[_The Athenian Gazette_, afterwards called _The Athenian Mercury_, swelled at last to twenty volumes folio; these becoming scarce, a collection of the most valuable questions and answers was reprinted under the title of _The Athenian Oracle_, in 4 vols. 8vo. The fourth volume contains a Supplement, to which is prefixed "The History of the Athenian Society," and an "Essay upon Learning." It was projected by the celebrated John Dunton, who says, "My first project was the _Athenian Gazette_. As the Athenian Society had their first meeting in my brain, so it has been kept ever since religiously secret: but I will now oblige the reader with a true discovery of the _question-project_, and of the several persons that engaged in it." These were his brother-in-law, the Rev. Samuel Wesley and Mr. Richard Sault, who were occasionally assisted by Dr. Norris. The work was also countenanced by several of the most eminent writers of the age; and was honoured in particular with a commendatory poem by Swift. Some curious notices respecting Dunton and his numerous literary projects will be found in the _Life and Errors of John Dunton_, 2 vols. 8vo., 1818; and in Nichols' _Literary Anecdotes_, vol. v. pp. 59-83.]
A remarkable instance of foresight relative to the fate of some of the French sovereigns appears in an epistle of Erasmus to King Francis I.:
"Prætexunt fidei titulum, sed revera aliud agunt; moliuntur tyrannidem, etiam in capita Principum. Huc tendunt per cuniculos. Nisi Princeps ipsorum voluntati per omnia paruerit, dicetur fautor Hæreticorum; et destitui poterit per Ecclesiam; hoc est, per aliquos conjuratos Pseudomonachos et Pseudotheologos."
Richer, Doctor of the Sorbonne, after having alluded to this passage, uses the following very striking language:
"Cæterum regno Franciæ his artibus everso, (quod omen Deus avertat,) reliquis Monarchiis Christianis quæ supererunt eadem manet pestis; ut prophetia Apostoli, _de iniquitatis mysterio_, et politicarum Potestatum ruina atque interitu, complementum sortiatur; cujus pestis et ruinæ complementum in dies singulos Bullæ Coenæ Domini et Directorii Inquisitorum arcanis promovetur. _Tumque demum, in fine sæculorum, seditiones, conspirationes, et bella plusquam civilia fervebunt, propter Potestatum sæculi exarmatorum imbecillitatem atque impotentiam; quæ nec sibi ipsis, nec aliis, sufficienter consulere poterunt; quia omnes imperare, et nemo parere volet_: quibus de bellis consule caput 24. Matthæi."