( Curious predictions of the fall of )

There are several predictions extant, which have threatened Mahometanism a long while. Bibliander affirms, “that there is a famous prophecy among the Mahometans, which strikes a great terror both into men and women, and which says, ' that the empire shall be destroyed by the sword of the Christians.’ The prophecy is expressed in the following words, which are translated out of Persian into Latin by Georgievitz: ‘ our emperor shall come, shall take the kingdom of the Gentiles, shall take the red apple, shall subdue it even unto seven years; if the sword of the Gentiles shall not rise again, he shall reign over them twelve years, shall build a house, shall plant a vineyard, shall enclose gardens with a hedge, shall have a son and a daughter; after twelve years, the sword of the Christians shall rise up, which shall beat back the Turk.’” Sansovin published a book in 1570, wherein he affirms, “that there is a prediction, ' that the laws of Mahomet shall last no longer than a thousand years, and that the empire of the Turks shall fall under the fifteenth sultan.’ " He adds, “that Leo the philosopher, emperor of Constantinople, has said, in one of his books, ‘ that a light-haired family, with its competitors, shall put all Mahometanism to flight, and shall seize him who is possessed of the seven mountains.’” The same emperor makes mention of a column which was at Constantinople, whose inscriptions the patriarch of the place explained, and said that they signified, “that the Venetians and

Muscovites shall take the city of Constantinople; and, after some disputes, they shall chuse with one consent, and crown a Christian emperor.

This light-haired family, so fatal to the Mussulmen, puts me in mind of a passage of Dr Spon, which I shall set down. “Of all the Christian princes, there is none, whom the Turk fears so much as the great Czar of Muscovy;—and I have heard some Greeks say, and among the rest, the Sieur Manno-Mannea, a merchant of the city of Arta, a man of wit and learning for that country, that there was a prophecy among them, which imported, ‘ that the empire of the Turks was to be destroyed by a nation chrysogenos, that is, light-haired which cannot be attributed to any but the Muscovites, who are almost all light-haired," There is mention made of this in the “Miscellaneous Thoughts upon Comets,” on occasion of I know not what tradition which is current, “that the fates have promised the French the glory of destroying the Turks.” The prophecy of the Abyssinians mentions only a Christian king, who shall be born in the north. “Mecca, Medina, and the other cities of Arabia Felix shall hereafter be destroyed, and the ashes of Mahomet and his priests be dissipated; and that some Christian prince, born in the northern regions, shall perform all this, who shall also seize on Egypt and Palestine.” It is pretended, that a book was written in Arabic concerning this prophecy, before the taking of Damietta, and that this book was found by the Christians. Willichius relates, “that the Turks find in their annals, that the reign of Mahomet shall continue until the arrival of the light-haired boys;‘ donec veniant figliuoli biondi, flavi et albi filii, vel filii ex Septentrione flavis et albis capillis.’ ” Some think that this denotes the Swedes; but Antony Torquato, a famous astrologer, applies it to the king of Hungary.

If we should ascribe all these prophetical

threatnings to one cause only, we should be mistaken. The desire some have to comfort themselves with the hopes of the destruction of a furious persecutor, makes them easily find this destruction in the predictions of Scripture, or in some other things. Thus, there are some who foretel through credulity and illusion. The desire of comforting people, and dissipating their fears, obliges some to suppose that the scripture, prodigies, and many other prognostics, promise the approaching ruin of the power which they now fear. Thus there are some who foretel things out of policy. Those who do it in order to render their troops more courageous, are prophets of the same kind. There are others who prophecy, in order to stir up insurrection in an enemy’s country; for instance, to encourage the Greeks, who acknowledge the Grand Seignor for their prince, to take arms against their master. These remarks, in reference to the Muscovites and the Greeks, are curious, looking to the present state of things in the same quarter of Europe.—Ed. ⁸¹.—Art. Mahomet.