seven, eight, and nine,In England wonders shall be seen.
Between nine and thirteen
All sorrow shall be done.
Then rise up Richard, son of Richard,
And bless the happy reign,
Thrice happy he who sees this time to come
When England shall know rest and peace again.
End of the Original Prophecies.
THE FOLLOWING PREDICTIONS
OF
ROBERT NIXON
ARE COPIED FROM OLD PAMPHLETS.
The famous Cheshire prophet Nixon, besides his prophecies relative to the fate of private families, also predicted much of public affairs, which we find literally verified by the sequel.
On the Christmas before he went to court, being among the servants at Mr. Cholmondeley’s house, to the surprise of them all he suddenly started up and said,
“I must prophecy.” He went on, the favourite [32a] of a King shall be slain. “If the master’s neck shall be cleft in twain. And the men of the North [32b] shall sell precious blood; yea their own blood. And they shall sacrifice a noble warrior [32c] to the idol, and hang up his flesh in the high places; and a storm shall come out of the North, which shall blow down the steeples of the South: and the labourer shall rise above his lord, and the harvest shall in part be trampled down by horses, and the remainder lie waste to be devoured by birds.
“When an oak tree shall be softer than men’s hearts, then look for better times but they be but beginning.
“The departure of a great man’s [33a] soul shall trouble a river hard by, and overthrow trees, houses, and estates. From that part of the house from whence the mischief came you must look for the cure. First comes joy, then sorrow; after mirth comes mourning.
“I see men, women, and children, spotted [33b] like beasts, and their nearest and dearest friends affrighted at them. I see towns on fire, and innocent blood shed; but when men and horses walk upon the water, then shall be peace and plenty to the people, but trouble is preparing for Kings; and the great yellow fruit [33c] shall come over to this country, and flourish: and I see this tree take deep root and spread into a thousand branches, which shall afterwards be at strife one with another, because of their numbers: and there shall come a wind from the South, and the West, which shall shake the tree. I see multitudes of people running to and fro, and talking in a strange tongue. And there shall be a famine [34] in the midst of great plenty, and earthquakes and storms shall level and purify the earth.”
After these sayings, which every one, with the slightest knowledge of our history will instantly apply to those events which they so wonderfully foretold, Nixon was silent, and relapsed into his wonted stupidity: from which he did not recover until many weeks after, when he became again inspired, and gave vent to those remarkable predictions which were recollected by Mr. Oldmixon. Those which we have just now related were taken down from the prophet’s mouth by the steward, in pursuance of the orders of Mr. Cholmondeley himself; and the original manuscript is now in the hands of a gentleman in Shropshire.
NIXON’S CHESHIRE PROPHECY AT LARGE,
FROM LADY COWPER’S COPY;
WITH HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL REMARKS, AND MANY INSTANCES
WHEREIN IT HAS BEEN FULFILLED.
INTRODUCTION.
This remarkable Prophecy has been carefully revised, corrected, and improved; also some account given of our author, Robert Nixon, who was but a kind of idiot, and used to be employed in following the plough. He had lived in some farmers’ families, and was their drudge and their jest.
At last, Thomas Cholmondeley, of Vale-Royal, Esq., took him into his house, where he lived when he composed this prophecy, which he delivered with as much gravity and solemnity as if he had been an oracle; and it was observed that though the fool was a driveller, and could not speak common sense when uninspired, yet in delivering his prophecies, he spoke plainly and sensibly; how truly will be seen in the following pages.
As to the credit of this prophecy I dare say it is as well attested as any of Nostradamus’s or Merlin’s, and will come to pass as well as the best of Squire Bickerstaff’s; it is plain enough that great men in all ages had recourse to prophecy as well as the vulgar. I would not have all grave persons despise the inspiration of Nixon. The late French King gave audience to an inspired farrier, and rewarded him with an hundred pistoles for his prophetical intelligence; though by what I can learn he did not come near our Nixon for gifts.
The simplicity, the circumstances, and the history of the Cheshire Prophecy are so remarkable that I hope the public will be as much delighted as I was myself.
By the way, this is not a prophecy of to-day; ’tis as old as the powder-plot, and the story will make it appear that there is as little imposture in it as the Jacobites pretend there is in the person it seems to have an eye to; but whether they are both impostures alike or not I leave the reader to determine.
J. Oldmixon.
THE PROPHECY.
In the reign of King James the First there lived a man generally reputed a fool, whose name was Nixon. One day, when he returned home from ploughing, he laid the things down which he had in his hands, and continued for some time in a seemingly deep and thoughtful meditation, at length he pronounced in a loud hoarse voice, ‘Now I will prophecy;’ and spoke as follows;
“When a raven shall build in a stone lion’s mouth on the top of a church in Cheshire, then a King of England shall be driven out of his kingdom, and never return more.
“When an eagle shall sit on the top of the house, then an heir shall be born to the Cholmondeley family, and this heir shall live to see England invaded by foreigners, who shall proceed as far as a town in Cheshire; but a miller, named Peter, shall be born with two heels on one foot, and at that time living in a mill of Mr. Cholmondeley’s he shall be instrumental in delivering the nation.
“The person who then governs the nation will be in great trouble, and skulk about:—The invading King shall be killed, laid across a horse’s back like a calf, and led in triumph. The miller having been instrumental in it, shall bring forth the person that then governs the kingdom, and be knighted for what he has done; and after that England shall see happy days. A new set of young men, of virtuous manners, shall come, who shall prosper, and make a flourishing church for two hundred years.
