?o8 Phyfical and Mtfcellaneous 



Their r^tcn- Thefe People like wife are equally foolifh and extravagant in 

 KmwMge of thek Jafar-cab, as they call (the Pretenfions they make to) 

 f,a:n-cEvc«t^. ^^^ Koowledge of future Events and Contingencies. It is not 

 hitherto indeed agreed among them by what extraordinary 

 Means they come at thefe Revelations, though the Difcove- 

 ries they would be believed to make, are in fuch general Terms, 

 fo fiilfe for the moft Part, and at the beft dubious, and never 

 particularly circumftantiated, that it fcarce deferves the Gra- 

 vity or Attention to enquire after their Original. However 

 I never knew any Perfon, who alferted them to be from Di- 

 vine Infpiration, though there are a Number of Enthufiafts in 

 this Religion, who pretend to be full of the Deity upon other 

 Occafions. Some attribute them to Maga-reah, for lb they 

 call Witchcraft and Inchantment ; others to Aftrology or the 

 Dodtrine of the Stars; whilft their Thakhs pretend to have 

 the Prophecies oi^fy the Son in Law of their Prophet, where- 

 in they give out, that he hath left them a general and chrono- 

 logical Account of the moft remarkable Occurrences, which 

 have happened in the World fince his Tune, or which are to 

 fall out in future Ages. 

 j^Trophecy Whcn I was at Tunis i in the Spring of 1717, there were 

 Z^'lhe^Khig feveral Prophecies handed about, partly as was alledged from 

 of Tunis, ^^^^ Book, partly from their Jaffar-eah, that Haffan Ben Aly, 

 the Bey at that Time, was to be immediately depofed by his 

 Nephew ^ly ΒαβΜΊΡ. The Myftery of it was, that Ηαβαη 

 Ben Aly, otherwife a good and wife Prince, had a mighty 

 Inclination to fleece and opprefs the richeft of his Subjects ; 

 and, by a Piece of ill-timed Policy, as it might have proved, 

 had, fmce the Beginning of his Reign, negleded the Turks, 

 and placed his chief Confidence in Moors and Renegadocs, upon 

 whom he beftowed the greateft Honours and Preferments. On 

 the other Hand, Aly ΒαβΜΐί/, while he aoled under him, as 

 ^ga of the Janizaries, behaved himfelf with fuch Courtefy, 

 Generofity and Juftice, that he gained the Affections of that 

 Body, and the good Will of the whole Kingdom. Now as ^ly 

 Bafjaw, upon fome Mifunderftanding with his Uncle, was at 

 this Time fled to the Mountains of Ufelett, where he had the 

 Courage to proclaim himfelf Be/, publifliing at the fame Time, 

 the great Injuftice and Opprelhon that Haffan Ben Aly had 

 always exerciibd over his Subjects, together with the unjuft 



Contempt 



