Chapter II: Part 2

Let the reader look carefully at this event. It furnishes a complete fulfillment of the prophecy; and it is the only event in all Roman history which does this; for though the first six heads were each, in turn; exterminated, or gave place to a succeeding head, of no one of them could it be said that it received a deadly wound, and was afterward healed. And as this overthrow of the papacy by the French military must be the wounding of the head mentioned in Rev. 13:3, so, likewise, must it be the going into captivity, and the killing with the sword, mentioned in verse 10; for it is an event of the right nature to fulfill the prophecy, and one which occurred at the right time; namely, at the end of the time, times, and a half, the forty-two months, or the 1260 years; and no other event can be found answering to the record in these respects. We are not left, therefore, with any discretionary power in the application of this prophecy; for God, by his providence, has marked the era of its accomplishment in as plain a manner as if he had proclaimed with an audible voice, Behold here the accomplishment of my prophetic word!

Thus clearly is the exact time indicated in the prophecy when we are to look far the rise of the two-horned beast; for John, as soon as he beholds the captivity of the first or leopard beast, says: "And I beheld another beast coming up." And his use of the present participle, "coming" up, clearly connects this view with the preceding verse, and shows it to be an event transpiring simultaneously with the going into captivity of the previous beast. If he had said, "And I had seen another beast coming up," it would prove that when he saw it, it was coming up, but that the time when he beheld it was indefinitely in the past. If he had said, "And I beheld another beast which had come up," it would prove that although his attention was called to it at the time when the first beast went into captivity, yet its rise was still indefinitely in the past. But when he says, "I beheld another beast _coming up_" it proves that when he turned his eyes from the captivity of the first beast, he saw another power right then in the process of rapid development among the nations of the earth. So, then, about the year 1798, the star of that power which is symbolized by the two-horned beast must be seen rising to the zenith of its glory. In view of these considerations, it is useless to speak of this power as having arisen ages in the past. To attempt such an application is to show one's self utterly reckless in regard to the plainest statements of inspiration.

Again, the work of the two-horned beast is plainly located, by verse 12, this side the captivity of the first beast. It is there stated, in direct terms, that the two-horned beast causes "the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed." But worship could not be rendered to a beast whose deadly wound was healed, till after that healing was accomplished. This brings the worship unmistakably within the present century.

Says Eld. J. Litch (Restitution, p. 131):--

"The two-horned beast is represented as a power existing and
performing his part after the death and revival of the first
beast."

Mr. Wesley, in his notes on Rev. 14, says of the two-horned beast:--

"He has not yet come, though he cannot be far off; for he is to
appear at the end of the forty-two months of the first beast."

We find three additional declarations in the book of Revelation which prove, in a general sense, that the two-horned beast performs his work with that generation of men who are to behold the closing up of all earthly scenes, and the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; and these will complete the argument on this point.

The first is the message of the third angel, brought to view in the 14th of Revelation. It is not our purpose to enter into an exposition of the three messages of that chapter. We call the attention of the reader to only one fact, which must be apparent to all; and that is, that the third of these messages is the last warning of danger, and the last offer of mercy, before the close of human probation; for the event which immediately follows is the appearance of one like the Son of man on a white cloud, coming to reap the harvest of the earth, verse 14, which can represent nothing else but the second advent of the Lord from Heaven. Whatever views, therefore, a person may take of the first and second messages, and at whatever time he may apply them, it is very certain that the third and last one covers the closing hours of time, and reaches down to the second coming of Christ. And what is the burden of this message? It is a denunciation of the unmingled wrath of God against these who worship the beast and his image. But this worship of the beast and his image is the very work which the two-horned beast endeavors to enforce upon the people. The third message, then, is a warning against the work of the two-horned beast. And as there would be no propriety in supposing this warning to be given after that work was performed; as it could appropriately be given only when the two-horned beast was about to enforce, and while he was endeavoring to enforce, that worship; and as the second coming of Christ immediately succeeds the proclamation of this message, it follows that the duties enjoined by this message, and the decrees enforced by the two-horned beast, constitute the last test to be brought to bear upon the world; and hence the two-homed beast performs his work, not ages in the past, but among the last generation of men.

The second passage, which shows that the work of the two-horned beast is performed just before the close of time, is found in Rev. 15:2, which we have shown to refer to the same company spoken of in chapter 14:1-5. Here is a company who have gotten the victory over the beast and his image and the mark and the number of his name; in other words, they have been in direct conflict with the two-horned beast, which endeavors to enforce the worship of the beast and the reception of his mark. And these are "redeemed from among men" (14:4), or are translated from among the living at the second coming of Christ. 1 Cor. 15:51,52; 1 Thess. 4:16,17. This again shows conclusively that it is the last generation which witnesses the work of this power.

The third passage is Rev. 19:20, which speaks of the two-horned beast under the title of the false prophet, and mentions a point not given in Rev. 13, namely, the doom he is to meet. In the battle of the great day, which takes place in connection with the second coming of Christ, verses 11-19, the false prophet, or two-horned beast, is cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone; and the word "alive" signifies that this power will be at that time a living power performing its part in all its strength and vigor. This power is not to pass off the stage of action, and be succeeded by another; but is to be a ruling power till destroyed by the King of kings and Lord of lords, when he comes to dash the nations in pieces with a rod of iron.

The sum of the argument, then, on this matter of chronology, is this: That the two-horned beast does not come into the field of this vision previous to the year 1798; that it performs its work while the last generation of men is living on the earth; and that it comes up to the battle of the great day a living power in the full vigor of its strength.

As it was shown in the argument on the location of the two-horned beast that we were limited in our application to this western continent, so we are limited still further by its chronology; for it must not only be some power which arises this side of the Atlantic, but one which is seen coming up here at a _particular time_. Taking our stand, then, in the year 1798, the time indicated in the prophecy, we invite the careful attention of the reader to this question: What independent power in either North or South America was at that time "coming up" in a manner to answer to the conditions of the prophecy? All that part of North America lying to the north of us was under the dominion of Russia and Great Britain. Mexico, to the south-west, was a Spanish colony. Passing to South America, Brazil belonged to Portugal, and most of the other South American States were under Spanish control. In short, there was not then a single civilized, independent government in the New World, except our own United States. No other nation, therefore, can be the one represented in the prophecy; but this one so far answers to it most accurately. It has always taken the lead of all European settlements in this hemisphere. It was "coming up" at the exact time indicated in the prophecy. Like a lofty monument in a field all its own, stand the United States on this continent, grand, unique, unexplainable. So far as God's providence works among the nations for the accomplishment of his purposes, it is visible in the development of this country as an agent to fulfill his word. On these two vital points of location and chronology the arguments which show that our country is the one represented by the symbol of the two-horned beast are absolutely conclusive.

Chapter Five.

The United States Have Arisen In The Exact Manner In Which John Saw The Two-horned Beast Coming Up.

The manner in which the two-horned beast was seen coming up shows, equally with its location and its chronology, that it is a symbol of these United States. John says he saw the beast coming up "out of the earth." And this expression must have been designedly used to point out the contrast between the rise of this beast, and that of other national prophetic symbols. The four beasts of Daniel 7, and the leopard beast of Rev. 13, all arose out of the sea. Says Daniel, The four winds of Heaven strove upon the great sea, and four beasts came up from the sea. The sea denotes peoples, nations, and tongues, Rev. 17:15; and the winds denote political strife and commotion. Jer. 35:32, 33. There was then, in this scene, the dire commotion of nature's mightiest elements, the wind above, the waters benneath, the fury of the gale, the roaring and dashing of the waves, and the tumult of the raging storm; and in the midst of this war of elements, as if aroused from the depths of the sea by the fearful commotion, these beasts one after another appeared. In other words, the governments of which these beasts were symbols owed their origin to movements among the people which would be well represented by the sea lashed into foam by the sweeping gale; they arose by the upheavals of revolution, and through the strife of war.

But when the prophet beholds the rising of the two-horned beast, how different the scene! No political tempest sweeps the horizon, no armies clash together like the waves of the sea. He does not behold the troubled and restless surface of the waters, but a calm and immovable expanse of earth. And out of this earth, like a plant growing up in a quiet and sheltered spot, he sees this beast, bearing on his head the horns of a lamb, those eloquent symbols of youth and innocence, daily augmenting in bodily proportions, and daily increasing in physical strength.

Some may here point to the war of the Revolution as an event which destroys the force of this application; but this furnishes no objection; for 1. That war was at least fifteen years in the past when the two-horned beast was introduced into the field of this vision; and 2. The war of the Revolution was not a war of conquest. It was not waged to overthrow any other kingdom, and build this government on its ruins, but only to defend the just rights of the American people. An act of resistance against continual attempts of injustice and tyranny, cannot certainly be placed in the same catalogue with wars of aggression and conquest. The same may be said of the war of 1812. Hence, these conflicts do not even partake of the nature of objections to the application here set forth.

The word which John uses to describe the manner in which this beast comes up is very expressive. It is [Greek: anabainon] (_anabainon_), one of the prominent definitions of which is, "to grow or spring up as a plant." And it is a remarkable fact that this very figure has been chosen by political writers, as the one which best illustrates the rise of our government. Mr. G.A. Townsend, in his work entitled, "The New World Compared with the Old," p. 462, says:--

"Since America was discovered, she has been a subject of
revolutionary thought in Europe. The mystery of _her coming forth
from vacancy_, the marvel of her wealth in gold and silver, the
spectacle of her captives led through European capitals, filled the
minds of men with unrest: and unrest is the first stage of
revolution."

On p. 635, he further says:--

"In this web of islands, the West Indies, began the life of both
[North and South] Americas. There Columbus saw land, there Spain
began her baneful and brilliant Western Empire; thence Cortez
departed for Mexico, De Soto for the Mississippi, Balboa for the
Pacific, and Pizarro for Peru. The history of the United States was
separated by a beneficient Providence far from this wild and cruel
history of the rest of the continent, and _like a silent seed, we
grew into empire_; while empire itself, beginning in the South, was
swept by so interminable a hurricane that what of its history we
can ascertain is read by the very lightnings that devastated it.
The growth of English America may be likened to a series of lyrics
sung by separate singers, which, coalescing, at last make a
vigorous chorus, and this, attracting many from afar, swells and is
prolonged, until presently it assumes the dignity and proportions
of epic song."

A writer in the _Dublin Nation_ about the year 1850 spoke of the United States as a wonderful empire which was "_emerging_," and "_amid the silence of the earth_ daily adding to its power and pride."

In Martyn's "History of the Great Reformation," Vol. iv, p. 238, is an extract from an oration of Edward Everett, on the English exiles who founded this government, in which he says:--

"Did they look for a retired spot, inoffensive from its obscurity,
safe in its remoteness from the haunts of despots, where the little
church of Leyden might enjoy freedom of conscience? Behold the
mighty regions over which in _peaceful conquest--victoria sine
clade_--they have borne the banners of the cross."

We now ask the reader to look at these expressions side by side: "Coming up out of the earth," "coming forth from vacancy," "emerging amid the silence of the earth," "like a silent seed we grew into empire," "mighty regions" secured by "peaceful conquest." The first is from the prophet, stating what would be when the two-horned beast should arise; the others are from political writers, telling what has been in the history of our own government. Can any one fail to see that the last four are exactly synonymous with the first, and that they record a complete accomplishment of the prediction? And what is not a little remarkable, those who have thus recorded the fulfillment have, without any reference to prophecy, used the very figure which the prophet employed. These men, therefore, being judges--men of large and cultivated minds, and whose powers of discernment all will acknowledge to be sufficiently clear--it is certain that the particular manner in which the United States have arisen, answers most strikingly to the development of the symbol under consideration.

We now extend the inquiry a step further: Have the United States "come up" in a manner to fulfill the prophecy? Has their progress been sufficiently great and sufficiently rapid to corresponds to that visible and perceptible growth which John saw in the two-horned beast?

Every person whose reading is ordinarily extensive, has something of an idea of what the United States are to-day; he likewise has an idea, so far as words can convey it to his mind, of what they were at the commencement of their history. The only object, then, in presenting statistics and testimony on this point, is to show that our rapid growth has struck mankind with the wonder of a constant miracle.

Said Emile de Girardin, in _La Liberte_ (1868):--

"The population of America, not thinned by any conscription,
multiplies with prodigious rapidity, and the day may before [long
be] seen, when they will number sixty or eighty millions of souls.
This _parvenu_ [one recently risen to notice] is aware of his
importance and destiny. Hear him proudly exclaim, 'America for
Americans!' See him promising his alliance to Russia; and we see
that power which well knows what force is, grasp the hand of this
giant of yesterday.

"In view of his _unparalleled progress and combination_, what are
the little toys with which we vex ourselves in Europe? What is this
needle gun we are anxious to get from Prussia, that we may beat her
next year with it? Had we not better take from America the
principle of liberty she embodies, out of which have come her
citizen pride, her gigantic industry, and her formidable loyalty to
the destinies of her republican land?"

The _Dublin_ (Ireland) _Nation_, already quoted, says:--

"In the east, there is arising a colossal centaur called the
Russian Empire. With a civilized head and front, it has the sinews
of a huge barbaric body. There one man's brain moves 70,000,000.
There all the traditions of the people are of aggression and
conquest in the west. There but two ranks are
distinguishable--serfs and soldiers. There the map of the future
includes Constantinople and Vienna as outposts of St. Petersburg.

"In the west, an opposing and still more wonderful American Empire
is emerging. We islanders have no conception of the extraordinary
events which amid the silence of the earth are daily adding to the
power and pride of this gigantic nation. Within three years,
territories more extensive than these three kingdoms [Great
Britain, Ireland, and Scotland] France and Italy put together,
have been quietly, and in almost 'matter of course' fashion,
annexed to the Union.

"Within seventy years, seventeen new sovereignties, the smallest of
them larger than Great Britain, have peaceably united themselves to
the Federation. No standing army was raised, no national debt sunk,
no great exertion was made, but there they are. And the last mail
brings news of three more great States about to be joined to the
thirty: Minnesota in the north-west, Deseret in the south-west, and
California on the shores of the Pacific. These three States will
cover an area equal to one-half the European continent."

Mitchel, in his School Geography (4th revised edition), p. 101, speaking of the United States, says:--

"When it is considered that one hundred years ago the inhabitants
numbered but 1,000,000, it presents the most striking instance of
national growth to be found in the history of mankind."

Let us reduce these general statements to the more tangible form of facts and figures. A short time before the great Reformation in the days of Martin Luther, not four hundred years ago, this Western Continent was discovered. The Reformation brought out a large class of persons who were determined to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences. Being fettered and oppressed by the religious intolerance of the Old World, they sought, in the wilds of America, that measure of civil and religious freedom which they so much desired. A little more than two hundred years ago, Dec. 22, 1620, the Mayflower landed one hundred of these voluntary exiles on the coast of New England. Here, says Martyn, "New England was born," and this was "its first baby cry, a prayer and a thanksgiving to the Lord."

Another permanent English settlement was made at Jamestown, Va., in 1607. In process of time other settlements were made, and colonies organized, which were all subject to the English government till the declaration of Independence July 4, 1776.

The population of these colonies, according to the _U.S. Magazine_ of August, 1855, amounted in 1701, to 262,000; in 1749, to 1,046,000; in 1775, to 2,803,000. Then commenced the struggle of the American colonies against the oppression of the mother country. In 1776, they declared themselves as, in justice and right, an independent nation. In 1777, delegates from the thirteen original States, New Hampshire, Massachussets, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, in Congress assembled, adopted articles of confederation. In 1783, the war of the Revolution closed by a treaty of peace with Great Britain, whereby our independence was acknowledged, and territory ceded to the extent of 815,615 square miles. In 1787, the Constitution was framed and ratified by the foregoing thirteen States, and on the 1st of March, 1789, went into operation. Then the American ship of State was fairly launched, with less than one million square miles of territory, and about three millions of souls.

Thus we are brought to the time when, in our interpretation of Revelation 13, this government is introduced into the prophecy as "coming up." Our territorial growth since then has been as follows: Louisiana, acquired from France in 1803, comprising 930,928 square miles of territory. Florida, from Spain in 1821, with 59,268 square miles. Texas, admitted to the Union in 1845, with 237,504 square miles. Oregon, as settled by treaty in 1846, with 380,425 square miles. California, as conquered from Mexico in 1847, with 649,762 square miles. Arizona (New Mexico), as acquired from Mexico by treaty in 1854, with 27,500 square miles. Alaska, as acquired by purchase from Russia in 1867, with 577,390 square miles. This gives a grand total of three million, five hundred and seventy-eight thousand, three hundred and ninety-two (3,578,392) square miles of territory, which is about four-ninths of all North America, and more than one-fifteenth of the whole land surface of the globe.

And while this expansion has been thus rapidly going forward here, how has it been with the other leading nations of the globe? Macmillian & Co., the London publishers, in announcing their "Statesman's Year Book" for 1867, make an interesting statement of the changes that took place in Europe during the half century between the years 1817 and 1867. They say:--

"The half century has extinguished three kingdoms, one grand duchy,
eight duchies, four principalities, one electorate, and four
republics. Three new kingdoms have arisen, and one kingdom has been
transformed into an empire. There are now forty-one States in
Europe against fifty-nine which existed in 1817. Not less
remarkable is the territorial extension of the superior States of
the world. Russia has annexed 567,364 square miles; the United
States, 1,968,009; France, 4,620; Prussia, 29,781; Sardinia,
expanding into Italy, has increased by 83,041; the Indian Empire
has been augmented by 431,616. The principal States that have lost
territory are Turkey, Mexico, Austria, Denmark, and the
Netherlands."

We ask the especial attention of the reader to these particulars. During the last half century, twenty-one goverments have disappeared altogether; and only three new ones have arisen. Five have lost instead of gained in territory. Only five, besides our own, have added to their domain. And the one which has done the most in this direction has added only a little over half a million of square miles, while we have added nearly two millions. Thus the United States government has added over fourteen hundred thousand square miles of territory more than any other single nation, and over eight hundred thousand more than have been added by all the other nations of the earth put together: In view of these facts, can any one doubt, looking the whole world over, which government it is that has been, during this time, emphatically, "coming up"?

In point of population, our increase since 1798, according to the census of the several decades, has been as follows: In 1800, the total number of inhabitants in the United States was 5,305,925; in 1810, 7,239,814; in 1820, 9,638,191; in 1830, 12,866,020; in 1840, 17,069,453; in 1850, 23,191,876; in 1860, 31,445,089; in 1870, 38,555,983. These figures are almost too large for the mind to readily grasp. Perhaps a better idea can be formed of the rapid increase of population by looking at a few representative cities. Boston, in 1792, had 18,000 inhabitants; now, 250,000. New York, in 1792, 30,000; now, nearly 1,000,000. Chicago, about thirty years ago, was a little trading post, with a few huts; but yet it contained at the time of the great conflagration in October, 1871, nearly 350,000 souls. San Francisco, twenty years ago, was a barren waste, but contains to-day 170,000 inhabitants.

Our industrial growth has been equally remarkable. In 1792, the United States had no cotton mill. In 1850, there were 1074, employing 100,000 hands. Only forty-one years ago the first section of the first railroad in this country, the Baltimore and Ohio, was opened to a distance of twenty-three miles. We have now 52,000 miles in operation. It was only thirty-four years ago that the magnetic telegraph was invented. Now the estimated length of telegraph wire in operation is over 100,000 miles. In 1833, the first reaper and mower was constructed, and in 1846, the first sewing machine was completed. Think of the hundreds of thousands of both of these classes of machines now in use. And there are now more lines of telegraph and railroad projected and in process of construction than ever before, and greater facilities and larger plans for manufactories of all kinds than at any previous point of time. And should these industries increase in the same geometrical ratio, and time continue ten years, the figures we now chronicle would then read about as the records of a century ago now read to us.

And Nature herself, by the physical features she has stamped upon our country, has seemed to lay it out as a field for national development on the most magnificent scale. Here we have the largest lakes, the longest rivers, the mightiest cataracts, the deepest caves, the broadest and most fertile prairies, and the richest mines of gold and iron and coal and copper, to be found upon the globe. "When America was discovered, there were but sixty millions of gold in Europe. California and the territories round her have produced one thousand millions of dollars in gold in twenty years. Sixty-one million dollars was the largest annual gold yield ever made in Australia. California has several times produced ninety millions of gold in a year." (Townsend, p. 384.) "The area of workable coal beds in all the world outside the United States is estimated at 26,000 square miles. That of the United States, not including Alaska, is estimated at over 200,000 square miles, or _eight times as large as the available coal area of all the rest of the globe!_" (American Year Book for 1869, p. 655.) "The iron product and manufacture of the United States has increased enormously within the last few years, and the vast beds of iron convenient to coal in various parts of the Union, are destined to make America the chief source of supply for the world." "Three mountains of solid iron [in Missouri], known as Iron Mountain, Pilot Knob, and Shepherd's Mountain, are among the most remarkable natural curiosities on our continent." (_Id._ p. 654.)

And the people have taken hold to lay out their work on the grand scale that nature has indicated. Excepting only the Houses of Parliament in London, our national capitol at Washington is the most spacious and imposing national edifice in the world. By the unparalleled feat of a subterranean tunnel two miles out under the bottom of the lake, Chicago obtains her water. The work of constructing a railroad tunnel across the Detroit river is already commenced, and the traveler will soon pass, in his steam palace, under the bed of that river, while the immense commerce of the lakes is floating upon its bosom over his head. Chicago is the most extensive grain and lumber market in the world; and Philadelphia and New York contain the largest and best furnished printing establishments now in existence. The submarine cable, running like a thread of light through the depths of the broad Atlantic from the United States to England, a conception of American genius, is the greatest achievement in the telegraphic line. The Pacific Railroad, that iron highway from the Atlantic to the Pacific, stands at the head of all monuments of engineering skill in modern times. Following the first Atlantic cable, soon came a second almost as a matter of course; and following the Central Pacific R.R., a northern line is now in process of rapid construction. And what results are expected to flow from these mighty enterprises? The _Scientific American_ of Oct. 6, 1866, says:--

"To exaggerate the importance of this transcontinental highway is
almost impossible. To a certain extent it will change the relative
positions of this country, Europe and Asia.... With the completion
of the Pacific Railroad, instead of receiving our goods from India,
China, Japan, and the 'isles of the sea,' by way of London and
Liverpool, we shall bring them direct by way of the Sandwich
Islands and the railroad, and become the carriers to a great extent
for Europe. But this is but a portion of the advantage of this
work. Our western mountains are almost literally mountains of gold
and silver. In them the Arabian fable of Aladdin is realized....
Let the road be completed, and the comforts as well as the
necessaries furnished by Asia, the manufactures of Europe, and the
productions of the States can be brought by the iron horse almost
to the miner's door; and in the production and possession of the
precious metals, the blood of commerce, we shall be the richest
nation on the globe. But the substantial wealth created by the
improvement of the soil and the development of the resources of the
country, is a still more important element in the result of this
vast work."

Thus, with the idea of becoming the carriers of the world, the highway of the nations, and the richest power on the globe, the American heart swells with pride, and mounts up with aspirations, to which there is no limit.

And the extent to which we have come up is further shown by the influence which we are exerting on other nations. Speaking of America Mr. Townsend in the work above cited, p. 462, says:--

"Out of her discovery grew the European reformation in religion;
out of our Revolutionary War grew the revolutionary period of
Europe. And out of our rapid development among great States and
happy peoples, has come an immigration more wonderful than that
which invaded Europe from Asia in the latter centuries of the Roman
Empire. When we raised our flag on the Atlantic, Europe sent her
contributions; it appeared on the Pacific, and all orientalism felt
the signal. They are coming in two endless fleets, eastward and
westward, and the highway is swung between the ocean for them to
tread upon. We have lightened Ireland of half her weight, and
Germany is coming by the village load every day. England, herself,
is sending the best of her working men now (1869), and in such
numbers as to dismay her Jack Bunsbys. What is to be the limit of
this mighty immigration?"

Speaking of our influence and standing in the Pacific, the same writer, p. 608, says:--

"In the Pacific Ocean these four powers [England, France, Holland,
and Russia] are squarely met by the United States, which, without
possessions or the wish for them, has paramount influence in Japan,
the favor of China, the friendly countenance of Russia, and good
feeling with all the great English colonies planted there. The
United States is the only power on the Pacific which has not been
guilty of intrigue, of double-dealing, of envy and of bitterness,
and it has taken the _front rank_ in influence without awakening
the dislike of any of its competitors, possibly excepting those
English who are never magnanimous."

And Hon. Wm. H. Seward, on his return from a late trip around the world, said, "Americans are now the fashion all over the world."

With one more extract we close the testimony on this point. In the N.Y. _Independent_ of July 7, 1870, Hon. Schuyler Colfax, then Vice-President of the United States, glancing briefly at the past history of this country, said:--

"Wonderful, indeed, has been that history. Springing into life from
under the heel of tyranny, its progress has been onward, with the
firm step of a conqueror. From the rugged clime of New England,
from the banks of the Chesapeake, from the Savannahs of Carolina
and Georgia, the descendants of the Puritans, the Cavalier, and
the Huguenot, swept over the towering Alleghanies, but a century
ago the barrier between civilization on the one side and almost
unbroken barbarism on the other; and banners of the Republic waved
from flagstaff and highland, through the broad valleys of the Ohio,
the Mississippi, and the Missouri. Nor stopped its progress there.
Thence onward poured the tide of American civilization and,
progress, over the vast regions of the Western plains; and from the
snowy crests of the Sierras you look down on American States
fronting the calm Pacific, an empire of themselves in resources and
wealth, but loyal in our darkest hours to the nation whose
authority they acknowledge and in whose glory they proudly share.

"From a territorial area of less than nine hundred thousand square
miles, it has expanded into over three millions and a half--fifteen
times larger than that of Great Britain and France combined--with a
shore-line, including Alaska, equal to the entire circumference of
the earth, and with a domain within these lines far wider than that
of the Romans in their proudest days of conquest and renown. With a
river, lake, and coastwise commerce estimated at over two thousand
millions of dollars per year; with railway traffic of four to six
thousand millions per year, and the annual domestic exchanges of
the country, running up to nearly ten thousand millions per year;
with over two thousand millions of dollars invested in
manufacturing, mechanical, and mining industry; with over five
hundred millions of acres of land in actual occupancy, valued, with
their appurtenances, at over seven thousand millions of dollars,
and producing annually crops valued at over three thousand millions
of dollars; with a realm which, if the density of Belgium's
population were possible, would be vast enough to include all the
present inhabitants of the world; and with equal rights guaranteed
to even the poorest and humblest of our forty millions of people,
we can, with a manly pride akin to that which distinguished the
palmiest days of Rome, claim as the noblest title of the world, 'I
am an American citizen.'"

And how long a time has it taken for this wonderful transformation? In the language of Edward Everett, "They are but lately dead who saw the first-born of the pilgrims;" and Mr. Townsend (p. 21) says: "The memory of one man can swing from that time of primitive government to this--when thirty-eight millions of people living on two oceans and in two zones, are represented in Washington, and their consuls and ambassadors are in every port and metropolis of the globe."

Is this enough? The only objection we can anticipate is that this nation has progressed too fast and too far--that the government has already outgrown the symbol. But what shall be thought of those who deny that it has any place in prophecy at all? No; this prodigy has its place on the prophetic page; and the path which has thus far led us to the conclusion that the two-horned beast is the prophetic symbol of the United States, is hedged in on either side by walls of adamant that reach to heaven. To make any other application is an utter impossibility. The thought would be folly, and the attempt, abortion.

Chapter Six.

Character Of The Government Represented By The Two-horned Beast.

Having given us data by which we determine the location, chronology, and rapid rise of this power, John now proceeds to describe the appearance of the two-horned beast, and speak of his acts in such a manner as to clearly indicate his character both apparent and real. Every specification thus far examined has held the application imperatively to the United States. We shall find this one no less strong in the same direction.

This symbol has "two horns like a lamb." To those who have studied the prophecies of Daniel and John, horns upon a beast are no unfamiliar features. The ram, Dan. 8:3, had two horns. The he goat that came against him had, at first, one notable horn between his eyes. This was broken and four came up in its place toward the four winds of heaven. From one of these came forth another horn, which waxed exceeding great. The fourth beast of Daniel 7 had ten horns. Among these, a little horn with eyes and mouth, far-seeing, crafty, and blasphemous, arose. The dragon and leopard beast of Rev. 12 and 13, denoting the same as the fourth beast of Dan. 7, in its two phases, have each the same number of horns signifying the same thing. And the symbol under consideration has two horns like a lamb. From the use of the horns on the other symbols, some facts are apparent which may guide us to an understanding of their use on this last one.

A horn is used in the Scriptures as a symbol of strength and power, as in Deut. 33:17, and glory and honor, as in Job 16:15.

A horn is sometimes used to denote a nation as a whole, as the four horns of the goat, the little horn of Dan. 8, and the ten horns of the fourth beast of Dan. 7; and sometimes some particular feature of the government, as the first horn of the goat, which denoted not the nation as a whole, but the civil power as centered in the first king, Alexander the Great.

Horns do not always denote division, as in the case of the four horns of the goat, &c.; for the two horns of the ram denote the _union_ of Media and Persia in one government.

A horn is not used exclusively to represent civil power; for the little horn of Daniel's fourth beast, the papacy, was a horn when it plucked up three other horns, and established itself in 538. But it was then purely an ecclesiastical power, and so remained for two hundred and seventeen years from that time, Pepin, in the year 755, making the Roman pontiff a grant of some rich provinces in Italy, which first constituted him a temporal monarch. (Goodrich's Hist. of the Church, p. 98. Bower's Hist. of the Popes, Vol. 2, p. 108.)

With these facts before us, we are prepared to examine into the significance of the two horns which pertain to this beast. Why does John say that he has two horns like a lamb? Why not simply two horns? It must be because these horns possess peculiarities which indicate the character of the power to which they belong. The horns of a lamb indicate, first, youthfulness, and secondly, innocence and gentleness. As a power which has but recently arisen, the United States answer to the symbol admirably in respect to age; while no other power, as has already abundantly been proved, can be found to do this. And considered as an index of power and character, it can be decided what constitutes the two horns of the government, if it can be ascertained what is the secret of its strength and power, and what reveals its apparent character, or constitutes its outward profession. The Hon. J.A. Bingham gives us the clue to the whole matter when he states that the object of those who first sought these shores was to found "what the world had not seen for ages; viz.,--a church without a pope, and a State without a king." Expressed in other words, this would be a government in which the church should be free from the civil power, and civil and religious liberty reign supreme.

And what is the profession of this government in these respects? That great instrument which our forefathers set forth as their bill of rights, the Declaration of Independence, contains these words: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of hapiness." And in Article IV, Sec. 4, of the Constitution of the United States, we find these words: "The United States shall guaranty to every State in this Union a republican form of government." A republican form of government is one in which the power rests with the people, and the whole machinery of government is worked by representatives elected by them. And here, again, we see the fitness between the symbol and the government which is symbolized; for the horns of the two-horned beast have no crowns upon them as do the horns of the dragon and leopard beast, showing that the government which it represents cannot be monarchical, but is one in which the power is vested in the hands of the people.

This is a sufficient guarantee of civil liberty. What is said respecting religious freedom? In Art. VI of the Constitution, we read: "No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." In Art. I of Amendments of the Constitution, we read: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

In reply to questions as to the design of the Constitution from the committee of a Baptist society in Virginia, Geo. Washington wrote, Aug. 4, 1789, as follows:--

"If I had the least idea of any difficulty resulting from the
Constitution adopted by the Convention, of which I had the honor to
be President when it was formed, so as to endanger the rights of
any religious denomination, then I never should have attached my
name to that instrument. If I had any idea that the general
government was so administered that the liberty of conscience was
endangered, I pray you be assured that no man would be more willing
than myself to revise and alter that part of it, so as to avoid all
religious persecutions. You can, without doubt, remember that I
have often expressed my opinion, that every man who conducts
himself as a good citizen is accountable alone to God for his
religious faith, and should be protected in worshiping God
according to the dictates of his own conscience."

In 1830, certain memorials for prohibiting the transportation of mails and the opening of post-offices on Sunday were referred to the Congressional Committee on Post-offices and Post-roads. The committee reported unfavorably to the prayer of the memorialists. Their report was adopted and printed by order of the Senate of the United States, and the committee discharged from the further consideration of the subject. Of the Constitution, they say:--

"We look in vain to that instrument for authority to say whether
the first day, or seventh day, or whether any day, has been made
holy by the Almighty."

"The Constitution regards the conscience of the Jew as sacred as
that of the Christian, and gives no more authority to adopt a
measure affecting the conscience of a solitary individual than of a
whole community. That representative who would violate this
principle would lose his delegated character, and forfeit the
confidence of his constituents. If Congress should declare the
first day of the week holy, it would not convince the Jew nor the
Sabbatarian. It would dissatisfy both, and consequently convert
neither....If a solemn act of legislation shall in one point define
the law of God, or point out to the citizen one religious duty, it
may with equal propriety define every part of revelation, and
enforce every religious obligation, even to the forms and
ceremonies of worship, the endowments of the church and support of
the clergy."

"The framers of the Constitution recognized the eternal principle
that man's relation to his God is above human legislation, and his
right of conscience inalienable. Reasoning was not necessary to
establish this truth, we are conscious of it in our own bosom. It
is this consciousness which, in defiance of human laws, has
sustained so many martyrs in tortures and flames. They felt that
their duty to God was superior to human enactments, and that man
could exercise no authority over their consciences. It is an inborn
principle which nothing can eradicate."

"It is also a fact that counter memorials, equally respectable,
oppose the interference of Congress on the ground that it would be
legislating upon a religious subject, and therefore
unconstitutional."

Hon. A.H. Cragin, of New Hamphshire, in a speech in the House of Representatives, said:--

"When our forefathers reared the magnificent structure of a free
Republic in this western land, they laid its foundations broad and
deep in the eternal principles of right. Its materials were all
quarried from the mountain of truth; and as it rose majestically
before an astonished world, it rejoiced the hearts and hopes of
mankind. Tyrants only cursed the workmen and their workmanship. Its
architecture was new. It had no model in Grecian or Roman history.
It seemed a paragon let down from Heaven to inspire the hopes of
men, and to demonstrate God's favor to the people of the New World.
The builders recognized the rights of human nature as universal.
Liberty, the great first right of man, they claimed for 'all men,'
and claimed it from 'God himself.' Upon this foundation they
erected the temple, and dedicated it to Liberty, Humanity, Justice,
and Equality. Washington was crowned its patron saint. Liberty was
then the national goddess, worshiped by all the people. They sang
of liberty, they harangued for liberty, they prayed for liberty.
Slavery was then hateful. It was denounced by all. The British king
was condemned for foisting it upon the colonies. Southern men were
foremost in entering their protest against it. It was then
everywhere regarded as an evil, and a crime against humanity."

Then the Bible and the Bible alone is the Protestant rule of faith; and liberty to worship God according to the dictates of one's own conscience is the standard of religious freedom in this land. And from the quotations herewith presented, it is evident that while the government pledges to all its citizens the largest amount of civil freedom, outside of license, it has determined to lay upon the people no religious restrictions, but to guarantee to all liberty to worship God according to the Protestant principle.

Here, then, are two great principles standing prominently before the people: _Republicanism_ and _Protestantism_. And what can be more just, and innocent, and lamb-like, than these? And here, also, is the secret of our strength and power. Had some Caligula or Nero ruled this land, we should look in vain for what we behold to-day. Immigration would not have flowed to our shores, and this country would never have presented to the world so unparalleled an example of national growth.

Townsend, Old World and New, p. 341, says:--

"And what attached these people to us? In part, undoubtedly, our
zone, and the natural endowments of this portion of the globe. In
part, and of late years, our vindicated national character, and the
safety of our Institutions. _But the magnet in America is, that we
are a republic_. A republican people! Cursed with artificial
government, however glittering, the people of Europe, like the
sick, pine for nature with protection, for open vistas and blue
sky, for independence without ceremony, for adventure in their own
interest,--and here they find it!"

One of these horns may therefore represent the civil republican power of this government, and the other, the Protestant ecclesiastical. This application is warranted by the facts already set forth respecting the horns of the other powers. For (1) the two horns may belong to one beast, and denote union instead of division, as in the case of the ram, Daniel 8; and (2) a horn may denote a purely ecclesiastical element, as the little horn of Daniel's fourth beast; and (3) a horn may denote the civil power alone, as in the case of the first horn of the Grecian goat. On the basis of these facts, we have these two elements, Republicanism and Protestantism here united in one government, and represented by two horns like the horns of a lamb. And these are nowhere else to be found. Nor have they appeared since the time when we could consistently look for the rise of the two-horned beast, in any nation upon the face of the earth except our own.

And with these horns there is no objection to be found. They are like those of a lamb, the Bible symbol of purity and innocence. The principles are all right. The outward appearance is unqualifiedly good. But, alas for our country! its acts are to give the lie to its profession. The lamb-like features are first developed; but the dragon voice is to be heard hereafter.

Chapter Seven.

The Dragon Voice.

From the facts thus far elicited in this argument, we have seen that the government symbolized by the two-horned beast must be some government distinct from the powers of the Old World, whether civil or ecclesiastical; that it must arise this side the Atlantic; that it must be seen coming into influence and notoriety about the year 1798; that it must rise in a peaceful manner; that its progress must be so rapid as to strike the beholder with as much wonder as the perceptible growth of an animal before his eyes; that it must be a republic; that it must exhibit before the world, as an index of its character, and the motives by which it is governed, two great principles in themselves perfectly just, and innocent, and lamb-like; and that it must perform its work in the present century.

And we have seen that of these eight specifications, just two things can be said: first, that they are all perfectly met in the history of the United States, thus far; and secondly, that they are not met in the history of any other government on the face of the earth. Behind these eight lines of defense, therefore, the argument lies impregnably intrenched.

And the American patriot, he who loves his country, and takes a just pride in her thus-far glorious record and noble achievements, needs an argument no less ponderous and immovable, and an array of evidence no less clear, to enable him to accept the painful conclusion that the remainder of the prophecy also applies to this government, hitherto the best the world has ever seen; for the prophet immediately turns to a part of the picture which is dark with injustice, and marred by oppression, deception, intolerance, and wrong.

After describing the lamb-like appearance of this symbol, John immediately adds, "And he spake as a dragon." The dragon, the first link in this chain of prophecy, was a relentless persecutor of the church of God. The leopard beast which follows, was likewise a persecuting power, grinding out for 1260 years the lives of millions of the followers of Christ. The third actor in the scene, the two-horned beast, speaks like the first, and thus shows himself to be a dragon at heart; "for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," and actions are framed. This, then, like the rest, is a persecuting power; and it is for this reason alone that any of them are mentioned in prophecy. God's care for the church, his little flock, is what has led him to give a revelation of his will, and point out the foes with whom they would have to contend. To his church, all the actions recorded of the dragon and leopard beast relate; and in reference to the church, therefore, we conclude that the dragon voice of this power is uttered.