Not long ago the body of a once beautiful young woman was taken from the
Merrimack River, below the factories at L----. She was unknown at the
time, and this was all there was given to the public. To the world she was
merely--
"One more unfortunate,
Weary of breath,
Rashly importunate,
Gone to her death."
Now, these are the whole facts of the case. She was the daughter of
respectable, Christian parents, in a New England village, where she was
highly esteemed as an amiable and virtuous young lady. But the tempter
came. Not in the form of a "serpent"--very harmless animals,
comparatively!--nor that other old fellow, commonly descried as having
clattering hoofs and forked tail, etc.--but in the flesh and semblance of
a handsome young man! I think preachers and book-makers paint their devils
too hideous and too far off! Leave off the d, and look for your evils
nearer home, and rather pleasant to look at, on the sly, and not (at
first) very unpleasant to the senses in general. These are the dangerous
(d)evils; escape _them_, and you avoid all!
In the village there were two young men, rivals for the affections of this
amiable young lady, and I know not but there were a dozen besides. One
held the only advantage over the other of having been a native of the
town, while the other was, comparatively, but little known.
Both were sober, industrious, and moral young men.
One day Miss ---- was going to the great city, and, for the "sport of the
thing," agreed to visit a celebrated fortune-teller--a clairvoyant!--at
the instigation of the young man, who, though least known to her, had
recently distanced his rival by his assiduity in pressing his suit before
the young lady.
He assured her there could be no impropriety in a young lady's visiting a
fortune-teller. It was only for fun; nobody believed in them, and she
could keep her own secret if she chose!
She went in broad daylight. The lady clairvoyant greeted her cordially,
begged her to feel quite at her ease, as there was great fortune in store
for her. She described her two lovers very minutely, and informed the girl
that the one who was to marry her would come to her in a vision, if she
would but look into a mirror hanging on the wall before her.
"I see nothing but my own face," replied the young lady, when she had
arisen and looked into the glass.
The woman then turned it half around on the hinges, swung out the frame
upon which the mirror was also hung, and, disclosing a plain black glass
behind, fastened to the wall, said,--
"Now, if you will step behind the glass, back to the wall, and again look
into the mirror, you _may_ possibly see one of the two gentlemen--I cannot
_say_ which."
More amused than alarmed, the lady complied.
[Illustration: THE FORTUNE-TELLER'S MAGIC MIRROR.]
"Still I see nothing but myself and a dark glass behind me," she said.
"Look steadfastly into the glass. _Now!_" exclaimed the woman.
"O, what--what do I see?" cried the girl. "'Tis he! 'tis Mr. ----"
"Don't be alarmed; 'tis your future husband. No power can prevent it. It
is fate--fate! But it will be a happy consummation," said the woman,
closing the mirror.
"Why, I left him at home, surely; and I came by steam. That is a solid
wall! Ah, my fate is decreed, I believe!"
Can the reader suppose any sensible person would believe this to be magic?
There are thousands who believe it. Miss ---- was one. She had seen the
spiritual representation of her future husband, and, finding him at home
on her return, the same afternoon, she accepted him as her betrothed, and
the other was dismissed.
Her ruin followed. In the flight of her lover, her hopes were forever
blasted. To hide her shame, she went secretly from home; and to earn her
daily bread, she labored in a cotton factory. When she could no longer
cover her shame in the world, she went without--into outer darkness! Her
parents went down in sorrow to their untimely graves.
Now about the magic mirror. The young man went to the city by the same
train with the girl he proposed to ruin. He had previously arranged with
the fortune-teller--no unusual thing--to appear in person behind the
darkened glass in the next room, and had returned in disguise by the same
train with his victim.
The fortune-teller died miserably, and was buried in the Potter's Field at
the expense of the city of Hartford, Conn.
"The thorns which I have reaped are of the tree
I planted; they have torn me,--and I bleed:
I should have known what fruit would spring from such a seed."
BYRON.
Such is one of the results of patronizing fortune-tellers. I have seen
this kind of mirror, and the first effect, even on a strong-minded person,
seeing but faintly through the darkened glass, over your shoulder, the
outlines of a face, and finally, as your eyes get familiar with the
darkness, the very features of a person reflected therein, is truly
impressive, if not startling.
Young ladies, for your own sakes, for the sake of your friends, and more
for Heaven's sake, keep away from fortune-tellers! _You cannot possibly
see into futurity_, neither can any one, much less the ignorant wretches
who profess the dark mysteries, tell for you what joys or sorrows are in
store for the future!