'self to prayer, and most ardently beseeched God not to suffer his church to be deceived: This was the practice which I adopted, rising frequently from my bed in the night and prostrating 'myself upon my face. But at length, after all my musings ' and divine suggestions, I have nothing more than this to say on the subject-The Lord God of the holy prophets hath sent 'his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done!', which are the very expressions that the angel employed in the 22nd Chap. of the REVELATIONS."-This is as dangerous an instance of tempting God, as that recorded concerning the bigotted Festus Hommius, who asked the Divine Being to shew him whether Arminianism or Calvinism was the truth, and who, after a single prayer to this effect, received what he interpreted into a supernatural intimation to persevere steadfastly in those opinions which were generally received, that is, in those of Calvin!!

*

Comenius says, at that period, in 1626, the dowager Electress Juliana, the mother of King Frederic, informed a Moravian nobleman of high distinction, who as well as herself was then a refugee in Berlin, that she had received a letter from the king her son, enquiring whether it was possible to obtain a manuscript copy of the prophecies of the Silesian. The nobleman procured one; but not being able to present it himself on account of indisposition, he commissioned Comenius, who was still at Berlin, to perform that service for him. Instead of delivering it into the hands of the old Electress, Comenius proceeded without delay to King Frederic at the Hague, from whom he obtained an audience, and delivered a luminous speech, of which the following is an extract: Since all the prognostica'tions of Kotter have been committed to writing, and since in 'them your Majesty and your royal offspring are introduced as ⚫ the principal personages of this Divine Comedy, it seemed an absurdity to those persons who have till now preserved these 'prophecies in their own hands-to withhold them from the knowledge of your majesty. They are not, however, delivered to your Majesty with the design of imposing upon you a 'necessity of absolutely believing them, but for these two pur-" 'poses: FIRST.-That they may be preserved in your majesty's possession as in sacred archives, to be produced at somet future period as a testimony; in that case, after these predictions have been completely and openly fulfilled, it will not be in the power of any man to suspect, or calumniously to report, that they had been formed subsequently to the occurrence of the events predicted. SECONDLY.-That an opportunity may be 'thus afforded to you of observing, whether it is not probable 'that Divine Providence may dispose of such concerns as these, ' and mature them into events. For if we do not refuse to lis

* The Works of Arminius, vol. 1, p. 405.

'ten to political disquisitions, astrological predictions, or simi'lar conjectures of men of prudence, and to learn what their 'sentiments are respecting any impending change in public 'affairs, why should we reject these prophecies which are derived from a HIGHER ORIGIN? The persons therefore, in whose custody they were, have taken the liberty to transcribe from the authentic manuscript an exact copy which they now pre'sent by me to your majesty with their most humble and respectful services'-Being the bearer of such golden promises as these, Comenius was graciously received by the Ex-King Frederic, and dismissed with a handsome present.

Comenius was invited by the English Parliament, in 1641, to assist in the reformation of the public schools of this kingdom; but, on his arrival in London, he found his patrons too much occupied with the ebullition of the political troubles which had then begun to display themselves. The knowledge, however, which he then gained of our domestic affairs, was of service to him in his subsequent prophetic enterprizes. In 1657, he published at Amsterdam, where he then resided under the patronage of the opulent house of DE GEER, a large collection of prophecies entitled, Lux in Tenebris, "Light in Darkness." This book contained Kotter's prophecies, those of Christina Poniatovia, a female enthusiast, and those of Nicholas Drabicius, a minister and prophet in Moravia: It promised miracles to those heroes who should engage in the extirpation of the House of Austria and the Pope. Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, Cromwell in England, and Ragotski of Transylvania, were among the number of the mighty warriors, to whom Comenius, in this and subsequent extravagant publications, promised the high honour of achieving splendid triumphs for the establishment of Calvinism, which should become the universal religion, and be made a praise in the earth.

I was gratified to find from Comenius's own account, that a few of the Bohemian ministers disapproved of the promulgation of Kotter's early Revelations. "Two of these ministers, with some of the elders of their church, requested that the manuscript might be suppressed, whether it was the fiction of some ingenious man, or the production of a fanatic. It was dangerous for two reasons: FIRST. It was injurious to the consciences of men, if they suffered themselves to be seduced by it from the sure word of God, to uncertain figments of this description. SECONDLY.-It exposed the Reformed to the loss of their liberties or their lives, if such predictions should fall into the hands of their adversaries."-The Professor Nicholas Arnold, to whom we have already alluded, page 198, wrote an able reply to the second production of Comenius, and shewed the extreme

jeopardy in which he had most reprehensibly placed all the Reformed in Bohemia, Silesia, Poland, &c.-The famous Maresius of Groningen also answered Comenius in 1657, and described him as "not deficient in genius, but a fanatic, a visionary, and an enthusiast in folio, who pretended, that the prophecies of Drabicius would furnish labour for all the princes in Europe. He addressed letters to the Pope, the emperor, to kings and cardinals, recommending this work to them as the rule and standard by which they ought to regulate their proceedings." Maresius also declared, that "Comenius and other millenary fanatics had no other object in view than to excite people to rebellion, and that he had omitted no endeavours to persuade Cromwell to foment disturbances in Bohemia. He had long before concluded, that since the event did not answer to the predictions of Felgenhaverus, they had not a Divine origin. But now, with regard to those of his three seers, he defends them from all attacks, although they have been completely falsified by the event; and he has the audacity to compare them, in a manner the most impious, profane, and sacrilegious, with the prophecies of the Old Testament." It is also pleasing to learn, that Comenius, after all his elaborate defences of these false prophets, was finally sensible of the vanity of his labours, and of the unnecessary trouble which he had given himself since he had been forced to leave his native country. This appears from a treatise, which he published at Amsterdam in 1668, entitled "The One Thing Needful," and in which he confesses the futility of all his prophetic toils, and states his determination to devote all his future thoughts to his personal salvation.

But, before we close this article on the Calvinistic Prophets, an extract from the celebrated M. Jurieu's book, entitled The Accomplishment of the Prophecies, and published in 1686, may be of some service, in showing the contemptible nature of those enthusiastical compositions, and the temporary political purposes to which they had been previously applied by many learned and sober Calvinists, in various parts of Europe. In the preface, M. Jurieu said, I found in the prophecies of Kotter, Christina, and Drabicius, which were published by Comenius, 'something great and surprizing. Kotter, the first of these three prophets, is grand and lofty. The images of his visions ' are likewise noble and majestic; in this respect, they are not 'exceeded by those of the ancient prophets. All of them are 'wonderfully well-concerted and indited; they are all uniform ' and consistent. I cannot imagine how it was possible for a mere mechanic to form such exalted conceptions without 'Divine Assistance.-The two years of Christina's prophecy ' are, in my opinion, a series of as great miracles as have hap

.

pened since the time of the apostles. Nay, I have not met with any thing, in the lives of the greatest prophets, more 'miraculous than what has befallen this young woman.'Drabicius also has his loftinesses; but then he is much more difficult and obscure.-These three prophets agree in foretelling the fall of the Anti-christian empire, as an event which must soon occur: But, on the other hand, one's heart is rather averse to them, for they contain many circumstances that give "offence. The last clause is a piece of French badinage, for the author shows his approbation of these romantic writers by the use to which he afterwards applies their predictions. In one part he says, There are some people who believe, that the hopes which I hold out of a restoration in a few years, may be of great prejudice. It is certain that prophecies, whether true or fictitious, have frequently inspired those for whom they were formed with the resolution of undertaking 'such enterprizes as had been assigned to them.' In another passage he says, With respect to the remark which many people have made, that I speak too confidently about things, which, perhaps, I ought to have proposed only as weighty conjectures, the world will probably one day be informed of the 'chief motive which prompted me to deliver my sentiments in 'such a decided manner, and with so much confidence on the 'explanation of the prophecies.'-M. Jurieu's improper motives, in resuscitating this exploded nonsense, have been ably exposed by M. Pelisson in his Reflections on the Disputes concerning Religion, and by M. Brueys, in his History of the Fanaticism of these times. The latter says, 'Jurieu knew perfectly well, that he was 'not a prophet; but he was desirous of imposing on the people, that he might excite them to take up arms and raise a civil war in the heart of this country, in order to favour the de'signs of our enemies. So full of this detestable project was he when he wrote his Book on the Prophecies, that he could not avoid discovering it to a reader of the least penetration. This minister promised the Calvinists, that Popery should have a speedy downfal, and predicted the approaching deliverance of their church. He promised these things as if from God, by informing the people that they were contained in the oracles of the 'Revelations.'

M. Bayle, who on many occasions acts the part of M. Jurieu's apologist, and who on some points in the present instance has not deserted him, thus delivers his opinion: "What I have said of Comenius, I apply to a famous divine of Rotterdam, [Jurieu, ] who has explained the scripture prophecies under an extremely bold pretence of being inspired. I do not assume authority to judge his heart, and I will allow it to be supposed that he did not act against his conscience. But no one ought to be offended

when I declare, that he has been suspected of harbouring no other design than that of exciting people to take up arms and to embroil all Europe. The ground of their suspicion is this-his not evincing any signs of confusion after the event had falsified the prophecy in a manner that was beyond all dispute. Another ground of their surmise is this-that, in imitation of Comenius, he has attempted to re-unite the Lutherans and Calvinists, in hopes, it is said, of increasing the number of troops to attack Antichrist."

Concerning Comenius also, the latter author has observed; "These persons fortel the things which they desire to see attempted, and then they set all their machinery to work in order to engage all those in their enterprize whom they consider suitable partizans. It is very probable, that the great application which Comenius employed in trying to unite all the Protestants in one body, proceeded from a desire which he entertained of forming a powerful party, that might fulfil the prophecies with temporal weapons. Another circumstance did Comenius an injury: He was a man of parts and learning; on other matters he argued very ably, and on these like a man of genius and nothing in his person gave him the appearance of an enthusiast. This caused the world to infer, that he did not believe the things which he uttered. There may be, and sometimes there is, imposture in ecstatic grimaces: But those who boast of being inspired, without evincing by the countenance or expressions that their brain is disordered, and without doing any act that is unnatural, ought to be infinitely more suspected of fraud, than those who from time to time fall into strong convulsions as the Sybils did in a greater or less degree. I am willing to have it thought, that Comenius did not harbour any sinister design. But what shall we answer to those who censure him for having published Kotter's prophecies, even when the event had demonstrated their falsity? I will own, that this appears to me quite inexcusable." But, omitting all mention of Comenius with his two prophets and prophetess, what excuse can be framed for such men as the Treasurer Teelingh, Dr. William Stephanus, and Professor Herlicius, each of whom assumed the prophetic character; and for Dr. Pelargus and M. Jurieu, the grave and reverend apologists of such enthusiasts? We only know, that the greatest part of them were violent Calvinists, who, notwithstanding the adverse stream of providential occurrences and in the absence of all facts in their favour, chose to argue propitiously concerning the ultimate and speedy establishment of that Calvinian universal Monarchy about which all that sanguine party had dreamed; and, to keep alive these high expectations in others, they or their hirelings prophesied smooth and delightful things to the people.