And those faithful prayers, being sweetened by the powerful and pleasing Intercession of Christ, were with great acceptation received of God, from the hands of Christ his Son.

VIII. 5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.

And the same Angel of the Covenant, the Son of God, who, as he is the just avenger of the enemies of his Church, (and therefore had cast the fire of his wrath upon the earth, on the heads of those tyrants and persecutors, as also of those heretical seducers which vexed his Church) did now also, in much mercy to his Church, from that heavenly altar of his, cast down the fire of holy zeal and illumination upon his servants on earth; who, being inflamed and enlightened therewith, desire and endeavour to oppose those wicked heresies, which had been broached in the Eastern Churches; and immediately hereupon followed great tumults, and much opposition.

VIII. 6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

And now, upon the opening of the seventh seal, and these broils that followed after in the Church, those Seven Angels, which God had appointed to be the heralds of his vengeance to the earth, prepared themselves to sound forth the reports of those several judgments, and remarkable proceedings of God, with and upon the world.

VIII. 7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all the green grass was burnt up.

And the First Angel sounded, and there followed great store of heresies, and very raging, fiery, bloody prosecutions of them in the Church; and the third part of the professors of the Gospel, which are the Churches of the East, were grievously plagued and infested therewith these were the heresies of Arius, Macedonius, Eunomius, Photinus, Luciferians, Messalians, Apollinaris, Priscillianus, Pelagius, Nestorius, Eutyches.

VIII. 8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood.

And the Second Angel sounded, and there was an eminent part of the Church, even that large and numerous Council, which was met at Ariminum, for the establishing of the Arian heresy; which, being fired with that wicked contention, diffused itself into the world and a third part of the known Church was infected with it, and moved to a bloody persecution of the truth. So also verse 9.

VIII. 10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters. And the Third Angel sounded, and there fell out a fearful Apo

stasy from the Church of Christ: partly, by the seducement of wicked Mahomet, who, after some acknowledgment of Christ, fell away and devised with Sergius the Nestorian Monk and John of Antioch the Arian, to frame his cursed Alcoran, and to advance his own damnable impieties; and he corrupted a great part of the world, tainting both the springs and streams of religion: and, partly, by some dangerous errors and superstitions, which began to prevail in the Western Churches.

VIII. 11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.

And the doctrines of that wicked impostor were as bitter as wormwood, and did put an ill savour and odious distastefulness upon all that were mis-seasoned with them: insomuch as these seducements proved deadly to many thousand souls.

VIII. 12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise. And the Fourth Angel blew, and, what with the infection of Mahometanism in the East, and the corruptions and errors which be gan to creep into the Western Church, a third part of the Chris tian world began to be darkened; and to be overspread with ignorance or misbelief; and lose that pure light of truth, which had formerly shined forth unto them.

VIII. 13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

Whereupon I beheld, and, lo, a swift messenger of fearful tidings was sent by God unto his Church; premonishing his elect, that they must expect yet more grievous plagues to be inflicted upon the inhabitants of the earth, in the following times, at the sounding of those three other trumpets that yet remained.

IX. 1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.

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And the Fifth Angel blew his trumpet, and I saw that fore-described Apostate both of the East and West Church, to receive yet more power to prevail in their impieties and ambitions; and, as it were, to set open the gates of hell.

IX. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

And, accordingly, this Apostasy succeeded: so as the instruments and agents therein did, by their errors and impieties, set open the way to the pit of hell; from whence there arose such fogs of misbelief and erroneous doctrine, as that thereby the light of the Gospel was much obscured.

IX. 3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

And there came out of this hellish smoke new swarms of Saracens in the East, and of superstitious abettors of usurpation and errors in the West; which wasted a great part of the Church, and, by the sting and poison of their false doctrine, had permission to envenom very many in all places.

IX. 4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. Yet, so did it please God to restrain the power and success of their infection and annoyance, as that they should not prevail over those places and persons, which He, in his secret counsel, had determined to preserve: no; not even the most weak and tender plants in his Church, but only over those men which have not the mark of God's particular and gracious protection set upon them.

IX. 5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.

And even over them also, was the power of these noisome persons so limited, as that they should not utterly destroy them; but oppress and afflict them for the space of a hundred and fifty years, after their first seizure upon every several region which they should infest; at which time their tyranny should abate: the proceedings of which pernicious agents should be, at first, more easy and tolerable; and, afterwards, should grow to extremity and painful death.

IX. 6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

And, therefore, in those grievous oppressions, both of body and of estate and of soul, men shall be so vexed, that they shall be weary of their lives; and shall wish to be freed from that servitude, even by death itself, and shall not be allowed it.

IX. 7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.

And the form and deportment of these infernal locusts was altogether martial, like unto barbed horses prepared to the battle; carrying all by a cruel and impetuous violence, and bearing down all oppositions before them: and, through their happy success, they triumphed as kings, and had the very forms of crowns upon their heads; and they carried themselves, for their own advantage, friendly and plausibly to those whom they meant to work

upon.

IX. 8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.

And they were altogether effeminate in their dispositions; being given up to wantonness and lust: and, to maintain their luxury,

they were immoderately ravenous and cruel; by strong hand invading the dominions and inheritances of their opposites.

IX. 9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.

And they were strongly defenced against all hostile attempts: the Eastern locusts, by their own conquests; the Western, by that hand which they had got over the kings and princes of the earth, which were ready prest for their maintenance and supportation: and when they were provoked, their preparations and threats were great and terrible, like to the rattling of many cha riots, and neighing of horses to the war.

IX. 10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. And these hellish locusts, besides their ordinary effect of wasting and spoiling the earth, had dangerous venom in them, and deadly stings in their tails, which were like to those of scorpions; and had permission from God, to torment and impoison those with whom they had to deal, for the space of the forenamed hundred and fifty years.

IX. 11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

And they ranged themselves under one kingdom or government; the Eastern locusts, under their Mahomet; the Western, under their universal head; both of them under Satan, the Prince of Darkness, who, being a man-slayer from the beginning, hath his name from Destruction.

IX. 12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.

One great calamity and misery to the Church is already foreshewed; which is in the joint endeavours of the Eastern and Western locusts; and, behold, there are two more and more grievous afflictions yet remaining.

IX. 13, 14 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.

And the Sixth Angel sounded; and, as the temple on earth resembles heaven, and the golden altar in the temple, being near seated to the Holy of Holies and the Propitiatory, signifies and imports a near approach to the throne of God, I heard a voice coming as it were from the four corners of that golden altar which is before God, Saying to that Angel, which had the charge to sound the sixth trumpet, Hitherto the evil spirits have been restrained from the extremity of their machinations against my Church, which is in the Eastern parts, about the great river Euphrates; but now I do, in my infinite justice and wisdom, see it to be time to let them loose, to inflict their greatest mischiefs upon those coasts.

IX. 15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.

And those four evil angels, which were to be executioners of God's wrath, were let loose; which, howsoever they were restrained before, yet were ever forward and eagerly prest to do mischief, according to the proportion of the time limited them : if they were allowed but one hour's liberty, they were ready prepared to do their utmost hurt for that hour: if for a day, or a month, or a year, they were accordingly addressed for their execution upon the third part of the inhabitants; by the sword of the Turks, and those bloody wars which should be raised by their.... instigation.

IX. 16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand and I heard the number of them. And the number of those Turkish armies shall be exceeding great, above the proportion of all those Christian forces which shall pose them.

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IX. 17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.

And then I saw their horses, and the riders on them, in my vision; armed strongly, and set forth in a terrible fashion; their breastplates and targets representing nothing but fire and fury against their enemies; and their horses were fierce and lion-like; and the riders of them were furnished with such engines of death, as carried sulphur, and fire, and smoke in the mouths of them.

IX. 18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.

And by these instruments of death a great part of the Europeans were slain; the main force of the Turks consisting in their troops of horses, and the military preparations of this kind.

IX. 19 For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.

Such power and success shall they have in their battles and open assaults: but, withal, they shall underhand work much secret mischief, by their serpentine plots and devices; whereby they shall withdraw many from their Christian religion to accursed Mahometanism.

IX. 20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood, which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk. And the rest of those European Christians and neighbouring na tions, which have yet escaped those plagues of Turkish cruelty, have not been warned by so severe a hand of God to repent of