Article October 6, 1898 Issue

"AND A LITTLE CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM."

Ellen L. Ash

One morning as I was out in the woods with my little boy he said, "Mamma, look here!" And taking hold of a vine he began pulling it through his hands, and winding it round and round both hands and wrists. "Oh!" I said, "why do you spoil that pretty vine?" He laughed and said, "Don't you know what this is? It's poison ivy; and some people believe if you touch it, it will poison you. But when we know God is All, we know it has no power."

If I had accidentally touched poison ivy, I would "meet the cause mentally and courageously" (Science and Health), but I would not have dared to handle it as fearlessly as the child had done, which shows how hard it is to rid ourselves of old superstitions.

We can smile now at the foolish credulity of past ages which believed a horseshoe over the door would keep out evil spirits, witches, etc., and that it was unlucky if thirteen sat at table, and that it was good luck to see the new moon over the right shoulder. The next century will wonderingly smile at many superstitions that to-day are accepted as facts.

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