life; and by the local scenery with which they were surrounded; this incomparable Instructor enlightened the ignorant, reclaimed the vicious, and convinced the sceptic. This mode of instruc tion has many advantages; and that it should have been adopted by Infinite Wisdom is proof of its intrinsic excellence. By interesting the imagination, it seizes and keeps alive the attention; it conveys a truth into the mind before passion or prejudice is raised against it; and, by simplifying the most abstruse and difficult subjects, it renders them easy of comprehension to the meanest capacity. It invests the spiritual world with all that is grateful to the taste, captivating to the ear, beautiful to the eye, and fragrant to the smell: and then it leads us on to anticipate a state of excellence as far beyond all this, as the substance to the shadow, as the momentous reality to the ideal vision.

The communications which were made to the prophets, and which they were required to deliver to others for their instruction, warning, or encouragement, were principally by appropriate and significant symbols. Either in dreams or visions, certain pictures or images were presented to the mind, strikingly illustrative of the facts which the Deity purposed to reveal. When the communication was intended to be obscure, the imagination of the prophet was strongly excited, leaving so

vivid an impression of the whole scene as to enable him to record it; while, perhaps, he himself might see but dîmly, or not at all, the specific objects to which it referred. On the other hand, when the communication was intended to be clear and comprehensible, the rational faculty of the prophet was kept alive, amid the scenic representations which were created in the fancy, and so powerfully influenced by the Spirit of God as to enable him to understand, and intelligibly to explain, what would otherwise be dark and mysterious. In general, the prophecies of these holy men were delivered as they were received, in similitudes and allegories, sometimes explained, and often left in obscurity.

The writer has made these remarks in order to introduce to the notice of the reader the subject of the following Treatise. It is a strongly figurative representation of death; and as it conveys to the mind truths of the deepest interest, it cannot fail to arrest the attention, and impress the heart.

Revelations vi. 7, 8.

AND WHEN HE HAD OPENED THE FOURTH SEAL, I HEARD THE VOICE OF THE FOURTH BEAST SAY, COME AND SEE. 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 extraordinary book, of which these words are a part, is a prophecy of the various dispensations of God among men, from the first introduction of the gospel to the final consummation of all things. It was revealed to John, the venerable and beloved Apostle, when banished to the Isle of Patmos, by the Emperor Domitian, "for the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ." There appeared to him in vision a throne set in heaven; and he that sat on it was to look upon like a jasper, and a sardine stone; and a rainbowthe sweet emblem of peace and reconciliation— was round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald; and he held in his hand a roll of seven sheets of parchment, each of which was sealed. Of the ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, of whom the vast assembly was composed, and who stood around the throne in silent adoration; there was none found worthy to open the book, and loose the seals thereof. The Apostle, anxious to look into the folded leaves, and penetrate the secret purposes of the Almighty, wept; till, at length, his mourning was turned into joy, when he saw, in the midst

of the elders, a Lamb as it had been slain, who advanced, and took the book out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne, brake the seals, and unrolled the parchments. The success of this illustrious personage occasions loud acclamations of thanksgiving; a new song is sung in celebration of his surpassing worth, accompanied by harps, and golden vials full of odours. The book being opened, John is now invited to come and see; when, instead of the parchments being written, each contained separate figures, in the form of hieroglyphics, descriptive of the various events which should transpire in the church and the world. The first exhibited the figure of a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. This was beautifully emblematical of the purity and excellence of the gospel; and, more especially, of its triumphant progress in the first ages of Christianity. The second contained the figure of a red horse-the natural symbol of war, and which referred to a period signalized in history for acts of cruelty and bloodshed, when vast numbers were slain under circumstances of peculiar atrocity. The third presented the figure of a black horse-the emblem of famine: and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand, intimating that, during this period of scarcity, the necessaries of life should be dealt out by weight and measure; which was

actually the case during the reigns of the Antonines. And, on the breaking of the seal, and the unfolding of the fourth parchment, appeared pale horse, and his name that sat on him was DEATH.

This figure was the emblem of great mortality. Hades, or the world of departed spirits,* followed in his train, claiming the most precious part of his spoils as her own, and exulting in the fresh

* The Greek word which our translators have rendered Hell, is Hades, and it invariably signifies the unseen world. It is often used indefinitely, and will apply either to the invisible state of the righteous or wicked, immediately after death. In this sense I have considered the expression, and am sanctioned by the opinion of some of our ablest commentators. See Dr. CAMPBELL'S Sixth Preliminary Dissertation, Part ii.; Dr. DWIGHT'S System of Theology, Ser. clxiv.; and PETERS on Job. The judicious Howe thus expresses his opinion: "Hades literally signifies only what we see not, or what is out of sight. But as the word of which it is compounded signifies only to know, as well as to see, it may further signify, that state of things which lies without the compass of our knowledge, even out of the reach of our mortal sight; or concerning which, though we are to believe what is revealed, we cannot immediately or distinctly know it. The common use of the word has been very agreeable thereto, with writers of all sorts; that is, to signify indefinitely the unseen world; or the state of the deceased out of the world, who are, consequently, gone out of our sight, whether they were good or bad; so as not peculiarly to signify hell, or any place or state of torment, only." For further information on this subject, see Howe's Redeemer's Dominion over the Invisible World.