which he replied,

"To a certain extent I do; but it is upon this principle, that I believe
the force of imagination on a weak mind constitutes the malady. What is
your own opinion?"

"Why, that it is not a superstition but a fact; a fact, too, which has
been frequently proved; and, what is more, it is known, as the man said,
to be hereditary in families."

"I don't give credence to that," said the stranger.

"Why not, sir?" replied Woodward; "are not the moral qualities
hereditary? are not the tempers and dispositions hereditary, as well as
decline, insanity, scrofula, and other physical complaints?"

The stranger paused again, and said, "Perhaps so. There is certainly
much mystery in human nature; more, probably, than we can conceive or be
aware of. Time, however, and the progress of science, will develop much.
But who was this Mrs. Lindsay that the man spoke of?"

"That lady, sir," replied the other, "is my mother."

The stranger, from a feeling of delicacy, made no observation upon this,
but proceeded to take another view of the same subject.

"Suppose, then," he added, "that we admit the fact that the eye of a
certain individual can transfuse, by the force of strong volition, an
evil influence into the being or bodily system of another--why should it
happen that an eye or touch charged with beneficence, instead of evil,