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Foretell   Listen
verb
Foretell  v. t.  (past & past part. foretold; pres. part. foretelling)  To predict; to tell before occurence; to prophesy; to foreshow. "Deeds then undone my faithful tongue foretold." "Prodigies, foretelling the future eminence and luster of his character."
Synonyms: To predict; prophesy; prognosticate; augur.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Foretell" Quotes from Famous Books



... o'clock the steward served up a refreshing meal. Where or when they would eat in the valleys of the Ranges no one could foretell. So that they had to take in supplies for the future. The principal dish was composed of half a dozen rats, caught by Wilson and stewed. Lady Helena and Mary Grant obstinately refused to taste this game, which is highly esteemed by the natives; but the men enjoyed it like the real Maories. ...
— In Search of the Castaways • Jules Verne

... measure of gravity; and then (upon other changes) the Buble would regain an aequilibrium, or a preponderance; so that I had oftentimes the satisfaction, by looking first upon the Statical Baroscope (as for distinctions sake it may be call'd) to foretell, whether in the Mercurial Baroscope the Liquor were high or low. Which Observations though they hold as well in Winter, and several times in Summer (for I was often absent during that season) as the Spring, yet the frequency of their Vicissitudes (which perhaps was ...
— Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society - Vol 1 - 1666 • Various

... Careful, observers may foretell the hour, (By sure prognostics), when to dread a shower. While rain depends, the pensive cat gives o'er Her frolics, and pursues her tail no more. Returning home at night, you'll find the sink Strike your ...
— The Humourous Poetry of the English Language • James Parton

... coming you appear, (For I foretell that millenary year) The sharpened share shall vex the soil no more, But earth unbidden shall produce her store; The land shall laugh, the circling ocean smile, And Heaven's indulgence ...
— Palamon and Arcite • John Dryden

... to penury and sickness. Our worthy master was apprised of their condition by the neighbors; but he always answered that the law did not allow him to spend any more, just now; that these emigrants ought to remain at home; that they had no right to this country; that he heard a very godly minister foretell last year, at camp meeting, that the Romanists would yet have this country; that too many were coming by millions; that he feared that they could not be converted as fast as they were arriving; that they ...
— The Cross and the Shamrock • Hugh Quigley

... Tinguian attach much importance to these omens. The gall and liver of the slaughtered animal are carefully examined. If the fluid in the gall sack is exceedingly bitter, the inquirer is certain to be successful; if it is mild he had best defer his project. Certain lines and spots found on the liver foretell disaster, while a normal organ assures success. See also Hose and McDougall, Pagan Tribes of Borneo, Vol. ...
— Traditions of the Tinguian: A Study in Philippine Folk-Lore • Fay-Cooper Cole

... was no doubt whatever but that the gigantic bridegroom was the cousin of the Saracinesca, and rich into the bargain. Amidst all the gossip and small talk no one, however, was found who possessed enough imagination to foretell what in reality was very imminent, namely, that the Marchese might turn ...
— Sant' Ilario • F. Marion Crawford

... dresses well, and wears his clothes with an air. In short, you'll make a very handsome couple. Anyhow, when your family are gathered round the evening lamp to-night, I 'll stake my fortune on it, but I can foretell the name of the book they'll find Trixie Belfont reading," laughed ...
— The Cardinal's Snuff-Box • Henry Harland

... that period some houses built upon a certain high bank called Rialto, and the boat being driven by the wind was anchored in a marshy place, when St. Mark, snatched into ecstasy, heard the voice of an angel saying to him: 'Peace be to thee, Mark; here shall thy body rest.'" The angel goes on to foretell the building of "una stupenda, ne piu veduta Citta;" but the fable is hardly ingenious enough to deserve ...
— The Stones of Venice, Volume II (of 3) • John Ruskin

... loved, and many have rendered vivid pictures of the emotion, touched with insight of genius and universally proclaimed true to nature from general experience; but no two men love alike, and neither you nor another man can better say how a third feels under the yoke, estimate his thrall, or foretell his actions, despite your own experience, than can one sufferer from gout, though it has torn him half a hundred times, gauge the qualities of another's torment under the same disease. Will could not guess ...
— Children of the Mist • Eden Phillpotts

... easy to foretell, from the very first, that the military occupation of the Holy Land would not be permanent. In consequence of this, therefore, the nearer the loss of this fine conquest seemed to be, the greater were the efforts made by ...
— Manners, Custom and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period • Paul Lacroix

... intercourse with the gods, and they, on their part, did not neglect any occasion of communicating with him. They appeared to him in dreams to foretell his future, to command him to restore a monument which was threatened with ruin, to advise him to set out to war, to forbid him risking his life in the thick ...
— History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 2 (of 12) • G. Maspero

... these countries do not marry the first object of their fancy, and whenever there is, as there will be, I am sure, in your case, perfect candour, I do not apprehend the slightest danger to the happiness of either party. On the contrary, I should foretell an increase of esteem and ...
— Helen • Maria Edgeworth

... grasped. It may be defined as a system of geomancy, by the science of which it is possible to determine the desirability of sites whether of tombs, houses, or cities, from the configuration of such natural objects as rivers, trees, and hills, and to foretell with certainty the fortunes of any family, community, or individual, according to the spot selected; by the art of which it is in the power of the geomancer to counteract evil influences by good ones, ...
— Chinese Sketches • Herbert A. Giles

... he said. "There, that's good American, and I'll get on with my story, or rather, with the lack of it. I cannot, of course, foretell the exact lines our discussion with Schmidt and his clients will follow, but if I have made you understand that your combined share in it is to say little, and be thoroughly non-committal in anything you may have to say, I ...
— One Wonderful Night - A Romance of New York • Louis Tracy

... splendid compensation for this coarse scoundrel, and she shall not spoil the tool we need to strike our blow. I have often doubted how far dreams do, indeed, foretell the future, but to-day my faith in them is increased. Certainly a mother's heart sees farther than that of any other ...
— Uarda • Georg Ebers

... when the motion changed and both trees rocked together in a wide, wild, exhilarating swing. Now and then the note was answered, farther down the ridge, by another porcupine going to sleep in his lofty cradle. A storm was coming; and Unk Wunk, who is one of the wood's best barometers to foretell the changing weather, was crying it ...
— Wood Folk at School • William J. Long

... the voice from the stove called out, 'It seems to be daylight outside.' Then she answered, 'It seems so to me too; I think I hear my father blowing his horn.' 'So you are a swineherd's daughter! Go away at once, and let the King's daughter come. And say to her that what I foretell shall come to pass, and if she does not come everything in the kingdom shall fall into ruin, and not one stone shall be left upon another.' When the Princess heard this she began to cry, but it was no good; she had to keep her ...
— The Yellow Fairy Book • Various

... faint, and at last altogether died away. Alarmed at this circumstance, Fathom halted in the middle of the road, and listened with the most fearful attention; but his sense of hearing was saluted with nought but the dismal sighings of the trees, that seemed to foretell an approaching storm. Accordingly, the heavens contracted a more dreary aspect, the lightning began to gleam, and the thunder to roll, and the tempest, raising its voice to a tremendous roar, descended in a torrent ...
— The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom, Complete • Tobias Smollett

... may be, he will sneeze, even in church, if the right stimulus is present; or he will cry and shed tears in public if the melodrama excites the proper nerve centers. When the sex instinct is fully aroused or the sentiment of love completely awakened, no one can foretell what the action of the ...
— Parent and Child Vol. III., Child Study and Training • Mosiah Hall

... soothsayers, who sometimes run raging up and down the streets, having drawn swords in their hands, tearing their hair like so many madmen, and throwing themselves on the ground. When in this frantic state, they themselves affirm, and it is believed by the Chinese, that they can foretell what is to happen. Whether they be possessed of the devil, who reveals things to them, I know not; but many of the Chinese use these conjurers when they send away a junk on any voyage, to learn if the voyage shall succeed or not; and they allege that it hath ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. VIII. • Robert Kerr

... of his cell. He knew the two knights well, when he heard their tale, and how that they were even the same who had but lately passed his way, and he spake to the Father of Adventure: "Even so did I foretell ye when ye would ride toward that land, and I prayed ye to refrain. But that would ye not do, and so have ye come to harm therein! They who are fain to despise counsel ofttimes do so to their own mischief. But since it hath so befallen, think ye what may best profit ye, and abide overnight ...
— The Romance of Morien • Jessie L. Weston

... said, if the rising broke out anywhere, it would be at Glasgow and Paisley; where many rich merchants and all they supported would be sure to suffer, while no one could certainly foretell how soon it might be put down. This led him to his favorite notion, that the loyal should be taught to rely more upon themselves, and less upon the Government, in their own defense against the disloyal. It was this, he ...
— International Weekly Miscellany Of Literature, Art, and Science - Vol. I., July 22, 1850. No. 4. • Various

... confidence acquired by some great natural geniuses among the Nantucket commanders; that from the simple observation of a whale when last descried, they will, under certain given circumstances, pretty accurately foretell both the direction in which he will continue to swim for a time, while out of sight, as well as his probable rate of progression during that period. And, in these cases, somewhat as a pilot, when about losing sight of a coast, ...
— Great Sea Stories • Various

... that we have here simply the ideal of the collective Davidic monarchy is a lame attempt to escape from the recognition of prophecy properly so called. It is the work of poetry to paint ideals, of prophecy to foretell, with God's authority, their realisation. The picture here is too radiant to be realised in any mere human king, and, as a matter of fact, never was so in any of David's successors, or in the whole of them put together. It either swings in vacuo, ...
— Expositions Of Holy Scripture - Volume I: St. Luke, Chaps. I to XII • Alexander Maclaren

... wheels, and the bridges thundering as you cross them, and everything being left in the rear, and the spectators, struck with the portent, halting to wonder whether you be not a thunderbolt launched from heaven? What does that awe-inspiring progress of yours foretell? What is the unknown force which lies within your mysterious steeds? Surely the winds themselves must abide in their manes, and every vein in their bodies be an ear stretched to catch the celestial message which bids them, with iron-girded breasts, and hooves which barely touch the earth as they ...
— Dead Souls • Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol

... neither book nor pamphlet reach so wide a public as the halfpenny and penny press. The methods and media of the book trade have grown up, no man designing them; they change, and no one is able to foretell the effect of their changes. At present there is a great movement to cheapen new books, and it would seem the cheapening is partly to be made up for in enhanced sales and partly by an increased use of new books for advertisement. Many people consider this cheapening of ...
— New Worlds For Old - A Plain Account of Modern Socialism • Herbert George Wells

... sick man might conquer the disease with the help of the physician.' The times at which crises were to be expected were naturally looked for with anxiety; and it was a cardinal point in the Hippocratic system to foretell them with precision. Hippocrates, influenced as is thought by the Pythagorean doctrine of numbers, taught that they were to be expected on days fixed by certain numerical rules, in some cases on odd, in others on even numbers—the celebrated doctrine ...
— Nature Cure • Henry Lindlahr

... invaded and conquered Scotland. But that ill wind which ever opposed all the projects upon which the Prince ever embarked, prevented the Chevalier's invasion of Scotland, as 'tis known, and blew poor Monsieur von Holtz back into our camp again, to scheme and foretell, and to pry about as usual. The Chevalier (the king of England, as some of us held him) went from Dunkirk to the French army to make the campaign against us. The Duke of Burgundy had the command this year, having the ...
— The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. • W. M. Thackeray

... 38, and each capable of holding a marble. The moveable rim is set in motion by the hand, and as it revolves horizontally from east to west round its axis, the marble is caused by a jerk of the finger and thumb to fly off in a contrary movement. The public therefore conclude that no calculation can foretell where the marble will fall, and I believe they are right, inasmuch as the bank plays a certain and sure game, however deep, runs no risk of loss, and consequently has no necessity for superfluously cheating or deluding the public. It also plays double, ...
— The Gaming Table: Its Votaries and Victims - Volume I (of II) • Andrew Steinmetz

... scheme was carried out, though we had much difficulty in persuading Maria Dovizio to lend herself to it. Only when Chigi explained that it was an ovation to Raphael, in which she was to crown him with a wreath of laurel and foretell him a glorious future, did she consent. Even then she had no suspicion that I had any ulterior motive in ...
— Romance of Roman Villas - (The Renaissance) • Elizabeth W. (Elizbeth Williams) Champney

... England, Scotland, and Ireland, with all the territories depending thereon." Further discussion quickly followed. "One party thinks the Protectorate cannot last; the other that the Republican cannot raise itself again; the indifferent hope that both will be right. It is easy to foretell the upshot," writes Hyde. The disunion spread rapidly and widely; not only was the Parliament divided against itself, but so likewise was the army; and the new Protector had neither the courage nor the ability to put down strife with a strong ...
— Royalty Restored - or, London under Charles II. • J. Fitzgerald Molloy

... you, sir; if you had been as much at sea as I have you would know that those clouds foretell a gale; but such a gale as I hope the Zodiac will weather without straining a timber; and, for the pirate, we must keep our weather eye open, that he does not take us unawares. Perhaps, Providence tends the storm to keep us clear of ...
— The Pirate of the Mediterranean - A Tale of the Sea • W.H.G. Kingston

... bard of nature, I have some pretensions to second sight; and I am warranted by the spirit to foretell and affirm, that your great-grand-child will hold up your volumes, and say, with honest pride, "This so much admired selection was the ...
— The Complete Works of Robert Burns: Containing his Poems, Songs, and Correspondence. • Robert Burns and Allan Cunningham

... provisions for the occupation of the city streets, payment of moneys by the city, and city supervision over construction and operation. Questions as to the interpretation of these provisions might have to be passed upon by the courts, with delays, how serious none could foretell, especially in New York where the crowded calendars retard speedy decisions. The experience of the elevated railroad corporations in building their lines had shown the uncertainty of depending upon legal precedents. It ...
— The New York Subway - Its Construction and Equipment • Anonymous

... at the end of the eighteenth century, no human wisdom could foretell the sweeping changes, alike in industrial and political conditions, which were to take place by the beginning of the twentieth century. At that time it was accepted as a matter of course that the several States were the proper authorities to regulate, so far as was then necessary, ...
— Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents - Section 2 (of 2) of Supplemental Volume: Theodore Roosevelt, Supplement • Theodore Roosevelt

... Upon their shoes the Romans wore, Whose wideness kept their toes from corns, And whence we claim our shoeing-horns, Shows how the art of cobbling bears A near resemblance to the spheres. A scrap of parchment hung by geometry (A great refinement in barometry) Can, like the stars, foretell the weather; And what is parchment else but leather? Which an astrologer might use Either for almanacs or shoes. Thus Partridge by his wit and parts At once did practise both these arts: And as the boding owl (or rather The bat, because her wings are leather) Steals ...
— English Satires • Various

... always stood for clean, pure, wholesome fiction, and helped the cause by that quality in his books, but in 'The Eyes of the World' he has made the most profound appeal of all, and who can foretell the far-reaching influence of such a ...
— The Uncrowned King • Harold Bell Wright

... lordship will deserve that praise, I need no inspiration to foretell. You have already left no room for prophecy: Your early undertakings have been such, in the service of your king and country, when you offered yourself to the most dangerous employment, that of the sea; when you chose ...
— The Works of John Dryden, Volume 5 (of 18) - Amboyna; The state of Innocence; Aureng-Zebe; All for Love • John Dryden

... Euripides, tends him back to life, and who in that Northumbrian dance could fail to recognise a rite sprung from the same primitive worship as the myths of Nemi? But if one had been able to stand beside that murderous and apprehensive priest, and to foretell to him that in future centuries, long after his form of religion had died away, far off in Britain, beside the wall of the Empire's frontier, his tragedy would thus be burlesqued by Bessy, Jack, and the doctor, one may doubt if he ...
— Essays in Rebellion • Henry W. Nevinson

... at 4.87, 4.88, 4.88-1/2, etc., for sight bills and at a higher rate for sixty-day bills. Business men who are accustomed to watching fluctuations in exchange rates use the quotations as a sort of barometer to foretell trade conditions. The imports and exports of bullion (uncoined gold) are the real test of exchange. If bullion is stationary, flowing neither into nor out of a country, its exchanges may be truly said to ...
— Up To Date Business - Home Study Circle Library Series (Volume II.) • Various

... every form of worship but the Roman Catholic, were not assumed as a basis. Now, as the people had been contending at least ten years long for constitutional rights against prerogative, and at least seven for liberty of conscience against papistry, it was easy to foretell how much effect any negotiations thus ...
— The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1555-1566 • John Lothrop Motley

... strange—an' when I find that I'm goin' to foretell any thing that's bad or unlucky, I feel great pain or uneasiness in my mind—but on the other hand, when I am to prophesy what's good, I get quite light-hearted and aisy—I'm all happiness. An' that's the way I feel now, an' has felt for the last ...
— The Black Prophet: A Tale Of Irish Famine • William Carleton

... asleep under the oak, the serpents licked his ears with their tongues. On awaking he was astonished to find that he now understood the language of birds and creeping things. This knowledge enabled him to foretell future events, and he became a renowned soothsayer. At one time his enemies took him captive and kept him strictly imprisoned. Melampus in the silence of night heard the wood-worms in the timbers talking together, and found out by what they said that the timbers were nearly ...
— TITLE • AUTHOR

... their eyes. Further, he was aware of events which had happened at a distance and could send or read dreams, since otherwise how did Nombe know what I had dreamt at Marnham's house? Lastly he could foretell the future, as once he had done in my own case, prophecying that I should be injured by a ...
— Finished • H. Rider Haggard

... Hazel. "A banshee is a ghost, that the peasants in Ireland believe in. It stands outside their windows at night and wails dismally. Its appearance is supposed to foretell the death of a member ...
— The Meadow-Brook Girls Under Canvas • Janet Aldridge

... to 1400 comes the Final or Gothic Period of the Middle Ages, and this has some very interesting features which foretell the coming ...
— A History of Art for Beginners and Students: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture - Painting • Clara Erskine Clement

... for a moment, but he had quickly recovered. Cotterill's downfall was one of those events which any person of acute intelligence can foretell after they have happened. Cotterill had run the risks of the speculative builder, built and mortgaged, built and mortgaged, sold at a profit, sold without profit, sold at a loss, and failed to sell; given bills, second mortgages, and third mortgages; and ...
— The Card, A Story Of Adventure In The Five Towns • Arnold Bennett

... removal of our own citizens), will be the consequence of their having formed close connections with both or either of those powers, in a commercial way? It needs not, in my opinion, the gift of prophecy to foretell. ...
— Washington and the American Republic, Vol. 3. • Benson J. Lossing

... meat, and he flew up and perched on her shoulder, and nestled up against her cheek, and she laughed happily and said: "Lo you, sweet, have not the wild things understood my words, and sent this fair messenger to foretell us all good?" ...
— The Well at the World's End • William Morris

... terrified him exceedingly and reduced him to still greater anxiety. I, for my part, do not credit this report, but even so it shall be told. Theodatus even before this time had been prone to make enquiries of those who professed to foretell the future, and on the present occasion he was at a loss what to do in the situation which confronted him—a state which more than anything else is accustomed to drive men to seek prophecies; so he enquired of ...
— Procopius - History of the Wars, Books V. and VI. • Procopius

... dubious, being either retarded or accelerated by circumstances of a nature incapable of entering into this moral arithmetic. It is probable that a revolution similar to that of France would have occurred in this country, had it not been counteracted by the genius of Pitt. In 1618 it was easy to foretell by the political prognostic that a mighty war throughout Europe must necessarily occur. At that moment, observes Bayle, the house of Austria aimed at a universal monarchy; the consequent domineering spirit of the ministers of the Emperor and ...
— Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 3 (of 3) • Isaac D'Israeli

... Scotland, sequestered and picturesque. It was dark before I got back, with heavy clouds and vivid lightning approaching from the south-west. The day had been very hot (3 p.m., 90 degrees), and the evening the same; but the barometer did not foretell the coming tempest, which broke with fury at 7 p.m., blowing open the doors, and accompanied with vivid lightning and heavy thunder, close by and all round, though no ...
— Himalayan Journals (Complete) • J. D. Hooker

... difficult to foretell what will be the outcome of Mr. Boissiere's effort. The offer he makes to "associates" is not very promising. Land and employment outside of the great cities are both so plentiful in this country that men who have capital enough to ...
— The Communistic Societies of the United States • Charles Nordhoff

... resembles the one which haunts me. One might say that man, ever since he has thought, has had a foreboding of, and feared a new being, stronger than himself, his successor in this world, and that, feeling him near, and not being able to foretell the nature of that master, he has, in his terror, created the whole race of hidden beings, of ...
— The Works of Guy de Maupassant, Vol. 1 (of 8) - Boule de Suif and Other Stories • Guy de Maupassant

... his eyes from the mountain—they rested on the form of Glaucus! He paused a moment: 'Why,' he muttered, 'should I hesitate? Did not the stars foretell the only crisis of imminent peril to which I was subjected?—Is not that ...
— The Last Days of Pompeii • Edward George Bulwer-Lytton

... that kites may be used by meteorologists to indicate the approach of storms, which they foretell by a sudden and continuous veering over a considerable arc, usually about sixty degrees. This veering begins usually six or seven hours before a storm, and often as much as twelve hours. And another sure sign of a storm is the continuous ...
— McClure's Magazine, March, 1896, Vol. VI., No. 4. • Various

... minute his cutlass was forced from him, and it became a hand-to-hand struggle, of which, from the difference in numbers, it was not difficult to foretell the result. Yet Kinraid made desperate efforts to free himself; he wasted no breath in words, but fought, as the men ...
— Sylvia's Lovers — Complete • Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell

... orders disregarded. Meanwhile Lord Pevensey came every day to the Marquis of Falmouth's lodgings at Deptford; and every day Lord Pevensey pointed out to the marquis's daughter that Pevensey, whose wife had died in childbirth a year back, did not intend to go into France, for nobody could foretell how long a stay, as a widower. Certainly it was ...
— O Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1919 • Various

... not," he said readily, "but now with the soldiers about it is safer. You see, the soldiers can approach the garden through the open banquet hall"—and he nodded to the colonnade behind them—"and though it is forbidden, one cannot foretell their obedience." ...
— The Palace of Darkened Windows • Mary Hastings Bradley

... will then become an eminent woman, and possess a supreme dignity; but many people will forget your kindnesses. After having astonished the world, you will die miserable. The country in which what I foretell must happen, forms a part of Celtic Gaul; and more than once, in the midst of your prosperity, you will regret the happy and peaceful life you led in the colony. At the moment you shall quit it, (but not forever,) a prodigy ...
— Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXXII No. 4, April 1848 • Various

... to be adopted at the various phases of development depend upon the then conditions. It is impossible to foretell what measures may become necessary under given circumstances. No Government, no Minister, be he ever so powerful, can foresee what circumstances may require in the next few years. All the less is it possible to foretell measures, ...
— Woman under socialism • August Bebel

... how many digits, -nor did their calculation fail; and it came to pass as they foretold; and they wrote down the rules they had found out, and these are read at this day, and out of them do others foretell in what year and month of the year, and what day of the month, and what hour of the day, and what part of its light, moon or sun is to be eclipsed, and so it shall be, as it is foreshowed. At these ...
— The Confessions of Saint Augustine • Saint Augustine

... of overcoming them, but in another, and less active form, that of endurance. And their wisdom and power were greater than the wisdom and power of the Abnakis priests, who could draw water from the clouds, and foretell the coming of tempests and storms(1). The wisdom and power of the strange beasts was very great—they were subtler than the fox or the beaver, and stronger than ...
— Traditions of the North American Indians, Vol. 2 (of 3) • James Athearn Jones

... Italian astrologer, who led his imperious spirit like a child in leading strings. Seni had read in the stars, that his master's brilliant career was not yet ended; and that bright and glorious prospects still awaited him. It was, indeed, unnecessary to consult the stars to foretell that an enemy, Gustavus Adolphus, would ere long render indispensable the services of such a ...
— The Works of Frederich Schiller in English • Frederich Schiller

... strengthened while I observe many parallel passages(1371) betwixt the vision of Ezekiel and the revelation of John; and while I remember withal, that the prophets do in many places foretell the institution of the ordinances, government and worship of the New Testament, under the terms of temple, priests, sacrifices, &c., and do set forth the deliverance and stability of the church of Christ, under the notions of Canaan, of bringing back the captivity, &c., ...
— The Works of Mr. George Gillespie (Vol. 1 of 2) • George Gillespie

... foresee and I could foretell Thy future portion, sure and well; But those passionate eyes speak true, speak true, Let them say what ...
— Browning's Heroines • Ethel Colburn Mayne

... "Who can foretell the whimsies of a selfish man?" answered the Shepherd. "He has only his own will to consider, but my opinion is he'll turn out those whose holdings lie nearest the forests and would be best for game, whatever he ...
— The Scotch Twins • Lucy Fitch Perkins

... opaque stone, some into mirrors, and many into some form of crystal or a glass ball. Indeed, the "gazer" seems to be quite independent as to the medium of his sight-seeing, so long as he has the "power." This "power" is put also to a great variety of uses. Australian savages depend on it to foretell the outcome of an attack on their enemies; Apaches resort to it to discover the whereabouts of things lost or stolen; and Malagasies, Zulus, and Siberians" to see what will happen. "Perhaps its most general use has been to discover lost objects, and in this practice the ...
— The Story of the Mormons: • William Alexander Linn

... means of destroying it, but would vanish all hope of its peaceable reconstruction. Besides, in the fraternal conflict a vast amount of blood and treasure would be expended, rendering future reconciliation between the States impossible. In the meantime, who can foretell what would be the sufferings and privations of the people ...
— Complete State of the Union Addresses from 1790 to the Present • Various

... days later that a list of eighty had been prepared for dismissal. What evil genius averted this benefit to the country, the War Department best knows. It required no vision of the night, nor gift of soothsaying, to foretell the trouble that would result from allowing officers in important positions to remain in the army, who were under the strongest obligations to the General removed, devotedly attached to him, and completely identified with, and ...
— Red-Tape and Pigeon-Hole Generals - As Seen From the Ranks During a Campaign in the Army of the Potomac • William H. Armstrong

... prophecies. Prophecy is a declaration of something to come; a prediction of future events. It is the foretelling of such future things as were beyond the reach of human sagacity, and which, therefore, none but God could reveal. What mere man can foretell the events of to-morrow? Who can say what shall transpire in ages to come? This is the sole prerogative of God, who alone knows the end from the beginning. Now the Bible abounds with predictions which were uttered long before their actual fulfillment, and which no human sagacity or foresight ...
— Museum of Antiquity - A Description of Ancient Life • L. W. Yaggy

... the Constitution should "be submitted to a convention of delegates chosen in each state by the people thereof." This was nothing less than indirect ratification by the people; and, since it was impossible to foretell in advance which of the States would or would not ratify, the original draft of "We, the People of the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island,..." was changed to the phrase "We, the People of the ...
— The Fathers of the Constitution - Volume 13 in The Chronicles Of America Series • Max Farrand

... too, which thou dost know— Straight to my grave will flowers and spices bring, With lights and hymns, and for an offering There vow this truth, that love—which in old times Was censur'd blind, and will contract worse crimes If hearts mend not—did for thy sake in me Find both his eyes, and all foretell and see. ...
— Poems of Henry Vaughan, Silurist, Volume II • Henry Vaughan

... Gentiles. The Agrippine, the European, and Erythrean are armed with the sword; the Phrygian bears the Paschal cross; the Hellespontine presents a rose tree in flower; the others display the visible signs of the mystery they foretell: the Cumaean a manger; the Delphian, the Samian, the Tiburtine, the Cimmerian a crown of thorns, a sceptre of ...
— The Life of Joan of Arc, Vol. 1 and 2 (of 2) • Anatole France

... roaring sea. From the west, bluish-black rain-clouds sweep up and open their sluice-gates. Is the albatross hindered in his flight by the rain which pelts violently down on his back and wings? Well, yes, he must certainly be delayed, but he can foretell the weather with certainty enough to keep clear, and he is swift enough on the wing to make his escape when overtaken by rain. And he can always descend, fold his pinions, and ...
— From Pole to Pole - A Book for Young People • Sven Anders Hedin

... though he had neglected his work the whole day, he now gave it no attention. He sat at his desk and thought of Maggie: tried to think of what she was going to do. Her situation was so complicated with big elements which she would have to handle that he could not foretell just what her course would be. It was a terrific situation for a young woman, who was after all just a very young girl, to face alone. But there was nothing for him but to wait for news from her. And she had not said even that she would ever ...
— Children of the Whirlwind • Leroy Scott

... when he could be most engagingly pleasant. He was courteous, on occasion, with all the beautiful manners that, we are told, are yielding so sadly before the spread of education and the speed of motor-cars—you never could foretell the guest that he would prefer, and it was nothing to him that here was an aunt, an uncle, or a grandfather who must be placated, and there an uninvited, undesired caller who mattered nothing at all. Mr. Scarlett's father he offended ...
— The Golden Scarecrow • Hugh Walpole

... possessed of a good barometer they would have been able to foretell what was coming without supernatural gifts; but Messrs. Denham, Crumps, and Company were economical in their tendencies, and deemed barometers superfluous. Being, to some extent, ignorant of nautical affairs (as well as of scientific), ...
— The Lifeboat • R.M. Ballantyne

... the name of saint? And who, if by that sagacity which comes from the combination of intellect and virtue, he sometimes seemed miraculously to foretell coming events, would deny him the name ...
— The Roman and the Teuton - A Series of Lectures delivered before the University of Cambridge • Charles Kingsley

... and relate innumerable fabulous Tales, some of which have a kind of Analogy with the Universal Deluge. These Barbarians believe that there are certain Spirits in the Air, between Heaven and Earth, who have a power to foretell future Events, and others who play the part of Physicians, curing all sorts of Distempers. Upon which account, it happens, that these Savages are very Superstitious, and consult their Oracles with a great ...
— The Mide'wiwin or "Grand Medicine Society" of the Ojibwa • Walter James Hoffman

... contest with the Romans both by sea and land, in Asia, and for Asia itself; and must either wrest the power from those who grasped at the empire of the world, or lose his own dominions." He seemed to be the only person who could foresee, and honestly foretell, what was to happen. The king, therefore, with the ships which were equipped and in readiness, sailed to the Chersonesus, in order to strengthen the places there with garrisons, lest the Romans should happen to come by land. He left ...
— History of Rome, Vol III • Titus Livius

... It was impossible to foretell, of course, what obstacles to the carrying out of this daring proposal would arise. Both boys felt certain, however, that so far they were not suspected, and that first Jack and then Frank had successfully thwarted the attempt of Morales to send a ...
— The Radio Boys on the Mexican Border • Gerald Breckenridge

... redskins would creep stealthily upon some outlying seigneury, butcher its people, burn everything in sight, and then decamp swiftly to their forest lairs. The colonial authorities, helpless to guard their entire frontiers and unable to foretell where the next blow would fall, endured the terrors of this situation for many years. In utter desperation they at length called on the king for a regiment of trained troops as the nucleus of a punitive expedition. The Iroquois would be tracked to their own villages and there given ...
— The Seigneurs of Old Canada: - A Chronicle of New-World Feudalism • William Bennett Munro

... is I have scarcely time to say or write a word. I am busily employed in getting the cash, or else Ned's almanac for March will foretell falsely. ...
— Samuel F. B. Morse, His Letters and Journals - In Two Volumes, Volume I. • Samuel F. B. Morse

... second time, did Merlin foretell the coming of King Arthur. And Uther, when he was made king, remembered Merlin's words, and caused two dragons to be made in gold, in likeness of the dragon he had seen in the star. One of these he gave to Winchester Cathedral, ...
— The Legends Of King Arthur And His Knights • James Knowles

... over silver sleeping seas. Youth and I and Love together! Other times and other themes Come to me unsung, unwept for, through the faded evening gleams: Come to me and touch me mutely—I that looked and longed so well, Shall I look and yet forget them?—who may know or who foretell? Though the southern wind roams, shadowed with its immemorial grief, Where the frosty wings of Winter leave their whiteness ...
— The Poems of Henry Kendall • Henry Kendall

... and found the star Was something like a bird. It hovered just above the trees— They feared, for they had heard From their forefathers that it might A bloody war foretell, And over them a silent ...
— Indian Legends of Minnesota • Various

... Keferinis, 'is entirely an affair of the future; nor is it in any way to be disputed that there are few men who do not find it more difficult to foretell what is to happen than to remember what ...
— Tancred - Or, The New Crusade • Benjamin Disraeli

... Political conditions may not be gainsaid. A nation which has once lost its ideals cannot again produce a fresh, strong, and manly literature. But the possibilities of literature remain immense, and we cannot foretell in what country it may not revive and win fresh triumphs. Hence it is that while the political fortunes of a nation seem to move mainly along the three straight lines of ascent, enjoyment, and fall, its literary ...
— Fifteenth Century Prose and Verse • Various

... time from the coast. Recalling that Thomas Jefferson's home was on the frontier, at the edge of the Blue Ridge, we perceive that these names represent the militant expansive movement in American life. They foretell the settlement across the Alleghanies in Kentucky and Tennessee; the Louisiana Purchase, and Lewis and Clark's transcontinental exploration; the conquest of the Gulf Plains in the War of 1812-15; ...
— The Frontier in American History • Frederick Jackson Turner

... of course impossible to foretell the general feeling among the members of the council in regard to the demands of the Turquoise people. The Shkuy Chayan and the Koshare Naua had declared themselves favourable to their pretensions, but on the other hand ...
— The Delight Makers • Adolf Bandelier

... sparkling after its morning rain-bath, and showing along its green ridges those first, faint signs of yellow that foretell a coming ripeness, the grass-mantled prairie lay beneath the warm noon sun. The little girl, cantering over it toward the sod shanty on the farther river bluffs, frightened the trilling meadow-larks, as she passed, from their perch on the dripping sunflowers, ...
— The Biography of a Prairie Girl • Eleanor Gates

... eclipses, which no one could foretell, the Sun-King steadily followed his course round the world, according to laws which even his will could not change. Day after day he made his oblique ascent from east to south, thence to descend ...
— History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 1 (of 12) • G. Maspero

... his commentaries of those countries, of all nations they are most superstitious, and much tormented in this kind, attributing so much to their divinators, ut ipse metus fidem faciat, that fear itself and conceit, cause it to [2357]fall out: If he foretell sickness such a day, that very time they will be sick, vi metus afflicti in aegritudinem cadunt; and many times die as it is foretold. A true saying, Timor mortis, morte pejor, the fear of death is worse than death itself, and the memory of that sad hour, to some fortunate and ...
— The Anatomy of Melancholy • Democritus Junior

... Serpollet is still too new to foretell all its possible applications, but their apparatus, in its present form, is exactly the steam generator which will be useful for producing a small motive force; while it will be necessary to wait until it has been ascertained, by further study, how the system can economically ...
— Scientific American Supplement, No. 664, September 22,1888 • Various

... affirm the contrary, is to make the law of nature supernatural, which is an impossibility. Yea, they that do so make it a predictor, a prophet; a prophet about divine things to come; yea, a prophet able to foretell what shall be, and that without a revelation; which is a strain that never yet ...
— The Works of John Bunyan • John Bunyan

... years past there have been rumors more or less definite in character that a young lady in Brooklyn was not only living without food, but was possessed of some mysterious faculty by which she could foretell events, read communications without the aid of the eyes, and accurately describe occurrences in distant places, through clairvoyance or whatever other name may be applied ...
— Fasting Girls - Their Physiology and Pathology • William Alexander Hammond

... son of Hagnias, left the Siphaean people of the Thespians, well skilled to foretell the rising wave on the broad sea, and well skilled to infer from sun and star the stormy winds and the time for sailing. Tritonian Athena herself urged him to join the band of chiefs, and he came ...
— The Argonautica • Apollonius Rhodius

... tread, Sinks in the wailing for the dead. O well for me, if mine alone That dirge's deep prophetic tone! If, as my tuneful fathers said, 130 This harp, which erst Saint Modan swayed, Can thus its master's fate foretell, Then welcome be ...
— Lady of the Lake • Sir Walter Scott

... so very glad, Arnold," she said, "so very glad that the days of your loneliness are over. Now you will be able to go and take some comfortable rooms somewhere and make the sort of friends you ought to have. Didn't I always foretell it?" she went on. "I used to try and fancy sometimes that the ships we saw were bringing treasure for me, too, but I never really believed that. It ...
— The Lighted Way • E. Phillips Oppenheim

... a dry foot-way. For why? My heart with sighs doth breathe such flame That air and water both incensed be, The boundless ocean from whose mouth they came, For from my heat not heaven itself is free. Then since to me thy loss can be no gain, Avoid thy harm and fly what I foretell. Make thou thy love with me for to be slain, That I with her and both with thee may dwell. Thy fact thus, Charon, both of us shall bless, Thou save thy boat and ...
— Elizabethan Sonnet Cycles - Phillis - Licia • Thomas Lodge and Giles Fletcher

... outlived the vigor of its prime; surrounded by a Europe containing nothing grand, unless it be Napoleon on one side and Pitt on the other, genius degraded to minister to egotism; intellect bound to the service of the past. No seer exists to foretell the future: belief is extinct; there is only its pretence: prayer is no more; there is only a movement of the lips at a fixed day or hour, for the sake of the family, or what is called the people; love is no more; desire has taken its place; the holy warfare of ideas is abandoned; ...
— Literary and Philosophical Essays • Various

... that these stars, being powerful deities, had determining influence on the lives of men. Every man comes into the world under the influence of a planet and this moment decides his destiny; one may foretell one's fortune if the star under which one is born is known. This is the origin of the horoscope. What occurs in heaven is indicative of what will come to pass on earth; a comet, for example, announces a revolution. By observing the heavens the Chaldean ...
— History Of Ancient Civilization • Charles Seignobos

... the tribe which gods to worship on special occasions. The priests being accredited with a superior knowledge of the ways of the gods, they were required to influence the wind and rain, to cause good growth, to ensure success in hunting and fishing, to cure illness, to foretell the future, to work harm ...
— Human Traits and their Social Significance • Irwin Edman

... Haven't I been telling you that I've been having that queer sense that all this has happened before? Didn't I suddenly begin— as though compelled by some unseen power—to foretell things? Didn't I prophesy the coming of this cross-town car? Didn't I even name its color before it came into sight? Didn't I warn you that I'd probably get into it? Didn't I reveal to you that a big straw hat and ...
— The Green Mouse • Robert W. Chambers

... War, she emulates The Arts of Peace, as well: Religion, Order, guard her gates; Wealth, Culture, Thrift, like happy Fates, Her destinies foretell. ...
— The Bay State Monthly, Vol. II, No. 6, March, 1885 - A Massachusetts Magazine • Various

... "That fate I foretell for thee, Tardy," said he, "that thou wilt not die in chamber smoke, yet may be withal thou wilt not die of eld; but it is strangely done to speak scorn ...
— The Story of Grettir The Strong • Translated by Eirikr Magnusson and William Morris

... be a new birth of the Ancient Religion. And I did not venture to pronounce upon it. "About the future, we have no prospect before our minds whatever, good or bad. Ever since that great luminary, Augustine, proved to be the last bishop of Hippo, Christians have had a lesson against attempting to foretell, how Providence will prosper and" [or?] "bring to an end, what it begins." Perhaps the lately-revived principles would prevail in the Anglican Church; perhaps they would be lost in some miserable schism, or some more miserable compromise; but there was nothing rash in venturing to predict that ...
— Apologia Pro Vita Sua • John Henry Cardinal Newman

... some that tea-leaves can foretell the events for twenty-four hours only. As clairvoyance has no restrictions as to time or space, I cannot see how it can be thus laid down as a fact that it is limited to man-made laws of time! Certainly there is much evidence of the ...
— Telling Fortunes By Tea Leaves • Cicely Kent

... and are sane a part or most of the time. The periods of sanity and insanity can be distinguished only by conduct. How far any specific insanity may impair the brain and affect the inhibitions, is impossible to foretell. ...
— Crime: Its Cause and Treatment • Clarence Darrow

... meaning. The stream, the whispering boughs, the rising breeze in the tree-tops joined in the soft chorus of their nuptial-song. The night fell, shrouded in mystery. Behind them over their shoulders a new moon rose, a harbinger of good fortune, but they did not turn to look at it. It could not foretell them a fortune that was already theirs. Its light flowed through the shadows, paling the silhouette of the leaves against the afterglow, bathing them both in liquid silver. He told her many of the things that she already knew, but each reiteration had a new meaning and a new delight. The ...
— Madcap • George Gibbs

... horoscope is an instrument for viewing the heavens at the hour of one's birth, by which the astrologers professed to foretell the events of ...
— Orthography - As Outlined in the State Course of Study for Illinois • Elmer W. Cavins

... of Nations! Who may see The outcome, or foretell the end? Hark men and weeping women, misery That none may mend. Ruin in peaceful marts, Dazed commerce, stricken arts. God, to the ...
— New York Times Current History: The European War, Vol 2, No. 1, April, 1915 - April-September, 1915 • Various

... sins of a former birth fail to checkmate all these machinations, and that the new arrival actually finds himself swimming in the unfathomed bliss of a belt with a brass plate, and a princely income of seven Queen's rupees every month, who could foretell that almost before a year has passed he will again be floundering in the mire of disappointed ambition? Yet so it is. He hears of another Chupprassee with only eleven months' service against his twelve, who has been promoted to eight rupees, and immediately ...
— Behind the Bungalow • EHA

... such condition of a plurality of vessels occurs in consequence of a high division of the brachial artery. Each of these variations from the normal type is more or less frequent; and though it certainly is of practical import to bear them in mind, still, as we never can foretell their occurrence by a superficial examination of the limb, or pronounce them to be present till we actually encounter them in operation, it is only when we find them that we commence to reason upon the facts; but even at this crisis the knowledge of their anatomy may ...
— Surgical Anatomy • Joseph Maclise

... the blooming garland of the spring Around the sapless trunks of wither'd oaks— The night, methinks, grows ruder than it was, Thus should it be, thus nature should be shock'd, And Prodigies, affrighting all mankind, Foretell the dreadful business I intend. The earth should gape, and swallow cities up, Shake from their haughty heights aspiring tow'rs, And level mountains with the vales below; The Sun amaz'd should frown in dark eclipse, And light retire to its unclouded heav'n; While darkness, ...
— The Prince of Parthia - A Tragedy • Thomas Godfrey

... with the ever-deepening river flowing out of it, is as mystic as the amazing cherubim which the prophet seeks, but apparently fails, to describe. The prophecies of Daniel were written long after the events they pretend to foretell. From Genesis to Malachi the Old Testament is in reality the mixed history of a tribal people with a national god whose attributes and demands are no more authentic and authoritative than those of the ...
— Why I Preach the Second Coming • Isaac Massey Haldeman

... circumstances in which Rose was now placed, though it might be more reputable that her niece should quit the islets as the wife of Harry than as his betrothed. Then Mulford still apprehended Spike. In that remote part of the world, almost beyond the confines of society, it was not easy to foretell what claims he might set up, in the event of his meeting them there. Armed with the authority of a husband, Mulford could resist him, in any such case, with far better prospects of success than if he should appear only in the character of ...
— Jack Tier or The Florida Reef • James Fenimore Cooper

... so bravely, and might have maintained his position as the greatest cock of the dunghill without sorrow to the homes of his people, and desolation into the land of his long tried and most dependable friend. Who can foretell the ways of a ...
— The Adventures of My Cousin Smooth • Timothy Templeton

... document were to get to a certain Embassy in London no one can foretell the calamitous results. It might even result in another war, if not now certainly later. It was, I should explain, of a private and confidential nature, and consequently ...
— Malcolm Sage, Detective • Herbert George Jenkins

... yet a youth, expounded well The boding dream, and did the event foretell; Judged by the past, and drew the Parallel. Thus early Solomon the truth explored, The right awarded, and the babe restored. Thus Daniel, ere to prophecy he grew, The perjured Presbyters did first subdue, And freed Susanna from ...
— The Poetical Works of John Dryden, Vol II - With Life, Critical Dissertation, and Explanatory Notes • John Dryden

... the golden-haired leader, Thousands and thousands flings onward, as if he sent Merely a meek interceder. Steadily sure his division advances, Gay as the light on its weapons that dances. Agonized screams of the shell The doom that it carries foretell: Rifle-balls whistle, like sea-birds singing; Limbs are severed, and souls set winging; Yet Pickett's warriors never waver. Show me in all the world anything braver Than the bold sweep of his fearless battalions, Three half-miles over ground unsheltered Up to the cannon, ...
— Dreams and Days: Poems • George Parsons Lathrop



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