Democratic Sentinel, Volume 5, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 July 1881 — Pet Superstitions. [ARTICLE]

Pet Superstitions.

Nearly every man, bo he ignorant or educated, has his pet superstition. Some great men have believed in omens, while others have thought that to omit a certain act was to invite mischief upon themselves. Napoleon was an example of the first class, and Dr. Johnson of the second. M. Passy had the following anecdote from Gen. Rapp himself, who, on his return from the siege of Dautzic, having occasion to speak to the Emperor, entered Iris cabinet without being announced. He found him in such profound meditation that his entrance was not noticed. The General, seeing that he did not move, was afraid he might be indisposed, and purposely ifhide a noise. Napoleon immediately turned round, and, seizing Rapp by the arm, pointed to the heavens, saying : “Do you see that ?” The General made no reply. Being interrogated a second time, he answered that he perceived nothing. “What!” responded the Emperor, “ you do not discover it ? It is my star! It is immediately in front of you—most brilliant!” And, becoming gradually more excited, he exclaimed: “It has never abandoned me ; I behold it on all great occasions. It commands me to advance, and that to me is a sure sign of success. ” The illusion of the sense may lie explained by some as a symptom of one. of those impending epileptic attacks lo which it is well known he was subject. Lord Nelson had a belief in omens, we know, by the horseshoe he had nailed to the mainmast of the Victory, of which his coffin was made. To quote another and very different class of mind from that of either of tho great men mentioned, as influenced by the same consideration for the ruling of trifles, we may refer to the singular habit of Dr. Johnson. As described by Boswell, he never entered a doorway without counting a certain number of steps, and so judging the distance that the last step should fall upon the threshold of the door with a certain foot. So particular was Johnson in this respect that, on more than one occasion, when he had failed to time himself, he returned to correct his stepx