many of their prophecies should be fulfilled, and then finding themselves deceived by contrary events. It is indeed to be admired how any deceiver can be so weak to foretell things near at hand, when a very few months must of necessity discover the imposture to all the world; in this point less prudent than common almanac-makers, who are so wise to wander in generals and talk dubiously, and leave to the reader the business of interpreting. On the 1st of this month a French general will be killed by a random shot of a cannon-ball. On the 6th, a fire will break out in the suburbs of Paris, which will destroy above a thousand houses, and seems to be the foreboding of what will happen, to the surprise of all Europe, about the end of the following month. On the 10th, a great battle will be fought, which will begin at four o'clock in the afternoon and last till nine at night, with great obstinacy, but no very decisive event. I shall not name the place for the reasons aforesaid, but the commanders on each left wing will be killed. I see bonfires and hear the noise of guns for a victory. On the 14th, there will be a false report of the French king's death, On the 20th, Cardinal Portocarero will die of a dysentery with great suspicion of poison; but the report of his intention to revolt to King Charles will prove false. July. The 6th of this month, a certain general will, by a glorious action, recover the reputation he lost by former misfortunes. On the 12th, a great commander will die a prisoner in the hands of his enemies. On the 14th, a shameful discovery will be made of a French Jesuit giving poison to a great foreign general; and when he is put to the torture, he will make wonderful discoveries. occasioned several publications in and about 1708 by Sir Richard Bulkeley, Dr. Woodward, John Lacy, Esq., Mr. Henry Nicholson, and others. Dr. Berkeley, afterwards Bishop of Cloyne, saw a Jesuit at Rome who acknowledged himself to have been one of these prophets.-Nichols. In short, this will prove a month of great action, if I might have liberty to relate the particulars. At home, the death of an old famous senator will happen on the 15th at his country-house, worn out with age and diseases. But that which will make this month memorable to all posterity is the death of the French king, Louis XIV., after a week's sickness at Marli, which will happen on the 29th, about six o'clock in the evening. It seems to be an effect of the gout in the stomach followed by a flux. And in three days after, Monsieur Chamillard will follow his master, dying suddenly of an apoplexy. In this month likewise an ambassador will die in London, but I cannot assign the day. August.—The affairs of France will seem to suffer no change for a while under the Duke of Burgundy's administration; but the genius that animated the whole machine being gone, will be the cause of mighty turns and revolutions in the following year. The new king makes yet little change either in the army or the Ministry, but the libels against his grandfather, that fly about his very court, give him uneasiness. I see an express in mighty haste, with joy and wonder in his looks, arriving by break of day on the 26th of this month, having travelled in three days a prodigious journey by land and sea. In the evening I hear bells and guns and see the blazing of a thousand bonfires. A young admiral of noble birth does likewise this month gain immortal honour by a great achievement. The affairs of Poland are this month entirely settled. Augustus resigns his pretensions, which he had again taken up for some time; Stanislaus is peaceably possessed of the throne, and the king of Sweden declares for the Emperor. I cannot omit one particular accident here at home, that near the end of this month much mischief will be done at Bartholomew Fair by the fall of a booth. September. This month begins with a very surprising fit of frosty weather, which will last near twelve days. The Pope having long languished last month, the swellings in his legs breaking and the flesh mortifying, will die on the 11th instant; and in three weeks' time, after a mighty contest, be succeeded by a cardinal of the Imperial faction, but a native of Tuscany, who is now about sixty-one years old. The French army now acts wholly on the defensive, strongly fortified in their trenches; and the young French king sends overtures for a treaty of peace by the Duke of Mantua; which, because it is a matter of state that concerns us here at home, Į shall speak no further of. I shall add but one prediction more, and that in mystical terms, which shall be included in a verse out of Virgil— "Alter erit jam Tethys, et altera quæ vehat Argo Delectos heroas." Upon the 25th day of this month, the fulfilling of this prediction will be manifest to everybody. This is the furthest I have proceeded in my calculations for the present year. I do not pretend that these are all the great events which will happen in this period, but that those I have set down will infallibly come to pass. It will perhaps still be objected why I have not spoke more particularly of affairs at home or of the success of our armies abroad, which I might and could very largely have done; but those in power have wisely discouraged men from meddling in public concerns, and I was resolved by no means to give the least offence. This I will venture to say, that it will be a glorious campaign for the Allies, wherein the English forces, both by sea and land, still have their full share of honour; that her Majesty Queen Anne will continue in health and prosperity; and that no ill accident will arrive to any in the chief Ministry. As to the particular events I have mentioned, the reader may judge by the fulfilling of them whether I am on the level with common astrologers, who, with an old paltry cant and a few pothooks for planets to amuse the vulgar, have, in my opinion, too long been suffered to abuse the world; but an honest physician ought not to be despised because there are such things as mounte banks. I hope I have some share of reputation, which I would not willingly forfeit for a frolic or humour, and I believe no gentleman who reads this paper will look upon it to be of the same cast or mould with the common scribbles that are every day hawked about. My fortune has placed me above the little regard of writing for a few pence, which I neither value nor want; therefore let not wise men too hastily condemn this essay, intended for a good design, to cultivate and improve an ancient art, long in disgrace by having fallen into mean, unskilful hands. A little time will determine whether I have deceived others or myself; and I think it no very unreasonable request that men would please to suspend their judgments till then. I was once of the opinion with those who despise all predictions from the stars, till the year 1686 a man of quality showed me, written in his album, that the most learned astronomer, Captain Halley, assured him he would never believe anything of the stars' influence if there were not a great revolution in England in the year 1688. Since that time I began to have other thoughts, and after eighteen years' diligent study and application, I think I have no reason to repent of my pains. I shall detain the reader no longer than to let him know that the account I design to give of next year's events shall take in the principal affairs that happened in Europe, and if I be denied the liberty of offering it to my own country, I shall appeal to the learned world by publishing it in Latin, and giving order to have it printed in Holland. ΑΝ ANSWER TO BICKERSTAFF. SOME REFLECTIONS UPON MR. BICKERSTAFF'S BY A PERSON OF QUALITY. I HAVE not observed for some years past any insignificant paper to have made more noise or be more greedily bought than that of these Predictions. They are the wonder of the common people, an amusement for the better sort, and a jest only to the wise; yet among these last I have heard some very much in doubt whether the author meant to deceive others, or is deceived himself. Whoever he was, he seems to have with great art adjusted his paper both to please the rabble and to entertain persons of condition. The writer is without question a gentleman of wit and learning, although the piece seems hastily written in a sudden frolic, with the scornful thought of the pleasure he will have in putting this great town into a wonderment about nothing; nor do I doubt but he and his friends in the secret laugh often and plentifully in a corner to reflect how many hundred thousand fools they have already made. And he has them fast for some time; for so they are likely to continue until his prophecies begin to fail in the events. Nay, it is a great question whether the miscarriage of the two or three first will so entirely undeceive people as to hinder them from expecting the accomplishment of the rest. I doubt not but some thousands of these papers are carefully preserved by as many persons to confront with the |