jAJsr. 27. 1855.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



60 



As not altogether irrelevant, the following re- 

 marks of the empress may be cited, in reference 

 to her invasion and conquest of the Crimea : 



" A propos de fierte, j'ai envie de vous faire sur ce point 

 ma confession gen^rale. J'ai eu de grands succes durant 

 cette guerre; je m'en suis r^jouie trfes naturellement ; j'ai 

 dit: La Rassie sera bien connue par cette guerre; on 

 verra que cette nation est infatigable, qu'elle possfede des 

 hommes d'une merite eminent, et qui ont toutes les qua- 

 lit^s qui forment les heros ; on verra qu'elle ne manque 

 point des ressources, et qu'elle pent se defendre et faire la 

 guerre avec vigueur lorsqu'elle est injustement attaquee." 

 — Letter to Voltaire, 22nd July (2nd August), 1771. 



A somewhat different version of the prophecy 

 quoted by Anon from Sansovino's Collection will 

 be found in a treatise entitled A Discoursive Pro- 

 blems concerning Prophecies, by John Harvey, 

 Physician of King's Lynn in Norfolk, London, 

 4to. (1588) ; and is cited in a curious fatidical re- 

 pertory, Miracttlous Prophecies and Predictions of 

 Eminent Men, Sfc, 12mo., London, 1821, p. 26. 



Dr. AValsh, in the Appendix to the work before 

 alluded to, gives (p. 436.) two copies of a very 

 singular document ; one the original, said to have 

 been inscribed on the tomb of Constantine the 

 Great, and the other its interpretation, ascribed 

 to (jrennadius, the first patriarch of Constantinople 

 after its capture by the Turks. It predicts the 

 overthrow of the race of the Palaeologi by " the 

 kingdom of Ishmael and him who is termed Ma- 

 homet ; " and the destruction of Ishmael in turn 

 by " the yellow- haired race," with the assistance of 

 the western nations, who shall take " the seven- 

 hilled city with its imperial privileges." Eton 

 alludes to the same prediction, as asserting that 

 the Russians, under the title of "the Sons of 

 Yellowness," will conquer Constantinople ; and 

 Forster, referring to it, cites the following passage 

 in the notes to his singular work, Mahommed- 

 anism Unveiled, Sfc, London, 2 vols. Svo., 1829 : 



" Wallachius in Vita Mahometis (p. 158.) refert, Turcas 

 hodiernos in annalibus suis legere, tamdiu perstiturum 

 regnura Muhammedicum, donee xeniant Jigliuoli biondi; 

 i. e.Jlavi et albifilii, vel filii ex septentrione, flavis et albis 

 capillis, secundum aliorum interpretationem ; utri autem 

 Sueci hie intelligendi, ceu volunt nonnuUi, aliia discu- 

 tiendum relinquo." — Schultens, Ecdes. Muhamm. Bret. 

 Delin., Argent. 1668, p. 22. 



It is, perhaps, the same prediction, though more 

 ominous and presently significant in expression, 

 which is related by a Georgian author, probably 

 of the eighteenth century, also as having been en- 

 graven on the tomb of Constantine the Great : 



" Plusieurs nations se r^uniront sur la MerJToire, et sur 

 le continent ; les Ismaelites seront vaincus, et la puissance 

 de leur nation affaiblie tombera dans I'avilissement. 

 Les peuples coalise's de la Russie et des environs subju- 

 gueront Ismael, prendront les sept collines, et tout ce qui 

 les entoure." — Lebeau, Histoire du Baa-Empire, edition 

 Saint-Martin, p. 330. 



The Russians for their part seem fully alive to 

 the policy of assuming to themselves the appa- 



rently divine mission of fulfilling these various 

 prophecies. We are informed by the Edinburgh 

 Review (vol. 1. p. 343.), that in 1769 a pamphlet 

 was published at St. Petersburg, entitled The 

 Fall of the Turkish Empire, predicted by the 

 Arab astrologer, Mousta Eddin, the unlucky au- 

 thor of which is said to have been thrown into the 

 sea by the Turkish Sultan; and a collection of 

 curious predictions concerning the same event 

 was ^published at Moscow in 1828; perhaps, as 

 the reviewer suggests, as a sort of Piece Justifica- 

 tive. 



Those who may wish to pursue the subject, are 

 referred to the chapter on the Ottoman Empire ia 

 Dr. Miller's Lectures on the Phil, of Mod. History; 

 the Mohammedanism Unveiled of the Rev. Charles 

 Forster, before alluded to ; and the able essay on 

 " Providential and Prophetical Histories " in the 

 Edinburgh Review, vol. 1. p. 287. 



There remain yet to be noticed the vaticinal 

 deliberations of that class of writers who have be- 

 lieved themselves qualified to accept the Apoca- 

 lyptic invitation, " Let him that hath understand- 

 ing count the number of the beast." Among 

 these Dr. Miller has succeeded in making out to 

 his own satisfaction that there was a period of 

 exactly 666 years between the second Nicene 

 Council, by which the worship of images was au- 

 thorised, and the taking of Constantinople ; thus, 

 he thinks, the identity is established between the 

 Greek Church, and the prediction concerning the 

 second beast. Others are as firmly convinced, 

 and with as good reason, that " the man " referred 

 to is the heresiarch Mahomet, the numeral value 

 of whose name spelt with Greek characters will 

 be found to amount to the mystical sum, three 

 hundred three score and six ; thus, — 



M+a+o+/i+e+ T +1+ s = xf « 

 40 + 1 + 70 + 40+5 + 300 + 10 + 200 = 666 



which Constantinople, being like Rome, built 

 upon seven hills, is aptly typified by the seven- 

 headed beast " on which the woman sitteth." See 

 the able essay on " Emblematic and Chronological 

 Prophecies " in the British Review, vol. xviii. 

 p. 396., the learned author of which is so convinced 

 of the plausibility of this theory, that he makes it 

 the basis of his scheme of Apocalyptic interpret- 

 ation. The same view was held by the Roman 

 Bishop Walmsley, whose theory, however, has 

 been decisively disproved by that able controver- 

 sialist, G. S. Faber. 



In conclusion it may be observed that these 

 prophecies, however variously worded and vaguely 

 recorded, have yet a certain significance and con- 

 sistency ; they show that the belief is entertained 

 by the Turks themselves that the Ottoman em- 

 pire will eventually be destroyed by a northern 

 and a Christian nation : this belief is itself an im- 

 portant agent in the fulfilment of the prediction ; 

 but we trust fervently that the fulness of time is 



