ANNO DOMINI
2071.
WILLIAM TEGG, Pancras Lane, Cheapside.
1871.
TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE.
The late Artemus Ward was in the habit ofquoting—either from his own or another man’s store ofwit—“Never prophesy unless you know for certain.”There is, however, a particular mode of foretelling which is neitherdangerous nor venturesome; that process, namely, by which inferencesare being drawn from analogous things that have come to pass, andapplied to the contemplation of future events. The little book herepresented in an English translation may serve as an illustration inpoint. It was originally published in the Dutch language, the authorhiding himself [vi]behind the nom de plumeof Dr. Dioscorides. If success goes for anything—and who isprepared to say what it does not go for—we launch it inits new form with more than sufficient confidence. Even within thenarrow geographical limits of the Netherlands it has rapidly passedthrough three editions, and a German scholar has deemed it not unworthyof a translation in his native tongue.
The present publication is more and at the same time less than atranslation; more, because it has been prepared for a differentclass of readers than it was originally intended for; less,because in some instances, and at one point especially, we thought wehad some reason to apply the pruning-knife to obnoxious excrescences,as no doubt they would have proved in a new soil. The foot-notes haveeither been added with a view to ensure a perfect understanding on thepart of the [vii]reader, or to secure for the little workas wide a circulation as possible. So far with regar