be
disappointed. Theophrastus, who lived several centuries before the
Christian era, defines "Superstition" according to the translation given
of his definition in the _Encyclopaedia Metropolitana_, as "A cowardly
state of mind with respect to the supernatural," and supplies the
following illustration: "The superstitious man is one, who, having taken
care to wash his hands and sprinkle himself in the temple, walks about
during the day with a little laurel in his mouth, and if he meets a
weasel on the road, dares not proceed on his way till some person has
passed, or till he has thrown three stones across the road."

Under "Superstition," in the _Encyclopaedia Metropolitana_, the following
definitions are given:--

1st.--Excess of scruple or ceremony in matters of religion: idle
worship: vain reverence: a superfluous, needless, or
ill-governed devotion.

2nd.--Any religious observance contrary to, or not sanctioned by,
Scripture or reason.

3rd.--All belief in supernatural agency, or in the influence of
casual occurrences, or of natural phenomena on the destinies
of man which has no foundation in Scripture, reason, or
experience.

4th.--All attempts to influence the destiny of man by methods which
have no Scriptural or rational connection with their object.

_Walker's Dictionary_:--

"Unnecessary fear or scruple in religion: religion without
morality: false religion: reverence of beings not properly objects
of reverence: over-nicety: exactness: too scrupulous."

_Chambers' Dictionary_:--

"A being excessive (in religion) over a thing as if in wonder or
fear: excessive reverence or fear: excessive exactness in religious
opinions and practice: false worship or religion: the belief in
supernatural agency: belief in what is absurd without evidences:
excessive religious belief."

These dictionary meanings do not, of course, attempt to decide what
should be the one only scientifically correct significance of the term,
but only supply the varying senses in which the word is used in
literature and in common speech, but they suffice to show that it is
used by different persons with different significations, each person
apparently gauging first his own position, and defining superstition as
something which cannot be brought to tell against himself.

After pondering over the various