Perhaps the best-known instance of English apocalyptic belief of the late seventeenth century is the movement associated with John Mason in Buckinghamshire. Mason was the Church of England rector of the parish of Water-Stratford, and in the early 1690s he preached a sermon entitled The Midnight-Cry. In it Mason assured his audience of the impending advent of the millennial reign. This kingdom, inaugurated by Christ's personal appearance on earth, would be ruled by the saints and accompanied by the conversion of the Jews. It would also accomplish what no earthly monarch had been able to achieve: there would be ‘Unity without Division, Verity without Errour, Spirituality without Formality, Hypocrisy, or Censure’. In addition to this millenarian message, Mason also criticized the English church. He charged it with the corruption of manners, accused it of maintaining the false doctrine of Arminianism, and identified the nation as one of the ten horns of the beast. Despite this condemnation, Mason went on to declare that out of England would ‘arise a People … hated for Christ's Sake … called the Poor and Needy’ who would be ‘miraculously preserved by a God that shadows them’. Mason's sermon attracted much interest. The printed version of The Midnight-Cry reached a fifth edition by 1694, and the popularity of Mason's millenarian beliefs continued to grow. A contemporary account noted that the sermon ‘was Preach'd in several Places with great Zeal, and receiv'd with much applause.