in the true faith of the Trinity." (chap. xxvii.) Let this suffice as our general reason for taking up Theodosius as the subject of this seal, which we now proceed to unfold in order.

"There went out another horse that was red."-This colour, I think, hath reference to the bloody times in which Theodosius arose and acted; as the white had reference to the progress of light and truth, and the quiet of peace, in which the times of Constantine passed. "From the innocent but humble labours of his farm, Theodosius was transported, in less than four months, to the throne of the Eastern empire;" and no sooner had he arisen than he had to retrieve the most bloody field of Adrianople by successive actions, by which at length he prevailed against the barbarians, who had been let into the empire across the Danube by the Emperor Valens. Soon after he had to contend with the Ostrogoths, whom he overthrew by a great naval exploit on the Danube. The next act of his red-handed sceptre was the suppression of the Arians, and their expulsion from Constantinople, where they had held the supremacy since the days of the son of Constantine. Then he proceeded with a heavy hand to oppress, and even to slay, heretics, according to the degree of their error. The remainder of his reign was of the like character, being mostly occupied with the two civil wars against Maximus and Eugenius (which properly belong to another part of the symbol): what hath been said is sufficient to distinguish the red character of Theodosius's reign from the pure glory of that of Constantine; and to those characters of the times in which they lived it is that the colours of the horses refer.

"And power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth."-The earth, as we have seen all throughout this book, wherever the contrary is not declared, doth denote the bounds of the Roman empire: from which that one of the emperors should have it given him to take peace, must signify that in his times civil warfare was permitted to arise. This occurred in the reign of Theodosius twice over; once by the usurpation of Maximus, and again by that of Eugenius. Maximus raised the standard of revolt in Britain, passed over into Gaul, and at length brought Spain also under his do

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minion thence passing over into Italy, he seated himself upon the throne of Rome, and began to threaten the Eastern half of the empire. Whereupon Theodosius, being supplicated by the family of Gratian and Valentinian, the reigning emperors of the West, whom Maximus had overthrown, took arms in their behalf, overthrew the host of the usurper, and slew him. It is remarkable that the orthodox emperor should himself attribute the misery which thus befel the Western half of Christendom to the guilt of heresy, which he had been so careful to put down over the East. These are the words of the historian relating his interview with the royal fugitives: "After the first tender expressions of friendship and sympathy, the pious emperor of the East gently admonished Justina that the guilt of heresy was sometimes punished in this world, as well as in the next; and that the public profession of the Nicene faith would be the most efficacious step to promote the restoration of his son, by the satisfaction which it must occasion both on earth and in heaven."—A second time had Theodosius the Great to come forth into the field of civil conflict: against Eugenius, whom Arbogastes the Frank, having assassinated the legitimate emperor, had substituted in his stead; this victory being accomplished by an almost manifest interposition of Heaven. Theodosius a few months after paid the debt of nature, and was succeeded by his son Honorius (of whom more hereafter). These things which we have related fully justify the last symbolical feature of this personage, that there was given to him a great sword. As a warrior, no emperor had appeared of equal capacity, or of equal success, since the days of Trajan. But, if I err not, this great sword, which was put into his hand, hath reference to the warlike prowess of the barbarous nations, which he was the first to employ in his service, and by whom he achieved the greatest exploits of his reign. "To the zeal and valour of the barbarians, Theodosius was indebted for the success of his arms......The formidable troops of barbarians marched under the ensigns of their natural chieftains. The Iberian, the Arab, and the Goth, who gazed on each other with mutual astonishment, were enlisted in the service of the same prince ; and the renowned Alaric acquired in the school of Theodosius the knowledge of the art of war, which he afterwards

so fatally exerted for the destruction of Rome." (Gibbon.) The discipline of the Roman legions was greatly relaxed, and their valour also was much departed; but the new force which Theodosius knew how to employ gave him a mighty power, which no one could resist. It is, moreover, most worthy of notice, as illustrative of these two seals, that while Constantine's wars, after he had received the crown, were altogether beyond the bounds of the empire, as became one who was stamped by Heaven with the sign of conqueror; so those of Theodosius, after he had received his great sword, were wholly within the bounds of the empire, as became one to whom it was appointed of Heaven that he should take peace from the earth. Thus the diversity of their commissions from God is likewise strikingly marked by the diverse forms-of the lion, to roar against his enemies and terrify them, and of the ox, to tread down under his feet-by which the church is represented in these two actions. For it was as much the characteristic of Constantine's ecclesiastical administration to exalt and magnify Christianity, and make it to be feared, like the noble lion; as it was of Theodosius's to trample down the weeds of heresy, which had grown so rank in the church.

But while these features do sufficiently identify and characterize these two imperial destroyers of Paganism, it is their characters as the destroyers thereof which bring them forth so prominently in this book of seals. What each accomplished in this way hath been already in part declared; but it may be good to add here some further particulars of that greatest victory, which by these two men was achieved, over the rooted errors of thousands of years. Notwithstanding all the labours of Constantine, there still remained in the city of Rome itself four hundred and twenty-four temples or chapels devoted to the worship of idols." Paganism was still the constitutional religion of the senate: the hall or temple in which they assembled was adorned by the altar and statue of Victory." This had been removed by Constantius, restored by Julian, and again removed by Gratian; but by Theodosius the question was proposed in full senate, whether the worship of Jupiter or of Christ should be the religion of the Romans, and by a great majority the ancient superstition was renounced. "The decrees of the senate, which proscribed the worship of idols, were ratified by the general consent of the Romans.

the splendour of the Capitol was defaced, and the solitary temples were abandoned to ruin and contempt." After the defeat of Maximus, Theodosius, who had already struck several blows against Paganism, proceeded with a high hand to bring it low. He prohibited the use of sacrifices; he set on foot commissions to the chief officers of the provinces to shut the temples, to destroy the instruments of idolatry, and to confiscate the property of the gods for the benefit of the emperor, the church, and the army. This kindled the zeal of Christian bishops in all parts, who went forth to destroy and trample down all vestiges of the ancient superstition. The Pagans rallied their distressed affairs under the banner of Eugenius, by whom the altar of Victory was again restored in the senatehouse, and the abominations of the idol-worship carried forth into the field: but this last effort of a doomed cause expired in the overthrow of that usurper; after which Paganism sank for ever; or rather, Satan, giving up the controversy for Jupiter and Apollo and other gods and goddesses, insinuated the substance of the same wickedness into the Papacy, and gave to that new form of the pagan spirit his seat, and power, and great authority. "The generation that arose in the world after the promulgation of the imperial (Theodosian) laws, was attracted within the pale of the catholic church; and so rapid, yet so gentle, was the fall of Paganism, that only twenty-eight years after the death of Theodosius, the faint and minute vestiges were no longer visible to the ear and eye of the legislator." (Gibbon.)

-This complete destruction of Paganism, which had subsisted for thousands of years, and, being gathered under Rome from all the regions of the earth, did there nestle as in the most secure place of the earth, is the most wonderful thing of which there is any record. And that it should have been accomplished within the space of half a century, is, to one who understands these things, the proof of the hand of God stretched out against it, and that it was not falling by a natural decay, but by the direful judgment of God. When it is remembered that it was of such strength as, within the twenty years preceding its destruction, to have put forth its most violent, continuous, and powerful effort against Christianity, we see still more strikingly that dispensation of Providence towards it, which

our Lord expressed towards the Jews when he said, "Fill up the cup of your iniquity." In the Dioclesian persecution, Paganism filled up the cup of its iniquity; which done, the structure of thousands of years was battered down by the Almighty hand by two blows, brought by these two riders, within the space of less than half a century. So fearful are the judgments of God, when he rises to shake terribly the earth!

THE THIRD SEAL.

Vers. 5, 6: "And when he had opened the third And seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. I beheld, and, lo, a black horse: and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine."-This introduceth a new era in the history of that doomed city, in which was found the blood of all the martyrs. It is characterized by the colour of blackness, as the former was by that of fiery redness, and the first of whiteness. Those interpreters who see these four seals as mere characteristic periods of the primitive church, have not far erred in taking the colours of the horses for the general complexion of the successive times signified. This is an element of the interpretation-a small one indeed, but by no means to be omitted. The whiteness of the first period, is the mild effulgence and pure triumph of truth in the period "that those who still of Constantine, who ever declared, refuse to open their eyes to the celestial light may freely enjoy their temples and their fancied gods." The fiery redness of the second period, is the flaming zeal with which Theodosius went forth against paganism and heresy, I believe that these to root them out and destroy them.

colours have likewise respect to the civil as well as the ecclesiastical complexion of these several times; whereof the one, as hath been said, was full of mild and tranquil glory, the other of civil heats and inflammations, civil wars and bloodshed. We should expect that this third period, on which we are now to enter, will have about it something which may justify the blackness and darkness by which it is denoted.