I ON THE METHOD OF ZADIG O 



wood, I noticed the marks of horse-shoes. They were all equi- 

 distant. "Ah! "said I, "this is a famous galloper." In a 

 narrow alley, only seven feet wide, the dust upon the trunks of 

 the trees was a little disturbed at three feet and a half from the 

 middle of the path. "This horse," said I to myself, "had a 

 tail three feet and a half long, and, lashing it from one side to 

 the other, he has swept away the dust." Branches of the trees 

 met overhead at the height of five feet, and under them I saw 

 newly fallen leaves ; so I knew that the horse had brushed some 

 of the branches, and was therefore five feet high. As to his bit, 

 it must have been made of twenty-three carat gold, for he had 

 rubbed it against a stone, which turned out to be a touchstone, 

 with the properties of whicli I am familiar by experiment. 

 Lastly, by the marks which his shoes left upon pebbles of 

 another kind, I was led to think that his shoes were of fine 

 silver.' 



"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 methods 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 



