years afterwards, by the massacre of St. Bar tholomew; En grande citó, qui n'a pain qu'a demy, But unluckily, in another quatrain, he foretold that in 1707, the Turks would conquer the northern parts of Europe, not foreseeing Prince Eugene. The couplet I have quoted, might, with the usual latitude of appropriating predictions, be applied to later occurrences, as some degree of similarity in the course of human affairs must often recur, when miracles are out of the question. But to shew how easily the rank of prophet may be thus obtained, I shall quote a passage from Camerarius's Horæ Subcisivæ, my edition of which was published one hundred and thirty-six years ago, which bears more minute characters of resemblance to recent events, than any thing I have met with; "Ne exempla tam longè petamus quid obsecro non perpessi sunt homines miseri nuper in carnificinis Gallicis, præser tim Lutetiana? Quid enim vulgus, veluti ludos ageret, quibus humanus sanguis effunderetur, sævitiæ, crudelitatis, libidinis, turpitudinis, ignominiæ, tam in eos qui neci destinati erant, quam in alios qui pro innoxiis habebantur, et quidam non solum erga vivos, sed erga mortuos etiam, non habita ratione ætatis, dignitatis, conditionis, aut sexus, omisit? We can more easily pardon this tribute to those works, which are the pride and delight of all ages, when we consider the signs and conditions annexed to the character of a prophet, during the prevalence of the heathen mythology, and tacitly acknowledged by those who pay attention to the ravings of Brothers, or the Cheshire boy, among ourselves. When frenzy and imposture usurp the regard, which is only due to the oracles of truth, it becomes interesting to know the source of a delusion, capable of existing among any class of men, in ages which boast the possession of true religion. The state of mind in which men were anciently supposed to acquire a knowledge of futurity, was formed by dreaming, drunkenness, madness, epilepsy, or the approach of death. In one word, delirium was the characteristic of a prophet: we cannot be at a loss for that of his admirers. The Platonic philosophers of the eclectic class, thought that predictions were communicated during sleep, or immediately on awaking, by low voices.* This is now a very prevalent vulgar error, though undoubtly of Platonic descent. In the ecsta sy, which may be considered as a morbid state, a number of objects is obtruded on the prophet's senses, from which he can seldom form any conjecture. Such was the celebrated vision of Arise Evans,† in which he saw the restoration and succession of monarchy in this country delineated in the palm of his hand, without being able to deduce more from it, than that after four reigns * Brucker. tom. ii. p. 444. + Appendix to the first volume of Jortin's Remarks on Ecclesiastical History. there would be a change of blood.* In all these operations the genius acts; the prophet is passive, and generally ignorant. It appears not improbable, that an intoxicating potion was given to the Pythia, by way of ensuring the strength of her ecstasy. There seems to have been some tra * I have in my possession a small tract by this man, written in 1656, to prove that Charles 11. was the Messiah, destined to restore the Jews, in which is a prediction still more circum. stantial and remarkable; "But I say, he that lives five years to an end, shall see King Charles Stuart flourish on his throne, to the amazement of all the world, for God will bring him in without bloodshed." Light to the Jews, p. 5. But mark the juggling of this fellow. This egregious prophecy, though said to be printed in 1656 on the second title-page, was in reality, only published in 1664, four years after the event. In this instance, therefore, he was clearly guilty of imposture. Prophecies, at that time, were party-matters. Evans prophesied for the Royalists; Lilly, a more successful knave, for the republicans. + The Pythia always drank, before she placed herself on the Tripod. ditionary knowledge handed down on this subject, for in Dr. Harsnett, Archbishop of York's Discovery of Popish Impostures, the girls who were exorcised had delirium excited, by nauseous potions and fumigations. Delirious exclamations, in certain diseases, have been received as indications of future events; hence it has become necessary for those who aspired to the character of prophets, to make the multitude believe them to be afflicted with those diseases.* Lucian's Alexander learnt the art of frothing at the mouth, and the mob, as Lucian tells us, held his froth to be sacred. Epileptic complaints have certainly been familiar to men of great talents: Cæsar, Peter 1., and several others of distinguished merit, were subject to epi *Even philosophers, of the mystic class, have thought the imputation of madness an addition to their fame. *** Porphyrius se secreto multa mysterio ex divino afflatu interdum disseruisse, ideoque PRO FURENTE habitum fuisse JACTAT.” Brucker. Hist. Crit. Philos. tom. ii. p. 245. |