James Bicheno, Astor, near Witney, to John Sutcliff at Mr. Pecks, Linen Draper, Newbury, 23 October 1813.

         My dr Sir, having parted with you last Tuesday, & having the honour of so little acquaintance with you, it may surprise you to receive a letter from me on the present occasion; but I am sure what follows will suggest to a person of your goodness of disposition a sufficient apology for the liberty I take in thus troubling you, & which I hasten to do because I understood you to intend returning to Newbury on Tuesday next & to go for Buckinghamshe on Wednesday.

         When I arrived at home last evening I found a letter on my table, from which, in opening it, I learnt that in the 2nd week of the present month was held at Northampton your autumnal meeting of ministers, where I concluded you were present. At that meeting Mr Hall spoke favorably of some parts of my writings, & mentioned a remarkable dream which I had relative to the taking of Rome by the French in Feby 1798 when Mr A. Fuller did not satisfy himself with opposing Mr Hall’s opinion, but insinuated what was disadvantags to my reputation &c. that is, I conclude, that I invented the dream after I had heard of the capture in question, meaning thus to stab my character & rob me of that good namewhich I have, without interruption, now enjoyed for more than 40 years. Till I met Mr Fuller in Leicestershe in April 1810, I had not seen him more than once or twice, nor been in his company one hour, for 42 years, & never either injured or offended him in my life in any way. Was delighted to see him at Arnsby, but he treated me with illtemper & rudeness.—But to the present business about the dream, concerning which I have never said much, unless in reply to inquirers; but as you may satisfy yourself while at Newbury as to the truth of the facts & justify me among our brethren from the foul insinuations of slander, I shall state the facts, & you may apply to Mr Thos Hedges of Newbury, to whom & MrS. Edkins, who now lives at Warwick. I told the dream 13 days before the news reached Newbury by the Reading Mercury; or you may inquire of Mr Weeden to whom Mr Hedges has related the fact, or of Mr Lloyd to whom Mr Edkins told it, as well as to 80 more in the town, & who have heard Mrs Bicheno relate, or bear testimony to the circumstances. Or if you or Mr Hall, or Cuttriss, or any of your brethren in whose presence I was attempted to be assassinated would write or call upon Mr Edkins at Warwick I should be extremely obliged—This is the plain story. On the morning of the 10th of Feby 1798—I cannot tell the time to an hour or two—I hear a mans voice, as tho’ he stood at the fire place opposite the beds foot, but with a voice as loud as a person calling from 20 or 30 yards distance, or more, saying “Babylon is taken.” I started up, while my blood ran chill, & exclaimed, Rome is taken!  wife!  Rome is taken. She waked & cried, “what is the matter?” Why, Rome is taken. I this moment heard a voice that called, “Babylon is taken.”— “Do hold your nonsense & go to sleep, I don’t care about Babylon”—Yes, but let us remember, it was not Babylon is fallen, but Babylon is taken. It does not fall yet, it is only taken.— “I sha’n’t remember any thing about it, go to sleep.”— In the morning I told it at the breakfast table, & wrote in my pocket book, now before me, against Feby 10th “Dreamed I heard a voice saying, Babylon is taken!’” This was Saturday. On Monday evening met Mr Edkins at Mr Hedges’, to spend an hour or two together—as we did usually once a fortnight at each others houses alternately. There & then I told them of my dream, but no more than Babylon is taken. Mr Edkins replied, “Ah! dreams are nothing.” & he went on talking, that no more was said about it. Nor did I mention it more that I remember, but the Sabbath fortnight—15 days after the voice, some one told me that it was in the Reading paper that the French had taken Rome, but it coming so quick after, I could have no idea that my dream could agree in time with it. On Monday morning I went to Mr Lloyds to see the Reading paper, & was surprised that the capture was so lately & said to him, ‘why I lately dreamt &c &c, but I forget what morning it was. I’ll run home & see, for I put it down in my pocket book.’ I went home & was astonished to find it exact, for the paper said the French entered it on the morning of the 10th at daylight. 

         In the afternoon of this Monday, Mr Edkins called upon me, I called to his recollectn what I had said about my dream on that day fortnight. He remembered it & expressed surprise. Mrs B. beg’d him not to mention it for I should only be laughed at. However when the coach came in he went to the Coffee room to see the papers & there he told the company of my dream. It was soon noised about town, & it was in every bodys mouth, “Mr Bicheno had the first intelligence.”  This is the plain, straightforward story, & you have it in your power to ascertain the truth, or prove me that impious & lying scoundrel which Mr A. Fuller wishes the public to believe me to be. Will thank you to read this to Mr Hall, to MrFuller, & to all, if convenient, that heard Mr Fuller’s insinuations, & to report what you learn. 

         My son I conclude is gone to London. Should be glad if our friends could be informed, that I found M.rs Bicheno worse. The servant called me his morning, thinking her dying. I thought so too, & ordered a man & horse to be got to go to Newbury. But she took a little coffee & revived, before the medical man came. He thought her not very near death, but cannot be expected to live long. Extremely weak; swelling increases & scarcely knows me. I wish my son to know this, but don’t know how to inform him. Love to M.rs Sutcliff, M.r & Mrs Welch. Pray for us. May every blessing attend you    pray yours 

                                                               J Bicheno

Text: Timothy Whelan, Baptist Autographs in the John Rylands University Library of Manchester, 1741-1845 (Macon: Mercer University Press, 2009), pp. 167-69 (annotated version); also Eng. MS. 373, fol. 165, John Rylands University Library of Manchester. James Bicheno (1752-1831) was a Baptist minister and prophetic writer at Newbury (1780-1807), Coate (1811-19), and Newbury once again (1820-24). William Cuttriss (d. 1829) attended Bristol Baptist College in 1807. He served as Baptist minister at Arnsby, 1810-18, and Ridgmount, Bedfordshire, 1818-29. Bicheno's son, James Ebenezer Bicheno (1785-1851), was for many years secretary of the Linnean Society. Others mentioned were most likely members of Bicheno's congregation at Newbury: either Thomas Hedgis [Hedges], corn-chandler, or William Hedgis, millwright; Samuel Edkins, Esq., and Samuel Lloyd, Esq.; and Timothy Weedon, taylor and habitmaker, or John Weeden, haberdasher. Edkins and Hedges were both subscribers to Robert Robinson’s Ecclesiastical Researches in 1792. See Baptist Magazine 22 (1830), 30; John Oddy, “Bicheno and Tyso on the Prophecies,” Baptist Quarterly 35 (1993-94), 81-89; Universal British Directory, vol. 4, pp. 81, 79, 82.