“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_.” Verses 13, 14. NOTES.—These four angels are understood to refer to the four leading Turkish sultanies—Aleppo, Iconium, Damascus, and Bagdad—of which the Ottoman Empire was composed, situated in the country watered by the river Euphrates. As a striking parallel it may be noted that under the sixth plague (Rev. 16:12-16), the four angels of Rev. 7:1-3 will loose the winds of war, the waters of the river Euphrates (the Turkish Empire) will be dried up, and the armies of the nations will assemble for the battle of Armageddon. 15. What warlike scene is given under this trumpet? “The number of the armies of the horsemen was _twice ten thousand times ten thousand_: ... and the heads of the horses are as the heads of lions; and _out of their mouths proceedeth fire and smoke and brimstone_.” Verses 16, 17, R. V. NOTES.—“In the year 1453, Mohammed II, the Great, sultan of the Ottomans, laid siege to the capital [Constantinople], with an army of over 200,000 men. After a short investment, the place was taken by storm. The cross, which since the time of Constantine the Great had surmounted the dome of St. Sophia, was replaced by the crescent, which remains to this day.”—_Myers’s __“__General History,__”__ edition 1902, pages 462, 463._ Thus Constantinople, the eastern seat of the Roman Empire since the days of Constantine, was captured by the Turks. Reference also seems to be made here to the use of firearms, which began to be employed by the Turks toward the close of the thirteenth century, and which, discharged from horseback, would give the appearance of fire and smoke issuing from the horses’ mouths. In the battle of Armageddon, to which allusion may here be made, an army of “twice ten thousand times ten thousand,” or two hundred million, will doubtless be assembled. 16. What was the result of this warfare by means of “fire and smoke and brimstone”? “By these three was the third part of men killed.” Verse 18. NOTE.—This shows the deadly effect of this new means of warfare. “Constantinople was subdued, her empire subverted, and her religion trampled in the dust by the Moslem conquerors.”—_Elliott’s __“__Horæ Apocalypticæ,__”__ Vol. I, page 484._ 17. What definite period is mentioned under this trumpet? “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.” Verse 15.