Punch (71.1876)

136

PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.

[September 30, 1876.

FACT AND FICTION;

OR, Y" BONNY FISHWIVES OF SCARBOROUGH AND THEIR IMITATORS.

satisfaction of all reasonable beings by producing from Lonrdes, La
MIRACLE AND NO MISTAKE. Salette, Loretto, or anywhere else, so much as even the restoration

SOLON and Solomox, smoking. of ^e la?fc Joi^ of a little finger. If any Monsignor or other philo-

' 9 sopher, is really prepared to quote such a case of the miraculous,

Solon. Carious, the appearance of Professor Lankester's perhaps he will be so kind as to forward it to 85, Fleet Street,
exposure of Dr. Slade, and of Moxsigxor Capel's defence of the Solon. Where it will eclipse even all the marvels of art and
Lourdes miracles in the same page of the Times. literature in the shop-window, and to be had, a whole number of

Solomon. Spiritualism at London and Spiritualism at Lourdes. them, at the small charge of threepence over the counter.

Solon. Spiritualism and Spiritualism. Both alike humbug.

Solomon. Not so. No wilful humbug, probably, in the Lourdes
Spiritualism. The Spiritualism in London not all humbug prepense. PARISIAN INTELLIGENCE.

Healing fountain of course incapable of humbug. Healing Medium T . .. .

probably very capable. But possibly an enthusiastic self-humbug -Ladies, pray give your attention for a moment to the following :-
only. Believers in both fountain and medium alike healed, how-! " The Titus mode of dressing the hair in short curls, adopted by several of
ever, humbug notwithstanding—healed through faith, by the ! the leaders of Paris fashion, marks the commencement of a reaction which
action of mind working on body. Bead Dr. Carpenter's Mental ■ wil1 probably be complete ere long. Intelligent ladies now incline to return
Physiology i *-° the use °f natural hair ; and this determination has been induced by con-

Solon. That 's how you explain Moxsigxor CArEL's miracles, ! eiderations of health which, liave an unquestionable value."
then ? Here, indeed, is intelligence, in either meaning of the word. That

Solomon. Oh dear, no! Goodness gracious forbid I should say j Ladies should resolve to wear their own Hair only—that which reaUy

they may not perhaps be real miracles.

Solon. You don't mean to say you believe in modern miracles?
What do you mean by a miracle ?

is their own by nature, not by purchase—may clearly be accepted
as a proof of their intelligence, and, moreover, is a startling and a
pleasant piece of news. In far too many cases the Hair_which they

Solomon. A fact, impossible_ in the nature of things, but still a | display is in relatively inverse proportion to their brains. Ladies

fact, and therefore of necessity a fact effected by supernatural
agency. Such a fact I believe to be a miracle—credo quia impossibile
est. A natural impossibility—not a supernatural one.

Solon. Do you know of any such possible impossibility ?

Solomon. No ; but I have read of one—the cure of one Michael
Pellicer, cited by a late Bishop of Moxsigxor Capel's cloth, as
having occurred at Saragossa in 1640.

Solon. As how ?

Solomon. Michael Pellicer lost a leg by amputation". He prayed
for a new leg, and got one—an actual, bond fide, new live leg,
according to the renowned Bishop Milxer.

Solon. Stupendous, if true.

Solomon.'A miracle is a miracle. All miracles are equally stu-
pendous. No one miracle is more wonderful than another. All,
equally impossible, are equally possible. Perhaps Moxsigxor Capel
can pattern the cure of Michael Pellicer. He will do so to the

who are gifted with but little in their heads are generally conspicu-
ous for what is worn upon them. They bestow more cultivation on
the outside than the inside, and bonnets are esteemed of more
account than brains.

Since False Hair has been discarded for sanitary reasons, perhaps
we may soon hear that other fashionable errors have been sensibly
corrected for the same sufficient cause. There can be little question
that, if Ladies of intelligence were allowed to set the fashion, many
changes would be made in feminine costume. The wearing of low
dresses would be speedily abolished, and girls might go to balls and
theatres without fear of a sore throat. No longer Ladies would be
lamed by the torture of high heels, nor would they catch their
deaths from damp by wearing shoes with wafer soles. A wasp
waist would be viewed not as a beauty but a horrible deformity,
and tight-lacing be discarded as a certain cause of suffering, ill-
temper, and ill-health.