magistrates in Rome and Italy, and in every city of note conftituted a new governor with the title of Duke. He himself prefided over all; and refiding at Ravenna, and not at Rome, he was called the Exarch of Ravenna, as were also his fucceffors in the fame office. Rome was degraded to the fame level with other places, and from being the queen of cities and empress of the world was reduced to a poor dukedom, and made tributary to Ravenna which she had used to govern.

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 found.

Notice is then proclamed by an angel (ver. 13.) that the three other trumpets found to ftill greater and more terrible plagues, and are therefore distinguished from the former by the name of woes. The defign of this meffenger is to raise

our

eofque Romanis hominibus tantum mandavit. Sigonius ibid. Lib. 16. Ann. 494.

(3) Sigonii Hift. de Regno Italiæ, Lib. 1. Blondi Decad. primæ, Lib. 8.

(4) Vide

our attention to the following trumpets; and the following we fhall find to be more strongly marked than the foregoing. The foregoing relate chiefly to the downfall of the western empire; the two following relate chiefly to the downfall of the eastern empire. The foregoing are described more fuccinctly, and contain a less compass of time; the following are fet forth with more particular circumftances, and are of longer duration as well as of larger defcription.

CHAP. IX.

I

'Α

ND the fifth angel founded, and I faw a ftar fall from heaven unto the earth and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.

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

3 And there came out of the smoke locufts upon the earth; and unto them was given power, as the fcorpions of the earth have

power.

4 And it was commanded them that they fhould not hurt the grafs of the earth, neither

ther any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the feal of God in their foreheads.

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 fcorpion, when he striketh a man.

6 And in thofe days fhall men feek death, and shall not find it; and shall defire. to die, and death fhall flee from them. 7 And the shapes of the locufts 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.

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

9 And they had breaft-plates, as it were breaft-plates of iron; and the found of their wings was as the found of chariots of many horfes running to battle.

10 And they had tails like unto fcorpions, and there were ftings in their tails: and. their power was to hurt men five months.

II And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomlefs pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, VOL. III.

H

but

but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

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

At the founding of the fifth trumpet (ver. 1, 2, 3.) a ftar fallen from heaven, meaning the wicked impoftor Mohammed, opened the bottomlefs pit, and there arofe a fmoke out of the pit, and the fun and the air were darkened by it; that is, a falfe religion was fet up, which filled the world with darkness and error; and fwarms of Saracen or Arabian locufts overspread the earth. A false prophet is very fitly typified by a blazing ftar or meteor. The Arabians likewife are properly compared to locufts, not only becaufe numerous armies frequently are fo, but alfo becaufe fwarms of locufts often arife from Arabia; and also because in the plagues of Egypt, to which conftant allufion is made in thefe trumpets, the locufts (Exod. X. 13.) are brought by an east-wind, that is from Arabia, which lay eastward of Egypt; and also because in the book of Judges (VII. 12.) the people of Arabia are compared to locufts or graf

(4) Vide Gefner. de Infect. Plin. Nat. Hift. Lib. 11. Cap. 29. Se&. 35. Edit. Harduin.

(5) Anno Heraclii decimo

feptimo dimidium corporis folaris lumine defecit, manfitque ejus deliquium a Tifrin priori ad Haziran, adeo ut non appa

reret

grafhoppers for multitude, for in the original the word for both is the fame. As the natural locufts (4) are bred in pits and holes of the earth, so these mystical locufts are truly infernal, and proceed with the fmoke from the bottomless pit. It is too a remarkable coincidence, that at this time the fun and the air were really darkened. For we learn from an (5) eminent Arabian hiftorian, that in the feventeenth year of Hera

clius half the body of the fun was eclipfed, and this defect continued from the former 'Tifrin to Haziran, (that is from October to June) fo that only a little of its light appeared.' The feventeenth year of Heraclius (6) coincides with the year of Chrift 626, and with the 5th year of the Hegira; and at this time Mohammed was training and exercifing his followers in depredations at home, to fit and prepare them greater conquefts abroad.

for

It was commanded them (ver. 4.) that they fhould not hurt the grafs of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; which demonstrates that these were not natural, but fymbolical locufts. The like injunctions were given to the Arabian

reret nifi parum quid de lumine ipfius. Abul-Pharajii Hift. Dyn. 8. p. 99. Verf. Pocockii.

(6) Blair's Chron. Tab. No 33. Abul-Pharaj. Dyn. 9. p. 102. Elmacini Hift. Saracen. Lib. 1. p. 6.

(7) Ockley's

H 2