r be called the sons of God! therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God; but it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like him : for we shall see him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself, even as He is pure." The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us, and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law. APPENDIX. THE proofs of the harmony of prophecy, even in respect to the testimony borne in Scripture to the consummation and the times of the restitution of all things, are far from being exhausted in the preceding pages. In another volume, partly ready for the press, additional testimonies will be adduced, together with Scriptural and historical refutations of anti-scriptural theories, or private interpretations. That harmony is so entirely unaffected by these, that, as will be shown, not a single scripture sanctions any of the varied interpretations which have been given to the first six seals, according to the Constantinian theory. The subject is too extensive to be embraced in the close of a volume. In another, all the passages which have been adduced to supply some analogy from the interpretations of them in its behalf, will be compared with other scriptures. Divine testimonies will also show how scriptures agree together, in showing what powers the beast and false prophet represent, the significancy of the seals, the persecution and finally the death of the witnesses, the shortness of the time at last; and a summary view of the testimony concerning the things that shall be done when the words of God shall be fulfilled, and the mystery of God shall be finished, as He hath declared unto his servants the prophets. The Examination of Mr. Elliot's theory of the first six seals contains upward of a hundred quotations from Gibbon (the great authority adduced in its support), in direct confutation of it, which no special pleading can ever set aside. Nieburh has also been appealed to in its vindication. A few specimens of the discordance of history with the interpretation, may here be given as supplied by these eminent historians of the Roman empire. By comparing scripture with scripture, the judgment depicted on the opening of the Sixth Seal is seen to be that of the great day of the wrath of the Lamb. By contrasting the interpretation, and the allegations adduced to sustain it, with the testimony of history and the words of the prophecy, its fallacy may be equally manifest. "The expression, 'every bondman and every freeman,' is to be restricted, of course, to those engaged in the war against the Christian side." Hora Apoc. "He (Diocletian) can not possibly have been the son of a slave; for the Roman law, even as it stood at that time, would have prevented his being enlisted in a legion." Nieb. iii. 347, 348. Where, then, is the proof that, in "army after army," there was a single bondman engaged in the war? —or even a single great man, or rich man, or freeman, besides the chief captains and the mighty men? and may not every bondman, every freeman be converted into none? "Army after army, emperor after emperor-were routed, and fled, and perished before the cross and its warriors;-Maximian, Maxentius, Maximin, and, after his apostasy to the pagan cause, Licinius." Hora Apoc. i. 114. "Apprehensive of the fatal consequences of delay, Constantine gave orders for an immediate assault; but the scaling-ladders were found too short for the height of the walls; and Marseilles might have sustained as long a siege as it formerly did against the arms of Cæsar, if the garrison, conscious either of their fault or their danger, had not purchased their pardon by delivering up the city and the person of Maximian. A secret but irrevocable sentence of death was pronounced against the usurper [of Constantine's throne].-He deserved his fate; but we should find more reason to applaud the humanity of Constantine, if he had spared an old man, the benefactor of his father, and the father of his wife. During the whole of this melancholy transaction, it appears that Fausta sacrificed the sentiments of nature to her conjugal duties." 1 "A bas-relief still remaining, on Constantine's triumphal arch at Rome, represents to us the terror of Maxentius and of his army, in their flight across the Tiber after defeat in the battle of the Milvian bridge." Hora Apoc. i. 114. The triumphal arch of "Constantine still remains a melancholy proof of the decline of the arts, and a singular testimony of the meanest vanity.-The arch of Trajan-was stripped of its most elgant figures. The difference of times and persons, of actions and characters, was totally disregarded. The Parthian captives appear prostrate at the feet of a prince who never carried his arms beyond the Euphrates; and curious antiquarians can still discern the head of Trajan on the trophies of Constantine." a And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, 1 Gibbon, ii. 211, 212 -"Almost all the cities of Italy between the Alps and the Po not 2 Gibbon, chap. xiv. vol. ii. p. 234, 235. and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. only acknowledged the power, but embraced with zeal the party of Constantine."-"The sight of (Maxentius's) head-convinced them (the Romans) of their deliverance, and admonished them to receive with acclamations of loyalty and gratitude, the fortunate Constantine."2 "Constantine took possession of Rome amid the joyful shouts of the people." Scripture identifies the great day of the wrath of the Lamb with the battle of the great day of God Almighty, and the destruction of the city on seven hills that in the days of the apostles reigned over the kings of the earth. The acclamations then shall be, Rejoice over her, ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. -He hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever. For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? แ 175 was The battle of Verona LL contested with great obstinacy the whole night."4 In the war between Maximin and Licinius, Byzantium surrendered to the power of Maximin, after a siege of eleven days."-In the battle Licinius was at first "oppressed by the superiority of numbers. His military skill and the firmness of his troops restored the day, and obtained a decisive victory.' In the first civil war between Constantine and Licinius, Constantine, in the battle of Citalis (A.D. 351), “steadily expected and repulsed the first attack of the enemy. He pursued his success, and advanced into the plain. But the veteran legions of Illyricum rallied under the standard of a leader who had been trained to arms in the school of Probus and Diocletian. The missile weapons on both sides were soon exhausted. The two armies, with equal valor, rushed to a closer engagement of swords and spears, and the doubtful contest had already lasted from the dawn of day to a late hour of the evening, when the right wing, which was led by Constantine in person, made a vigorous and decisive charge. Licinius marched away with secrecy and diligence at the head of the greatest part of his cavalry, and was soon removed beyond the danger of a pursuit.-The plain of Mardia was the theatre of a second battle no less obstinate and bloody than the former. The troops on both sides displayed the same valor and discipline; and the victory was once more decided 1 Gibbon, c. cxiv. par. 17. vol. ii. p. 225. 3 Niebuhr's Lec. on Roman History, vol. iii. p. 356. 2 P. 233. $ P. 238. T by the superior abilities of Constantine, who directed a body of five thousand men to gain an advantageous height, from whence, during the heat of the action, they attacked the rear of the enemy, and made a very considerable slaughter. The troops of Licinius, however, presenting a double front, still sustained their ground, till the approach of night put an end to the combat, and secured their retreat to the mountains of Macedonia. The loss of two battles, and of his bravest veterans, reduced the fierce spirit of Licinius to sue for peace. . . . . The good sense of Constantine preferred a great and certain advantage to a third trial of the chance of arms. He consented to leave his rival, or, as he again styled Licinius, his friend and brother in the possession of Thrace, Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt." The reconciliation of Constantine and Licinius-maintained above eight years (A.D. 315-323), the tranquillity of the Roman world.-The Gothic war succeeded, in which, "though Constantine encountered a very obstinate resistance, he prevailed at length in the contest,' 3 &c. "In this exalted state of glory it was impossible that Constantine should any longer endure a partner in the empire. Confiding in the superiority of his genius and military power, he determined, without any previous injury, to exert them for the destruction of Licinius, whose advanced age and unpopular vices seemed to offer a very easy conquest. But the old emperor, awakened by the approaching danger, deceived the expectations of his friends, as well as of his enemies. Calling forth that spirit and those abilities by which he had deserved the friendship of Galerius and the imperial purple, he prepared himself for the contest, collected the forces of the East, and soon filled the plains of Adrianople with his troops, and the straits of the Hellespont with his fleet."— Ere the naval victory of Crispus, "the engagement lasted two days; and in the evening of the first, the contending fleets, after a considerable and mutual loss, retired into their respective harbors of Europe and Asia," &c. After successive defeats Licinius "collected in Bithynia a new army of fifty or sixty thousand men, while the activity of Constantine was employed in the siege of Byzantium.-The troops of Licinius, though they were lately raised, ill-armed and worse disciplined, made head against their conquerors with fruitless but desperate valor, till a total defeat, and the slaughter of five-and-twenty thousand men, irretrievably determined the fate of their leader. He retired to Nicomedia, rather with the view of gaining some time for negotiation, than with the hope of any effectual defense. Constantia, his wife, and the sister of Constantine, interceded with her brother in favor of her husband, and obtained from his policy rather than from his compassion a solemn promise, confirmed by an oath, that, after the sacrifice of Martinianus and the resignation of the purple, Licinius himself should be permitted to pass the remainder of his life in peace and affluence." 5" Licinius solicited and accepted the pardon of his offenses, laid himself and his purple at the feet of his lord and master, was raised from the ground 1 Gibbon, ii. 246-249. 4 Gibbon, ii. 256. 3 P. 250. 3 P. 254. E |