the empire, as it had previously been that of the emperor. The heathen temples were therefore demolished; it was made a capital crime to sacrifice, or to attend to Pagan rites; and by the most severe and indeed sanguinary edicts, the whole system of the heathen mythology, which had been the boast and pride of so many years, gradually dissolved, and was brought into contempt. To use the language of the celebrated historian of Rome, the idol gods of eleven hundred years were "dragged in triumph at the chariot wheels of Theodosius." Standing, as this great emperor did, "the last of the successors of Augustus and Constantine, whose authority was universally acknowledged throughout the whole extent of the empire;" and standing, as he' did, its sole barrier from the barbarian nations which, immediately after his death, swept over it like a flood, he appears like a beacon upon the mountain top, or like a rock in the midst of the wide ocean. And it may be noticed as a very remarkable providence, that the abolition of idolatry, which he effected, was the means of more effectually strengthening the cause of Christianity, and better preparing it for that tremendous shock, which, on the ruin of the empire by the Goths and Vandals, levelled every thing else in the dust. The Church however, amid these scenes of increasing outward prosperity, of which the reign of Theodosius thus forms a memorable epoch, gave likewise increasing signs of departure from the D 5 truth of the gospel. As far as the personal character of the Emperor himself is concerned, there appears great reason to believe that he was a real Christian. "His clemency, liberality, and generosity," says Milner, "were admirable. He was brave and successful in war, but his wars were forced upon him. He was an enemy to drunkenness, and was himself a model of gravity, temperance, and chastity in private life." "I see," he adds, "in Theodosius the triumphs of the cross; nor in all the Pagan history of the Emperors was there any to be compared to him." Notwithstanding all this excellence, however, such was the aspect of the times, that all he did only served to foster the seeds of corruption, degeneracy, and strife; and the aspect which the Church presented is found exactly to accord with the representation given in this Seal. It was to the last degree uncharitable, fiery, and revengeful-full of internal divisions and discord; and of such deadly animosity, as frequently, particularly in the election of bishops, to break out in mutual slaughter. The splendid triumphs of Constantine on the one hand, and the hostile spirit of Julian on the other, had until this time greatly restrained this factious disposition. But when relieved from Pagan hostility by the sword and edicts of Theodosius, the animosities of Christians towards each other exceeded all bounds; and the most bloody wars amongst themselves, united to the most detestable crimes, were the consequence. Even the barbarian invasions but gave more play to this lamentable spirit: for on the breaking up of the empire, and the church being thereby for a long period free from the restraints of civil government, all checks of this description were removed. The schism of the Donatists, a people who are not even accused by their adversaries of corrupt doctrine, nor of peculiar degeneracy in morals, and which had its origin in faction, and in a contest for worldly power, was the occasion of thousands of Christians perishing by the hands of each other. The Arian controversy likewise produced similar fruits, and of much longer duration. For other particulars, see Milner's and Mosheim's Histories of the Fifth and Sixth Centuries. THE OPENING OF THE THIRD SEAL; Or the Church in a most deplorable state of "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 upon him had a yoke in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures 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.” (vi. 5, 6.) The state of things just described continued, until, in the providence of God, Justinian mounted the imperial throne, when another new and decisive change took place. "And lo!"-an exclamation of surprise that was not uttered on the opening of the second seal,— "and lo," a black horse! denoting mourning and woe, darkness and ignorance. "And by him that sat on the horse having a yoke in his hand, is signified a state of bondage to ceremonies, authorized penances, rigorous fastings, and monkish austerities—a state directly opposite to that of the happy liberty of the Gospel, and to which we are exhorted to stand fast, and resist every attempt' to subject us to ordinances and a yoke of bondage."* With regard to the character and acts of Justinian, a good deal has been advanced in the work on Old Testament prophecies,† from which it will be perceived what a lasting and portentous influence his reign had on the religious aspect of the times: and it is almost sufficient to refer to what is there said respecting the epoch which he formed in the Christian church, to shew its peculiar adaptation to this season of mourning and spiritual famine here described. His victorious career, added to his great talents, enabled him to hold with a firm hand the reins of government; and to silence the discord of war and contending factions in the church. But in doing this he created a new era, and set the seal of his overwhelming authority to evils of greater magnitude; and the cessation of those bitter feuds settled down, as a natural consequence, into a state of gross spiritual darkness, ignorance, and the most deplorable spiritual oppression throughout the whole of the Christian world. * Gal. v. 1; Col. ii. 16; 1 Pet. ii. 16. Diss. pp. 245, 251. This was more effectually accomplished by means of the code of laws which this emperor promulgated, and which are even famous to this day. In these he new-modelled the laws of the empire; and likewise, besides numerous separate edicts, he incorporated the ordinances relative to the regulation of church discipline; making his own faith the rule and measure of orthodoxy to the whole empire. Indeed it was one of the chief businesses of this emperor's eventful life, to interfere with every thing, and with the most arbitrary authority to order every thing respecting church affairs. In character Milner represents him, though chaste and temperate, the slave of superstition and avarice, and the consequence of all his schemes to have been "dissensions and schisms, forced conversions attended with cruelties, which alienated men's minds still more from godliness, the growth of superstition and formality, the miserable declension of real internal godliness, and the increase of ignorance and practical wicked ness. The sole object and attention of the ministers of religion, from the highest to the lowest, appear to have been schemes of ambition and avarice; and no arts are represented to have been too gross to satisfy their rapacity, nor any crimes so flagrant of which they were not guilty. The language of Mosheim is, that at this time "the cause of true religion sank apace, and the gloomy reign of superstition extended itself in proportion to the decay of genuine godliness. This lamentable decay," he says, "was sup |