ans_ in the time of
_Constantine_ the great and his sons. After _Julian_ had opened the
Temples, and restored the worship of the heathens, the Emperors
_Valentinian_ and _Valens_ tolerated it all their reign; and therefore the
Prophecy of the sixth seal was not fully accomplished before the reign of
their successor _Gratian_. It was the custom of the heathen Priests, in the
beginning of the reign of every sovereign Emperor, to offer him the dignity
and habit of the _Pontifex Maximus_. This dignity all Emperors had hitherto
accepted: but _Gratian_ rejected it, threw down the idols, interdicted the
sacrifices, and took away their revenues with the salaries and authority of
the Priests. _Theodosius_ the great followed his example; and heathenism
afterwards recovered itself no more, but decreased so fast, that
_Prudentius_, about ten years after the death of _Theodosius_, called the
heathens, _vix pauca ingenia & pars hominum rarissima_. Whence the affairs
of the sixth seal ended with the reign of _Valens_, or rather with the
beginning of the reign of _Theodosius_, when he, like his predecessor
_Gratian_, rejected the dignity of _Pontifex Maximus_. For the _Romans_
were very much infested by the invasions of foreign nations in the reign of
_Valentinian_ and _Valens_: _Hoc tempore_, saith _Ammianus_, _velut per
universum orbem Romanum bellicum canentibus buccinis, excitae gentes
saevissimae limites sibi proximos persultabant: Gallias Rhaetiasque simul
Alemanni populabantur: Sarmatae Pannonias & Quadi: Picti, Saxones, & Scoti &
Attacotti Britannos aerumnis vexavere continuis: Austoriani, Mauricaeque aliae
gentes Africam solito acrius incursabant: Thracias diripiebant praedatorii
globi Gotthorum: Persarum Rex manus Armeniis injectabat_. And whilst the
Emperors were busy in repelling these enemies, the _Hunns_ and _Alans_ and
_Goths_ came over the _Danube_ in two bodies, overcame and slew _Valens_,
and made so great a slaughter of the _Roman_ army, that _Ammianus_ saith:
_Nec ulla Annalibus praeter Cannensem ita ad internecionem res legitur
gesta_. These wars were not fully stopt on all sides till the beginning of
the reign of _Theodosius_, A.C. 379 & 380: but thenceforward the Empire
remained quiet from foreign armies, till his death, A.C. 395. So long the
four winds were held: and so long there was silence in heaven. And the
seventh seal was opened when this silence began.

Mr. _Mede_ hath explained the Prophecy of the first si