sovereigns will unite to lay it low. It is then that the great light
will appear. These perfidious enemies of the name of God will keep
themselves up for a time in their obstinacy, and in the mean time will
grow up he who shall destroy them. Before the end of this year they will
begin to show their fierceness, and you will hear of extraordinary
things and memorable feats. You will hear that the world is filled with
trouble and dissension; father, son, relations, friends, all will be in
motion; and it is in this year (1789) that all will have its beginning.
"Remember that the face of the world will be changed, and you shall see
it restored to its first state. The thrones shall be overturned, the
earth shall be furrowed and change its aspect. They who shall be alive
at that time will envy the fate of the dead.
"The world will very soon be filled with trouble. Every where people
will experience misfortunes. I announce it to you before-hand. The
shepherd will forsake his flock; the sheep will be dispersed. He will
oppress another land, and the nations will rise up in arms.
"You will learn very soon that a part of the world is in confusion; that
the chiefs of nations are armed one against another. The earth will be
overflowed with blood. You will hear of the death of several sovereigns;
they give themselves up to luxury, they live in pleasures, but at last
one of them will fall and make an unhappy end.
"All the events of this century have been foreseen, and no century has
been distinguished by so many prodigies, but the ensuing will be filled
with much greater still.
"The fire is kindled, the moment is come, the Mahometan is going to
fall. Asia and Africa are staggering; fear pursues them, and they have a
glimpse of the fate that awaits them.
"The cross of Jesus Christ shall be set up and triumph in those vast
countries where it has been so long despised. Then Palestine will become
again the most fortunate country on the earth; it shall be the centre of
that faith of which it was the cradle, and from thence faith will spread
itself all over the earth. All the people will embrace it. The world
will become again what it was in the beginning. The enlightened Jews
will embrace the Catholic faith. All people will acknowledge God, the
only true God. They will be guided by one only Pastor, and governed by
one sole Master.
"The second Zion has contributed the most to misguide the spirits of
men. She has introduced new Gentiles still more monstrous than those who
have reigned upon the earth. She only wants the statues of the Gods to
resemble the ancient times. Yea, they have been replaced by these carnal
divinities to which they render a sacrilegious adoration, and lavish an
incense to them which they refuse to God.
"The end of this century will be a series of calamities for the people.
Very few men are struck with the rapid decline of the present age. All
the nations will be enlightened to see their dangerous errors. They will
acknowledge how much they have been deceived by the masters who have
instructed them, and they will be desolated at the thoughts of having
lost so precious a treasure, for having believed such rascals. But at
the marked time how many errors will they not abjure, when our children
every where, in the name of God, shall make their impious and monstrous
errors disappear!—And thou, Crescent, who so much at this day applaudest
thyself, the lustre with which thou shinest is soon to be eclipsed;—thy
unjust conquests have long enough spun out the time of thy empire, and
thy power from one pole to another is far enough extended. Thou dost not
suspect that thy ruin is so near, and thou dost not know him who is
growing up to operate it.
"Here is the time in which God will break the laws made by the children
of the earth. Here is the time wherein he will reprove the science of
men, and here is the time of his justice. This is the time that we must
believe all those who announce the new reign of the Lord, for his spirit
is with them.
"The ages have not now long to linger for the accomplishment of the
promises of the Eternal.—The Eternal calls the times which walk in the
shadows and days of darkness, without light and without strength, to
come and change the face of the world, and commence his new reign. This
is the time of the new Heavens and the new Earth.
"The Eternal has spoken, I shall simplify all things for the happiness
of my elect. The moment is at hand when the confusion of languages shall
no more be an obstacle to the knowledge of the truth.
"When the impious and his superb eagle in his fury will dare to declare
war against the God of Heaven, every thing will give way immediately to
his pride. He will dare to make victims for himself among the saints
whom Heaven has chosen; he will dare to profane their asylums, to
appropriate to himself the gifts of the Eternal by the blackest of
crimes, and by his success strengthening his pride he will believe
himself master of the world. Then—then—Heaven will stop him: a feeble
child will subdue his valour, and his fall will testify that in the
sight of the Eternal there is no other power but the power of his arm.
"Already the measure is filled; already the times are accomplished, and
the reign of the Word is at hand. Terror will precede to enlighten the
blind who go astray, to humble the obstinate high-minded men, and to
punish the impious."
These are no common prophecies. Honest fanaticism has had no share in
manufacturing them. Vague as the language necessarily is, there is an
end and aim in it not to be mistaken; and it is almost startling to
observe how much of what was designed has taken place, and how much may
still be applied to these immediate times.
Among these communications "For the Benefit and Instruction of all
Mankind," are others which are addressed to Wright and Bryan, and to
those who, like them, were the unsuspecting tools of the society. I copy
them with their cyphers and forms.
_Question._
February 9, 1789.
H. W. We supplicate thee to give us thy orders about the two Englishmen
B. and W. who arrived here on Thursday the 19th instant.
_Answer._
O thou who walkest before them to show them the way, Son of the Voice,
tell them that very soon the instruction will grow in their souls; they
will believe it and love it. Then, Son of the Voice, I shall let thee
know what Heaven ordains about their fate.
_Question._
March 18, 1789.
By 2. l. 9.
H. W. Let me know the moment in which B. and W. should be consecrated.
_Answer._
Son of the Voice, fidelity and happiness will in the first instance be
the fruit of their union, the second will fill them with love and zeal.
The moment hastens that is to call them near to us and to you.
Some things seem to have been inserted in their journal in condescension
to the weaker brethren, who required to be amused. Such as the following
instances:—
In the month of June, 1789, we received a letter from the Union at Rome,
which informed us that the weather was as cold there as it is in England
in the month of January, and the Archangel Raphael asked the brethren
and sisters if the cold made them uneasy, and said, Have a little
patience, and the weather will be warm enough.
"The 17th of June, 1789, we received a letter from the Union at Rome, in
which they informed us of a sister, the daughter of a Turk, whom Brother
Brimmore baptized at Silesia, in the dominions of the king of Prussia,
between ten and fifteen years ago; after having lived some time in the
enjoyment of the Christian faith, she was suddenly taken by her father,
and carried to Alexandria in Egypt,[21] which is in the dominions of the
Turk, where she lived with her father in much sorrow and trouble. After
her father was dead, she was ordered by the Archangel Raphael to dress
herself in a soldier's dress, and fly into a Christian country; which
she did, and got aboard a Spanish ship, and from this date has been
between two and three months at sea."
But though the society occasionally accommodated itself to the capacity
of the weaker brethren, its oracles were more frequently delivered to
correct troublesome credulity, or repress more troublesome doubts.
_Question._
April 12, 1789.
H. W. The three knocks which l. 4. 7. heard in the night, was it any
thing supernatural?
_Answer._
To 2. l. 9.
Ask no more questions, if thou hast none to make of more importance.
_Question._
April 14, 1789.
H. W. If it please thee, l. 4. 7. would be glad to know if the offering
which he made on the mountain was acceptable to the Lord his God?
_Answer._
If Wisdom hath called thee, if Wisdom hath been thy guide, my son, why
dost thou stop? Leave to thy God the care of thy conduct; forget—forget
thyself in approaching to him, and his light will enlighten thy soul,
and thy spirit shall no more make the law. Believe—believe, my son, that
docility is the way which leadeth to knowledge; that with love and
simplicity thou shalt have nothing to fear from the snares of Hell, and
that Heaven cannot lead thee astray, for it is Heaven which hath marked
to thee thy route.
_Question._
July 8, 1789.
H. W. l. 4. 7. prays to know if it is the will of Heaven that he should
cause his wife to come with Duche to be consecrated?
_Answer._
Heaven sees thy motives, my son, and approves thy zeal; but in order
that it may take place ************* do not think of it; thy hope is
vain.
_Question._
April 16, 1789.
l. 2. 3. prays the H. W. to let him know if the Eternal has accepted of
his incense?
_Answer._
Raphael is the spirit which thy heart followed, my son, when thou camest
into these countries to seek for science and rest: but the spirit which
confuses thy idea is not the spirit of Raphael. Mistrust, son that art
called, the father of lies. Submit thy spirit to my voice.
Believe—believe, my son, and thy God forgives thee, and then thy incense
is accepted, and thy return will cover thee with glory.
August 11, 1789.
for the B. 12 April, 1756. Of l. 2. 3.
C. 24 March.
April 1.
If the ardour which animates thee gives at last to thy heart over thy
spirit the victory and the empire; if thy desire renounces to discover,
before the time, the secret of the mysteries which simple reason is not
able to conceive, nothing can, my son, convey an obstacle to that
happiness which awaits thee.
Walk without fear, and chase from thy soul the deceiving
spirit who wants to lead thee astray. Believe—believe,
my son, every thing that I reveal to
our elect in the name of the Eternal, and the Eternal
will make thee the forerunning instrument of his
glory in the places where his clemency wants to pardon
those of thy nation whom the enemy seduces
by his prestiges.
_Question._
August 21, 1789.
[22] l. 4. 7. prays the H. W. to inform him if it is the will of Heaven
for him also to return with l. 2. 3.
_Answer._
Yes. Son called, thou canst yet hearken to what I have to say unto thee.
Thy fate is in thy hands. It will be great if thou makest haste to offer
to thy God, who chuseth thee, the vain efforts of a useless knowledge,
when it is only necessary to obey. Forget—forget thy knowledge: it
fatigues thy spirits, it hurts thy heart, and retards from thy soul the
influence of Heaven. Renounce, in fine, to search into the sublime
mysteries of thy God. Believe—believe, and the Eternal will bless thy
return, and thy simplicity will confound the knowledge, the pride, and
the prepossession of the senseless man, who believeth in his own wisdom
much more than in the wisdom of his God.
The subject is so curious that I think you will be pleased to see the
character of this mysterious society further exemplified by a few of the
sentences, moral maxims, and spiritual instructions, which they
delivered as from Heaven. The first is sufficiently remarkable:—
"Woe to him who dares to cover a lie with the sacred name of the Eternal!
"One ray of light is not the entire light.
"A wise man is silent when he ought to be so.
"It is to the simple of heart that the Eternal will grant the wisdom of
the Spirit.
"The night was before the day, the day is before the night.
"When God commands, he who consulteth does not obey.
"He who walketh alone easily goes astray.
"To doubt, Is that believing? and to tremble, Is that to hope?
"He who thinks himself wise lies to himself deceives himself, goeth
astray, and knoweth nothing.
"Shall man tremble when God supports him?
"The repentance of the wise is in his works, that of the fool in his
tears.
"The child of man thinks of man, the child of God thinks of God; he must
forget every thing else.
"Fear leads our spirit astray; by laying a weight upon our days it
overturns wisdom, it intimidates nature, and the painful seeds of
uneasiness and anguish take part in our hearts.
"Heaven explains itself sufficiently when it inspires.
"Wilt thou never hear my word with the ears of thy soul, and wilt thou
never overturn the idol of mistrust that is in thy heart?
"The Lord has placed the key of his treasure under the cup of bitterness.
"The ark of God conveys death to those who make use of false keys.
"Who is that man, saith the Lord, that will not abandon his heart to me
when I have promised to guide it?
"I am One, and all that is in me is One.
"Remember, and remember well, that the Word is but One for him who
desires to comprehend; and there would be no more mysteries for man but
for the vanity of his heart, and the folly of his understanding.
"Is it in the tumult of the world that the voice of the Most High can
enter into the heart?
"Do not attach any importance to your opinions: Of what avail to your
fate are your very weak ideas?
"Forget all, O our friends, except Heaven and yourselves, to obey only
what Heaven prescribes to you."
This narrative, and these extracts, require no comment. They prove
incontestably the existence of a society of political Jesuits; they
prove also, that however little may have been the religion of these men
themselves, they were convinced how indispensably necessary it was for
mankind; and that, instead of plotting to break up the system of social
order by destroying faith and morals, faith was the engine which they
employed to prepare society for some imaginary amelioration, forgetting
that nothing which is founded upon delusion can be permanent.
The two Englishmen remained at Avignon six months, and were then
informed by the Spirit that they might return. The brethren supplied
them with money, so that they went back with more comfort than they
came, and had a handsome sum left when they landed in England, where
they both returned to their former employments, expecting the
accomplishment of the mighty changes which had been foretold. The
Revolution brake out.—They who had raised the storm could not direct it:
they became its victims—and knavery reaped what fanaticism had sown, as
they who lag in the assault enter the breach over the bodies of the
brave who have won the passage for them. What became of the Avignon
society Heaven knows. The honest dupes whom they had sent abroad, fully
prepared to welcome any novelty as the commencement of the Millennium,
were left to their own direction. A king of the Hebrews appeared in
England, and Wright and Bryan were, as you may suppose, among the first
to acknowledge him. They imagined that the appointed time was come, and
published these secrets of the society which they had been ordered to
keep concealed. Of the King of the Hebrews in my next.
[21] Alexandria would naturally be thus distinguished at Avignon—this,
therefore, is good proof of the authenticity of the book.
[22] l. 4. 7. and l. 2. 3. seem to mean the two Englishmen. H. W. is
evidently _Holy Word_.
LETTER LXIX.
_Account of Richard Brothers._
My former letters must have shown you that these English, whom we are
accustomed to consider as an unbelieving people, are in reality
miserably prone to superstition; yet you will perhaps be surprised at
the new instance which I am about to relate.
There started up in London, about the beginning of the late war, a new
pseudo-prophet, whose name was Richard Brothers, and who called himself
King of the Hebrews, and Nephew of God. He taught, that all existing
souls had been created at the same time with Adam, and his system was,
that they had all lived with him in Paradise, and all fallen with him in
consequence of their joint transgression; for all things which they saw
and knew were in God, and indeed were God, and they desired to know
something besides God, in which desire they were indulged, fatally for
themselves, for the only thing which is not God is Evil. Evil was thus
introduced, and they for their punishment cast into hell, that is to
say, upon this present earth; and in this hell they have remained from
that time till now, transmigrating from one human body to another. But
the term of their punishment is now drawing towards its close: the
consummation of all things is at hand, and every one will then recover
the recollection of all the scenes and changes through which he has
passed. This knowledge has already been vouchsafed in part to Brothers
himself, and it is thus that he explained the extraordinary relationship
to the Almighty which he laid claim to, asserting that in the days of
our Lord, he was the son of James, the Brother of Christ. You know the
heretics in their hatred to virginity and to Mary the most pure,
maintain that when Christ's brethren are mentioned in the Gospels, the
word is to be understood in its literal and carnal sense; consequently
he was then the Nephew of the second Person in the Trinity.
Human fancy, it has been said, cannot imagine a monster whose
constituent parts are not all already in existence; it is nearly as
impossible for a new heresy to be now devised, so prolific has human
error been. This metempsychosis not only bears a general resemblance to
that doctrine as held by the Orientals and by Pythagoras, but has been
held in this peculiar heretical form by the old heretic Barules, and by
the Flagellants of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
Brothers had been a lieutenant in the navy, and was known to be insane;
but when a madman calls himself inspired, from that moment the disorder
becomes infectious. The society at Avignon had unintentionally trained
up apostles for this man. Wright and Bryan had now for some years been
looking for the kingdom of Christ, and teaching all within the circle of
their influence to expect the same promised day. Of what had been
announced to them, much had been too truly accomplished. The world was
indeed filled with troubles and dissension, the fire was kindled, the
thrones of Europe were shaken, and one of its kings had been brought to
an unhappy end, according to the prediction. The laws made by the
children of the earth were broken, the reign of terror was begun, and
the times disastrous to the full measure of their prophecies. They had
been instructed to look for a miraculous deliverer and Lord of the
earth, and here was one who laid claim to the character. There were,
however, some difficulties. At Avignon they had been informed, that he
who was to be the Leader of the Faithful, and to overthrow the kingdoms
of the world, was at that time twelve years old, and living at Rome;
even his name had been revealed.[23] Neither in this, nor in age, nor
country, did Brothers answer the prophecy. One of these men therefore
decided in his own mind that he was an impostor; he went to see him,
with a full belief that whether he was so or not would be revealed to
him during the interview, and he took a knife with him, with which, if
his suspicions had been confirmed, he was resolved to deliver him such a
message from the Lord as Ehud carried to the king of Eglon. Luckily for
both parties, Brothers, who little knew the dangerous trial he was
undergoing, supported his part so well, that the desperate fanatic was
converted.
The new King of the Hebrews had not perhaps a single Jew among his
believers. These people, who have in old times suffered well nigh as
severely for their credulity in false Messiahs, as for their rejection
of the true one, are less disposed to lend ear to such delusions now
than in any former time, and here than in any other country. Here they
have no amelioration of their condition to wish for; the free exercise
of their religion is permitted, what they gain they enjoy in security,
and are protected by the state without the trouble of self-defence. The
flesh pots of England are not less delicious than those of Egypt, and a
land flowing with milk and honey not so attractive for the sons of the
Synagogue, as one which abounds with old clothes for the lower order,
and loans and contracts for their wealthier brethren. The land of
promise offers nothing so tempting to them as scrip and omnium. The King
of the Hebrews therefore was not acknowledged by any of his own people;
his scheme of pre-existence helped him out of this difficulty. He could
tell if any person had been a Jew in any former stage of being, and even
of what tribe: that of Judah, as the most favoured, he bestowed
liberally upon his believers, and those whom he hoped to convert. He
informed Mr Pitt by letter that he was a Jew, some of the royal family
were in like manner declared to be Jews, and J.'s friend received from
Bryan the same flattering assurance.
Besides the prophets from Avignon, Brothers succeeded in making two
other useful and extraordinary disciples. The one, an engraver of
first-rate skill in his art, who published a masterly portrait of him,
with these words underneath, _Fully believing this to be the man whom
God hath appointed, I engrave his likeness_. This was to be seen in all
the print-shops. Mr Halhed was the other of these converts, a member of
the house of commons, and one of the profoundest oriental scholars then
living. This gentleman was in the early part of his life an unbeliever,
and had attempted to invalidate the truths of holy writ by arguments
deduced from Indian chronology. The study of Indian mythology brought
him back to Christianity, and by a strange perversion of intellect, the
Trimourtee of the Hindoos convinced him of the doctrine of the Trinity;
and as he recovered his faith he lost his wits. To the astonishment of
the world he published a pamphlet avowing his belief that Richard
Brothers was the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, and that in him the
prophecies were speedily to be fulfilled.
Brothers wrote letters to the king, and to all the members of both
houses of parliament, calling upon them to give ear to the word of God,
and prepare for the speedy establishment of his kingdom upon earth. He
announced to his believers his intention of speedily setting out for
Jerusalem to take possession of his metropolis, and invited them to
accompany him. Some of these poor people actually shut up their shops,
forsook their business and their families, and travelled from distant
parts of the country to London to join him, and depart with him whenever
he gave the word. Before he went, he said, he would prove the truth of
his mission by a public miracle; he would throw down his stick in the
Strand at noon-day, and it should become a serpent; and he affirmed that
he had already made the experiment and successfully performed it in
private. A manifest falsehood this, but not a wilful one; in like manner
he said that he had seen the Devil walking leisurely up
Tottenham-Court-road;—the man was evidently in such a state of mind that
his waking dreams were mistaken for realities. He threatened London with
an earthquake because of its unbelief, and at length named the day when
the city should be destroyed. Many persons left town to avoid this
threatened calamity; the day passed by, he claimed the merit of having
prevailed in prayer and obtained a respite, and fixed another.