AN OLD PREDICTION

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2272, 5 October 1914, Page 8

AN OLD PREDICTION

DURATION OF GERMAN EMPIRE. ■ A certain prophecy of the Mother Sh'ipton order was widely current in Europe a few, years ago, and will be recalled ,at tihis . moment. William .1, grandfather of the present German Emperor, is said to have consulted a famous fortune-teller about tho year. 1840, and he put the following questions:— 1. When shall I succeed to the Throne (of Prussia) ?—Answer: 1849. 2. When will the German Empire be created? —Answer: 1871. The answer is arrived at by adding the figures 1, 8, 4, 9 to the total 1849: 1849*1*8*4*9 z 1871. 3. When shall I die?— Answer: 1888, arrived at by adding the figures I*B*7 *1 to 1871. • 4. When will the Qerman Empire end? T-Auswer: 1913, arrived at by adding I*B*B*B to 1888. As a matter of history and in explanation of the above dates, it may be recalled that in 1849 the National As-' sembly elected the King of Prussia Emperor, but he declined the position. In 1871 came the re-establishment of the German Empire, William I of Prussia being proclaimed Emperor. On. March 9, 1888, "the great Emperor who founded German unity" died. It is a sad pity that the last figures of the series add up to 1913 instead of 1914, but sanguine, anti-Germans have a way of getting round that. They say it will do if 1913 proves to have heen the last complete year of the German Empire.' Our readers must judge of the probability of the Emperor having contemplated tho fall of the Empire thirty years before he knew of its birth.