The Ottoman Turks Make Their First Attack on the Eastern Roman Empire

It was on the twenty-seventh of July, in the year twelve hundred and ninety-nine of the Christian aera, that Othman first invaded the territory of Nicomedia; and the singular accuracy of the date seems to disclose some foresight of the rapid and destructive growth of the monster.

Gibbon, Edward, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 6 vols., London: A. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1788, v. 6, p. 311.

Aleister Crowley: How to Worship the Devil!

I am the Snake that giveth Knowledge & Delight and bright glory, and stir the hearts of men with drunkenness. To worship me take wine and strange drugs whereof I will tell my prophet, & be drunk thereof! They shall not harm ye at all. [...]

Crowley, Aleister, Liber AL vel Legis, sub figura CCXX, ch. 2, vs. 22.

(The Book of the Law complete text of the book)

[...] things like heroin and alcohol may be and should be used for the purpose of worshiping, that is, entering into communion with the 'Snake that giveth knowledge and delight and bright glory' [...]

Crowley, Aleister, Diary of a Drug Fiend, pp. 364-365.

The "Cleansing" of the Sanctuary of Daniel 8.14 -- Latin Vulgate

Et dixit ei: Usque ad vesperam & mane, dies & juge sacrisicium, & peccatum desolationis, quae duo millia trecenti: & mundabitur sanctuarium.

Daniel 8:14 (Latin Vulgate)

Sabatier, Pierre, Bibliorum Sacrorum, latinae versiones antiguae, Remis: Apud Reginaldum Florentain, 1743, v. 2, p. 874.

And he said to him: Unto the evening & morning, two thousand three hundred: and the sanctuarie shal be clensed.

Daniel 8:14 (Douay-Rheims)
The Holy Bible, faithfully translated into English out of the authentical Latin, diligently conferred with the Hebrew, Greek, & other editions in divers languages (1610 A.D. Douay Old Testament, 1582 A.D. Rheims New Testament), printed by Iohn Cousturier, 1635, p. 752.

MUNDARE, to make clean or neat.

"Mundare," Alexander Adam's A Compendious Dictionary of the Latin Tongue, 2nd ed., Edinburgh: T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1814 (, p. 479).

The "Cleansing" of the Temple of Daniel 8.14 -- The Septuagint

Καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ, ἕως ἑσπέρας καὶ πρωὶ ἡμέραι δισχίλιαι καὶ τετρακόσιαι, καὶ καθαρισθήσεται τὸ ἅγιον.

And he said to him, Evening and morning there shall be two thousand and four [three] hundred days; and then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.

 Daniel 8:14 (Septuagint)
(Brenton, Lancelot Charles Lee, The Septuagint Version of the Old Testament, London: Samuel Bagster and Sons, 1879, p. 1063.)

καθαρίζω, later form for καθαίρω, to cleanse, Lxx, N. T. [...]

"καθαρίζω," Liddell, Henry George and Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, 6th ed., rev. and aug., Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1869 (, p. 752).

καθαίρω [...] I. of the person or thing purified, to make pure or clean, cleanse, clean, purge, [...] 2. in religious sense, to cleanse, purify, [...]

"καθαίρω," Liddell, Henry George and Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, 6th ed., rev. and aug., Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1869 (, p. 751).

καθαρίζω [...] 1. to make clean, to cleanse: a. from physical stains and dirt [...] b. in a moral sense; α. to free from the defilement of sin and from faults; to purify from wickedness [...] β. to free from the guilt of sin, to purify [...] 2. to pronounce clean in a levitical sense [...]

"καθαρίζω," Thayer, Joseph Henry, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, cor. ed., New York; Cincinnati; Chicago: American Book Company, 1889 (, p. 312).

Reflections of a Jesuit on the Bible

My brethren, as to the Bible, be advised by me. For our greater good let us avoid—let us carefully avoid this ground. If I may tell you, openly, what I think of this book, it is not at all for us; it is against us. I do not at all wonder at the invincible obstinacy it engenders in all those who regard its verses as inspired.

You are aware that, when once entered upon theological studies, we must of necessity make some acquaintance with the Bible. [...] In the simplicity of youth I fully expected, on opening the New Testament, to find there laid down, totidem literis (in lettere cubitali), the authority of a superior chief in the church, and the worship of the Virgin, the source of all grace for mankind. I sought with the same eagerness for the mass, for purgatory, for relics, &c. But in every page I found my expectations disappointed; from every reflection that I made resulted doubt. At last, after having read, at least six times over, that little book which set all my calculations at nought, I was forced to acknowledge to myself that it actually sets forth a system of religion altogether different from that taught in the schools, and thus all my ideas were thrown into confusion (ne rimasi al sommo scompaginato).

Leone, Jacopo, The Jesuit Conspiracy: The Secret Plan of the Order, London: Chapman and Hall, 1848, pp. 98-99.

Jesuits: Use of Bribery to Further Plans

I am quite of opinion that we ought, by every possible means, to secure the aid of modem thinkers, whatever be the nature of their opinions. If they can be induced to write at all in our favour, let us pay them well, either in money or in laudation. Provided that the universal edifice goes on constantly increasing, what matters it to us what workmen, or what implements, are employed?

Leone, Jacopo, The Jesuit Conspiracy: The Secret Plan of the Order, London: Chapman and Hall, 1848, pp. 102-103.

The Roman Catholic Church: The Latin Vulgate Preferred Over the Original Greek and Hebrew

Why we translate the Latin text, rather then the Hebrew, or Greeke, which Protestants preferre, as the fountaine tongs, wherin holie Scriptures were first writen? [...] the ancient best learned Fathers & Doctours of the Church, doe much complaine, and testifie to us, that bothe the Hebrew and Greeke Editions are fouly corrupted [...] the Latin was truly translated out of them, whiles they were more pure; and that the same Latin hath been farre better conserved from corruptions.

The Holy Bible, faithfully translated into English out of the authentical Latin, diligently conferred with the Hebrew, Greek, & other editions in divers languages (1610 A.D. Douay Old Testament, 1582 A.D. Rheims New Testament), printed by Iohn Cousturier, 1635, OT preface.

[...] We translate the old vulgar Latin text, not the common Greeke text, for these causes.
[...]

10. It is not onely better then al other Latin translations, but then the Greeke text it self, in those places where they disagree.

The Holy Bible, faithfully translated into English out of the authentical Latin, diligently conferred with the Hebrew, Greek, & other editions in divers languages (1610 A.D. Douay Old Testament, 1582 A.D. Rheims New Testament), printed by Iohn Cousturier, 1635, NT preface.

The Jesuits and the Protestant Bible

Then the Bible, that serpent which, with head erect and eyes flashing fire, threatens us with its venom whilst it trails along the ground, shall be changed again into a rod as soon as we are able to seize it; [...] Oh, then, mysterious rod! we will not again suffer thee to escape from our hands, and fall to the earth!
For you know but too well that, for three centuries past, this cruel asp (crudele aspide) has left us no repose; you well know with what folds it entwines us, and with what fangs it gnaws us!

Leone, Jacopo, The Jesuit Conspiracy: The Secret Plan of the Order, London: Chapman and Hall, 1848, p. 98.

Prohibition Against the Bible: Council of Toulouse, A.D. 1229

Council of Thoulouse, A.D. 1229.

[...]

Canon xiv. " We prohibit also that the laity should be permitted to have the books of the old, or the new, testament; unless any one, from motives of devotion, should wish to have the Psalter, or the Breviary for divine offices, or the hours of the blessed Virgin; but we most strictly forbid their having any translation of these books."

Samuel Roffey Maitland, Facts and Documents illustrative of the history, doctrine and rites, of the ancient Albigenses & Waldenses, London: C. J. G. and F. Rivington, 1832, pp. 192-194

Mansi, Giovan Domenico, Sacrorum Conciliorum Nova, et Amplissima Collection, Paris: Hubert Welter, 1779, 1904, v. 23, col. 197-198.

Hebrew Parallelism and the Meanings of צדק, ṭâhêr, and טהר, tsâdaq

Shall mortall man be more just [צדק, tsâdaq, Strong #6663] then God?

shall a man bee more pure [טהר, ṭâhêr, Strong #2891] then his maker?

Job 4:17 (1611 KJV)

The Flood According to the Apppalachian Tribe in Florida

The Appalachian tribe in Florida is a relic of a more ancient nation than the North American Indian tribes. They relate that the lake Theomi burst its bounds, and overflowed the earth, and stood above the top of the highest mountains, saving only the peak Oldamy, on which stood a temple to the sun. Those men who had succeeded in reaching this temple were saved, but all the rest of mankind perished.

Baring-Gould, Sabine, Legends of Old Testament Characters, London and New York: MacMillan and Co., 1871, p. 104.

Die Völkerschaften in der Nähe der apalachischen Gebirge berichten: die Sonne habe einmal ihren gewöhnlichen Lauf vier und zwanzig Stunden zurückgehalten. Darauf waren die Gewässer des großen Sees Theomi dergestalt ausgetreten, daß sie auch die Gipfel der höchsten Berge bedeckt hätten, ausgenommen den einzigen Olaimy. Auf demselben hatte sich die Sonne mit eigenen Händen eine Wohnung bereitet; darum bewahrte sie ihn vor der allgemeinen Ueberschwemmung, und alle Menschen, welche diesen Ort erreichen konnten, wurden erhalten. Nach Berlauf der vier und zwanzig Stunden begann die Sonne ihren gewöhnlichen Lauf wieder. Durch ihre Kraft wurden die Gewässer in ihre Gränzen zurückgebracht, und die Dünste, welche dadurch auf der Erde verbreitet worden waren, zertheilt. Aus Dankbarkeit verehrten seitdem die Geretteten, und fortan ihre Nachkommen, die Sonne als eine Gottheit, als eine hülfreiche Retterin, insbesondere auf jenem heiligen Berge.

Majer, Friedrich, Mythologisches Taschenbuch oder Darstellung und Schilderung der Mythen, religiösen Ideen und Gebräuche aller Völker, Weimar: Verlage des Landes-Industrie-Comptoirs, 1811, vol. 1, pp. 244-245.  

[Translation: The tribes near the apalachischen Mountains report: the sun had even withheld their ordinary course of twenty-four hours. Then the waters of the great lake Theomi were such emerged that they had covered the peaks of the highest mountains, except the single Olaimy. At the same, the sun had prepared an apartment with his own hands, so she saved him from the general deluge, and all the people who were able to reach this place, were obtained. After overflow of twenty-four hours the sun habitually run started again. Due to their power, the waters were returned to their bounds, and the vapors which had been thus distributed on Earth zertheilt. Out of gratitude, since worshiped the rescued, and from then their descendants, the sun as a deity, as a savior of a helping, especially on that holy mountain.]

The Extent of the Meteor Shower of November 12-13, 1833

The shower [of meteors on Nov. 12-13, 1833] pervaded nearly the whole of North America, having appeared in nearly equal splendor from the British possessions on the north to the West-India Islands and Mexico on the south, and from sixty-one degrees of longitude east of the American coast, quite to the Pacific Ocean on the west. Throughout this immense region, the duration was nearly the same. [...]

Soon after this remarkable occurrence, it was ascertained that a similar meteoric shower had appeared in 1799, [...] on the morning of the twelfth of November; and [...] on the morning of the same thirteenth of November, in 1830, 1831, and 1832.

Olmsted, Denison, Letters on Astronomy Addressed to a Lady, Boston: Marsh, Capen, Lyon, and Webb, 1841, pp. 348-349.

The Roman Catholic Church and Forgery

The resources of mediaeval learning were too slender to preserve an authentic record of the growth and settlement of Catholic doctrine. Many writings of the Fathers were interpolated; others were unknown, and spurious matter was accepted in their place. Books bearing venerable names--Clement, Dionysius, Isidore--were forged for the purpose of supplying authorities for opinions that lacked the sanction of antiquity.

Dalberg-Acton, John Emerich Edward, The History of Freedom and Other Essays, London: MacMillan and Co., 1907, p. 513.

The Creation/Flood According to the Carriers

The Carriers give the following account of the tradition, which they believe, respecting the formation of the earth, and the general destruction of mankind, in an early period of the world. Water at first overspread the face of the world, which is a plain surface. At the top of the water, a muskrat was swimming about, in different directions. At length he concluded to dive to the bottom, to see what he could find, on which to subsist; but he found nothing but mud, a little of which he brought in his mouth, and placed it on the surface of the water, where it remained. He then went for more mud, and placed it with that already brought up; and thus he continued his operations, until he had formed a considerable hillock. This land increased by degrees, until it overspread a large part of the world, which assumed at length its present form. The earth, in process of time, became peopled in every part, and remained in this condition for many years. Afterwards a fire run over it all, and destroyed every human being, excepting one man and one woman. They saved themselves by going into a deep cave, in a large mountain, where they remained for several days, until the fire was extinguished. They then came forth from their hiding place; and from these two persons, the whole earth has been peopled.

Harmon, Daniel Williams, A Journal of Voyages and Travels in the Interior of North America, Andover: printed by Flagg and Gould, 1820, pp. 302-303.

Jesuit Oath: Dowling

Jesuits' Oath.— "I, A. B., now in the presence of Almighty God, the blessed Virgin Mary, the blessed Michael the Archangel, the blessed St. John Baptist, the holy apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, and the saints and sacred host of heaven, and to you my ghostly father do declare from my heart, without mental reservation, that pope Gregory is Christ's Vicar General, and is the true and only Head of the universal church throughout the earth; and that by virtue of the keys of binding and loosing, given to his Holiness by Jesus Christ, he HATH POWER TO DEPOSE HERETICAL KINGS, PRINCES, STATES, COMMONWEALTHS, AND GOVERNMENTS, ALL BEING ILLEGAL, WITHOUT HIS SACRED CONFIRMATION, AND THAT THEY MAY SAFELY BE DESTROYED; therefore to the utmost of my power, I will defend this doctrine and his Holiness's rights and customs against all usurpers of the heretical or protestant authority whatsoever, especially against the now pretended authority and church in England, and all adherents, in regard that they be usurped and heretical, opposing the sacred mother church of Rome.

"I DO RENOUNCE AND DISOWN ANY ALLEGIANCE AS DUE TO ANY HERETICAL KING, PRINCE, OR STATE, NAMED PROTESTANT, OR OBEDIENCE TO ANY OF THEIR INFERIOR MAGISTRATES OR OFFICERS. I do further declare the doctrine of the church of England, of the Calvinists, Huguenots, and other protestants, to be damnable, and those to be damned who will not forsake the same. I do further declare, that I will help, assist, and advise all or any of his Holiness's agents in any place wherever I shall be; and do my utmost to extirpate the heretical protestants' doctrine, and to destroy all their pretended power, legal or otherwise. I do further promise and declare, that notwithstanding I am dispensed with to assume any religion heretical, for the propagation of the mother church's interest, to keep secret and private all her agents' counsels, as they entrust me, and not to divulge, directly or indirectly, by word, writing or circumstance whatsoever, but to execute all which shall be proposed, given in charge, or discovered unto me, by you my ghostly father, or by any one of this convent. All which I, A. B., do swear by the blessed Trinity, and blessed sacrament, which I am now to receive, to perform and on my part to keep inviolably; and do call all the heavenly and glorious host of heaven, to witness my real intentions to keep this my oath. In testimony hereof, I take this most holy and blessed sacrament of the eucharist, and witness the same further with my hand and seal, in the face of this holy convent."

Dowling, John, The History of Romanism, 4 ed., New York: Edward Walker, 1845, p. 605.

The Root Meaning of the Title 'Vatican'

VATES, is, m. & f. (q. a fari) one who foretold future events, a prophet or prophetess, a diviner or soothsayer; [...] --VATICINIUM, i, n. a prediction, an oracle or prophecy, [...] --VATICINUS, a, prophetic; [...] --VATICINARI, (fatum & cano) to prophecy, to foretell, to divine; [...] --VATICINATIO, onis, f. a prophecying, divination; a prophecy, a prediction; [...]

"Vates," Alexander Adam's A Compendious Dictionary of the Latin Tongue, Edinburgh: T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1805 (, pp. 777-778).

The Flood According to the Cherokee

It is affirmed by Cherokee tradition, said my informant, that the water once prevailed over the land, until every person was drowned, but a single family. The coming of this calamity was revealed by a dog to his master. This dog was very pertinacious in visiting the banks of a river, for several days, where he stood gazing at the water, and howling piteously. Being sharply spoken to, by his master, and ordered home, he revealed to him the coming evil. He concluded his prediction by saying, that the escape of his master and family from drowning, depended upon their throwing him into the water; that to escape drowning himself, he must make a boat, and put in it all he wished to save; that it would then rain hard, a long time, and a great overflowing of the land would take place.
The dog then told his master to look for a sign of the truth of what he had said, to the back of his neck. On turning round, and doing so, the dog's neck was raw and bare, the bone and flesh appearing. By obeying this prediction, one man and his family were saved, and from these rescued persons, the earth, they believe, was again peopled.

Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe, Notes on the Iroquois, Albany: Erastus H. Pease & Co., 1847, pp.358-359.

Spiritualism to Unite Christianity

[...] I believe that one of the ultimate results of this movement [Spiritualism] will be to unite Christianity upon a common basis so strong and, indeed, self-sufficient that the quibbles which separate the Churches of to-day will be seen in their true proportion and will be swept away or disregarded.

Doyle, Arthur Conan, The Edge of the Unknown, London: John Murray, 1930, p. 274.
(see also Doyle, Arthur Conan, "The Uncharted Coast," The Strand Magazine, 1920b, v. 60, July-Dec., pp. 253-260 (p. 258)).

The Point of Spiritualism

The question has often been asked: "What was the purpose of so strange a movement [Spiritualism] at this particular time, granting that it is all that it claims to be?" Governor Tallmadge, a United States Senator of repute, was one of the early converts to the new cult, and he has left it upon record that he asked this question upon two separate occasions in two different years from different mediums. The answer in each case was almost identical. The first said: "It is to draw mankind together in harmony and to convince sceptics of the immortality of the soul." The second said: "To unite mankind and to convince sceptics of the immortality of the soul."

Doyle, Arthur Conan, The Edge of the Unknown, London: John Murray, 1930, pp. 273-274.
(see also Doyle, Arthur Conan, "The Uncharted Coast," The Strand Magazine, 1920b, v. 60, July-Dec., pp. 253-260 (p. 258)).

The Earth at the Center of the Universe?

Now at first sight, all this evidence that the universe looks the same whichever direction we look in might seem to suggest there is something special about our place in the universe. In particular, it might seem that if we observe all other galaxies to be moving away from us, then we must be at the center of the universe. There is, however, an alternate explanation: the universe might look the same in every direction as seen from any other galaxy too. This, as we have seen, was Friedmann’s second assumption. We have no scientific evidence for, or against, this assumption. We believe it only on grounds of modesty [...]

Hawking, Stephen, A Brief History of Time, up. and exp. 10th ann. ed., New York; London; Toronto; Sydney; Auckland: Bantam Books, 1998, pp. 44-45.

The Dark Day of May 19th, 1780 (2)

You will readily recollect that, previously to the commencement of the darkness, the sky was overcast with the common kind of clouds, from which there was, in some places, a light sprinkling of rain. Between these and the earth there intervened another stratum, to appearance, of very great thickness. As this stratum advanced, the darkness commenced, and increased with its progress till it came to its height; which did not take place till the hemisphere was a second time overspread. [...]

[...]

[...] The rays, that fortunately effected their passage through the first, were [...] turned out of their direct course, so that they must have struck upon the second very obliquely. [...] The Wonder is much greater, that any of them were able to penetrate. [...]

The darkness of the following evening was probably as gross as ever has been observed since the Almighty fiat gave birth to light. It wanted only palpability to render it as extraordinary, as that which over spread the land of AEgypt in the days of Moses. [...] I could not help conceiving at the time, that if every luminous body in the universe had been shrouded in impenetrable shades, or struck out of existence,  the darkness could not have been more complete. A sheet of white paper held within a few inches of the eyes was equally invisible with the blackest velvet. Considering the small quantity of light that was transmitted by the clouds, by day, it is not surprising that, by night, a sufficient quantity of rays should not be able to penetrate the same strata, brought back by the shifting of the winds, to afford the most obscure prospect even of the best reflecting bodies.

Letter of Samuel Tenney (an eye-witness at Rowley [Mass.?]), dated Exeter [N.H.?], Dec., 1785, in

Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, For the Year 1792, vol. 1, Boston: Munroe & Francis, printers to the Historical Society, 1806, pp. 95, 97, 98.

The Dark Day of May 19th, 1780 (1)

The 19th of May, 1780, was a remarkable dark day. Candles were lighted in many houses; the birds were silent and disappeared, and the fowls retired to roost. The legislature of Connecticut was then in session at Hartford. A very general opinion prevailed, that the day of judgment was at hand. The House of Representatives, being unable to transact their business, adjourned. A proposal to adjourn the Council was under consideration. When the opinion of Colonel Davenport was asked, be answered, 'I am against an adjournment. The day of judgment is either approaching, or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for an adjournment: if it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. I wish therefore that candles may be brought.'

Barber, John Warner, Connecticut Historical Collections, 2 ed., New Haven, Connecticut: Durrie & Peck and J. W. Barber, 1837, p. 403.

A Dove: Symbol of a Spirit

And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 

Matthew 3:16

Columbia: Its Meaning

Columbus, i, m. and oftener columba, ae, f. a pigeon or dove [...]

"Columbus," Alexander Adam's A Compendious Dictionary of the Latin Tongue, Edinburgh: T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1805 (, p. 74).

Columbia: a Designation for America

[...] Columbia, (which is the Lilliputian Name for the Country that answers our America,) [...]

The Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Chronicle, London: printed by Edward Cave, vol. 8, 1738, (June, "Debates in the Senate of Magna Lilliputia,") p. 285.

So far as I have been able to find out, this Lilliputian name for the country answering to English America was the first appearance of "Columbia" anywhere.

Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, series 2, vol. 2, 1885-1886, (December, 1885, "The Name 'Columbia',") p. 163.

The Unverifiable Assumption of Radiocarbon Dating: a second statement of

There are two basic assumptions in the carbon 14 method. One is that the carbon 14 concentration in the carbon-dioxide cycle is constant. The other is that the cosmic ray flux has been essentially constant--at least on a scale of centuries.

 Kulp, J. Laurence, "The Carbon 14 Method of Age Determination," The Scientific Monthly, 75 (November, 1952), 261.

The Unverifiable Assumption of Radiocarbon Dating

All calculations of radiocarbon dates have been made on the assumption that the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide has remained constant. If the theory presented here of carbon dioxide variations in the atmosphere is correct, then the reduced carbon dioxide amount at the time of the last glaciation means that all radiocarbon dates for events before the recession of the glaciers are in question. 

Plass, Gilbert N., "Carbon Dioxide and the Climate," American Scientist, 44 (July, 1956), 314.

(online article.)

The Three Way Struggle for World Dominion

Willing or not, ready or not, we are all involved in an all-out, no-holds-barred, three-way global competition. Most of us are not competitors, however. We are the stakes. For the competition is about who will establish the first one-world system of government that has ever existed in the society of nations. It is about who will hold and wield the dual power of authority and control over each of us as individuals and over all of us together as a community; over the entire six billion people expected by demographers to inhabit the earth by early in the third millennium.

The competition is all-out because, now that it has started, there is no way it can be reversed or called off.

No holds are barred because, once the competition has been decided, the world and all that's in it--our way of life as individuals and as citizens of the nations; our families and our jobs; our trade and commerce and money; our educational systems and our religions and our cultures; even the badges of our national identity, which most of us have always taken for granted--all will have been powerfully and radically altered forever. No one can be exempted from its effects. No sector of our lives will remain untouched.

Martin, Malachi, The Keys of This Blood: The Struggle for World Dominion Between Pope John Paul II, Mikhail Gorbachev, and the Capitalist West, New York; London; Toronto; Sydney; Tokyo; Singapore: Simon and Schuster, 1990, p. 15. 

Flora and Fauna Fossil Records are Indicative of Past Climate Conditions

The best barometer we can use to test the character of a climate is the fauna and flora which lived while it prevailed. This is not only the best, but is virtually the only barometer available when we inquire into the climate of past geological ages. Other evidence is always sophisticated by the fact that we may be attributing to climate what is due to other causes; boulders can be rolled by the sea as well as by sub-glacial streams, and conglomerates can be formed by other agencies than ice. But the biological evidence is unmistakeable; cold blooded reptiles cannot live in icy water; semi-tropical plants, or plants whose habitat is in the temperate zone, cannot ripen their seeds and sow themselves under arctic conditions.

Howorth, Henry Hoyle, The Glacial Nightmare and the Flood, 2 vols., London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Limited, 1893, vol. 2, p. 427.

The French Revolution Predicted One Hundred Years in Advance (2)

'Tis to be observed, that in the Text, 'tis not in the streets, in the plural, as the French translation reads; 'tis in the street, in the singular. And I cannot hinder my self from believing, that this hath a particular regard to France, which at this day is certainly the most eminent Countrey, which belongs to the popish Kingdom. Her King is called the eldest Son of the Church, the most Christian King, i. e. the most popish, according to the dialect of Rome. The Kings of France have by their liberalities made the Popes great at this day; it is the most flourishing State of Europe. It is in the middle of the popish Empire, betwixt Italy, Spain, Germany, England, exactly as a street or place of concourse is in the middle of a City. [...] In a word, 'tis the place or street of the great City. And I believe, that 'tis particularly in France, that the witnesses must remain dead; i.e. that the profession of the true Religion must be utterly abolisht.

Jurieu, Peter, The Accomplishment of the Scripture Prophecies, 2 vols., London: printed in the year 1687, vol. 2, ch. 13, pp. 247-248.