SECOND SEAL.

"And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.

And there went out another horse that was

:

red and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and

that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword." The next Emperor who set the SEAL of empire to the increased external splendour and worldly importance of the see of Rome, and made still greater innovations in the administration of the internal affairs and ancient government of the Christian church, was Gratian, A.D. 379. In an edict which he issued, and which is given at length by Sir Isaac Newton, in his Observations on the Prophecies of Daniel and of St. John, he gave the Pope, or Bishop of Rome, jurisdiction over the greater part of the Western churches, considerably augmented his patriarchal authority, and conferred upon him the power of summarily deciding appeals in all doubtful cases that concerned the churches. He was already in episcopal rank considered the first, and was distinguished by a sort of pre-eminence over all other prelates, surpassing all his brethren "in the magnificence and splendour of the church over which he presided, in the riches of his revenues and possessions, in the number and variety of his ministers, in his

credit with the people, and in his sumptuous and splendid manner of living:" and now this edict went very far towards setting up, and establishing, his dominion over the Western Empire.

During the sixty or seventy years that the provisions of this decree continued, the external aspect of the times was materially altered since the prosperous days of Constantine. Fierce, bloody, and relentless wars, characterized the whole period: the Emperor Gratian himself was slain; his warlike and excellent successor, the great Theodosius, had the sword always in his hand; and subsequently, the ravages of barbarous nations made the whole empire one scene of blood, in which dreadful calamities the Christians were the principal sufferers. "To these lamentable evils, were added, "says Mosheim, "the ambitious quarrels and the bitter animosities that rose among the patriarchs themselves, and which produced the MOST BLOODY WARS, and the most detestable and horrid crimes. The Patriarch of Constantinople distinguished himself in these odious contests. Elated with the favour and proximity of the imperial court, he cast a haughty eye on all sides, where any objects were to be found on which he might exercise his lordly ambition. On the one hand, he reduced under his jurisdiction the Patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch, as pre

C

lates only of the second order; and on the other, he invaded the diocese of the Roman Pontiff, and spoiled him of several provinces. The two former prelates, though they struggled with vehemence, and raised considerable tumults by their opposition, yet they struggled ineffectually, both for want of strength, and likewise on account of a variety of unfavourable circumstances. But the ROMAN PONTIFF, far superior to them in wealth and power, contended also with more vigour and obstinacy, and in his turn gave a deadly wound to the usurped authority of the Byzantine Patriarch."

The " great sword" and "red horse" of this seal, are therefore highly expressive emblems of this slaughtering and bloody period, and give a lively view of the state in which the church was placed during the whole of its continuance.

THIRD SEAL.

"And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And 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."

The next important epoch in the aspect of the church, and for which it had been most lament

ably prepared by the dreadful events above alluded to, was the Edict of the Emperor Valentinian III., dated A.D. 445, by which he all but established the Papacy on the ruins of the falling empire. He enjoined by this edict, says Sir Isaac Newton, "an absolute obedience to the will of the Bishop of Rome throughout all the churches of his empire; and declares, for the bishops to do any thing without the Pope's authority, is contrary to ancient custom; and that the bishops summoned to appear before his judicature, must be carried thither by the governor of the province; and he ascribes these privileges of the see of Rome to the concessions of his dead ancestors-that is, to the edict of Gratian and Valentinian II., as above; by which reckoning, this dominion of the Church of Rome was now of sixty-six years' standing; and if," he adds, "in all this time it had not been sufficiently established, this new edict was enough to settle it, beyond all question, throughout the Western empire."

The real state of the church during the period of time which followed this epoch, was one of gross darkness and ignorance. The distinguishing characteristics of Popery were ripening apace; Christianity was giving way to heathen philosophy; the dreadful dissensions of the principal prelates were still continued-particularly the fierce contentions of the Bishops of Rome and

Constantinople; and the vices and corruptions of all degrees of the clergy were carried to the most enormous lengths. These things, added to the many heresies that prevailed at this time, produced a famine of the faithful preaching of the Gospel, and it was but rarely that bright examples of true and genuine godliness could be found.

Such a state of things is fitly represented in the symbols of this seal, by a "black horse " a scarcity of bread-and by a "pair of balances" in the hands of the rider. This last hieroglyphic, I conceive, intimates the near downfall of the Western Empire, and is borrowed from the hand-writing inscribed on the walls of the palace of the last King of Babylon, “Thou art weighed in the balances, and found wanting;" for, in less than thirty years from the opening of this seal, after the short and inglorious reigns of ten emperors, Augustulus, the last emperor, was deposed. And thus was "removed out of the way "that which the Apostle Paul signified as having "hindered " the complete manifestation of the "man of sin ;" and we are thereby prepared for what follows on the opening of the next seal.

FOURTH SEAL.

"And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and, behold, a pale horse;