tion and characteristics of the persons
whose destinies were foretold. This celebrated instance of highly advanced
future-time clairvoyance, or prevision, has never been equalled. The
reason, perhaps, is that Cazotte indeed was an advanced and highly
developed occultist--the account mentions this, you will notice. This
class of persons very seldom prophecy in this way, for reasons known to
all occultists. The ordinary cases recorded are those in which the
manifestation is that of a person of lesser powers and less perfect
development.

Advanced occultists know the danger of a careless use of this power. They
know that (omitting other and very important reasons) such revelations
would work a terrible effect upon the minds of persons not sufficiently
well balanced to stand the disclosure. Moreover, they know that if the
average person knew the principal details of his future life on earth,
then he would lose interest in it--it would become stale and would lose
the attraction of the unknown. In such a case, the pleasant things to come
would lose their attractiveness by reason of having been dwelt on so long
that their flavor was lost; and the unpleasant things would become
unbearable by reason of the continual anticipation of them. We are apt to
discount our pleasures by dwelling too much upon them in anticipation;
and, as we all know, the dread of a coming evil often is worse than the
thing itself--we suffer a thousand pangs in anticipation to one in
reality. But, as I have intimated, there are other, and still more serious
reasons why the advanced occultists do not indulge in public prophecies
of this kind. It is probable that Cazotte decided to, and was permitted
to, make his celebrated prophecy for some important occult reason of which
La Harpe had no knowledge--it doubtless was a part of the working out of
some great plan, and it may have accomplished results undreamed of by us.
At any rate, it was something very much out of the; ordinary, even in the
case of advanced occultists and masters of esoteric knowledge.

Another case which has a historic value is the well-known case concerning
the assassination of Spencer Perceval, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in
England, which occurred in the lobby of the House of Commons. The persons
who have a knowledge of the case report that some nine days before the
tragic occurrence a Cornish mine manager, named John Williams, had a
vision, three times in succession, in which he s