distinguished, and those in this first period, not brought on from without by the barbarous nations, (of which kind will be those of the empire afterwards falling to decay under the plagues of the seven trumpets,) but intestine misfortunes, arising within the empire itself: Which destruction, indeed, was introduced by the Holy Spirit for this purpose, that the different times of the Roman commonwealth,-the former of its flourishing, the latter of its declining state,—may be described by different marks.

It is here likewise to be observed, that since the characters of the occurrences, of which I have spoken, scarce ever or rarely pervade the whole period of the seal, and consequently may not be sufficient of themselves to circumscribe these periods within a certain beginning and end; therefore, in the four first seals, the Holy Spirit (where that may be most necessary, as well for the cause above mentioned as on account of the inequality of the periods) has had recourse to the four animated beings for that purpose, each of which might indicate the epoch of the seal according to his point of the compass. How this is done we shall presently see. It is sufficient at present to have given a hint of it. C. vi." And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard one of the four animated beings saying, as with a voice of thunder, Come

and see.

And I saw, and behold a white horse, and he that sat thereon held a bow, and a crown was given unto him, and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second animated being saying, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red*, and it was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they might slay one another; and a great sword was given him. And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third animated being say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse, and he that sat thereon had a balance in his hand: And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, A daily measure of wheat for a penny, and three daily measures of barley for a penny; and hurt not the oil and the wine. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth animated being saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a pale horse, and the name of him that sat thereon was Death, and Hades followed in his company; and power was given them to kill the fourth part of the earth with sword, and with famine, and with death, and by the wild beasts of the earth."

* A bright bay. Dun.

This is the meaning of xoivi.

Of the First Seal.

The first occurrence of the Roman empire, and that a most illustrious one, is the commencement of the victory of Christ, by which the Roman gods began to be vanquished, and their worshippers to be transfixed with the arrows of the Gospel, to fail on every side, and to submit their necks to Christ the conqueror. "He went out (says he) conquering, and to conquer;" that is, he hath not yet completely conquered, but laid the foundations of victory, to be hereafter more and more fulfilled.

The index of the first seal is the first animal in the likeness of a lion, in station towards the East, and it shows that the rider, viz. the emperor, is to go forth from that quarter of the compass, from the mounting of whom on his horse for the purpose of riding, that is, from the beginning of his government,-the period of the first seal was to commence, namely, from the glorious exaltation of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the guidance and auspices of which emperor from the East, this battle is waged, and this victory obtained. The beginning of the following seals is pointed out by the Roman emperors; but where the act of Christ is described, he is accounted as the sole emperor *.

Here I must hesitate in agreeing with our learned author. After declaring, as he had just before done, that the seals

Now indeed, when this seal had run its course, the oracles of the gods, through the whole Roman world, became mute, and John, the last of the twelve apostles of Christ, having received the wages of his warfare, departed from this life, to receive an undecaying crown in the heavens, together with his brethren and co-apostles, for a conduct bravely and happily performed.

That riding on horseback is a symbol of power, and of those who hold the reins of government, may be seen even from the interpretation of the Greek translators, Psalm xlv. v. 5, according to whom, prosper and ride on, is rendered, Karevodov κατευοδοῦ Kai Caoiλeve, Go forth prosperously and reign. Nor does the Chaldee dissent from this sense, which translates, " as horsemen on the throne

related to the events connected with the Roman empire, he surely departs from his interpretation when he represents the object of the first seal as descriptive of Christ. Does not this destroy the consistency of the explanation? May it not refer to Vespasian or Titus? the former of whom was proclaimed emperor of Judæa, and under whose auspices, Jerusalem was taken and destroyed, and the Jewish nation subdued. Tacitus, in recounting the general persuasion that had gone forth that the East should prevail, considers the prediction verified in Vespasian and Titus. The first illustrious rider was doubtless the conqueror of the Jews.-R. B. C.

This was the opinion of our author at a later period, (V. p. 918.) and it has been the general exposition of subsequent commentators.

of the kingdom. So the woman riding on the beast is explained by the angel to be a city having dominion, and the expression of riding is applied in the same sense in other parts of Scripture.

Of the Second Seal.

The second memorable event of the Roman empire, the picture of the second seal, is slaughter and intestine butchery; to which there was scarcely any similar in the whole Roman history. "And it was given," says he, “to him who sat on the horse to take away peace from the earth, and that men should massacre one another;" which last part of the sentence confirms the explanation of the former: For in what sense should the words be taken, "It was given to him that men should kill one another," unless it were given, or came to pass, that while he sat thereon, men should fiercely contend in mutual slaughters and butcheries? The index of this seal is the second animal, in the figure of an ox, situated to the west, and which bids them in the vision look towards himself: He thereby informs us, that this seal begins when Trajan, the Spaniard, had taken the reins of government, an emperor from the west. Dion says, Trajan, a Spaniard, was not an Italian, not belonging to Italy: Before him, no one of any other nation