hey were modesty itself in comparison with Merlin, Shipton, and Nixon,
who fixed their minds upon higher things than the weather, and were not so
restrained as to prophesy for only one year at a time. After such prophets
the almanac-makers hardly deserve to be mentioned; not even the renowned
Partridge, whose prognostications set all England agog in 1708, and whose
death while still alive was so pleasantly and satisfactorily proved by
Isaac Bickerstaff. The anti-climax would be too palpable, and they and
their doings must be left uncommemorated.

[Illustration: MOTHER SHIPTON'S HOUSE.[57]]

[57] Although other places claim the honour(!) of Mother Shipton's
birth, her residence is asserted, by oral tradition, to have
been for many years a cottage at Winslow-cum-Shipton, in
Buckinghamshire, of which the above is a representation. We
give the contents of one of the popular books containing her
prophecies:

_The Strange and Wonderful History and Prophecies of Mother
Shipton, plainly setting forth her Birth, Life, Death, and
Burial._ 12mo. Newcastle. Chap. 1.--Of her birth and
parentage. 2. How Mother Shipton's mother proved with child;
how she fitted the justice, and what happened at her
delivery. 3. By what name Mother Shipton was christened, and
how her mother went into a monastery. 4. Several other pranks
play'd by Mother Shipton in revenge of such as abused her. 5.
How Ursula married a young man named Tobias Shipton, and how
strangely she discovered a thief. 6. Her prophecy against
Cardinal Wolsey. 7. Some other prophecies of Mother Shipton
relating to those times. 8. Her prophecies in verse to the
Abbot of Beverly. 9. Mother Shipton's life, death, and
burial.

FORTUNE-TELLING.

And men still grope t' anticipate
The cabinet designs of Fate;
Apply to wizards to foresee
What shall and what shall never be.
_Hudibras_, part iii. canto 3.

In accordance with the plan laid down, we proceed to the consideration of
the follies into which men have been led by their eager desire to pierce
the thick darkness of futurity. God himself, for his own wise purposes,
has more than once undrawn the impenetrable veil which shrouds those awful
secrets; and, for purposes just as wise, he has decreed