prophecy not as a science but as an art.  That the 30th of April will be “showery” I agree, but how does he know that there will be “high wind and lightning” on the 21st of December?  I am also somewhat puzzled as to the means by which he arrives at the conclusions set forth in his “every-day” guide for each day in the year.  I can myself prophesy what you will do on each day, but I cannot, as he does, prophesy what you ought to do.  This introduces an ethical element which is beyond my scope or horoscope.  We need not quarrel with him when he dismisses the 1st of January as “an unimportant day,” but when he bids us on the 2nd of January “court, marry, and deal with females,” we may reasonably ask:  “Why?” His advice for the 3rd is more acceptable.  “Be careful,” he says, “until 1 P.M. then seek work and push thy business.”  That is about the time of day one prefers to begin to “seek work”; would there were more days in the calendar like the 3rd of January.  Some saint must have it in his keeping.  On the 7th, however, it will be safer to abstain from work altogether.  Raphael says:  “A very unfortunate P.M. and evening for most purposes.  Court and deal with females.”  Sunday, the 9th, is better.  “Ask favours,” he says, “in the P.M., and court.”  Though January is less than half gone, I confess I am getting a little breathless with so much courting.  Raphael probably recognises this, and a note of caution creeps into his advice on the 13th, on which he bids us “court and marry in the morning, then be careful.”  By the 18th, however, he is his old self again.  “Court,” he says cheerfully, “marry and ask favours and push ahead.”  Then come one rather careful day and two unfortunate ones, till on the 22nd, in a burst of exuberance, he offers us the day of our lives.  “Deal with others,” he exhorts us, “and push thy business, seek work, travel, court, marry, buy and speculate.”  I doubt if all this can be crowded into twenty-four hours outside The Arabian Nights.  Besides, as a result of following Raphael’s advice, we are already bigamists several times over, and have become sick of the sight of a Registry Office.  By the end of the month even Raphael shows signs of being a little weary of his scarcely veiled incitements to Bluebeardism.  For the 29th he advises:  “Avoid females and be very careful,” and for the 30th, which is a Sunday:  “Avoid females and superiors.”  I should just about think so.

We need not follow Raphael through the rest of the year.  It is enough to say that he keeps us busy courting, marrying, seeking work, being careful, travelling, speculating, pushing ahead, and avoiding females right down till the end of December.  He occasionally varies his formula, as when on the 6th of April he bids us:  “Do not quarrel.  Be quiet,” and when, on the 23rd of June, he advises:  “Ask favours of females, and travel.”  On the whole however, his recommendations leave us with a sense of the desperate monotony of human existence.