on what might have been had events proved
otherwise. If the torrent of actions and reactions that carries us along
were turned out of its course what imagination could describe the unknown
regions through which it would flow?

* * * * *

{162}

ASTROLOGY AND MAGIC.

When we consider the absolute authority that astrology exercised under the
Roman empire, we find it hard to escape a feeling of surprise. It is
difficult to think that people could ever consider astrology as the most
valuable of all arts and the queen of sciences,[1] and it is not easy for
us to imagine the moral conditions that made such a phenomenon possible,
because our state of mind to-day is very different. Little by little the
conviction has gained ground that all that can be known about the future,
at least the future of man and of human society, is conjecture. The
progress of knowledge has taught man to acquiesce in his ignorance.

In former ages it was different: forebodings and predictions found
universal credence. The ancient forms of divination, however, had fallen
somewhat into disrepute at the beginning of our era, like the rest of the
Greco-Roman religion. It was no longer thought that the eagerness or
reluctance with which the sacred hens ate their paste, or the direction of
the flight of the birds indicated coming success or disaster. Abandoned,
the Hellenic oracles were silent. Then appeared astrology, surrounded with
all the prestige of an exact science, and based upon the experience of many
centuries. It promised to ascertain the {163} occurrences of any one's life
with as much precision as the date of an eclipse. The world was drawn
towards it by an irresistible attraction. Astrology did away with, and
gradually relegated to oblivion, all the ancient methods that had been
devised to solve the enigmas of the future. Haruspicy and the augural art
were abandoned, and not even the ancient fame of the oracles could save
them from falling into irretrievable desuetude. This great chimera changed
religion as well as divination, its spirit penetrated everything. And
truly, if, as some scholars still hold, the main feature of science is the
ability to predict,[2] no branch of learning could compare with this one,
nor escape its influence.

The success of astrology was connected with that of the Oriental religions,
which lent it their support, as it in turn helped them. We have seen how it
forced itself upon