The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-08

Is there q nun RiIt OF prophecy
The Greek root Of our word prophet
means one who speaks for. is mouth
piece for. a god. In its exact sense
prophecy IL not limited to foretelling,
but may refer as well To a s%upernat-
ural power Of insight into the hidden.
unrecorded things OF the past as TO a
supersense penetrating the mysteries
NJ coming time. D0lllnger believed
that S%avonarola possessed il. 81. Paul
urges us not to "despise prophecies"
but he also ~thoughtfully bids us
prove all things" before holding
fast To them as good things. Modern
psychology and medicine shine upon
dark places where once the mys-
teries of prophecy and s~oothsayinS
fiourished. In The War and the
Prophets. by HERBERT THrRsToN. 5. j.
,P. J. Kennedy and Sons. New York;.
there is no new theory or philosophy
of this popularity of the ohsessed,
and little matter with which seekers
after the curious in life are not Ia
mil!arly acquainted. True though it
is that credulity and those who live
upon It thrive in war times. We can
not quite see that the co,location in
the books title Is of essential sig
niRcance. At this time Of excitement
no more and no less than az n other
time the u~tterances Of those abnor-
maj beings who pretend to he pos
sossed of second sight" and support
the contention with unemployment
fervor, are amusing.
\ ease" with some 'intrinsic proba-
bllity' is set down in - Sketch of the
Life of Sister Mary Of Jesus Cruel
fled" published In 1887 by Lady Her
bert OF Lea. The sketch processes
to he taken from various documents
preserved in the Carmelite monas-
teries OF Pau and Bethlehem" and
wayp a conspicuously accurate
wricr." there Is no reason apparent
why she should have altered the
!. record Of the Carmelite nuns prophe-
cies. Even II she had, the alteration
would but have made, for went
subsequent to the date OF publication
Of the sketch. Lady Herbert instead
Of Sister Mary the prophecies; and
interest IL fess In the personality OF
the prophet thar in the fact of the
prophecy. One of the forecasts, which
the author says is fixed upon The
fourth Pope of her vision, Benedict
XIV" is thus set down:
Later on she seemed to have had a still
wider insight Into the future. Again she
saw the black cloud. very thick. but GOV
ering not only France hut the whole of
Europe. Then there were fearful wars
ccnvulsing every part OF Europe; and when
they were over, only the fourth part OF
men remained; the rest had all persisted
in the struggle, AT that time" she said.
"the priests will he few In number, for
they Will have died for the Faith or In
defiance Of their country. There will he
sorrow and mourning everywhere Till Gods
anger Is appeased,"
The Carmclite sister died in August
1878, six months after the election OF
Leo XIII. In 1913 there was pub
lished at Paris Il 400 PAGE "Nie dc
Sour Marie de Jesus Crucife.' In
which the vision Of the Popes APP
pears in markedly different form
They whose delight is the tedious sift-
ing of evidence will find some of 1t
done in no ponderous style, in the
book we are considering.
In the disturbed period during and
following the FrancO-Irussian war
obscure prophecies were widely circu-
lated and ~'greedily swallowed Ir
1872, in its ffth edition. more than
l 300 pages were needed to hold the
collection Of vaccinations with sup,
posed modern reference in "VoiX FRO.
phntiques, GU Signcs. Appar ltions e.
Predictions Modernes touchant les
grands avenements d. Ia Chretiente all
XIXe steele ct vers l'approche de Ia
Fin des Temps by n Able Cu,
ricque. De!phically obscure and hope.