal the sick, and also reveal business
affairs, describe absent friends, and call names. Has been very
successful in recovering stolen property." No. 12.--"Madame Cousin
Cannon, the only world-renowned fortune-teller and independent
clairvoyant," etc. No. 13.--"Madame Mont ... would like to be patronized
by her friends and they public, on the past, present and future events."
Washington: nine. No. 1.--"Madame Ross, doctress and astrologist. Was
born with a natural gift--was never known to fail. She can tell your
very thoughts, cause speedy marriages, and bring together those long
separated." No. 2.--"Mrs. L. Smith, a most excellent test and healing
medium sees your living as well as deceased friends, gets names, reads
the future." No. 3.--(Here we have the first male name, as well as
apparently the most dangerously powerful of all). "Mons. Herbonne, from
Paris. Clairvoyant, seer and fortune-teller. Reads the future as well as
the past, and has infallible charms. Can cast the horoscope of any
soldier about going into battle, and foretell his fate to a certainty."
No. 4.--"Madame Bushe, powerful clairvoyant and influencing medium. Has
secrets for the obtaining of places desired under government, and
love-philters for those who have been unfortunate in their attachments."
Nos. 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 differing not materially from those before cited
as able to read the past, present and future, rejoin the parted and
influence the whole future life.
And here, as by this time Tom Leslie must certainly have accomplished
his business in Broome Street, and Joe Harris and Bell Crawford sipped
and eaten themselves into an indigestion at Taylor's--this examination
of a subject little understood must cease, to allow the three to carry
out their projected folly. But really how much have superior education
and increasing intelligence done to clear away the grossest of
impositions and to discourage the most audacious experiments upon public
patience? And yet--what shall be said of the facts--uncolored and
undeniable facts--narrated in a subsequent chapter?