writer is now called away, to prophesy again. He must not yet dwell on the joys of Heaven: he has other prophecies to deliver concerning the sufferings of Earth. He must not yet speak of Glory, but of Judgments. He is snatched away by the Spirit from the Silence of the Seventh Seal, to listen to the terrible blasts of the SEVEN TRUMPETS*.

Here we pause for the present; and we only add two practical reflections on the Seals.

In the First Seal we saw Our Blessed Lord and Saviour arrayed as a mighty Warrior, crowned, riding in triumph on a white horse, conquering and to conquer. Such He appeared at the period of the First Seal; that is, in the primitive age of Christianity. And if now we turn to the last Vision of earthly things at the close of the Apocalypse, He there re-appears to our sight. There is the same white horse; the same Warrior. I saw heaven opened; and, behold, a white horse; and He that sate upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. On His head were many crowns. And He was clothed in a

* I insert here the remarkable Exposition of the Seven Seals, given by the abbot Joachim (ad Apocal. p. 6) in the beginning of the thirteenth century. Apertio primi sigilli a Resurrectione Domini ad obitum Joannis Evangelistæ: secundi, ex eo tempore ad Constantinum Magnum: tertii, ex eo ad Justinianum : quarti, ex eo ad Karolum : quinti, ex eo ad præsentes dies, in quibus, initiatâ apertione sexti, percutienda est nova Babylon; completâ vero apertione sextâ, erit sabbatum Dei sanctum.

vesture dipped in blood, and His name is called THE WORD OF GOD. And the armies which were in heaven followed Him on white horses. And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword: and He treadeth the winepress of the wrath of God *.

Behold here the majesty and glory of Christ. All earthly powers will be shaken; but His throne is immoveable. He rides on conquering and to conquer. All worldly things will pass away; but His years will not failt. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to day, and for ever ‡.

The succeeding Seals display to us Satan, the enemy of Christ and His Church. Christ, we have seen, is ever one and the same. He is ever on the white horse; ever pure, ever true, ever victorious. But Satan changes his form and colour. He is first terrible, on a horse of blood, and brandishes a sword. He next appears on a black horse, and holds a balance. He then comes forth on a pale horse, with Death and Hell §, and Hunger and Beasts in his train. Christ is ever the same: but Satan assumes different shapes and colours, and has different weapons and allies, to suit the temper of the times. When he is foiled in one device, he resorts to another. He knows where men are most vulnerable, and assails them accordingly and so it will ever be to the end of the world.

*Rev. xix. 11-14.

Heb. xiii. 8.

† Psalm cii. 7.
Or the Grave rather; "Aions.

But now look at the end.

The day will at length come when all his efforts will be defeated. Look, I say, again at the close of the Apocalypse. He Who is on the White Horse has subdued all His enemies. The two Beasts*, the allies of Satan, are taken by Christ, and cast alive into the lake of fire †. Death and Hell are cast into the lake of fire which is the second death. And Satan himself is cast into the lake of fire, to be tormented for ever and ever §.

We are taught by these Divine Visions how History ought to be written, and how it ought to be read. History generally, I say, and not only Church History, because, as our Lord says, the Field is the World, that is, the Church is universal in time and place, and whatever concerns the World concerns the Church, and whatever concerns the Church concerns all men.

Let me exhort you, my younger brethren, to study History accordingly. Contemplate its events not only as facts teaching civil wisdom, but regard them as St. John teaches you to regard them; that is, as the workings of two opposite Powers, the power of Christ on one side, and the power of Satan on the other. Thus the earlier Christian Historians treated them; and here, as it appears to me, is their great

*The Beast and the False Prophet; that is, the two Beasts. See Rev. xiii. 1. 11.

+ Rev. xix. 20.

§ Rev. xx. 10.

Rev. xx. 14.
|| Matth. xiii. 38.

excellence. They looked on Persecution, and Heresy, and Superstition, and Infidelity, as the weapons of Satan against Christ. In them they saw the Evil One riding, as it were, on the red horse, and the black horse, and the pale horse, against Him who sitteth on the white horse. Do you likewise; and thus you will study History with the spirit of St. John.

Lastly to whom do you now belong? Whom are you following? Him Who rideth for ever on the white horse? or him who sitteth, now on the red horse, now on the black, now on the pale horse? Christ, or Satan? Doubtless, in this world Satan has strong allies and terrible weapons; the sword, famine, the beasts, the grave. But, respice finem. Have your eye fixed on the end. Where will be hereafter? With those who follow Christ on white horses? or with the Beasts, the Grave, and Satan, who will be cast into the lake of fire, which is the Second Death?

you

LECTURE VII.

REV. viii. 2.

I saw the Seven Angels which stood before God; and to them were given Seven Trumpets.

WE proceed now from the Seven Seals to the Seven TRUMPETS.

First, Heaven is opened; the heavenly Temple appears like that on Earth; the prayers of the Saints are offered in a Golden Censer by the Great High Priest of the Church, as sweet-smelling incense*, on the Golden Altar of Incense, in the Holy Place before the Veil; and the fire is taken from the censer, and cast on the earth. Thence are heard Voices, and Thunders, and Lightnings, and an Earthquake. These are emblems of the preaching of God's

* The incense of perfume (suffitus aromatum : see Exod. xxx. 34-38. xxv. 6. xxxvii. 29.) was offered, on the golden altar in the Holy Place of the Temple, by the Priests twice a day, and was an emblem of Prayer. Ps. cxli. 2. Malachi i. 11. It was composed in a specific manner, and kindled with fire from the great brazen altar of burnt sacrifices (altare Holocaustorum), which stood in the outer court.