neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

stood. The sun is the emblem of religious light; its ray warms by true devotion, scorches in fanaticism, is obscured by superstition. Its genial warmth alone is felt by the true Christian.

The peace and tranquillity he enjoys on earth, are a type of the happiness that awaits him in heaven. The fountains are the doctrines of the Gospel, giving life and comfort to those who receive them.

If the former part of this seal admits of a figurative interpretation, and applies to the corruption or loss of true religion on earth, rather than to the day of judgment, then must this also be applied, in the same manner, to the pure and uncorrupted. Indeed, were this part of the vision to be taken literally, as alluding to the day of final retribution, and not, like the rest, metaphorically interpreted, as foretelling the progress of Christianity, then ceasing to be a part of the prediction, it would hardly have been made to occupy one in the series of the six seals. Literally understood, this description portrays the happy state of the blessed in a future existence; but figuratively applied to the true Christian on earth, or those who resist the contagion of the times, and retain their faith and purity, it seems to represent that serenity and resignation which characterised the Christians of the apostolic age; that peace of mind and magnanimity which were displayed by the apostles themselves, and sustained them under every trial. The same courage and constancy were evinced by later martyrs in the face of death, and would not only support and console the true Christian, who must needs lament the general corruptions that prevailed, but would also shield and protect him from the influence of their pernicious example.

Thus, deducing the figurative from the literal sense of this part of the vision, the troubles which the wicked bring upon themselves in this life, become a type of the torments that await them in the next; and, in like manner, the tranquillity enjoyed by the good on earth, is a type of the happiness which is promised to them in heaven.

THE SEVENTH SEAL.

CHAPTER VIII.

Verse 1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half a season.

2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.

3 And another angel came, and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it, with the prayers of all saints, upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

4 And the smoke of the incense which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God, out of the angel's hand.

5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with the fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth; and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.

The conversion of Constantine produced a momentary calm; but it was only the harbinger of the storms which followed.

These visitations or calamities are aptly introduced by the sound of trumpets, implements of war.

The nature of them now unfolds itself, as arising out of the corruptions of Christianity. Incense ascending to heaven, symbolizes religion pure and holy, till corrupted by the worldly passions of man.

These corruptions of religion, and the persecution of the saints, are represented as calling down the visitations on the earth.

Fire from the altar, cast into the earth, distinctly announces religion, when corrupted by man, to be the cause that produces the commotions in question, which are symbolized by voices, and thunderings, and earthquakes, &c.

The term "heaven" in the first verse, is used in a different acceptation from that which belonged to it in the last seal. It must be here understood as the place where the vision is seen; but there as a part of the vision itself; distinguishing heaven from the earth, which is noticed after it.

The state of the church at this time, and the nature of the commotions that ensued, as well as their cause, will appear from the account of Mosheim which follows: "When the terrors of persecution were totally dispelled, and the church, secured from the efforts of its enemies, enjoyed the

sweets of prosperity and peace; when the major part of the bishops exhibited to their flock the contagious examples of arrogance, luxury, effeminacy, animosity, and strife, with other vices too numerous to mention; when the inferior rulers and doctors of the church fell into a slothful and opprobrious negligence of the duties of their stations, and employed in vain wranglings and idle disputes that zeal and attention which were due to the cultivation of piety, and to the instruction of their people; and when (to complete the enormity of this horrid detail) multitudes were drawn into the profession of Christianity, not by the power of conviction and argument, but by the prospect of gain, or the fear of punishment; then it was indeed no wonder that the church was contaminated with shoals of profligate Christians, and the virtuous few were oppressed and overwhelmed by the superior numbers of the wicked and licentious.". Mosh. vol. i. p. 383.

The first six Seals appear from history to follow each other at intervals of about half a century; the Seventh Seal branches off into seven Trumpets, and these will be seen to follow with almost equal regularity. But not to saddle the interpretation with superfluous difficulties, the events of two Trumpets are taken together, as they were subsequently coexistent, and as nothing in the prophecy declares them to be otherwise. This however is the case with the four first only; the three last evidently follow each other in succession; and are mostly distinguished from the four preceding, by the appellation of the three Wo Trumpets.

The four first, taken together, form a distinct and complete picture by themselves, comprising a period of about two centuries, and presenting separate views of each of the component parts of the natural world, -the land, the sea, the rivers and fountains, and the heavenly luminaries. How this division applies to the moral world, will be seen in the sequel.

The history of the fourth and fifth century is almost entirely engrossed with the contentions of the bishops and patriarchs for power and supremacy. - See Mosheim. "For, in proportion as the bishops multiplied their privileges, and extended their usurpations, the patriarchs gained new accessions of power, by the despotism which they exercised over the episcopal order. They fomented also divisions among the bishops, and excited animosities between them and the other members of the church. They went still farther, and sowed the seeds of discord between the clergy and the people, that all these combustions might furnish them with perpetual matter for the exercise of their authority, and procure them a multitude of clients and dependants.

"To these lamentable evils were added, the ambitious quarrels and the bitter animosities of the patriarchs themselves, which produced the most bloody wars, and the most detestable and horrid crimes.

"The attentive inquirer into the affairs of the church from this period, will find

that these ignominious schisms flowed chiefly from the unchristian contention for dominion and supremacy which reigned among those who set themselves up for the fathers and defenders of the church."- Mosheim, vol. ii. p. 27.

History furnishes no event that can be more aptly symbolized by the burning mountain than the Trinitarian controversy, which occurred at this period, as Mosheim informs us, and for two centuries without intermission engaged the whole Christian world.

"The subject of this fatal controversy, which kindled such deplorable divisions throughout the Christian world, was the doctrine of Three Persons in the Godhead; a doctrine which, in the three preceding centuries, had happily escaped the vain curiosity of human researches, and been left undefined and undetermined by any particular set of ideas.” — Mosh. vol. i. p. 411.

This controversy (the most momentous that ever divided the Christian world, and which, besides its pernicious influence on religion, has actually caused more bloodshed than the subversion of the Roman empire), arose in the fourth century, gained entire possession of men's minds in the fifth, and raged with unremitting fury till the middle of the sixth, when it abated, according to Mosheim. "Whether this change was produced by the force of reason and argument, or by the influence of hopes and fears, we shall not pretend to determine. One thing however is certain, that from this period the Arian sect declined apace, and could never after recover any considerable degree of stability and consistence." Vol. ii. p. 143.