THE Great Prophecy OF King William's SUCCESS IN FLANDERS: OR, The Happy Fourth Year OF HIS MAJESTY's REIGN: Giving several Famous Predictions of the Honour of England, in His Glorious Actions to be performed this present year, 1692.  
Licenced and Entered according to Order.  
Printed at London; And reprinted at Edinburgh, 1692.   

The Great Prophecy of King William 's Success in Flanders, etc.  
THE Great Changes and Revolutions which have happened in the Affairs of the World have been very often ushered in with some strange Passages and Predictions. It would be tedious to recount all the prodigious Comets, Visions, Apparitions and Prophecies, which have in all Ages given occasion of Wonder and Amazement. ●his is most certain, never was there a more active World than now, and perhaps the mightiest Wheels are now at work that the great Machine ever set 〈◊〉- moving. The long depending Trial of skill between the vast Ambition of ●rance, and the tugging World engaged against him, affords Mankind no ●ean Hopes and Fears, and no common Expectation. And if Portents and predictions were ever the Forerunners of extraordinary Revolutions, we have ●ome Reason to believe, that since the present Ferment of Europe is too violent to ●old long at a stay, and some great Change must suddenly follow; if all those speaking Oracles are not quite silenced, there may be some Propheticks pointing to this present Age. Though Prophecies, 'tis true, generally meet the ●●me Treatment from the incredulous World, which Noah's Prophetic Sermon of forty years, whilst he was building the Ark, received from the insensible Race of mankind before the universal Deluge.  
And as the generality of Prophecies are commonly so wrapped in Disguise and Riddle, that is very difficult to give 'em an Interpretation; yet without vanity 〈◊〉 here present the Reader with some few possibly as free from that Veil and Obscurity as any he has met with, and perhaps those that speak as plainly to his Great Fourth Year of our present King William as can be expected.  
The First shall be that ancient one going under the Title of Mr. Truswell, the Recorder of Lincoln's Prophecy; found the best part of a hundred Years ago in ●he Ruins of a Religious House near Lincoln, and possibly first written as long before, the barbarous Latin in which it was penned giving sufficient assurance of its Antiquity, being much about the Standart of the Learning of those Times. And that the Reader may be confident 'tis no modern Novel or Fiction, it has been in print these forty Years, in a Treatise called A Voice from Heaven, printed Anno 1652. And consequently as near as it resembles the present 1692. can be ●o foisted Shame or Invention.  

The PROPHECY.  
Lilium manebit in meliori parte, & movebitur contra semen Leonis. Et stabit ex una parte inter spinas Regni sui, cujus Regnum est Terra Lunae, per totum Orbem timendum. Et veniet Filius hominis ferens feras in brachiis, cum multitudine Populi, transibit multas aquas, & veniet in terram Leonis, auxilium quarens à bestiis terrae suae. Veniet Aquila ex Oriente, aliis expansis radiis filii Hominis. Et hoc anno Castrasuper Thamesin peribunt, & magn●● eris timor in toto Orbe, & in quadamparte Terrae. Magna Praelia ernos inter multos Reges, & in illo die erit Pugna Cruenta in qua Lilium perde● coronum suam, de qua coronabitur filius hominis. Et quarto anno multa erunt pro fide certamina; caput mundi erit ad Terram. Filius hominis & Aquila elevabuntur. & tunc erit Pax in Terris Vniversalis. Et accipiet filius hominis mirabile signum. Et erit magna frugum abundantia. ibit in Terram Crucis.   
In ENGLISH.  
The Lily shall remain upon the better part, and he shall be moved against the Seed of the Lyon. And be shall stand on one part amongst the Thorns of his own Kingdom, whose Kingdom is the Land of the Moon, which is to be dreaded throughout the World. And there shall come the Son of Man, bearing the Wild-beasts in his Arms, with a multitude of People. He shall pass many Waters, and shall come to the Land of the Lion, looking for help from the Beasts of his own Country. Then shall there come an Eagle out of the East, and his Wings spread with the Beams of the Son of Man. And in that year shall be destroyed Castles upon the Thames, and there shall be great fear over all the World, and in a part of the Land. There shall be great Battles among many Kings. In that Day shall be the Bloody Field, in which the Lily shall lose his Crown, wherewith the Son of Man shall be crowned: and in the fourth year many Battles shall be for the Faith. The Head of the World shall be brought to the Earth. And the Son of Man with the Eagle shall be exalted. And there shall be Universal Peace over all the World. And the Son of Man shall receive a wonderful Sign. And there shall be great plenty of all Fruits of the Earth And he shall go into the Land of the Cross.  
[The Lily shall remain upon the better part.] By the Lily is plainly meant France, whose Ensigns are the Lilies [shall remain on the better part] plainly signifies the long Success and Triumph that France has obtained so many Years together; the better part being interpreted the Conquering side, the Glory, Greatness and uninterrupted Prosperity of that encroaching Monarch having sufficiently hitherto claimed him the Title of Conqueror.  
[And be shall be moved against the seed of the Lyon.] That is, He shall make War against the United Provinces and Spanish Netherlands. who are altogether called the Belgic Lion, and give the Lion for their Ensign, the very Figure of their Country in the Man being observed to resemble a Lyon. (And be shall stand upon one part amongst the Thorns of his own Kingdom.) His standing upon Thorns signifies the Uneasiness of his own Kingdom, the Subjects of France, from the Tyranny and Slavery they groan under, the long Ambition of so Aspiring a Prince laying no little Yoke and Oppression upon that miserable People. Whose Kingdom is the Land of the Mon. (And the Land of the Moon must mean France still, so called from the aforesaid Uneasiness of the French, who only want some happy and favourable hour, (possibly under the umbrage of some kind Invasion) to shake off their long Yoke, and change their Fetters for Liberty; the Moon being always the Emblem of change, as indeed the whole Prophecy, (as you will find in the sequel) looks that way. (Which is to be dreaded throughout the World.) Here this dreaded Kingdom plainly points to France, whose Power and Growth has but too long and too truly been the Terror of the World. (And there shall come the Son of man, who carries the wild Beasts in his arms.) This must intent the King and Kingdom of England, which 〈◊〉 so distinguishing a Difference from all other Princes, that no Arms but those ●f England pretend to wild Beasts, a part of their Escutcheon. (With a multitude of people.) With a multitude indeed, as Generalissimo of the Confederacy, so many Nations and People fight under his Standard.  
[He shall pass many waters, and shall come to the Land of the Lion, looking for help from the Beasts of his own Country] The passing of many Waters can apply to nothing but our present Sovereign, his first Expedition for ●e Redemption of England, his Voyage to Ireland, his passing the Boyne, his success over the Shanon, his several Expeditions to Flanders, all manifestly poin●ng at no other Prince. His coming to the Land of the Lion, his Embarquing or Flanders, looking for help from the Beasts of his Own Country, that is, expecting assistance from the State's General of the United Provinces, the native Country of our present Sovereign. The word [Beasts] in the Language 〈◊〉 a Prophecy meaning [the People.] [' Then shall there come an Eagle ●●out of the East, and his wings spread with the Beams of the Son of man.] ●●ere is plainly deciphered his Imperial Majesty of Germany, whose Ensign is, ●●e Eagle displayed; and his Wings being being spread with the Beams of the Son 〈◊〉 man, denotes the Confederacy between England and the Empire, the spreading the Imperial Wings by the Influence of the English Beams being a Prophe●● truly so fulfilled in his Britannic Majesty's vigorous Espusing of the common quarrel of Christendom, and the Dependence the whole Confederacy has upon 〈◊〉 at Potent and Leading Hero and Champion of their Cause. [' And in this year shall be destroyed Castles upon the Thames, and there shall be great ●ear over all the World, and in a part of the Land.] These Castles upon 〈◊〉 Thames undoubtedly can signify nothing but the Naval Preparations: ●hose floating Castles, the Fleets that shall be engaged in this Quarrel. The ●●ar that shall be over the World, being no more than the universal Apprehen●●ns on all sides, together with the Eyes and Concerns of all Nations being ●●t and intent upon the Fortune and Success of such formidable Preparations. ●nd that Fear that shall be in a part of the Land, may very reasonably be ap●●ed to the present state of England, where the Difference of Parties and Divi●●ns since the late Revolution, have possibly created some particular Fears in ●●gland, more and above those of the whole World besides so highly (as be●●re said) instructed in the Common Cause of Christendom. [' There shall ●e great Battles amongst many Kings.] This still confirms the present Confederacy, in which all Europe stands engaged [' In that day shall be the Bloody Field 〈◊〉 which the Lily shall lose his Crown wherewith the Son of man shall be ●rowned.] Here we come to the concluding Stroke, that there shall be one ●ore remarkable Great Day, being the Defensive Blow, in which the Lily, viz. ●rance, shall be subdued and lose her Crown, a Victory that shall be the particular Trophy of England, and the vanquished Diadem of France, the Conque●●ur's Prize and Reward. Nay, the very next Paragraph assigns the very Year in which this Defeat or Overthrow of France shall be accomplished; viz. [And in the fourth Year, many Battles shall be for the Faith, and the Head of ' the World shall be brought to the Earth, and the Son of man and the Eagle shall be exalted.] Now what can this Fourth Year in this reasonable Interpretation direct but this very 1692. the Fourth Year of his Majesty's Reign, when the Son of man and the Eagle, viz. the King of England and the Emperor shall be so highly exalted, by bringing down the Head of the World to the earth, viz. The French King, that aspires at least to be the Head of the World, and indeed who has but too long stood fair for being so. The only thing tha● hitherto appears most mystical through the whole Prophecy is, [' Battles for the I'faith] as if thereby were intimated some Religious War, which indeed is not the present Case of Europe. But what [pro fide] the words in the Original should amount to [pro fide Christiana] is going beyond the Text; and truly to make this finishing part all of a piece with the foregoing Discourse, we have all imaginable reason to construct the word Fides more inclining to Fidelity, in opposition to the Infidelity of France. And so the construction will run thus: Viz. That these many great Battles in this great Fourth Year, shall be fought in the Cause of Righteousness, Honour, Justice and Truth, by the Confederacy, for Recovery of so many Towns, Provinces, Principalities and Kingdoms, torn from 'em by the Rapine and Violence of the French King, or rather by his Treachery and Gold. This being the true [pro fide] for which this just War is waged against that great Infidel of the World, so notoriously guilty o● all manner of Breach of Faith, Leagues Covenants, nay Oaths themselves. [' And ' there shall be Universal Peace over all the World.] Undoubtedly the subduing of France must soon settle the whole World in Peace, and Plenty accordingly follow. (And the Son of Man shall receive a marvellous sign and shall go into the Land of the Cross.) What this wonderful Sign shall be we must expect from Time, that part of the Prediction being above the Reach o● Foresight and Conjecture; nor can we dive so far as to assign any particular Interpretation to that last part, his going into the Land of the Cross, unless w● may for once adventure to give this meaning to the Close of the Prophecy, viz. That this our Great son of man shall finish his Race of Glory, by acquiring a ye● brighter Crown; that is, from the Hand of the Greater Son of Man, when a● the last Trophy and Reward of Virtue and Honour, he shall be received into th●● Land of the Glorified Sufferer on the Cross, the Kingdom of Bless.  
Thus far our English Prophecy. And now let us hear something from Prophet of their own, the famous Nostradamus', the great Favourite of thre● French Kings, Henry the 2d. Francis the 2d. and Charles the 9th.  
Celuy qui la Principaute  
Tiendra par grade cruanté  
Al● fin, verra grand Phalange  
Par Coup defen tres dangereux,  
Par accord pourroit fair mieux,  
Autrement hotrasue D' Orange.  
In ENGLISH.  
He we who shall with great Cruelty hold the Principality, in the Conclusion shall see a great Army ruined by a most dangerous Fire●●low, he might do better to make an Accord, otherways he shall drink the juice of Orange.  
Here is first, a plain Description of the French Dominion, which is certainty carried on by the greatest Cruelty and Oppression wherever their Arms have made a Conquest; so great are the Desolations of Germany, especially Alsace, and all that pleasant, populous and fertile Country along the Rhine, that there is scarce an Inhabitant or a Village left for many Leagues together, to make complaint of the barbarous Inhumanity of the French Armies, who have left behind 'em unexampled Instances of their Cruelty in such unprecedented Spoils and Ravage.  
(And he shall see his Army ruined by the most dangerous blow of Fire.) Not improbable, Heaven often measures by the Lex talionis. Fire shall destroy those who have destroyed so many innocent Millions by Fire. But by this Fire he seems to intimat the Force of Powder, the now common and terrible Fuel of the horrid Engines of War. (He might do better to make an Accord) Certainly this would be wholesome Counsel for France, if the Ambition of the Great Lewis would resound some part of his ill-gotten Victories to purchase that Peace, which indeed is not agreeing with his Kidney. (Otherways he shall drink the Juice of Orange.) By this Juice of Orange must be meant, The Arms of our Illustrious Monarch, for want of which Accord, not made, nor now like to be, he shall seel the Force and Power of that Victorious Hero designed for Greatness and Wonders.  
I shall only add one more of the Prophecies of Nostradamus'.  
Le grand D' hungry ira dans la Nacelle  
Le Novean ne fera guerre novelle,  
A son voisin qu'il tiendra affiege,  
Et le Noire au avec son Altesse,  
Ne souffrir a que par trop on le press  
Durant Trois ans ses Gens tiendra range.  
In ENGLISH.  
The great one of Hungary shall go to the Boat, the new one shall not make a new War against his Neighbour, whom he shall besiege on every side. And the black one with his Highness, shall not suffer him to be over pressed. During three Years he shall keep his People in order.  
By the Great one of Hungary is meant the Emperor, Hungary being his Hereditary Kingdom. [Great one] makes it this present Emperor, all his Imperial Predecessors from Nostradamus' Time being so far from Great in Hungary, that the wh●●● Kingdom till this last Reign was all in the hands of Infidels, a Province of the Turk Empire. By his going into the boat is meant, his Embarquing in the Confederation. the new one is meant, a new King of France, that is, such a one as France never had fore. He shall not make a new war with his Neighbour, that is, It shall not be 〈◊〉 War, but the old Game played out; his continued Ambition of acquiring the Uni●●●sal Empire of Europe; his short Cessation of Arms in King Charles the Second Rei●● and the few Conquests, he than gave up, being so far from any intended Peace w●● the Empire, or any other of the Allies, that on the contrary, 'twas only a Blind lull his Neighbours for some little time a-sleep, till he could get better opportun●● and more strength to cut their Throats. The feeble Nimiguin Treaty, and all the tended Mediatorship of King Charles (pardon the Epithet, for though a bold one, a true one) being only that polltick Cobweb lawn. made on purpose to break throu●● His Neighbour, whom he shall besiege on every side, is the Emperor, whom he does 〈◊〉 only invade on one side, but is likewise the grand Animator (If not the original Fi●● brand) of the present Turkish Wars that attaque the Emperor on the other si●● And the black one with his Highness, shall not suffer him to be overpressed: that is, 〈◊〉 Spaniard, with his Highness the Prince of Orange, shall take the Emperor's part, a●● make some Check to the Progress of France; for The black one must mean Spain, the pithete of Black being the vulgar Characteristick of the Spaniard, and His High● must mean His present Majesty, more properly called His Highness in the Prophecy, the young Hannibal against Rome, being an early sworn Foe to France: and though n● so Potent a one, yet no less zealous a Champion of the Confederacy, when only Pri●● of Orange.  
[During Three Years he shall keep his People in order] Hear the English and Fren●● Prophet jump, for here we come to the old Prediction of this approaching 92, the ●●mous Fourth Year of His Majesty's Reign before mentioned. During three Years of o●● Sovereign's Reign France shall hold up his Head against his Enemies, and make h●● shift to keep Peace at home. But this great Fourth Year let him look for Domesil●● Insurrections and Rebellions from a People overladen with the intolerable Burden so long a War; and feel the Welght of the Impending Bolts that hang over him; who Execution perhaps the Justice of Providence has thus long retarded, to fall at last ●●o home and more heavy. When both the Eagle and the Son of man shall be exalted, at the Lily meet the Fatelt has deserved.  
I hope I have here given the Reader a very rational and natural Construction these several Prophecies. I shall only add one Remark. That these Prophecies w●● some others printed about 15 Years since, it was endeavoured there to make the gre●● Hero foretold of, to do such Wonders against France; (viz. the Black one in this Pr●●phecy, and the Son of man in the other) to be meant King Charles the second. A ve●● odd sort of an interpretation, to make that unfortunate, if not infatuated Prince, 〈◊〉 foredoomed Scourge of France, when his Inclinations lay so clearly the contrary way; Prince so strangely riveted and tied to the French Interest, that both the old English Honour and the Safety of his People were daily lessened by the exorbitant Grow●● of France. (The best Favour England could expect from so insatiate in Ambition, to last devoured by this hungry Polyphemus.) The Obligation of Trust lodged in him Arbiter of Europe, nor the Common Justice of ●iding the injured Side, the Confederas in short, neither, these, nor any other Considerations, were of Force to wean h●● from his extravegant Dotage and Fondness to France; but rather to lend him all Help the strengthening that Horse, whose Foot, if he would have remembered, had best (viz. in his Exile) not over kindly spurned him out of Doors:  
FIN●S.