Page power of the soldiers to appoint the emperor publicly asserted-The emperor Concluding period of the seal, Summary, 50 52 54 CHAPTER V.-PAGE 55 to 64. The decline of the empire dates from this period-More than two-thirds of the The power of the soldiers, The change in their composition-Tacitus, Gibbon, D'Anville, An important mistake of Gibbon, corrected by the concurrent testimony of Tacitus, Plutarch, and Dion Cassius, Testimony of Tacitus to the weakness and urgent danger of the empire in his time, Mr. Gibbon's translation of a remarkable passage in Tacitus examined, CHAPTER VI.-PAGE 65 to 70. An accurate knowledge of the Imperial system, of the titles, and honours, conferred on the Cæsars, necessary for the investigation of the Apocalypse— Gibbon's inconsistent and contradictory representations-He transfers to, and considers as characteristic of, the age of Severus, habits, manners and usages, which, according to Josephus and Tacitus, prevailed in the times of the earlier emperors, Gibbon's assertion that the earlier emperors declined to assume the titles and honours of the Deity, at variance with the language of Virgil, Horace, and the testimony of Tacitus, Suetonius, and Dion Cassius, That the title of dominus, or lord, was not given to the early emperors, contradicted by St. Luke, Josephus, Tacitus, and others, 66 were secure That the Romans, from the reign of Tiberius to that of Domitian, CHAPTER VII.-THE THIRD SEAL.-PAGE 71 to 81. The scene, time, and general character of the events, which fulfil the vision, The penny--The chanix, or measure of wheat-The price of food, anciently, in times of scarcity, 71 72 The zugos-Its figurative and symbolical meaning in the Old Testament, Jer. xxvii., xxviii., 2 Chron. x. ib. "See thou hurt not the oil and the wine," a prohibitory law-The power that enacts it and makes the proclamation, a measure of wheat," &c., the Roman government-The calamities predicted, caused by measures affecting agricultural produce, Oppressive taxes imposed by Severus and his successors--Their peculiar cha- 73 74 77 An omission of Gibbon supplied from Lactantius, 78 The extreme misery of the rural population of the empire-Lactantius, 80 ib. b To kill with the sword, with hunger, &c., Ezek. xiv. 21-Commentators gene- Murder of Alexander Severus by Maximin-Maximin succeeds him-His cruelty The empire invaded by the Franks-The Alemanni-The Goths-The Persians CHAPTER IX. THE FIFTH SEAL.-PAGE 93 to 102. CHAPTER X.-THE SIXTH SEAL.-PAGE 103 to 131. The language is best explained by similar language in other prophecies, and Sir Isaac Newton and Bishop Warburton's explanations of the figurative and symbolic language of Scripture, The symbolical language of Jeremiah, iv. 23, &c., Isaiah, xiii. 10, &c., Haggai, The prophecies referred to, or interwoven with the vision, Joel, ii. 10, 31, The vision fulfilled by the fall of Roman heathenism-Roman heathenism a great The quotations, p. 105, from Milton and Shakspeare, were intended for a note. The fall of this great system-Historical sketch, The fate of the great persecutors, Severus, Maximian, Maxentius, Maximin, The enemies of the Lord, struck with a dreadful fear of Him-The apparent change in the minds of the pagans during the Diocletian persecution-The uniform success of Constantine necessarily, on the principles of heathenism, Recapitulation, ib. CHAPTER XI.-PAGE 122 to 126. ib. The vision denotes great corruptions in the church, and the preservation of the CHAPTER XII.-PAGE 127 to 131. Fire cast upon the earth from the golden altar-The place where the vision is seen-The fire-Ezekiel, x.-The angel offering incense-Casting fire on The time and place of the events signified, The Donatist controversy-The Arian, The baneful consequences, CHAPTER XIII.-PAGE 132 to 138. The angels holding the Four Winds, Rev. vii., 1, 3-The earth, the Roman empire-Trees, the inhabitants of a country, Ezek., xvii., 24; Is. ii., 13— Winds, invasions, Jeremiah, iv., 13; xlix., 36; li., 1, 2-Waters, peo- ples, multitudes, nations, tongues, Rev. xvii.—The sea, the outlying nations, or barbaric world-The sea, agitated by the winds, nations at war among themselves, or invading and overwhelming another nation, Ezek., xxvi., 3, 19, Jeremiah, 1., 9, 41; li., 11, 27, 42, Daniel, vii., 2--Bishop What is required to explain the vision, Historical illustration, ib. ib. The seven Angels with the seven trumpets prepare themselves to sound, Rev. CHAPTER XV. THE FIRST TRUMPET.-PAGE 140 to 151. The third of the earth, a division of the empire-Josephus, Sil. Italicus, Commotions in the barbaric world-The Huns-They impel the Goths on the The Vandals, Suevi, Burgundians invade Italy, devastate the Gauls and Spain, The third of the trees and all the green grass burnt up-The grass, the inferior people-These invasions more fatal to them than to the great-Cause- CHAPTER XVI.-THE SECOND TRUMPET.-PAGE 152 to 159. A mountain, a kingdom, Is. ii., 14-A burnt mountain, a kingdom that is sub- Summary, CHAPTER XVII. THE THIRD TRUMPET.-PAGE 160 to 171. The fall of a star from heaven, the fall of a kingdom, Is. xiv., 4, 12-Rivers, cities-Sir Isaac Newton-The drying up of rivers represents, in Scripture, the ruin of cities, Is. xxvii., 25, Ezek., xxix., 10, 12-Wormwood the symbol of extreme misery, Lam., iii., 15, 20—The third, a division of the The star, the kingdom of the Ostrogoths-Consequences of its fall, 151 The ruin of cities, a characteristic of the trumpet-The importance of the Italian ib. The passes of the Danube being unguarded, in consequence of the Ostrogothic war, the Bulgarians, Sclavonians, and Avars, waste Europe, from Constan- 171 CHAPTER XVIII.-THE FOURTH TRUMPET.-PAGE 171 to 176. The heavenly luminaries-The scope of the prophecy twofold-The symbols The Persian war prepares the way for the next great Apocalyptic and Historic The empire weakened by Trajan's conquest of Dacia-His eastern conquests, AN EXPOSITION OF THE FULFILLED PROPHECIES OF THE REVELATION. CHAPTER I. The Object of the Work-the Structure and Scope of the Apocalypse, from Chap. VI. to the end of Chap. XIX.—the Principles on which the Interpretation is conducted the probable Time the Apocalypse was seen-The exact Knowledge of the Time when it was given not essential to the Right Interpretation. THE object of this work is to give an exposition of the first six seals of the Apocalypse, the first six trumpets, and of those other Apocalyptic prophecies which appear to have been fulfilled, wholly or in part, before the sounding of the seventh trumpet. These prophecies are contained in chapters vi., vii., viii., ix., x., xi., xii., xiii., xiv., xvii., and xix. They reach over a long period of time, and embrace the most important events which have happened during seventeen hundred years, within, and a little beyond the limits of the old Roman empire, viz:the propagation of the Christian religion-the persecution of its professors by the Roman government-the civil wars and calamities of the empire-the fall of paganism—the establishment of Christianity-the rapid corruptions and divisions of the church-the invasion of the empire by the barbaric nations— the settlement of various Germanic tribes in the countries south of the Danube and Rhine, and their relation with the imperial government-the rise and progress of the Mahometan power-the Turks-the fall of the Greek empire-the general idolatry and depravity of the times before and after its fall—the preservation, in the midst of this general corruption, of many B |