emperor himself, who was yet undetermined in the choice of a religion, but his astonishment was converted into faith by the vision of the ensuing night. Christ appeared to him, and, displaying the celestial sign of the cross, he directed Constantine to frame a similar standard, and to march with an assurance of victory against Maxentius and all his enemies. Eusebius contents himself by alleging that this was related to him by Constantine just before his death, who attested its truth by a solemn oath." Thus we have the requirements of the seal's figurations amply satisfied, not only in their general character, but also in their particular features, excepting that Paganism, though dethroned, has not been shown to have been extirpated, or its edifices totally destroyed. A sudden extirpation would have comprised a massacre of a large majority of the Roman people; its rapid fall, however, and extinction before the end of the century, are recorded, as we shall see, by Gibbon, in terms denoting its extraordinary and exceptional character, which will be readily appreciated on considering that Paganism was the ancient, well-established, and universal religion of the Romans; that attachment to its constitution and ceremonies was deeply engraven in the hearts of the people; and until the introduction of the precepts and contrary doctrines of Christianity, Paganism was without a rival in the Roman world. Its constitution consisted of fifteen Pontiffs, who exercised their supreme jurisdiction over all things and persons consecrated to the gods; fifteen Augurs, who observed the face of the heavens and prescribed the actions of heroes by the flight of birds; fifteen keepers of the Sybilline Books, who occasionally consulted the history of future and of contingent events; six Vestals devoted their virginity to the guard of the sacred fire, and of the unknown pledges of the duration of Rome, which no mortal had been suffered to behold with impunity; seven Epulos prepared the table of the gods, conducted the solemn procession, and regulated the ceremonies of the annual festival. The three Flamens of Jupiter, of Mars, and of Quirinus were considered as the peculiar ministers of the most powerful deities, who watched over the fate of Rome and of the universe. The king of the sacrifices represented the person of the emperors in the religious functions that could only be performed by royal hands. The dignity of their sacred character was protected by the laws and manners of their country. Their robes of purple, chariots of state, and sumptuous entertainments attracted the admiration of the people, and they received from the consecrated lands and the public revenue an ample stipend, which liberally supported the splendour of the priesthood and all the expenses of the religious worship of the state. The first edicts of Constantine gave free toleration to all religions, but as he advanced in years, he issued edicts suppressing their sacrifices, ordering the destruction of their temples, and tolerating no other public worship than the Christian. The sons of Constantine trod in the footsteps of their father with more zeal and less discretion. The demolition of the Pagan temples was celebrated as one of the auspicious events in the reigns of Constans and Constantius. During the progress of Paganism to its final ruin, toleration was granted to its votaries by some of Constantine's successors; and in the reign of Julian, Paganism received the favour and active support of that emperor. Gibbon says: "But the genius and power of Julian were unequal to the enterprise of restoring a religion which was destitute of theological principles, of moral precepts, and of ecclesiastical discipline, which rapidly hastened to decay and dissolution." "The ruin of Paganism, in the reign of Theodosius (380 to 395), is perhaps the only example of the total extirpation of any ancient and popular institution, and may therefore deserve to be considered as a singular event in the history of the human mind. The Christians, more especially the clergy, had impatiently supported the cruel delays of Constantine and the equal toleration of the elder Valentinian ; nor could they deem their conquest perfect or secure, as long as their adversaries were permitted to exist. The influence which Ambrose and his brethren had acquired over the youth of Gratian and the piety of Theodosius was employed to infuse the maxims of persecution into the breasts of the imperial proselytes. The zeal of the emperors was exerted to vindicate their own honour and that of the Deity, and the temples of the Roman world were subverted about sixty years after the conversion of Constantine. The gods of antiquity were dragged in triumph at the chariotwheels of Theodosius. In a full meeting of the Senate, the emperor proposed, according to the forms of the republic, the important question-Whether the worship of Jupiter, or that of Christ, should be the religion of the Romans. Jupiter was condemned and degraded by a very large majority. The conversion of the Senate was soon followed by that of the nobility, and the luminaries of the world (mark the expression) were impatient to strip themselves of their pontifical garments. The decrees of the Senate, which proscribed the worship of idols, were ratified by the consent of the Romans, and the solitary temples were abandoned to ruin and contempt. A special commission was granted to two officers of distinguished rank in the West, and the Prætorian prefect of the East, by which they were directed to shut the temples, to seize or destroy the instruments of idolatry, to abolish the privileges of the priests, and to confiscate the consecrated property. The temples of the Roman Empire were deserted or destroyed. The generation that arose in the world after the promulgation of the imperial laws was attracted within the pale of the Catholic church, and so rapid was the fall of Paganism, that only twenty-eight years after the death of Theodosius (395) the faint and minute vestiges were no longer visible to the eye of the legislator. The ruin of the Pagan religion is described by the sophists as a dreadful and amazing prodigy, which covered the earth with darkness, and restored the ancient dominion of chaos and night." Thus has the historian recorded events corresponding well with those signified, and in language of peculiar interpreting force. The distinctive character of the figurations are answered by a correspondingly distinctive character in the events of history, and internal evidence of truth supplied by the brevity of the former, and copiousness of the latter, for whilst there is scarcely a clause in this long recital of events not immediately illustrative of one or other of the prefigurations, none of those events can be pointed out as not comprehended or foreshown by the Apocalyptic terms and symbols. Gibbon has shown us that one of the most memorable revolutions that ever occurred in the world, and answering in character to the force of the Apocalyptic terms, immediately succeeded the previous persecution; that under its effects Paganism was politically extirpated, its edifices destroyed, its emperors slain, and its pontiffs, augurs, and other dignitaries degraded by a power they could not resist ; that the heathen emperors and people fled in wild terror and panic-stricken from the face of a Christian emperor, who was recognised as animated by divine favour, and as executing the decrees of divine retributive justice; that the blood of the martyrs was avenged; that Christ was recognised as the Avenger; that all opposition to the Christian forces, marching to battle under the sign and banner of the cross, was swept away; and the triumph of the Christians, and their justification in the sight of man completed. Thus are the requirements of the first part of the sixth seal found to be fully satisfied. The scene at the Milvian Bridge still remains recorded by a bas-relief on the triumphal arch of Constantine at Rome, which represents Maxentius and his army fleeing in terror from the victorious troops of the Christian emperor. The remarks, previously made relative to the notices of the Christian church in the present series of figurations being in elucidation of secular history only, apply also in this case. The subject for our next consideration will be the second part of this seal's figurations, and as a preparation for the melancholy sequel to Constantine's conversion foreshown and implied therein, we may conclude this lecture with the last clause in Gibbon's 28th chapter, from which the extracts showing the extirpation of Paganism have been taken; "The religion of Constantine achieved, in less than a century, the final conquest of the Roman Empire, but the victors themselves were insensibly subdued by the arts of their vanquished rivals." LECTURE IV. THE SIXTH SEAL. Second Part. Rev. vii. 1 to 8. A.D. 324-395. It was announced at the close of our last lecture that the consideration of the second part of the sixth seal's figurations would next engage our attention. The prominent features of the first division were the subversion of Paganism by Christianity, and the martyrs' blood being avenged. The second division is thus recorded :— "And after these things, I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the East, having the seal of the living God, and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed. And there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel : Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand, |