By pushing men, that would not sin, 2. This beast arose, as I suppose, Four hundred seventy; To which add five; but did not thrive, Perhaps, gentle reader, you will conceive these two stanzas sufficient specimen, and that the other forty (of which the poem consists) may be omitted. Perhaps you would wish to be informed, the Boniface alluded to, was "the third pope of that name, who obtained of Phocas the wicked Emperor, for him and his successors after him, that the see of Rome, above all other churches, should have the pre-eminence; and that the Bishop of Rome should be the universal head of all churches." Perhaps the following selection from other notes will raise a smile at the arithmetical deductions, and may complete the surfeit: "Supposing Antichrist's or the Pope's dominion began An. Ch. 475, his time being 1260 years, must expire in the year of our Lord 1735, thirty-two years hence. The 1260 days or years are represented two ways. Revel. xi. 2, 3. First by forty-two months, then by 1260 days; now allowing thirty days for each month, it appears the numbers are the same; for forty-two multiplied by thirty makes 1260.-It appears by Dan. xii. 11, 12, that there is an addition made to the 1260 days or years of the beast's reigning. First, here is an addition of thirty days, which makes the number 1290 days in the 11th verse; then in the 12th verse there are forty-five more added, which together make seventy-five, and this added to 1260 make the number 1335, at the end of which is blessedness in the first resurrection, the resurrection of the saints; for then Daniel shall stand in his lot (in the new Jerusalem-state, or thousand year's reign) as verse the thirteenth. Now, according to this computation, this glorious kingdom of our Lord Jesus, or blessed Millenium, cannot begin till after the year of our Lord 1810. For, if you add seventy-five to 1735 (the expiration of Antichrist's reign) it makes 1810. The kingdom of our Lord Jesus being very glorious, it must have an honourable preparation, which in all likelihood will take up these seventy-five years, for the pouring out of the vials of God's wrath upon Babylon: and though Antichrist shall be yet in being, he can't be said to reign, during those seventyfive years, but will continue like an out-dated tyrant and usurper, not yet executed; but under dreadful plagues, increasing more and more upon him, till his final destruction. It is very reasonable to think that the pope shall have a lingring death, because he has been a great malefactor, which yet will be but a short time compared with the time of his reigning. But I conceive there will be no persecution of the saints after 1735. And I am in hopes that some of the intervenient time will be spent in unbuttoning the witnesses sackcloth garments, that they may then fall off at once. Then the beast will loose his kingly power, and the kings in general that had given their kingdoms to him will fight against him; and though it shall be a day of great temptation to the inhabitants of the earth, (such as never was before) yet the Philadelphian church shall be delivered from it. Rev. iii. 10, 11, 12. I also judge that Daniel's 2300 days, or years (after which the sanctuary, or worship of God shall be cleansed from from all humane pollutions) have their exit or end at 1810, 'tis thought they began with the first of Cyrus." Perhaps it may be necessary to remind the reader this work was published above a century ago, and ends, "If any ask, who did this task? Say it was done by one, Who wishes well to Israel, And kingdom of the Stone. Calculated for the meridian of Sion, and chiefly for that latitude, where the pole of truth is elevated three degrees above the bestian horizon; but may indifferently serve for any part of the holy land. Finis. ADAM FLEMYNGE." Conduit street. J. H. ART. III. Bibliographia Poetica. Of the lives of the poets published in 1753 by Cibber or Shiels, a full account has been given in the late edition of the Theatrum Poetarum, p. li. but the advertisement of that work appears entitled to a more lasting register than the columns of a newspaper. The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland, to the present time. Compiled from ample materials, scattered in a variety of books, and especially from the MS. notes of the late ingenious Mr. Coxeter and others, collected for this design. By Mr. Cibber Printed &c. This work is published on the following terms. 1. That it shall consist of four* neat pocket The work extended to five volumes,-a similar exceeding occurred in Warton's History, the advertisement of the first volume says "this work will consist of two volumes, 4to." volumes volumes, handsomely printed. 2. That it shall be published in numbers, &c. 3. That five numbers shall make a volume; so that the whole work will not exceed the price of ten shillings unbound. "To the public. "The professors of no art have conferred more honour on our nation than the poets. All countries have been diligent in preserving the memoirs of those who have, either by their actions or writings, drawn the attention of the world upon them. It is a tribute due to the illustrious dead, and has a tendency to awaken in the minds of the living the laudable principle of emulation. As there is no reading at once so entertaining and instructive, as that of biography, so none ought to have the preference to it. It yields the most striking pictures of life, and shews us the many vicissitudes to which we are exposed in the course of that important journey. It has happened that the lives of the literati have been less attended to, than those of men of action, whether in the field or senate; possibly because accounts of them are more difficult to be attained, as they move in a retired sphere, and may therefore be thought incapable of exciting so much curiosity, or affecting the mind with equal force; but, certain it is, that familiar life, the knowledge of which is of the highest importance, might often be strikingly exhibited, were its various scenes but sufficiently known and properly illustrated. Of this, the most affecting instances will be found in the lives of the Poets, whose indigence has so often subjected them to experience variety of fortune, and whose parts and genius have been so much concerned in furnishing entertainment VOL. VI. A A 1 tertainment to the public. As the poets generally converse more at large, than other men, their lives must naturally be productive of such incidents, as cannot but please those, who deem the study of human nature, and lessons of life, the most important. "The lives of the Poets have been less perfectly given to the world, than the figure they have made in it, and the share they have in our admiration, naturally demand. The dramatic authors indeed have had some writers who have transmitted accounts of their works to posterity. Of these Langbaine is by far the most considerable. He was a man of extensive reading, and has taken a great deal of pains to trace the sources from which our poets have derived their plots; he has given a catalogue of their plays, and, as far as his reading served him, very accurately: he has much improved upon Winstanley and Philips, and his account of the poets is certainly the best now extant.* Jacob's performance is a most contemptible one; he has given himself no trouble to gain intelligence, and has scarcely transcribed Langbaine with accuracy. Mrs. Cooper, author of The Muses' Library,' has been industrious in collecting the works and some memoirs of the poets who preceded Spenser, but her plan did not admit of enlarging, and she has furnished but Winstanley published his volume as "a brief essay of the works and writings of above two hundred poets," though his account only extends to one hundred and forty-five; and of those given, as a brief essay, both incomplete and incorrect: this deficiency obained the work more notice than has attended Langbaine's "Account of the English Dramatic Poets," which is still of intrinsic value, though neglected. "This author has been by many reflected on in order to acquire a reputation to themselves, yet he never had, nor perhaps ever will have a competitor for industry, diligence, and exactness, in the province he has undertaken." MS. note on L. 1760. |