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

4. 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 second seal or period, ver. 3, 4, is noted for war and slaughter, and was proclaimed by the second living creature, who was like an ox, and had his station in the west. 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 they should kill one another and there was given unto him a great sword.' This second period commenceth with Trajan, who came from the west, being a Spaniard by birth, and was the first foreigner who was elevated to the imperial throne.* In his reign and that of his successor Adrian there were horrid wars and slaughters, and especially between the rebellious Jews and the Romans. Dion relates that "the Jews about Cyrene slew of the Romans and Greeks two hundred and twenty thousand men with the most shocking circumstances of barbarity. In Egypt also and in Cyprus they committed the like barbarities, and there perished two hundred and forty thousand men more. But the Jews were subdued in their turn by Lucius and the other generals sent against them by Trajan."+ Eusebius writing of the same time saith, that the Jews," inflamed as it were by some violent and seditious spirit, in the first conflict gained a victory over the Gentiles, who flying to Alexandria took and killed the Jews in the city. The emperor sent Marcius Turbo against them, with great forces by sea and land; who in many battles slew many myriads of the Jews. The emperor also sus

* Ιβηρ ὁ Τραϊανος ἀλλ' ἐκ Ιταλος, εδ' Ιταλιωτης ήν-μηθεις προσθεν άλλοεθνης το των Ρωμw xxтos xx. Trajanus homo Hispanus, nec Italus erat, nec Italicus-ante eum nemo alterius nationis imperium Romanum obtinuerat. [Trajan was a Spaniard, neither an Italian nor of Italian extraction. No foreigner before him had obtained possession of the Roman Empire.] Dion. Hist. lib. 68, p. 771. edit. Leunclav.

+ Και ἐντετω οἱ κατα Κυρήνην Ιωδαιοιτος το Ρωμαιος και τις Ελληνας έφθειρον,ώς τας σασας δυο και είκοσι μυριάδας ἀπολεσθαι ἐν το Αίγυπτω πολλα έδρασαν όμοια, και ἐν τη Κύπρω -και ἀπώλοντο και έχει μυριάδες τέσσαρες και είκοσι-ἀλλ ̓ Ιωδαίως μεν αλλοι το και Λύκιος [πο Τραϊανω πεμφθεις κατεσρέψαντο. Interim Judæi, qui circum Cyrenen habitabant -Romanos pariter atque Græcos concidunt-ita ut interierint hominum ad ducenta riginti millia. Præterea in Ægypto Cyproque-consimilia quædam perpetrarunt, ubi desiderati sunt hominum ducenta quadraginta millia.-Sed Judæi et ab aliis, et maxime a Lucio, quem Trajanus miserat, subacti sunt. [Translated in the text.] Diod ibid. p 786.

pecting that they might make the like commotions in Mesopota mia ordered Lucius Quietus to expel them out of the province who marching against them slew a very great multitude of them there."* Orosius treating of the same time saith, that "the Jews with an incredible commotion, made wild as it were with rage, rose at once in different parts of the earth. For throughout all Lybia, they waged the fiercest wars against the inhabitants, and the country was almost desolated. Egypt also and Cyrene and Thebais they disturbed with cruel seditions. But in Alexandria they were overcome in battle. In Mesopotamia also war was made upon the rebellious Jews by the command of the emperor. So that many thousands of them were destroyed with great slaughter. They utterly destroyed Salamis, a city of Cyprus, having first murdered all the inhabitants." These things were transacted in the reign of Trajan; and in the reign of Adrian was their great rebellion, under their false Messiah Barchochab, and their final dispersion after fifty of their strongest castles and nine hundred and eightyfive of their best towns had been demolished, and after five hundred and eighty thousand men had been slain by the sword, besides an infinite number who had perished by famine and sickness and other casualties, with great loss and slaughter too of the Romans, insomuch that the emperor forebore the usual salutations in his letters to the senate. Here was another illustrious triumph of Christ over

* — Ώσπερ ύπο πνεύματος δείνω τινος και τασιώδες ἀναρρίπισθεντες ἐν τη πρώτη συμβολή ἐπικρατησαι αὐτος συνεβη των Ελλήνων· οἱ και καταφυγοντες εἰς την Αλεξανδρειας, της τη σελε Ιαδαίος ἐζωγρησαν τε και ἀπεκτείναν.—ἐφ' ἐς ὁ αὐτοκρατωρ έπεμψε Μαρκιον Τέρβωνα συν δυναμει επιζητε και ναυτική, έτι δε και ἱππικὴ ὁ δε πολλαις μαχαις-πολλάς μυριάδας Ι«δαίων ἀναίρει ὁ δε αὐτοκρατωρ ὑποπτευσας και τως ἐν Μεσοποταμια Ιωδαις ἐπιθήσεσθαι τοῖς αὐτοθι, Λυκία Κυητα προσετα ξεν ἐκκαθάραι της επαρχίας αὐτός ὁς και παραταξάμενος παμπολυ πλήθος των αὐτοθε VEVEL. Velut a violento quodam et seditioso damone exagitati-et primo quidem conflictu forte Judæi Gentiles superaverant. Qui mox Alexandriam, confugientes, Judæos qui in ea urbe degebant, captos interfecerunt. Itaque imperator Marcium Turbonem adversus eos misit cum pedestribus ac navalibus copiis, et cum equitatu. Hic multis præliis consertis-infinita Judæorum millia-neci dedit. Sed imperator. veritus ne Judæi qui Mesopotamiam habitabant, incolas perinde aggrederentur, n andavit Lucio Quieto, ut eos extra provinciæ fines deportaret. Qui, instructa adversus illos acie, ingentem eorum multitudinem prostravit. [Translated in the text.] Euseb. Eccles. Hist. lib. 4, cap. 2.

+ Incredibili deinde motu, sub uno tempore Judæi, quasi rabie efferati, per diversas terrarum partes exarserunt. Nam et per totam Lybiam adversus incolas atrocissima hella gesserunt: quæ adeo tunc interfectis cultoribus desolata est-Ægyptum vero totam et Cyrenem et Thebaida cruentis seditionibus turbaverunt. In Alexandria autem commisso prælio victi et adtriti sunt. In Mesopotamia quoque rebellantibus jussu mperatoris bellum illatum est. Itaque multa millia corum vasta cæde deleta sunt. Sane Salaminam, urbem Cypri, interfectis omnibus accolis deleverunt. [Translated in the text.] Oros. Hist. lib. 7, cap, 12, p. 487; edit. Havercamp

Euseb. ibid. cap. 6 Dien. ibid. lib. 69, p. 794.

his enemies; and the Jews and the Romans, both the persecutors of the Christians, were remarkably made the dreadful executioners of divine vengeance upon one another. The 'great sword,' and the red horse' are expressive emblems of this slaughtering and bloody period; and the proclamation for slaughter is fitly made by a creature like an ox that is destined for slaughter. This period continued during the reigns of Trajan and his successors by blood or adoption, about minety-five years.

5. 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.

6. 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 third seal or period (ver. 5, 6,) is characterized by the strict execution of justice and judgment, and by the procuration of corn, and oil, and wine; and was proclaimed by the third living creature, who was like a man, and had his station in the south. ' 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 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.' Where Grotius and others have observed, that "a chonix of corn, the measure here mentioned, was a man's daily allowance, as a penny was his daily wages," so that if his daily labour could earn no more than his daily bread, without other provision for himself or his family, corn must needs bear a very high price. But whatever may be the capacity of the choenix, which is difficult to be determined, as it was different in different times and countries; yet such care and such regulations about the necessaries of life imply some want and scarcity of them. Scarcity obligeth men to exactness in the price and measure of things. In short, the intent of the prophecy is, that corn should be provided for the people, but it should be distributed in exact measure and proportion. This third period commenceth with Septimius Severus,

Est autem yon. tritici tantum, quanto homo sanus in diem indiget, ut ex Herodoti libro tertio et septimo observarunt eruditi, alii etiam ex Hippocrate, Diogene Laertio, et Athenæo. Denarius vero tantum, quantum quoque die mereri poterat homo strenue laborans, ut videre est Matt. xx. 2, &c. [Translated in the text.] Grot. in locum. Vide etiam Vitring. p. 259

who was an emperor from the south, being a native of Africa. "He was an enacter of just and equal laws, and was very severe and implacable to offences; he would not suffer even petty larcenies to go unpunished :"+ As neither would Alexander Severus in the same period, who “ was a most severe judge against thieves; and was so fond of the Christian maxim, 'Whatsoever you would not have done to you, do not you to another,' that he commanded it to be engraven on the palace, and on the public buildings:"‡ These two emperors were also no less celebrated for the procuring of corn and oil and other provisions, and for supplying the Romans with them after they had experienced the want of them. They repaired the neglects of former times, and corrected the abuses of former princes. Of Septimius Severus it is said, that "the provision of corn, which he found very small, he so far consulted, that at his death he left a certain rate or allowance to the Roman people for seven years: and also of oil as much as for the space of five years might supply not only the uses of the city, but likewise of all Italy which might want oil."§ Of Alexander Severus it is also said, that he took such care in providing for the Roman people, that the corn which Heliogabalus had wasted, he replaced out of his own money; the oil also, which Septimius Severus had given to the people, and which Heliogabalus had lessened, he restored whole as before." The colour of the black horse' befits the severity of their nature and their name, and the balances' are the

Septimius Severus-oriundus ex Africa-Solus omni memoria et ante et postea ex Africa imperator fuit. [Septimius Severus,- -an African by birth-The only emperor, before or after, who was a native of Africa.] Eutropius. lib. 8, cap. 10. Interfecto Didio Juliano, Severus Africa oriundus imperium obtinuit. [Didius Julianus being killed, Severus, a native of Africa, obtained the empire.] Ælius Spartianus in Severo Hist. August. Scriptores VI. p. 64, edit. Salmasii.

+ Legum conditor longe æquabilium-implacabilis delictis-ne parva latrocinia quidem impunita patiebatur. [Translated in the text.] Aurel. Victor de Cæsar cap. 20.

Severissimus judex contra fures-'Quod tibi fieri non vis, alteri ne feceris, quam sententiam usque adeo dilexit, ut et in palatio et in publicis operibus præscribi juberet. [Translated in the text.] Lampridius in Alexandro. Hist. August. Script. VI. p. 123 et 132, edit. Salmasii.

Rei frumentariæ, quam minimam repererat, ita consuluit, ut excedens vita, septem annorum canonem P. R. relinqueret. Spartian. ib. p. 67. Olei vero tantum ut per quinquennium non solum urbis usibus, sed et totius Italiæ quæ oleo egeret, sufficeret. [Translated in the text] Spartian. in Severo. ibid. p. 73.

Commeatum populi Romani sic adjuvit, ut quam frumenta Heliogabalus evertisset, vicem de propria pecunia loco suo reponeret— -Oleum quod Severus populo dederat quodque Heliogabalus imminuerat, integrum restituit. [Translated in the text.] Lamprid. in Alex. ibid. p. 121.

well known emblem of Justice, as well as an intimation of scarcity. and the proclamation for justice and judgment, and for the procuration of corn, and oil, and wine, is fitly made by a creature like a man. This period continued during the reigns of the Septimian family, about forty-two years.

7. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, come and see.

8. And I looked, and behold, a pale horse; and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him and power was given unto them, over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth

The fourth seal or period, ver. 7, 8, is distinguished by a concurrence of evils, war, and famine, and pestilence, and wild beasts; and was proclaimed by the fourth living creature, who was like an eagle, and had his station in the north. And I looked, and behold, a pale horse; and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him; and power was given unto them, over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.' These are the same four sore judgments,' with which Ezekiel, xiv. 21, threatened Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence' for in the oriental languages the pestilence is emphatically styled death.'* These four were to destroy the fourth part, of mankind; and the image is very poetical, of death riding on a pale horse,' and 'hell' or 'the grave following with him,' ready to swallow up the dead corpses. This period commenceth with Maximin, who was an emperor from the north, being born of

* Voce Oavatu intelligendus est λous ex Hebraismo: Nam ita sumitur apud Jer. ix. 21, & xviii. 21. Sic apud Sirachidem legimus xxxix. 29, λspos xas Oavaros ubi itidem avaro, haud dubie pestilentiam significat. Syrus quoque tum hic tum apud Lucam os vertit i. e. Oavarus et LXX. Hebræorum ¬ i. e. pestem vertunt Davaro, ut et Chaldæus et Latinus, Lev. xxvi. 25. Horum exemplo Severus Sulpitius. Hist. 1, mortem pro pestilentia posuit. [By the word avar death is to be understood μs the pestilence, according to the Hebrew idiom. For so death is taken, Jer. ix. 21, & xviii. 21. And so we read in the son of Sirach, xxxix 29, μos xai Daratos, famine and death, where also avaros death without doubt signifies pestilence. The Syriac translator, as well here as in Luke, renders λosuus pestilences by i. e. Oœarus deaths And the LXX translate the Hebrew the pestilence by Oavator death, as do also the Chaldee and Latin versions of Lev. xxvi. 25. After their example Severus Sulpitius, Hist. I, has put [mortem death, for pestilentiam, the pestilence.] Grot. in Matt. xxiv ?