Of the Portuguese about thirty two were killed, and three hundred wounded. Almeed, notwithstanding this fuccefs, was afraid left the fleet might receive fome damage that night, and therefore ordered it to be withdrawn from the city. Next day Melichiaz fued for peace; for Mirhocem had fled into the kingdom of Cambaya. The conditions of the peace were, that all the Portuguese prifoners fhould be reftored, and all the fultan's foldiers and fhips, which had efcaped out of the fight, immediately delivered up. Thefe being complied with, he fet fail for Cochin' In the mean while, by the arts of an abandon'd fet of men, there happened a great breach betwixt Almeed and Albuquerque. During the altercations occafion'd hereby, Fernando Coutign, a nobleman of great courage, arrived in India; he had with him fifteen ships, on board which were 1500 foldiers. He was receiv'd by Almeed with great refpect, and contributed not a little to bring about a reconci. liation between him and Albuquerque. The homewardbound fhips being got ready, and Almeed having refign'd the government to Albuquerque, fet fail for Lisbon, but, unfortunately, was killed in his way thither by the favages near the Cape of Good Hope, where they had ftopped at a watering-place. Thus died the brave Almeed in the fixtieth year of his age; after having gain'd great renown during the four years he was viceroy of the Indies. After Almeed's departure, Coutign delivered to Albuquerque Emmanuel's letters; wherein his majefty ordered them, with united strength, to carry on the war against the Zamorin of Calicut, and the other enemies of the Portugueses in India, and that in this affair Albuquerque fhould act in concert with Ceutign. But as the exploits of the juftly cele-brated Albuquerque make a great part of the fecond volume, we shall defer our account of them till another opportunity. ART. XXIV. Obfervations on the fecond Vifion of St. John, &c. 8vo. 2 s. Noon. IN N our Review for December 1749, we gave an account of this ingenious author's obfervations on the first vifioni of St. John, His obfervations on the fecond, which he has given us in a kind of paraphrafe on the fourth and fifth chapters of Revelations, make up but a small part of the performance now before us, which confifts chiefly of four differtations differtations. In the firft of thefe he treats of the authority of the Book of Revelations, and endeavours to prove, that John the Apostle was the author of it. In his fecond differtation he endeavours to fhew when this book was written, and with regard to this point he follows Sir Isaac Newton's opinion of the early date of it, and fhews that the arguments brought by Mr. Whiston againft it are inconclufive. In the third he confiders the manner of prophetical infpiration, which he tells us is two-fold, dream and vifion the laft of thefe, or the wakeful vifion, as he calls it, is what he principally treats of. On this subject he obferves the following particulars. 1. That in and under the cover of various images, and artificial reprefentations, God was pleafed ufually to fignify fupernatural and divine truths, to his fervants the Prophets. Thus, fays he, he condefcended to affure Abraham of his faithfulness to fulfil his promife, by ratifying the covenant with him, when, according to the folemn cuftom of the country, obferved by the party who fwore, he, by a Smoaking furnace, and a lamp of fire, paffed between the pieces of the divided animals, Gen. xv. 17. 2. The moft part of the objects prefented, or things feen, were hieroglyphical or fymbolical, i. e. they were to ftand, not for themselves, nor for beings, perfons, and things exactly of their form, and figure, and circumstances; but for beings, perfons, or things, whofe attributes and qualities might, as far as the fubject required, be aptly expreffed by them. Thus Gabriel tells Daniel, The ram which thou faweft, having two horns, are, i. e. reprefent, the kings of Media and Perfia, Dan. viii. 20. And St. John was instructed in the myftery of this, Rev. i. 20. The feven Stars are, i. e. reprefent, the angels of the feven churches; and the Jeven candlesticks, which thou faweft, are, i. e. reprefent, the Jeven churches. There was always fome fitnefs or aptitude in the things feen, to exprefs the things reprefented by them. Indeed in fome cafes this was fo very apparent, as to need little explanation. Of this kind was the vifion which appeared to Paul in the night at Troas, of a man, probably, in the Macedonian habit, who prayed to him for help; which made him and his companions, immediately endeavour to go into Macedonia, affuredly gathering, that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel unto them, Acts xvi. 9. 10. 6 3. This manner of inftruction is very comprehenfive and emphatical, containing a great deal of matter under a few characters, and fignifying that, by a figure or reprefentation, fentation, which could not be eafily, nor properly expreffed without a great many words. To comprehend perfons and things, as well as to conceal them from the common and ordinary fight of dull, inattentive readers, is one great ufe of hieroglyphics and images, in the prophetical books. And, in refpect to this, the ancient myfteries feem to agree which prophetic vifion; probably they were an imitation thereof for the Pagan theologers and myftagogues were wont to reprefent all moral and divine truths, by fymbols and hieroglyphical characters. 4. Tho' the infpiration created, or occafioned a new fcene, or prefented new images to the eye, or mind of the enlightened perfon, this was done without eradicating the paffions, or difturbing the fuperior faculties, which were always affected by, and employed on the objects, in the fame. natural manner, as if they were really exiftent material things. This may be exemplified in the cafe of Mofes, who, when he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not confumed; faid, I will now turn afide, and fee this great fight, why the bush is not burnt. Exod. iii. 3.-Many inftances might be collected, wherein hope and fear, joy and forrow, and all the paffions and affections, have been occafionally excited, and the mind as rationally and properly exercised in, or by a vision, as by objects and facts, real and natural. This is a confideration of fome weight and moment, and fheweth the dignity of this kind of infpiration. The vifions of the true prophets. 'would never have funk into contempt, as they have done among many, if the manner of them, as connatural to the human faculties, had been well attended to, altho' defigning knaves, and religious madmen might have pretended to the like favour from God. But, 5. From the exhibition of imagery, and the inftruction of the prophets in this way, the character of Seers feems to have been applied to them. 1 Sam. ix. 9. Before-time in Ifrael, when a man went to enquire of God, thus he spake, Come, and let us go to the Seer: for he that is now called a Prophet, was before-time called a Seer. 6. We have reafon to think, that (if fome things relating to prophetical men, recorded after an hiftorical manner, were not scenical, and tranfacted in vifion) the prophets conceived their notions of fupernatural truths by vifion and imagery, even where they give no particular defcription of the things Jeen. The prophetical rapture of David, expreffed Pfal. cx. 1. The Lord faid unto my Lord, fit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footftool, difcovered fomewhat of this kind. Probably he had often feen the likeness of the glory of the Lord, in vifion, that prefence of which he often fpeaks, Pfal. xvi. 11. xvii. 2, 15. and might behold the honours decreed for his fon and fucceffor, at the right hand of the facred perfonage. he may From all that has been faid, one may be affifted to form fome answer to the following questions: As, 1. Can an infpired perfon be certain of his inftructions? Anfw. Yes, be as certain, as he is of what he fees and bears: those fenfes being his fecurity, fo far as they may be depended upon, that he is under no delufion. 2. Can he be certain of the agency of fome fupernatural being with him, or upon him? Anfw. A perfon truly infpired may be certain thereof. I grant indeed, a crazy diftempered perfon may fancy he fees and hears a thousand things that are the effects of his diforder. And if fuch an one fhould act the prophet, tell ftrange things, and denounce judgments in the name of the Lord; he fhould have the fame regard paid to him, as if he were to act the general, or the king; i.e. be taken proper care of, as a diftempered perfon. But if the prophet be a fober man, (as I fuppofe all prophets to be) he must be certain of feveral particular circumftances, befides those of time, place, business, company, &c. when the hand of God came upon him: for he must be certain of that furprize, which the fudden change of objects, their novelty, form, or grandeur, muft occafion. This indeed he may fenfibly feel, by the hurry and waste of his animal fpirits, by the joy or forrow, and other like affections and emotions of his body and mind, the effects of which may continue upon him for fome time, as is ufual to a perfon in fome. great or fudden furprize, in the ordinary way. And he may also be certain, that what has occurr'd to him, or what he was caufed to fee, was extraordinary and fupernatural, For (befides that the objects, were often rare and uncommon, or of fuch a peculiar form and figure, as exifts no where in nature;) when the prophet finds the fcene is fuddenly changed; that the objects, perfons, and things he had juft been converfant with, are withdrawn, he must find that they could not arife from, and belong to the place. Thus he may be certain of fome fuperior agency. 3. Can he be certain that the vifion is of God, and not the work of Jome other, or evil being? To this I anfwer, perhaps, at firft the prophet cannot tell, any more than a person who, when he first fees another, knows not who or what he is, VOL. VI. P Samuel, Samuel, at first, knew not the voice of God, 1 Sam. iii. What then? Infpired perfons were not always eafy and credulous. Abraham requires a fign, and one vifion, is fucceeded and confirmed by another. Gen. xv. When the vifion related to fomething improbable, or incredible, they defired farther fatisfaction by fome token or other.. As to the power of evil invisible beings, to inspire and play tricks upon mankind, the world is pretty well fatisfied both of them and their power. The hiftory of heathen oracles, as well as the frauds that have been difcovered of chriftian Monks and Friars, have given fo juft ground for fufpicion, that more than ordinary evidence must be produced, before a prudent man will affent to ftories of their agency. Who beat and bruifed St. Anthony, when he shut himfelf up in a tomb, I know not: but his perfonal conAicts with devils, as well as raptures and vifions, were fo very extraordinary, particularly, when he faw himself without himfelf, that it is pretty evident either himself, or the writer of his life, relates falfhoods. The church of Rome has always been stocked with vifionaries. Where faith ufurps the throne of reafon; and inordinate praying and fafting, and caftigations of the body pafs for genuine acts of piety, no wonder indeed if in fome the animal fpirits are disturb'd, and the fibres of the brain become impreffive and yielding to whatever images a warm fancy or guilty fears may raife. The French Prophets, and other enthusiasts, who pretend to high degrees of revelation, may, I believe, be acquitted of holding correfpondence with fpirits of any great capacity. Their violent diftortions and agitations of body, hums, and fee-faws, are of the artificial and mechanical kind; and by no events that answer to their predictions, or by the things revealed being common, trite, and jejune, if not repugnant to reafon and common sense; as well as by their temperature of body, party attachments, and other like circumftances, it may be éafily guefied that the principles from whence their afflatus arife are low and fpurious.' In our author's fourth differtation, he endeavours to account for the origin, and application of the character of the Lamb of God to fefus Chrift: and in an Appendix makes feveral remarks on a fpecies of prophecy, diftinct from, and fuperior to vifion and dream, as advanced in a late effay on 2 Peter i. 16, &c. See Review, Vol. v. p. 89. ART. |