132 ON THE METHOD OF ZADIG. [LECT. 



All the judges admired Zadig's profound and subtle discern- 

 ment ; and the fame of it reached even the King and the Queen. 

 From the ante-rooms to the presence-chamber, Zadig's name was 

 in everybody's mouth ; and, although many of the magi were of 

 opinion that he ought to be burnt as a sorcerer, the King com- 

 manded that the four hundred ounces of gold which he had 

 been fined should be restored to him. So the officers of the 

 court went in state with the four hundred ounces ; only they 

 retained three hundred and ninety-eight for legal expenses, and 

 their servants expected fees. 



Those who are interested in learning more of the 

 fateful history of Zadig must turn to the original ; 

 we are dealing with him only as a philosopher, and 

 this brief excerpt suffices for the exemplification of 

 the nature of his conclusions and of the method by 

 which he arrived at them. 



These conclusions may be said to be of the nature 

 of retrospective prophecies ; though it is perhaps a 

 little hazardous to employ phraseology which peril- 

 ously suggests a contradiction in terms the word 

 " prophecy " being so constantly in ordinary use re- 

 stricted to "foretelling." Strictly, however, the term 

 prophecy as much applies to outspeaking as to fore- 

 telling ; and, even in the restricted sense of " divina- 

 tion," it is obvious that the essence of the prophetic 

 operation does not lie in its backward or forward 

 relation to the course of time, but in the fact that it 

 is the apprehension of that which lies out of the sphere 

 of immediate knowledge ; the seeing of that which to 

 the natural sense of the seer is invisible. 



The foreteller asserts that, at some future time, a 

 properly situated observer will witness certain events ; 



