part of men, the prophet inforins us, that those, who had escaped these two successive plagues, still har. dened their hearts, and repented not of their idolatry, their sorcery, and their fornication *.

The four angels are the four sultanies of the Turks; the capitals of which were Bagdad †, Damascus, Aleppo, and Iconium . These were long restrained from extending their conquests beyond the territories, immediately adjoining to the river Euphrates, by the instrumentality, in the course of God's providence, of the crusades. But, when the Christians abandoned Syria and Egypt at the latter end of the thirteenth century, then the four angels on the river Euphrates were loosed. According to Saadi, the first victory of the Turks over the Christians was achieved in the year 1281, when the city of Cutahi was taken by Ortogrul §. This prince, dying in the year 1988, was succeeded by his son Othman; who, having united in one

Rev. ix. 13-21.

+ Late the proud seat of Saracenic domination.

The number four twice occurs in the early history of the Turks, no less than in the precise number of their Sultanies, Solyman Shah was drowned in attempting to cross the Euphrates with his three sons; and was succeeded by his youngest son Ortogrul, who had likewise three sons. I think however, that the four Sultanies are peculiarly meant; for prophecy usually speaks of states, rather than of individuals. But, in whatever manner the prediction of the four Euphratèan angels be understood, it is accurately accomplished in the fortunes of the Turkish empire.

See Bp. Newton in loc.

monarchy

monarchy the four Turkish sultanies, immediately turned his arms against the Constantinopolitan empire. "It was on the 27th of July, in the year

66

1299 of the Christian era, that Othman first in"vaded the territory of Nicomedia; and the singular accuracy of the date seems to disclose some foresight of the rapid and destructive growth of

"the monster

Under the fifth trumpet, we have seen the men, who had not the seal of God in their foreheads, tormented, but not killed. We now find, under the sixth trumpet, that the third part of men, or that third part of the Roman empire which constituted the Constantinopolitan monarchy, is to be slain, and not merely tormented, by the Euphratèan horsement. For this office of vengeance, we are told, that the four angels, the representatives of the Turkish power, were prepared to the very day, the hour, the month, and the year. Here it is natural to in

Hist. of Decline and Fall. Vol. xi. p. 433.

↑ It may not be improper here to observe, that the death of a beast and the death of a community do not mean the same thing. The death of a beast denotes the extinction of those idolatrous principles which cause a pagan empire to be symbolized by a beast; whereas the death of a community denotes its subversion. Hence we do not find it said, that the Roman beast was slain by the Euphratèan horsemen, because such phraseology would not have conveyed the intended meaning of the prophet; but that the third part of men, or the body politic of the third part of the original Empire, was slain. Accordingly, in perfect agreement with this dis tinction, the Roman beast still continued to exist, and will exist to the very end of the 1260 years, notwithstanding the political death of the third part of men.

quíre,

quire, why the time should be specified with such singular exactness; for, in the divine counsels, it may be said, every event is alike fixed to its own predetermined moment. The most obvious answer seems to be, that the final destruction of the Constantinopolitan empire was not only fixed to a moment in the divine counsels secretly, but likewise in some open and remarkable manner fixed to a precise point of time by the prepared warriors themselves. Let us hear the voice of history as she recounts the capture of Constantinople by Mohammed the second. "The distress and fall of "the last Constantine are more glorious than the long prosperity of the Byzantine Cesars. In the

confusion of darkness an assailant may some*times succeed: but, in this great and general "attack, the military judgment and astrological "knowledge of Mohammed advised him to expect

the morning, the memorable 29th of May, in "the 1453d year of the Christian era-From the "first hour, disorder and rapine prevailed in Con"stantinople, till the eighth hour of the same day;

when the Sultan himself passed in triumph through "the gate of St. Romanus--It was thus, after a "siege of fifty three days, that Constantinople, "which had defied the power of Chosroes, the

Chagan, and the Caliphs, was irretrievably sub"dued by the arms of Mohammed the second *." Thus, agreeably to the remarkable terms of the

Hist. of Decline and Fall, Vol, xii. p. 226, 239, 231.

prophecy,

prophecy, were the forces of the Euphratèan cavalry prepared to the very day, the hour, the month, and the year, in order that they might slay the apocalyptic third part of men. They were prepared by the astrological superstition of their prince not merely to the year, but to the month; not merely to the month, but to the day; not merely to the day, but to the hour. They were prepared to the first hour of the 29th day of the month of May in the year 1453*,

The

There is a question respecting the day, the hour, the month, and the year, whether they denote a certain season of continuance or an appointed epoch of action, Mr. Mede, Mr. Brightman, Sir Isaac Newton, Bp. Newton, Mr. Fleming, and other expositors, adopt the former opinion: Archdeacon Woodhouse, on the contrary, asserts that "the original language will not admit of "this construction," and therefore rejects it altogether (Apoc. trans. p. 260, 262, 273.). Whether his assertion be perfectly well founded or not, I think him right in rejecting the idea that a season of continuance is intended. St. John frequently speaks of continuance of time; and, whenever that is the case, he never uses the phraseology here employed (Compare Rev. ix. 5, 10, xi. 2, 3, 9. xii. 6, 14, xiii. 5. xx. 2, 4. with ix. 15.). Whence it is natural to suppose, that he is not here speaking of continuance of time, And the supposition is confirmed by finding, that, according to the translation of the LXX, this very phraseology is used by Daniel to designate an appointed poch. Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the 1335 days, that is, to the end of the 1335 days; s nμepas Xixias Triaxoσias Teiaxola wale, But, even if it be allowed that continuance of time may here be spoken of by St. John, still none of the schemes of those commentators will be found tenable; because they uniformly, though with some variations of exposition, apply the supposed continuance of time to the period of the

korsemen's

The cavalry of the Euphratèan warriors is described as consisting of myriads upon myriads : and they are represented as wearing breast-plates of fire, of hyacinth, and of brimstone; or, in other words, red, blue, and yellow. The Turks brought immense armies into the field, composed chiefly of horse; and, from the first time of their appearance, have been peculiarly attached to the colours of blue, yellow, and scarlet-The heads of their horses were as the heads of lions, to denote their great strength and fierceness: out of their mouths seemed to issue fire, and smoke, and brimstone and by this semblance of lightning, the prophet observed, that the third part of men were killed. This seems to be an allusion to the enormous artillery employed by Mohammed in the siege of Constantinople; by the instrumentality of which he chiefly succeeded in taking that city, and in thus slaying the apocalyptic third part of men. The stupendous size and destructive efficacy of his cannon is described with much particularity of circumstance by the historian of that period *-The horses morcover had power to do hurt by their tails, as well as by their mouths, their tails being like unto serpents, and having heads. The Turks, like

horsemen's conquests, whereas, if continuance be spoken of, it must be the continuance of their state of preparation: Mopao. μεθον εις την ώραν και ήμεραν και μηνα και ενιαυλον. In the three first editions of this work I had adopted Bp. Newton's exposition: but I am now convinced that it is untenable.

* Hist. of Decline and Fall. Vol. xii. p. 197, 211, 213.