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Home  »  Essays, Civil and Moral  »  Of Prophecies

Francis Bacon. (1561–1626).  Essays, Civil and Moral.The Harvard Classics.  1909–14.

XXXV

Of Prophecies

 
I MEAN not to speak of divine prophecies; nor of heathen oracles; nor of natural predictions; but only of prophecies that have been of certain memory, and from hidden causes. Saith the Pythonissa 1 to Saul, To-morrow thou and thy son shall be with me. Homer hath these verses:
        At domus Æneæ cunctis dominabitur oris,
Et nati natorum, et qui nascentur ab illis.
          —— Venuent annis
Sæcula seris, quibus Oceanus
Vincula rerum laxet, et ingens
Pateat Tellus, Tiphysque novos
Detegat orbes; nec sit terris
Ultima Thule