, 1880-08-08

alterS,-tt}e process of divination beyond the
limits OF possible direct knowledge remains
the same
No douhtit was their instructive recoel.
ton Of the analogy between Zadig's results
and those obtained by authorized inspiration
which inspired the Babylonian Magl with the
if1a ddSee to bnrn the philosopher zadg nd
OF the horse of the King or OF the spaniel OF
the Queen; and yet he ventured to assert in
the most rositiye manner that animals an
swering to their description did actually cx-
ist, and ran about the plains Of Babylon.
yinatlon Of the course Of events ten
hours old, why should it not be good for
those of ten years or ten centuries past; nay,
might it not extend to ten thousand years,
traditions of Cannes and the fish, and all the
sacred foundations Of Babylonian cosinog-
ony?
But this was not the worst. There was
another consideration which obviously die
tated to the more thoughtful of the Magi
His defense was worse than his offense. It
showed that his mode of diyination was
franght with danger to Magianisn In gcll-
eral. Swollen with the pride of human rea-
son, he had ignored the established canons
all was mere carnal colnmon-sense, he pro-
into nature than Iagiar wisdom,
with all its lofty antasonism to
eyehng +ba had eysf reacaed ct Fl
Zadi..'s arguments but tha coarse, common
place assumption upon which every act of our
daily lives is basetl, that we may conclude
from All effect to the preGxfstcnce of q cause
competent to produce that effect?
The tracks were exactly like those which
dogs and horses leave; therefore they were
the effects of such animals rs causes. The
marks Mt the sides of the fore-prints Of the
dog-track were exactly such US would be
nrtduced by long, trailing ears; therefore
marks; and so OIL. Nothing can be more
hopelesly vulgar, more unlike the majestic
development Of q system of grandly .unin-
teliieible conclusions from subliulely incon-
Magian heart III fact, Zltllg's method was
nothing but the method of all mankind.
Retrospective prophecies, far more astonisil-
Ing fur their minute accuracy than those If
Zttiig are familiar II, those who have watched
the tally life 1T nOmadic people =
Frpm freshly-5roken twigs, crushed leaves,
disturbed pebbles, and imprints hardly dis
cernihle by the unframed eye, such graduates
in the University OF Nature will divine, not
only the fact that q party has passed that
course it took, and the nunlher of hours or
days which have elapsed since it pissed. But
they are able to do this because. like Zauig, they
perceive endless minute differences where sln-
trained eyes discern nothing; and because
the unconscious l"gie Ut cotllnor-sense com
p.ls them to account for these effects by the
causes which they know. to be competent to
produce them.
And mere methodtzed sayagery was to
discover the hidden things Of Nature better
Ormuzd,--perhaps tn give 4 history OF the
past in which Cannes would be altogether
ignored! Decidedly it were better to burn
this man at ONCE
led AIoabdar's nagi to this conclusion three
or four thousand years ago, ali that can De
said is; that subsequent history has fully
justified them. For the rigorous application
OF Zadie's logic to the results OF accurate and
long-continueu observation has founded all
those sciences which have been termed his
torical or Psychological. because thoy are
retr0spectivelv prophetic, and strive toward
the reconstruction in human imagination Of
events which nave vanished and ceased to be.
word, Is based upon the Interpretation of
documentary evidence: and documents
would have no eyidential value unless
historians were justified in their assumption
that they have come into existence BY the
operation Of causes Similar to those Of WHICH
documents are, in our present experience, the
effects. If written history can be pro-
duced otherwise than by human agency, or
If the man who wrote given document was
actrated BY other than ordinary human mo-
tial value than so many ar1beSqUes.
Archaeology, which tnkes up the thread OF
history beyond the point at Which document
ary evidence fails us, could have no existence
tbat monumenfs Sa a1d WORKS s0"
art, or artitiee, have never been pro-
iuced By causes different in kind from
hose to which they owe their origin.
And geology, which traces back the course
mini tell nnthinr ayaanf f0r ff1A CSSutDn-
ion that millions Of years ago, water, heat,
friction. animal and vegetable
lie, caused effects OF the same Kind as they |
10 now. Nay, even physical astronomy, in |
'oint of time which archaeological science |
an reach, is founded upon. the same as |
II the law Of gravitation ever |
allied to be true. even to the smallest extent, |
or that period, the calculations OF the as
have no application.
The power Of prediction, of prospective |
prophecy, Is that which is commonly re- I
'arded as the great prerogative Of physical
cience. And truly it Is a wonderful fact
nat Gne 9ce eaF bogR gG into aha1 shGp 7 oay
'hch will foretell the exact position to be
coupled by one Of Jupiter's moons six
1onths hence; nay, more, that if it were |
'orh while, the Astronomer Royal
oMld fE1l;h as IS With oa as !o inta'io'e predic-
But astronomy is not less remarkable for
IS power ut retrospective prophecy.
Tllales, oldest Of Greek philosophers, the I
ntes Of whose birth and death are uncer-
lin, hut whn flourisied about COO B: C.. Is
'hicll tonl1 place III his time tiurng a battle
etwecn the 3Iedes and the Lydians. Sir
gorge Airy has written il very learned and
memoir in which he. proves that
Fternoon Of the 2Sth OF May, in the year 5s5