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his kingdom ; or such again as James the king of 

 Majorca, a passionate astrologer, who on the dictation 

 of the stars made a sortie against Peter of Aragon, and 

 never came back again. It is all very well, says Oresme, 

 for kings to know somewhat of the noble science of 

 astronomy, but they must be content to hear of it in 

 talk with sages, and not to spend upon the stars time 

 and care which they should devote to the interests of 

 their people. " Mesmement tele chose (astrology, necro- 

 mancy, geomancy and " quelconques tels ars ") est plus 

 pe'rilleuse & personnes d'estat, comme sont princes et 

 seigneurs ausquelz appartient le gouvernement publique. 

 Et pour ce ay je composd ce livret en frangois arm que 

 gens lais le puissent entendre, desquels, si comme j 'ay 

 entendu, plusieurs sont trop enclins & telles fatuite's. 

 Et autres fois ay je escript en latin de ceste matiere " 

 etc. In spite of the Bishop of Lisieux, astrology at the 

 end of the fourteenth century reached the summit of its 

 influence and popularity. In the course of his argument 

 Oresme gives an admirable account of the nature of 

 hallucination and the parts it may play in perverting 

 knowledge ; not only so but he explains also the 

 fallibility of the normal senses in respect of organic 

 defects, of media, of false inference, of association, of 

 imposition of the imagination, and so forth. Under 

 such circumstances, he says, a mystic might conceive 

 himself to have been visited by an angel ! 



CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY j. AND c. F. CLAY, AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 



