the Christians, corrupted from this very date by worldly prosperity. In In my former work, I have quoted several authorities in support of this position, to which the reader may refer. I will now produce two of these only; but they may be deemed unanswerable, as taken from the very authors whose opinions I would controvert.

Joseph Mede himself, in his "Apostasy of the latter Times," treating of the deification of saints, and the worship of relics, which he deduces from the period immediately following the exaltation of the Church by Constantine, says: "Alas! now began the Yorpo Kapoi, or latter times; this was the fatal time, and thus the Christian apostasy was to be ushered. If they had known this, it would have turned their joyous shoutings and triumphs at these things into mourning." (Mede's Works, p. 680.)

Bishop Newton, in the same work upon the Prophecies, in which he understands the "beata tranquilitas" enjoyed by the Christians under Constantine and his successors, as fulfilling the prediction of the sixth seal, gives (with a view to elucidate another prophecy) this very different, but true and faithful account of the Constantinian æra.

"The tenth, and last general persecution, was begun by Dioclesian; it raged, though not at all times equally, ten years; and was suppressed entirely by Constantine, the first Roman emperor who made open profession of Christianity; and then the Church was no longer persecuted, but was protected and favoured by the civil power. But still this is called only a little help; because, though it added much to the temporal prosperity, yet it contributed little to the spiritual graces and virtues of Christians. It enlarged their revenues and increased their endowments, but proved the fatal means of corrupting the doctrine, and re

laxing the discipline of the Church." And a little afterwards he adds: "No sooner were the Christians delivered from the fury of their heathen adversaries, than they began to quarrel among themselves, and to persecute one another." (Dissertation

17th, page 64, &c. 8vo. edit.)

We may now ask, whether to such a race of degenerate and nominal Christians, we can with any degree of propriety apply this prophetic description of the palm-bearing multitude" who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb;" who are represented as perpetually blest with the divine presence, eternally delivered from mortal sufferings, and, under the guidance and protection of their Lord and Redeemer, preserved tearless for ever?

Having now gone through the six first seals, which appear to have a certain unity and integrity in themselves, it may be useful to review the most notable expositions which have been published concerning them.

Vitringa confines these to three in number.

First. That which, originating with Grotius, was adopted and improved by Hammond and Lightfoot, and which supposes these prophecies to have been fulfilled in the wars, slaughters, famines, and calamities, with which Divine vengeance visited the Jews, to their final destruction as a nation under the emperor Vespasian. The learned commentator admits, that there are plausible grounds for adopting this interpretation, at least in some parts of it. the same time he states some objections to it, which he deems insuperable: especially that fact which he holds to be now irrevocably established, (on the evidence of Irenæus and Clemens Alexandrinus, and of internal proofs derived from the Apocalypse,)

At

that this prophetic book was written after the destruction of Jerusalem, and therefore could not foretell that great event. A similar line of interpretation, he tells us, is pursued by the eloquent Bishop of Meaux, (Bossuet,) dealing in generals only, and applying the prophetic emblems in a vague, uncertain manner, unworthy of the dignity and purport of the Divine Word, and of its sacred figurative resemblances.

The second system of interpretation mentioned by Vitringa, is that of the learned, ingenious, and eloquent Joseph Mede and his followers. The merits of this having been more particularly canvassed in the preceding pages, need not be brought into view again. The objections of Vitringa to this scheme are well worthy of the learned reader's attention, and may be seen in the preface to his Exposition on the Seals, (p. 231.)

The third scheme of interpretation is that adopted in a great measure by Vitringa himself, and which seems to have been prevalent in his time among the commentators on the Continent, of the Protestant persuasion. This distinguishes the prophetic history of the seals from that of the trumpets, the latter not being allowed as a continuation of the former in a regular line of succession. The emblems under the seals are understood to exhibit a general history of the greater changes which were to take place in the world, more especially in the Christian Church, until the end; while those under the trumpets are supposed to foretell and recount the history of the same times, but much more particularly and minutely, and under different characters.

The same general view of the subject presented itself to me, when studying the Apocalypse by the help only of scriptural comparison, unprejudiced by acquaintance with the opinions of former comment

ators. But in filling up the parts, and in explaining the prophetic language and emblems, in detail, of each particular seal, I differed, more or less, from all preceding expositors; and on a careful, and I trust, candid review of my proceedings, I find little

to retract.

All the seals, I apprehend, foretell the history of the Christian Church. The first six contain a short, rapid, and general sketch of the progress of Christianity from its first establishment in the world, to that time, yet future, when the enemies of Christ shall be separated for punishment, and his faithful servants for heavenly favour and rewards. This period may probably synchronize with that of the latest prophecies in the Apocalypse, and with the final coming of Christ; but of the perfect completion of prophecies whose events are yet to come, it is both prudent and becoming to be silent.

Such appears to be this general outline of the Christian history. Many important intervals remain yet to be filled up under the seventh seal, which will be found to contain all the prophecies remaining, and, by retracing the history of the Christian Church, to supply many events which were reserved for a more particular notice and display. This method of divine prediction, presenting at first a general sketch and outline, and afterwards a more complete and finished picture of events, is not peculiar to this prophetical book. It is justly observed by Sir Isaac Newton, that "the prophecies of Daniel are all of them related to each other," and that "every following prophecy adds something new to the former." (Sir Isaac Newton on Daniel, part i. c. iii.) To this we may add, that the same empires in Daniel are represented by various types and symbols. The four parts of the image, and the four beasts, are varied symbols of the same empires. The

bear and the he-goat, in different visions, represent the same original; and so do the ram and the leopard. We are not therefore to be surprised, when we find the history of the Church beginning anew, and appearing under other, yet corresponding types; and thus filling up, with additional and important information, the outlines which had been traced before.