The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1869-07-16
AStrOIOgy.

and they transferred il 10 the Greeks
Bcrosus. whose predictions Were almost
always accomplished, used astrolgy for
dlnation. Diodorus of Sicily and Por-
phyry believed i'll as,roogy. They re-
hlc that the egyptian priests had dis
covered the influence of stars Oh the hu-
man generation, and upon all that which
should occur OF good or evil during ex-
istencc. From those suppositions, they
concluded that all which we believe de-
ipcnds upon our will, or upon o ur deter
nination. is bound up with the move
mcnts Of the stars. and that our destiny
Is written upon them.
! Lycur9us and Nenophon never under
took anything without consulting the
stars. The former forbade the Spartans
to give battle when the moon was on its
wane. Augustus struck medal in honor
Of the sign Capricorn, under which he
was born. Ptolcmy, the astronomer. and
Paul of Alexandria, had the weakness to
consider astrology as fruitful mine in hu-
man results. But twas specially amongst
the Arabs that the astrological seers
found fortune fameand honor. The his
tory of this people is filled with facts
which prove its weakness for the mar
Ivclous. In Europe, it had also very
learned and famous Interpreters Some
OF those names are so celebrated that we
could hardly pas, them here. Rcgos
Alontanus, Donatus de Forli. Fuld. Nj
cholus Flannel, \ lbert the Great, Agrip-
lpa, Meianchthon aud Cameraslus. Car
den, Guarlcus. Junctinus. Rattan. the
friend Of Tycho Brahc. Michael Mavcr,
Van liclmont. the chemist. Bascr An
ltoinc Mean de Montleclon. Jean Carvin
dc Montcauban. the learned Argoli.
jacques Pom. Father kircher. and others
OF les. note. Tie most OF these gave
themselves up 10 the perfect belief in as
trologv. and even wrote voluminous
treaiiscs OH the chemical art. In the
presence of those historical facts. what
are we TO say. " hat are we 10 think only
that The learned. as well as the most IT,
norani. are equally constrained BY the
weakness OF our nature topay their trib-
ute to the prcjudices of their epoch
i During the middle ages, astrologv par
Iticularly became a calling. 4 crowd OF
individuals Of both sexes. and generally
.iof mean condition. was anxious TO pre-
dict the future 10 whomsoevcr desired
provided only they paid them for their
: prophecy. The society Of the time OF
llcred only acutcness and iraudulence up-
Oh one side, and upon the other simple
'iiiv. Ignorance and crcdulity. " hen we
open the annals OF The epoch. we find 4
very considerable number of predictions
(which were undoubtedly accomplished
some .f the most startling of those arr
worthy OF record.
i LOUIS the Eleventh Of France was told
by an astrologcr. as he came forth from
,lchurch. that even as lie was addressed
: his mortal enemy Charles the Rash wa.
killed. ai the same mcmcnt by the Swiss
al The battle of Grwson. In some DAYS
after the news arrived Of the battle. and
the prophecy was found 10 bc true. :
Henry the third of France was told that
he would be a>sassinatcd. lie had ever,
NECESSITY to believe the prediction after
Wards. for the blow ot dagger killed
him. Two attempts nj murder. commit
I, ted against Henry The Fourth. were pre-
: dictcd by a gentleman named Nilandry
J and by the astroiogcr and mathmaiicial
: Rigacasa. Unfortunately. the Ii inl
placed no faith upon this warning. anc
l the poniard OF Ravaillac removed th,
best Of French mOnlrchs from this world
2 One OF the astrologerS attached TO tn,
service of Catherine dc Medicis predic
ted TO the Duke de Biron. that he would
lpcrish at the siege of EperIay. a bul
} let realized the prediction.
Perhaps u more curious fact is tha
told of the brother of this same duke
who desiring to consult the same astrol
ogcr. received this answer
, You shall die under the axc?'
/, "What Go you say" asked Biron.
4. "Monsigncur lie replied. ..if You lik,
/. the term better, you shall have your heat
. cut off,"
Furious at those words, Biron fell on
the poor astrologer with the blows of
cudgcl. and striking him until he wa,
exhausted. cast him for dead upon III,
: ground. However. his violence had nc
influence on the prediction. which came
to pass in six months aftcrward.
, Luke Guaric predicted To John Bcnti
Ivoglio that he would lose the sovereignty
of Bologna. lie predicted also that
! Henry the Second would die of q wound
in the eye. Both of those predictions
came to pass.
4 a little dwarf. who was very skilfnI
astrologer predicted to the young Fran.
els Henry dc Moninlorcnci. later Mar.
lshal de Luxembourg, that his deeds O,
arms would render him the rival of a
great prince. Moreover. that bv d
strange fatality, hc should be implicated
in process and incarcemtcd. But. that
more fortunate than Ills father. dead and
al TINT l., .l,. A