# The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift/Volume 17/A Wonderful Prophecy

While this work is included within The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, it may have been written by another member of the Scriblerus Club. The club, which was founded in 1714, included Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, John Gay, John Arbuthnot, Henry St John, and Thomas Parnell. Scholars currently agree in identifying John Gay as the most likely candidate.
A WONDERFUL
PROPHECY,
TAKEN FROM THE MOUTH OF THE SPIRIT OF A PERSON, WHO WAS BARBAROUSLY SLAIN BY THE
MOHOCKS;
PROVING ALSO
THAT THE SAID MOHOCKS AND HAWCUBITES ARE THE GOG AND MAGOG MENTIONED IN THE REVELATION;
AND THEREFORE
That this vain and transitory World will shortly be brought to its final Dissolution.
BREATHED FORTH IN THE YEAR 1712.
Woe! Woe! Woe!
WOE to London! Woe to Westminster! Woe to Southwark! and, Woe to the inhabitants thereof.
I am loth to say, Woe to the old and new churches, those that are built, and those that are not built!
But woe to the gates, the streets, and the houses! Woe to the men, the women, and the children! for the Mohocks and Hawcubites are already come, the time draweth near and the end approacheth!
Not to mention the near resemblance between the names of Mohock and Gog, Hawcubite and Magog (though I think there is a great deal even in that) I shall go on to proceed in my more solid ​arguments, proving to you not only the things that are, but also the things that are not.
The things that are, are the Mohocks and Hawcubites; the things that are not, are Gog and Magog; and yet both the things that are, and the things that are not, are one and the same thing.
How this matter is, or when it is to be fulfilled, neither you nor I know, but I only.
For when the Mohocks and Hawcubitescame, Satan came also among them: and where Satan is, there are Gog and Magog also.
They have the mark of the beast in their foreheads, and the beast himself is in their hearts, their teeth are sharp like the teeth of lions, their tails are fiery like the tails of scorpions, and their hair is as the hair of women.
[Here the spirit paused a while, and thus again proceeded.]
Now listen to what is to come:
Those that are in shall abide in, and those that are out shall abide out. Yet those that are in shall be as those that are out, and those that are out shall be as those that are in.
Be not dejected —— fear not —— but believe and tremble.
The lions of this world are dead, and the princes of this world are dead also, and the next world draweth nigh.
That ancient whig, the antichrist of St. John, shall lead the van like a young dragon; but he shall be cut piecemeal, and dispossessed.
The dragon upon Bow church, and the grasshopper upon the Royal Exchange, shall meet ​together upon Stocks market, and shake hands like brethren.
Shake therefore your heads, O ye people! My time is short, and yours is not long; lengthen, therefore, your repentance, and shorten your iniquities.
Lo! the comet appeareth in the south! yea, it appeareth exceedingly. Ah poor deluded Christians! Ah blind brethren! think not that this baleful dog-star only shaketh his tail at you in waggery; no, it shaketh it as a rod. It is not a sporting tail, but a fiery tail, even as the tail of a harlot; yea such a tail as may reach, and be told, to all posterity.
I am the porter, that was barbarously slain in Fleet street: by the Mohocks and Hawcubites, was I slain, when they laid violent hands upon me.
They put their hook into my mouth, they divided my nostrils asunder, they sent me, as they thought, to my long home; but now I am returned again to foretel their destruction.
The time is at hand, when the freethinkers of Great Britain shall be converted to Judaism; and the sultan shall receive the foreskins of Toland and Collins in a box of gold.
Yet two days, a day, and half a day, yet, upon the twelfth hour of the fourth day, those emblems of Gog and Magog at the Guildhall shall fall to the ground, and be broke asunder. With them shall perish the Mohocks and Hawcubites, and the whole world shall perish with them.
[Here the spirit: disappeared, and immediately thereupon held his peace.]