of a like object and import. The symbols of four warriors, or horsemen, each of whom rode in succession upon a white, red, black, and pale horse, respectively, as described at length in the vision of the seals in his sixth chapter. That horsemen, in the symbolical language of the prophets, signify kings, emperors, and conquerors, is universally acknowledged, and appears in some degree from the passage itself, where the first rider or horseman went out with a bow in his hand, conquering and to conquer. "Ride on" in the xlvth Psalm, is paraphrased by the Chaldee Targum Baotleve, "reign," and in Virgil Sonipes bellis feralibus omen, "the horse an omen of destructive wars." And

Neu Sinas Medos equitare inultos

te duce Cæsar *. HORACE. That they betoken kings and conquerors must therefore be acknowledged, and, indeed, is for the most part admitted by writers on the prophecies. But they have in general forgotten, that a king, or emperor, denotes, in the peculiar nomenclature of the prophets, not an individual monarch, or a particular prince, whose conduct and character could have comparatively little weight or influence on the religion and morals of mankind, but the kingdom or empire itself, which is governed by a long line of sovereigns, and which, therefore, must have no

"Nor let the Parthians, with unpunished pride,

Beyond his bounds, O Cæsar, dare to ride." FRANCIS.

slight nor inconsiderable effect upon the condition and the destinies of the church and of the world itself. There are hence but two individuals who are by the latter prophets of both Testaments distinctly pointed out, and particularly meant, as kings, viz. Christ and Antichrist, and even they also, in reference to their respective kingdoms or empires, which were to be so extensive and permanent in the world, and so intimately and essentially instrumental to the progress of religion and truth, on the one side, and of idolatry and error on the other. Both Hezekiah and Cyrus had indeed been individually announced and distinctly foreshown by the name or the symbol of "the king;" because they had been chosen adumbrations and acknowledged precursors of King Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ; and Antiochus Epiphanes had been also similarly foretold and foresignified, because he had stood in a corresponding relation to the false messiah, Antichrist. But in almost all other cases kings denote, in the peculiar and symbolical phraseology of the prophets, the kingdoms or empires themselves which they governed; and which are of infinitely greater interest and consequence to religion and to mankind, than individual potentates could possibly be. Hence the seven crowns or diadems, in chapter xiith, and the seven kings in chapter xviith of the Apocalypse, point out seven great kingdoms or monarchies, as will be seen hereafter. And this is an

axiom of interpretation almost invariably and universally adopted, except, unluckily, on this single and important occasion. But no solid reason nor just grounds have been, or, indeed, can be assigned for any exception or deviation, in this particular instance, from the constant sense and use of prophetic language, and the general rules and acknowledged axioms of its interpretation. The four horses, therefore, in the Apocalypse, with those who sat upon them, designate, not four particular sovereigns, but the four great sovereignties or monarchies themselves; which had been, indeed, frequently depicted and characterized by corresponding symbols, and like emblematic designations, in preceding prophets, and which are here introduced once more in order to shew that all the kingdoms of the world are now, and have, in fact, always been, subject to our Lord Jesus Christ, and under the rule and controul of "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world:" and for a farther reason, which will appear in considering the peculiar design and meaning of the cherubim in the holy of holies. Writers, by not duly adverting to these simple and obvious truths, and neglecting or despising this almost self-evident conclusion, derived from principles so constantly recognized by themselves, have greatly perplexed the prophecies of the Apocalypse. It is an error in limine, an error in the premises, which no subsequent justness of de

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duction, nor acuteness of reasoning has remedied, or, indeed, can remedy. They, hence, regard that book as separate and detached from those of former prophets, as having a different object and use, and requiring a different process and method of investigation and of exposition. They have, moreover, inferred that the order of time, or of the event, is the order of its visions and prophecies; which are thereby supposed to foreshow a continued and unbroken chain of consecutive events and related facts, to the end of the book, and to the end of the world. Whereas that last book of prophecy fulfils, that is, explains and completes the preceding prophets, as the Gospel itself fulfils, that is, explains and completes the Law. And in it, as in other books of prophecy, subsequent visions and brighter revelations are frequently vouchsafed for the purpose of elucidating others, which had been more obscure and indistinct as is obvious in the case of Daniel on the most casual and inattentive perusal. Hence the vision of the four horses with their riders coincides in substance and tenor with Nebuchadnezzar's dream in the iind chapter, and with that of the four beasts in the viith chapter of Daniel : in each of which a rapid sketch is afforded of the character and fate of the four great monarchies of the world, and in them of the destinies of the religion and of the church of God, to the very end of time, and even of that end itself.

And the remaining chapters of both prophets are, for the most part, occupied in supplying various omissions, explaining particular subjects and difficulties, and in detailing at length what had been but barely hinted and imperfectly noticed before. The same remark will also apply to Zechariah's vith chapter. A general sketch and comprehensive summary being afforded in all those prophecies of the world's history, carried down to the end of time, and the beginning of the fifth and the glorious kingdom or monarchy of Christ, which is to swallow up all others, and to have no end. As will be seen at once by comparing them together.

The head of gold in the Babylonian monarch's dream, had betokened his kingdom or monarchy. "Thou art that head of gold," said the prophet. It had been also symbolized by the lion, the first of Daniel's beasts, and is therefore represented in the Apocalypse by the white horse, with one sitting upon him, "having a bow in his hand, who went forth conquering and to conquer." All of which emblems united in marking, with signal honour and distinction, the first of the four monarchies, and bore testimony to the greatness of its riches, the rapidity of its conquests, and the splendour of its triumphs, which were usually on white horses. The silver in the image, the bear among the wild beasts, and the chariot with black horses, signified the second or the Persian mo