fault upon the art, but upon thofe grofs impoftors, who fet up to be the artists. I know feveral learned men have contended, that the whole is a cheat ; that it is abfurd and ridiculous to imagine, the stars can have any influence at all upon human actions, thoughts, or inclinations; and whoever hath not bent his ftudies that way, may be excused for thinking fo, when he fees in how wretched a manner that noble art is treated by a few mean illiterate traders between us and the ftars; who import a yearly ftock of nonfenfe, lyes, folly, and impertinence, which they offer to the world as genuine from the planets, though they defcend from no greater a height than their own brains. I intend in a fhort time to publifh a large and rational defence of this art, and therefore fhall fay no more in its juftification at prefent, than that it hath been in all ages defended by many fearned, men, and among the reft by Socrates himself, whom 1 look upon as undoubtedly the wifeft of uninspired mortals; to which if we add, that those who have condemned his art, though otherwife learned, having been fuch as either did not apply their studies this way, or at least did not fucceed in their applications; their teftimony will not be of muchweight to its difadvantage, fince they are liable to the common objection of condemning what they did not understand. Nor am I at all offended, or do I think it an injury to the art, when I fee the common dealers in it, the ftudents in aftrology, the philomaths, and the, reft of that tribe, treated by wife men with the ut moft fcorn and contempt; but I rather wonder, when I obferve gantlemen in the country, rich e. nough to ferve the nation in parliament, poring into Patridge's almanack, to find out the events of the year, at home and abroad; not daring to propofe a hunting match, till Gadbury or he have fixed the weather. "I will allow either of the two I have mentioned, or any other of the fraternity, to be not only aftrologers, but conjurers too, if I do not produce a hundred inftances in all their almanacks to convince any reasonable man, that they do not fo much as understand common grammar and fyntax; that they are not able to spell any word out of the ufual road, nor even in their prefaces to write common sense or intelligible English. Then for their obfervations and predictions, they are fuch as will equally fuit any age or country in the world. This month a certain great perfon will be threatened with death or fickness. This the news papers will tell them; for there we find at the end of the year, that no month paffes without the death of tome: perfon of note; and it would be hard, if it should be otherwife, when there are at least two thousand perfons of note in this kingdom, many of them old, and the almanack-maker has the liberty of chufing the fickliest season of the year, where he may fix his prediction. Again, this month an eminent clergyman will be preferred; of which there may be fome hundreds, half of them with one foot in the grave. Then, fuch a planet in fuch a house, Jhews great machinations, plots and confpiracies, that may in time be brought to light: after which, if we hear of any discovery, the aftrologer gets the honour; if not, his prediction still stands good. And at laft. God preferve King William from all his open and fecret enemies, Amen. When, if the King should happen to have died, the aftrologer plainly foretold it; otherwife it paffeth but for the pious eja culation of a loyal fubject; though it unluckily happened in fome of their almanaks, that poor King William was prayed for many months after he was dead, becaufe it fell out, that he died about the beginning of the year. To mention no more of their impertinent pre dictions, what have we to do with their advertise Z 3 ments ments about pills and drink for the venereal difeafe? or their mutual quarrels in verfe and profe of Whig and Tory, wherewith the stars have little to do? Having long observed and lamented these, and a hundred other abufes of this art, too tedious to repeat, I refolved to proceed in a new way, which I doubt not will be to the general fatisfaction of the kingdom: I can this year produce but a specimen of what I defign for the future; having employed most part of my time in adjusting and correcting the calculations I made fome years pat, because I would offer nothing to the world, of which I am not as fully fatisfied, as that I am now alive. For thefe two last years, I have not failed in above one or two particulars, and thofe of no very great moment. I exactly foretold the mifcarriage at Toulon, with all its particulars, and the lofs of Admiral Shovel; though I was mistaken as to the day, placing that accident about thirty fix hours fooner than it happened; but upon reviewing my fchemes, I quickly found the caufe of that error. I likewife foretold the battle of Almanza to the very day and hour, with the lofs on both fides, and the confequences thereof. All which I fhewed to fome friends many months before they hap pened, that is, I gave them papers fealed up, to open at fuch a time, after which they were at liberty to read them; and there they found my predictions true in every article, except one or two very minute. As for the few following predictions I now offer the world, I forebore to publifh them, till I had perused the several almanacks for the year we are now entered upon. I found them all in the usual ftrain, and I beg the reader will compare their manner with mine: and here I make bold to tell the world, that I lay the whole credit of my art upon the truth of thefe predictions; and I will be content, that Partridge, and the reft of his clan, may may hoot me for a cheat and impoftor, if I fail in any fingle particular of moment. I believe, any man who reads this paper, will look upon me to be at least a perfon of as much honefty and underftanding, as a common maker of almanacks. I do not lurk in the dark; I am not wholly unknown in the world; I have fet my name at length, to be a mark of infamy to mankind, if they fhall find I deceive them. In one point I muft defire to be forgiven, that I talk more fparingly of home-affairs as it would be imprudence to discover secrets of ftate, fo it might be dangerous to my perfon; but in fmaller matters, and fuch as are not of public confequence, I fhall be very free; and the truth of my conjectures will as much appear from these as the other. As for the moft fignal events abroad, in France, Flanders, Italy and Spain, I fhall make no fcruple to predict them in plain terms: fome of them are of importance, and I hope I fhall feldom mistake the day they will happen; therefore, I think good to inform the reader, that I all along make use of the old style, obferved in England, which I defire he will compare with that of the news-papers, at the time they relate the actions I mention. I must add one word more: I know it hath been the opinion of feveral learned perfons, who think well enough of the true art of aftrology, that the ftars do only incline, and not force the actions or wills of men and therefore, however I may proceed by right rules, yet I cannot in prudence fo confidently affure the events will follow exactly as I predict them. I hope I have naturally confidered this objection, which in fome cafes is of no little weight. For example a man may, by the influence of an overruling planet, be disposed or inclined to luft, rage, or avarice, and yet by the force of reafon overcome that evil influence; and this was the cafe of Socra tes tes but the great events of the world, ufually depending upon numbers of men, it cannot be expected they should all unite to cross their inclinations, for pursuing a general design, wherein they unanimously agree. Befides, the influence of the stars reaches to many actions and events, which are: not any way in the power of reafon; as fickness, death, and what we commonly call accidents, with: many more needlefs to repeat. But now it is time to proceed to my predictions, which I have begun to calculate from the time that the sun enters into Aries. And this I take to be properly the beginning of the natural year. I purfue them to the time that he enters Libra, or fomewhat more, which is the bufy period of the year. The remainder I have not yet adjufted, upon account of feveral impediments needle's here to mention befides, I must remind the reader again, that' this is but a fpecimen of what I defign in fucceeding years to treat more at large, if I may have liberty and encouragement. : My firft prediction is but a trifle; yet I will men. tion it, to fhew how ignorant thofe fottifh pretenders to aftrology are in their own concerns: it relates to Partridge the almanack-maker; I have confulted the ftar of his nativity by my own rules, and find he will infallibly die upon the 29th of March next, about eleven at night, of a raging fever; therefore I advife him to confider of it, and fettle his affairs in time. The month of April will be observable for the death of many great perfons. On the 4th will die the Cardinal de Noailles, Archbishop of Paris: on • A physiognomift being brought by Socrates's fcholars, to examine the features of their mater, pronounced him, according to the ruses of art, paffionate, intemperate, and libidinous; and when he was reproached and derided by them for a judgement fo remote from the truth. Socrates refcued him from their infait, by declaring, that his natural difpofition was fuch as had been defcribed, before it was corrected by the ftudy of philofophy. the |