The English claimant of divine honours was Richard Brothers. He was born at Placentia, in Newfoundland, and had served in the navy, but resigned his commission, because, to use his own words, he “conceived the military life to be totally repugnant to the duties of Christianity, and he could not conscientiously receive the wages of plunder, bloodshed, and murder.” This step reduced him to great poverty, and he appears to have suffered much in consequence. His mind was already shaken, and his privations and solitary reflections seem at length to have entirely overthrown it. The first instance of his madness appears to have been his belief that he could restore sight to the blind. He next began to see visions and to prophesy, and soon became persuaded that he was commissioned by Heaven to lead back the Jews to Palestine. It was in the latter part of 1794 that he announced, through the medium of the press, his high destiny. His rhapsody bore the title of “A revealed Knowledge of the Prophecies and Times. Book the First. Wrote under the direction of the Lord God, and published by his sacred command; it being the first sign of warning for the benefit of all nations. Containing, with other great and remarkable things, not revealed to any other person on earth, the restoration of the Hebrews to Jerusalem, by the year of 1798: under their revealed prince and prophet.” A second part speedily followed, which purported to relate “particularly to the present time, the present war, and the prophecy now fulfilling: containing, with other great and remarkable things, not revealed to any other person on earth, the sudden and perpetual fall of the Turkish, German, and Russian Empires.” Among many similar flights, in this second part, was one which described visions revealing to him the intended destruction of London, and claimed for the prophet the merit of having saved the city, by his intercession with the Deity. Though every page of his writings betrayed the melancholy state of the unfortunate man’s mind, such is the infatuation of human beings, that he speedily gained a multitude of partisans, who placed implicit faith in the divine nature of his mission. Nor were his followers found only in the humble and unenlightened classes of society. Strange as it may appear, he was firmly believed in by men of talent and education. Among his most devoted disciples were Sharpe, the celebrated engraver, whom we shall soon see clinging to Joanna Southcott; and Mr. Halhed, a profound scholar, a man of great wit and acuteness, and a member of the House of Commons. The latter gave to the world various pamphlets, strongly asserting the prophetic mission of Brothers, and actually made in the House a motion in favour of the prince of the Jews. Numerous pamphlets were also published by members of the new sect.