300 ATevelatton of Apocaiypfe: ihenfelves,' they Should have power to ,doe mifchiefe in no part of the world, but onely for the fpace of thefe five moneths ; but ifre- fpeft be had to thofe that indured the vexations, thefame (pace of time 1hall be given to certain countries, and it {hall be accounted ac- cording to the variety ofthe places,howfoever, perhaps,the continu- ance of theLocufts in force other place Should be much longer. Out` ofwhich the third pofition followeth ; that the five moneths alone are not to be numbred,6ut that thereare u many to beundèrßood by the Fi- gureSynechdoche,44 thereareregions,Whichfbouldundergo thefameea -_ /amityforfo longa Mace o fyeeres. Which foundations being laid, we Iliall feeno finall confeitt of the Hiftory. The firft troopeof Locufls was of the Saracens, who beginning about the yeere 63o. to fly a- bout, Mahomet being their Captain, didaffift molt rniferably,in thr farflfive moneths,that is,in the fiffyhundred and fifty yeeres,all Arabia, Syria, Mefopotamia,Armenia,Perfa;theybefieged Egypt alfo,wafted eIfrica,and at Taft invaded Spain.It is true you will fay,but they held all thefe places,. except 'Perfid, perhaps Armenia, and force part of eíArabia,not only for the fpace ofan hundred and fifty yeers, but for foure hundred more or leffe. I deny it not, but we muff in the mean.time,mark andcount,how long they were noyfoníeto the men ofthe Chriftian Religion in thefe places. It is-certain that-therewere Affemblies of Chrifiansin great number, when fifty the Saracen. came rufhing in an that they were not utterly routed out as foon as thefe carne in, but after a long Jailing mifery. They were at length quite overthrowne with deftru Lion, (laughter, death, and revolting to. impiety that prevailed; and which by getting new ftrength, grew tobe every day more andmore confirmed. By meansofwhich things; it came topale, that thofe regions which once belonged to the Wor- Jhippersof Chrift;in the (paceofthefe five maneths,became to be wholly in the power. of the Infidels, there being either no Chriftians- at all left in thofe places, orvery few. In the next ages, we Shall finde the Stories to bevery filent in fpeaking of the Churches in thefe places. Nowwe define thisfrft over-running-of the earthby the Saracens in fan hundredandfiftyyeers, not becaufe at the end ofthefe yeeres they Were ftraightwayes caft out of thole Countries, which they had-con- quered, butbecaufe they had ill fuceeffe-afterwards in theirbattels a- gain4t the -Romans,beingoftenconquered,piit to flight and flain,hard- ly holding that which they had gotten, much leffe getting any-more. At the.veer 780.: towards the end-of Leo Cópronymts; that is, after the hundred and:twentietlr yeer, -from the time that they be- gan
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