mly in a cave near the Lake of
Lucerne; and that, whenever their country is in her utmost need, they
will come forth in their antique garb, and assuredly save her. This is a
superstition full of veneration and hope.--When the Arabs see a falling
star, they believe it to be a dart thrown by God at a wanderer of the
race of the genii, and they exclaim, "May God transfix the enemy of the
faith!" Here we find in brief the spirit of their religion.--In Brazil,
a bird which sings plaintively at night is listened to with intent
emotion, from its being supposed to be sent with tidings from the dead
to the living. The choice of a bird with a mournful instead of a lively
note speaks volumes.--The three angels in white that come to give
presents to good children in Germany at Christmas, come in a good
spirit.--There is a superstition in China which has a world of
tenderness in it. A father collects a hundred copper coins from a
hundred families, and makes the metal into a lock which he hangs, as a
charm, round his child's neck, believing that he locks his child to life
by this connection with a hundred persons in full vigour.--But, as is
natural, death is the region of the Unseen to which the larger number of
portents relates. The belief of the return of the dead has been held
almost universally among the nations; and their unseen life is the grand
theme of speculation wherever there are men to speculate. The Norwegians
lay the warrior's horse, and armour, and weapons, beside him. The
Hindoos burn the widow. The Malabar Indians release caged birds on the
newly-made grave, to sanction the flight of the soul. The Buccaneers
(according to Penrose) concealed any large booty that fell into their
hands, till they should have leisure to remove it,--murdering and
burying near it any helpless wretch whom they might be able to capture,
in order that his spirit might watch over the treasure, and drive from
the spot all but the parties who had signed their names in a
round-robin, in claim of proprietorship. The professors of many faiths
resemble each other in practices of propitiation or atonement
laboriously executed on behalf of the departed. Some classes of mourners
act towards their dead friends in a spirit of awe; some in fear; but
very many in love. The trust in the immortality of the affections is the
most general feature in superstitions of this class; and it is a fact
eloquent to the mind of the observer.--An only child of two poor sav