The
circumference of the first admeasurement is marked upon
a ribbon, after which she repeats the charm that is to
remove the headache, and measures the cranium again, in
order to show, by a comparison of the two ribbons,
that the sutures have been closed, the charm successful,
and the headache immediately removed. It is
impossible to say how the discrepancy in the
measurement is brought about; but be that as it may,
the writer of this has frequently seen the operation
performed in such a way as to defy the most
scrutinizing eye to detect any appearance of imposture,
and he is convinced that in the majority of cases there
is not the slightest imposture intended. The operator
is in truth a dupe to a strong and delusive
enthusiasm."
This melancholy picture was too much for the tenderness of the mother;
she sat down beside the bed, rested her face on her open hand, and wept
in subdued but bitter grief. At this moment his father, who probably
suspected the cause of her absence, came in and perceived her distress.
"Vara," said he, in Irish also, "is my darlin' son asleep?"
She looked up, with streaming eyes, as he spoke, and replied to him in a
manner so exquisitely affecting, when the circumstances of the boy, and
the tender allusion made by the sorrowing mother, are considered--that
in point of fact no heart--certainly no Irish heart--could withstand
it. There is an old Irish melody unsurpassed in pathos, simplicity,
and beauty--named in Irish "_Tha ma mackulla's na foscal me,_"---or
in English, "I am asleep, and don't waken me.
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