itions in this work are not such in reality,
but are instances brought forward to mark the resemblance between the
opinions prevalent in past and present times, and to illustrate the
similarity of perverted views in various parts of the world.

The examples of superstition herein given are taken from an almost
unlimited number, yet the writer confesses to have omitted many
interesting particulars. In proof of this it may be stated, that while
the last sheet of these pages was being revised, an esteemed friend
wrote, saying: "I can quite corroborate what you say of Ireland; for
lately, on my way from Macroom to Glengariff, at a weird mountain
pass, the coach stopped to enable us to visit the hermitage of St.
Finbar. There, beside a lonely lake, I saw a number of devotees,
afflicted with various ailments, expecting to be healed through the
good offices of the departed saint."

In spite of a determination to omit unimportant matter and to be
concise, this volume has swelled out far beyond what was originally
intended. The more the subject of superstition is studied, the more
interesting it becomes. One judges of a nation's strength by its
victories, of its industry by its products, of its wealth by its mines
and cultivated fields, of its domestic condition by its diet and
dress, of its moral condition by its laws, of its religion and
intelligence by its literature; but before obtaining full knowledge of
a people's convictions, it is necessary to search into their
superstitions. In these are discovered the secrets of man's inner
life, and by these also have been forged strong fetters, which have
kept his soul in thraldom for ages.

If the author has succeeded in pointing out, that, notwithstanding the
progress of science and the advancement of civilisation and
Christianity, some of the darker shadows that have disfigured past
ages are still floating over a portion of our social horizon, he feels
his labour will not have been altogether in vain. Like many of the
ghosts alluded to in the following pages, that of superstition needs
only the continued light of day to shine upon it, in order to make it
vanish for ever.

_January 1880._

CONTENTS.

* * * * *

THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF SUPERSTITION.

CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Rise and Progress of Superstition--The Serpent--Cain's Departure
from the true Worship--Worship of the