terpreting two dreams to the chief butler and the chief baker of Pharaoh, and in three days his prediction was fulfilled. After this we find him interpreting two dreams to the mighty Pharoah himself, wherein, under the fimilitude of fat and lean kine, God, by the mouth of Joseph, was pleafed to foretel feven years of plenty, and feven of famine; which we find in the fequel was the means of preferving alive, not only that nation, but his own family alfo, We afterwards find when the famine raged fore in the land, that his ancient father, journeying into Egypt to fee his fon before he died, God fpake to him in the vifions of the night, faying, I will go down with thee into Egypt, and I will furely bring the up again; and Joseph shall put his hand wpón thine eyes, vide Gen. chap. 46.

Proceed we next to the hiftory of Solomon, the wifest of men. In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: And God faid, afk what I fhall give thee. Solo mon's request was, give thy fervant an understanding heart; and the faying pleafed the Lord, and he added to this wifdom, riches and honour, vide 1 K. ch. 3. 1 Chr. ch. 1. In like manner he appears from the facred text to have res ceived divine inftructions for the conduct of his future life: for we find that the Lord appeared unto Solomon a fecond time, as he had appeared unto him in Gibeon, and the Lord faid, &c. vide 1 K. ch. 9. Thus far have we an account from the inconteftible evidence of everlasting truth of God's method of communicating his will to him who was wifer than all the fons of men, who fpake three thou fand proverbs, and his fongs were a thousand and five, who fpake of trees from the cedar which is in Leba non, even unto the hyfop that fpringeth out of the wall: He fpoke alfo of beafts, and of fowls, and of creeping things, and of fishes, and his fame was in all nations round about, vide ch. 4. Pafling by thofe multitudes of paffages in feripture, wherein the word of the Lord is faid to have come to the prophets, not defcribing the manner how, where the fcripture is filent, nor even fo much as calling that a dream, which the fcripture mentions under the name of a vifion, but flicking literally to the text, come we now to Daniel. The character of this great man we find in the first chap. of that book is, that he was one of the captives of Judah; that he was alfo one of thofe to whom God gave knowledge and skill in all learning

and

and wifdom, (it immediately follows) and Daniel had un derstanding in all vifions and dreams. The dreams of Nebuchadnezzar, big with the fate of future ages, could not the magicians, the aftrologers, the forcerers, nor the Chaldeans fhew unto him; and even himself acknowledged, portentous as it was, the thing was gone from him; but the fecret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision, and he fhewed him the dream, and the interpretation thereof, infomuch that the monarch himself was obliged to acknow ledge, that his God was a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of fecrets. In the fourth chap. of the faid book we find him interpreting another dream to the great King, and faithfully relating the decree of the Moft High, all which, fays the word of truth, came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar at the end of twelve months as he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. For his own dreams, and how he understood by books the number of years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish feventy years in the defolations of Jerufalem, I refer to the book itfelf; a book that has employed the pens of the learned, and the fulfilling of whofe prophecies perhaps will not conclude till heaven and earth fhall pass away, and time be fwallowed up in eternity.

From what has been faid, it appears manifeft to every christian reader, that God, who at fundry times and in divers manners, fpake in times paft by the prophets unto the fathers, has not left himself without witnefs that an inspection into futurity is not entirely excluded from the. fons of Adam. The book of knowledge is yet open, and in order to enable us to read aright therein, he has promifed to give wisdom to the wife, and knowledge to them. who feek understanding. For thefe the light fhineth upon the dark path; for thefe the ftars run their courfes, feeing God made nothing in vain; and to his name be praise.

Obfervations upon the Four Quarters of the YEAR.
Of the WINTER QUARTER,

WH

HICH begins the 21ft of Dec. 1787, at 8h 22m aft, and continues till Sol again approaches the coleftial Aries, when 8 deg. of Taurus culminate, and 21 54 of Leo afcend; O,, and h are fub terra, Jupiter in II, and Mars in, both retrogade, and the afpects of the

planets

planets inclining upon the whole methinks to malevolence. Sol has juft parted from an oppofition to Jupiter, and Mars is haftening to an oppofition with Venus. Afpectus oppofitionis fignificat difcordiam et contentationes, fays the wif dom of the ancients, which the folly of the moderns may defpife at pleasure. h in befpeaks but little comfort to decripid old age; and not at all to brighten the prospect, we find at this ingrefs both him and Mars to be retrogade. If a spirit of difcontent with its conftant attendants of doubts and fears, murmur and evil difpofitions flies abroad at this time, I fhall not wonder; many rumours will be spread abroad, and truth and falfhood fo artfully intermixed, that conjecture is at a lofs to determine any thing, while puzzled reafon waits for further data. May he who confounded the counsel of Ahitophel blaft all wicked defigns, or private confpiracies against the peace and profperity of this realm; and to secure so great a bleffing, may we every one of us in our feveral ftations, be humble to our God, loyal to our king, and true and faithful to each other.

The VERNAL or SPRING QUARTER.

THIS Quarter commences on the 19th day of March at 3 min. paft 10 in the evening, when Sol enters the first fcruple of Aries.

And fhedding forth his beams of light,
Makes equal day and edual night.

46

MOORE, 1788.

The face of the heavens being delineated at the commencement of this quarter, appears as in the preceding fcheme, when the 13th deg. of Scorpio afcends in our horizon, and the 29th deg. of Leo culminates. Saturn has now left the water bearer, and plunged among the fishes, and has juft parted from a Sextile with Vénus, who only is in her own house. The pofitions of the other planets the figure itfelf will direct to.

The afpects of most confiderable note in this quarter are as follow: o♂, o ko̟, of, all which are malevolent. There is in the courfe of this quarter likewife a friendly trine of h and ', which, however it may affect other countries, feems alien to us. Upon the whole, I believe fome remarkable catastrophe is perhaps not very remote. We at prefent have no profpect that I can conceive of harm from Hell by the way of Rome; but depend upon t both in the Eaft and the Weft will be trouble enough. Of Spain it has been faid, that the fun never fets upon that king's dominions, alluding to his claims in the Western World; but let not proud Spain boaft too much. Many are the chances and changes of this tranfitory life; the lot is çaft in the lap, but the difpofal is from the Lord.

Of the SUMMER QUARTER.

This Quarter begins on Friday the 20th of June at eight in the evening, when the cœleftial charioteer makes entrance. into the first fcruple of the fign Cancer, at which time three degrees of m culminate, and 27° 47′ of afcend. Sol applying to a conjunction with Jupiter in the feventh house, which is angular and potent, befpeaks good tidings; and indeed through the courfe of this Quarter, we have upon the whole very agreeable afpects. Saturn it is true is engaged in three oppofitions, which may fruftrate or at least poftpone fome falutary defigns; but in my opinion, the moft formidable is the fquare of Jupiter and Mars, which may very probably affect us: However, Afove Principium, I humbly hope that he who fo often endowed our armies with courage, will alfo blefs our fenators with wisdom, and in particular with unanimity, the want of which has been the caufe of more woe to England than my narrow limits can defcribe. Little more need be faid; what has been, will be, and there is no new thing under the fun thus faid

the

the wifeft of men. Great works are ftill to be done, fome of which I fuppofe are now begun,; ancient prophecies ftill wait their fulfilling. The trumpets have not yet all founded, neither are the vials of wrath as yet all poured out: however, let us, forming our wills to the divine plea fure, fay with good Hezekiah, Is it not good if peace and truth be in our days. I proceed to the hieroglyphic.

The Hieroglyphic for the prefent year I received from my good friend Nathan Ben Shaddai, a Jew, who when I was ftudying the Hebrew language, was a great affiftant to me therein; he has fince travelled into many parts, and within the courfe of fix months prior to my writing this, I received from him a letter in his own language, the purport of which is as follows:

To my friend Francis Moore, phyfician, and profeffor of the cœleftial Sciences, a difciple of Jefus; Nathan Ben Shaddai, a child of Abraham, and a worshiper of the true God, after the manner of our forefathers, fendeth greeting by the hand of his beloved friend and brother Iffachar Tobofo.

In my return from Grand Cairo, whither I had been to merchandize, I found in the wall of one of my lodgings a fculptur'd stone, which I am informed came from Tadmor; the workmanship whereof is much defaced. I however took a drawing thereof; which knowing thee to be curious in these things I have fent it as a token of friendship. When the partition wall is taken down, may we meet together in the regions of peace; till then, Farewell.