To cull old predictions about important subjects from great or worthy
writers was the first idea that came to me when I began this study.

The predictions are old; their future is our past. Consequently, we can
compare them with actuality. It so happens that events contradicted most
of the predictions I shall mention; but it would take a base mind to
rejoice at the mistakes of men who are a credit to our species and a very
commonplace one to conclude that prediction is a foolhardy enterprise.
The spirit in which this little collection should be approached is very
different.

Man draws assertions about the future out of his present knowledge.
If the reader studies himself reading a newspaper, he will notice that
he often formulates futura which seem to be "promised" by the facts in
the articles. By an unconscious procedure, he "deduces" a future aspect
from a present one: but the term "deduction" suggests a rigor of which
the procedure is devoid. The action of going from present data to an
assertion about the future is sui generis; it lacks a name, and so I propose
to call it "proference"; this suggests the action of carrying forward and
will serve us more or less adequately.

The purpose of the quotations gathered here is to illustrate the ele-

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