Note 22 — Chapter II · (continued 2)
Reading edition
Pōe dois ós hum sobre outro, E pōe lhe outro á direita, Pōe outro como o primeiro, Ahi tens a conta feita.
A Sebastianist was explaining this to P. Jose Agostinho de Macedo, who asked him, now he had made out the 808, where the thousand was? The believer pointed to the flag-staff from which the Portugueze colours were flying on the Mint.... There it is, straight and upright, behind the five wounds, which the voice of the Prophet has converted into ciphers.... Oh loucos e duros de coraçam em vos render a evidencia! Abri os olhos, miseraveis, que eu vos desengano, quereis esse sinal numerico, esse hum, que designe os mil? Nam vedes alli o páo da bandeira, tam direito, tam posto a pino, tam empertigado por detras das cinco chagas convertidas em cifras pela voz dos profetas; ahi estam, incredulos, ahi estam 1808.—Os Sebastianistas, p. 1, 98.
Another prophecy gave the date by thirty pair of scissars, the bows standing for ciphers; and the scissars, when opened, each represented a Roman X. I am not sufficiently versed in the arithmetic of the prophets to discover how this is summed up into 1808.