"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.