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Nor is it leſs difficult to form any ſatisfactory Conjecture, concerning the Rank or Condition of the Writer, who, contented with a Conſciouſneſs of having done his Duty, in leaving this ſolemn Warning to his Country, ſeems ſtudiouſly to have avoided that Veneration, to which his Knowledge of Futurity undoubtedly entitled him, and thoſe Honours which his Memory might juſtly claim from the Gratitude of Poſterity, and has therefore left no Trace by which the moſt ſagacious and diligent Enquirer can hope to diſcover him.
This Conduct alone ought to convince us, that the Prediction is of no ſmall Importance to Mankind, ſince the Author of it appears not to have been influenced by any other Motive, than that noble and exalted Philanthropy, which is above the narrow Views of Recompenſe or Applauſe.
That Intereſt had no Share in this Inſcription is evident beyond Diſpute, ſince the Age in which he lived received nei-
ther
