ild beasts of the earth."--Rev. 6:7, 8.

The Christian church alone being analogous to the civil power, it is
within its pale that the fulfilment of this symbol is to be looked for.
During this period, violence is substituted for famine; and men are
compelled to apostatize, which results in spiritual death. The Papacy
having the power to enforce her decrees, Christians had to embrace her
faith, or be handed over to the secular power for punishment. They
produced death by compelling men to apostatize, by withholding from them
the word of life, by infusing into their minds pestiferous doctrines, and
by the fear of the civil power,--symbolized by the sword, famine,
pestilence, and beasts of the earth.

The Fifth Seal.

"And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the
souls of those slain on account of the word of God, and on account
of the testimony, which they held: and they cried with a loud
voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not
judge and avenge our blood on those, who dwell on the earth? And a
white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them,
that they should rest yet for a short time, until their
fellow-servants also and their brethren, that were to be slain as
they were, should be filled up."--Rev. 6:9-11.

This symbolized a period intervening between the time of the martyrdom, of
those whose souls are seen in vision, and another time of persecution to
follow. Consequently, the symbol represents the disembodied spirits of
those who had already been slain. They symbolize the souls of martyrs who
counted not their lives dear unto themselves for the sake of Christ; and
being faithful unto death, were in expectation of a crown of life. Says
Mr. Lord: "The term {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} is used in the prophecy to denote the dead
bodies of the martyrs (chap. 11:9), and {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PSI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PSI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} (20:4) to denote their
disembodied spirits. They are represented as having been slain, and as
uttering their appeal to God because of their blood having been shed