MARTYRED.
It was three months since the image of Apleon had been set up in the
"Holy" place in Jerusalem. Now all the world worshipped "The Beast,"
for the images had been multiplied until every town and city and almost
every church, etc., had its own idol.
The world had begun by "_Wondering after_" the Beast, it gave itself up
to error, despised the Truth, opened itself to receive the "_Strong
delusion_," the _Anti_-christ lie, so that the _worship_ of the Beast
himself, then of his image, became but just consequent steps one after
the other.
In Ancient Roman days its Emperors took divine titles, accepted homage,
worship, honor, all of which belonged, by right, to Deity alone.
Augustus had temples reared for the worship of himself, and, through
all the ages since, the remains of one of these temples (at Angora) has
remained, and inscribed upon a great stone lintel is the significant
word: "To THE GOD AUGUSTUS." Near by, in the same district, is a
kindred inscription, "To MARCUS AURELIUS . . . . _by one most devoted
to his Godhead_." Nero and Domitian, fiends of blood and lust, were
styled, while they lived, "GOD," and "OUR GOD AND LORD."
And Apleon fulfilled, to the minutest letter, all that was prophesied
of him as regarded his assumption of the divine. "_He will exalt
himself_," wrote Daniel "_and magnify himself above God. He will speak
marvellous things against the God of gods. He will not regard any God,
for he will magnify himself above all." "He opposeth and exalteth
himself above all that is called God," Paul said, "or that is
worshipped; so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing
himself that he is God_."
Whatever may be the cause of it, the fact remains that ever since the
Devil's lie in Eden was absorbed by, and ruined man, there has been a
proneness, a latent tendency to idolatry in the human race. And the
_manifestations_ of this tendency have not been confined to peoples who
in their recent past have been won from idol worship.
As late as the revolution days, in cultured, polished France, busts of
Marat and others, were greeted in the streets with bursts of
Hallelujahs, by the populace, and, even in the churches, all over
France, the people sang odes and Hallelujahs, and bowed themselves
before these busts, and at the mention of their names. Marat,
especially was treated as divine and "was universally deified," and
"divine" worship of his image was everywhere set up in churches.
And the "worship of the Beast" came about easily, and as the natural
transition from the world's earlier adulation of the "Man of Sin."
Millions upon millions of his image, in the form of charms, were worn
like the _eikons_ of the Greek church. In the hour of death these
_eikons_ (likenesses) "of the Beast," were held before the eyes of the
passing soul, as the crucifix was held, (in the old days before the
destruction of the older ecclesiastical systems,) before the eyes of
the dying Romanist and Ritualist.
In that first three months of the _second_ half of the seven years of
Anti-christ, much had changed in every way in the world. Under the
supreme dictation of Apleon changes commanded by him were effected
throughout the whole world, in one week, that would have occupied a
century in the old days of the nineteenth century, say.
Babylon the Great, which had long since been rebuilt, had become the
world's commercial centre. It was exclusively a _commercial_ city,
there was nothing ecclesiastical (Babylon _ecclesiastical_, the
religious system had been destroyed, when all _religious_ head-ship had
been summed up in Apleon).
There was nothing military, in the New Babylon, and though every
vileness in the form of entertainment was to be found in the great
city, all this was but the recreative side of the life of the
commercial people of the world's metropolis.
Ever increasingly, during the 19th century, and the first decade of the
20th, commerce had been growing as clamorous and as exciting as the
"horse-leech," never satisfied, ever crying "give, give." It had
clamoured for a common currency, common weights and measures, common
code of terms, and a hundred and one kindred things.
But it was in Babylon the Great, that the woman of Zechariah v.
1--Commerce--had found all she had been insisting for, through all the
past years,--and it all emanated from, and was centred in Apleon. And
it was all connected with worship. "_Covetousness, which is idolatry_."
With the utter destruction of "Mystic Babylon," the vast religious
system, (whose destruction we have seen,) there came a mighty impulse
of commerce, and of consequent wealth to "Babylon the Great" the City.
Apleon had made it his head-quarters. "_The kings of the earth lived
wantonly with her_." Her wharves and warehouses--built on that
wondrous Euphrates--were packed with "_merchandise of gold, silver,
precious stones, of pearls, fine linen, purple, silk, scarlet, and all
rare woods, and all manner of vessels of ivory, brass, iron, marble,
cinnamon, odours, ointments, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour,
wheat, beasts, sheep, horses, chariots, slaves--and souls of men_."
Her vessels traded with the whole world. Her liners, travelling at 100
miles per hour, were in easy touch of every land. Her pride in her
Maritime and commercial power, was overwhelming: "How much she hath
glorified herself, and lived deliciously. . . . For she saith in her
heart, I sit a queen!" Her aerial merchandise fleets, too, were
amazing!
* * * * * *
The three months had brought great changes to the trio in whom we are
specially interested--Ralph Bastin, George Bullen, and Rose, his young
wife.
Ralph, in quitting the editor's chair of the Courier, had received a
handsome _doucier_, from Sir Archibald Carlyon, and this, at his
special request, had been paid to him in the new paper currency of the
time--there was a world-common currency, under the Apleon regime, as
there was also a world-common code, weights and measures, etc.
He had also contrived to turn his savings into the paper currency.
George Bullen had done the same, though in the case of each of them it
had not been easy work, for both were marked men.
They knew themselves to be hated--and watched. Again and again they
had narrowly escaped death, and each day they realized that it might be
the last.
The news of the wondrous enthusiasm of the world's peoples gathered in
Babylon and Jerusalem, in their new worship of the golden images of
Apleon, had stirred London, New York, Berlin, Paris--_atheistical_
Paris; and all other great world-centres, and in each city many images
had been set up.
Though neither Ralph Bastin, or George Bullen had now anything to do
with journalism--they could not obtain work of any kind because of the
absence of the "mark of the Beast" upon their foreheads. But both were
journalists by nature, hence when they knew that the image of the Beast
was to be set up in St. Paul's on a given Sunday, they determined to be
present to see how far this basest of idolatry had really laid hold of
London.
The trio lived together in a little house, in a by-street in
Bloomsbury. Rose would never allow her husband to go out without her;
the times were too perilous, either for him to be in the streets, or
for her to remain alone at home. In the actual language of Ruth, she
had said to him:--
"_Entreat me not to leave thee:--for whither thou goest I will go;
where thou lodgest, I will lodge; . . . where thou diest, I will
die; . . . the Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part
thee and me_."
On reaching the Mansion House--the old building was still there, though
used for another purpose--they were amazed at the excitement which
prevailed in the streets. Thousands of excited people were moving
westwards, many of them evidently bound for St. Paul's.
_Every_one seemed to be wearing the brand of the "Beast," and more than
once our trio came very near to being set upon, for that they were
defying public opinion, as well as the command of the All-Supreme
Director of consciences as well as lives--Apleon--by the absence of the
"Mark" upon them.
Arrived at the cathedral they had no difficulty in getting in, since
the hour was early, and a rumour having obtained credence that the
great idol was to be wheeled out upon the steps of the cathedral, the
vast bulk of would-be worshippers remained outside of the huge building.
Presently these outside must have become acquainted with the falseness
of the rumour for there was a tremendous rush into the building, until,
in three minutes, it was packed to its utmost limits.
Ralph, George and Rose had secured seats, in the centre of the third
row, almost under the great dome, for they wanted to get as perfect a
view of the image as possible.
The hum of several thousand voices, as the gathered people gossipped
about the image, made quite a volume of sound. Every eye was fixed on
the great golden statue. It was a wondrous piece of work and the
likeness of Apleon was an extraordinary one. The people who were
seated far back could see only from the breast upwards. But those
nearer (Ralph, and George, and Rose among them) who could see not only
the whole figure, but the plinth and the pedestal upon which it stood,
saw that the inscription on the plinth was the same as that which had
been reported as upon the first image, the one set up in the Temple at
Jerusalem--"I AM, THAT I AM!"
A shudder passed over our trio, as they read the blasphemy.
Now, suddenly, a richly-robed priest, holding a silver bugle to his
lips, stood out on the altar steps. The shrill bugle call for
"silence" rang through the great building, and a tomb-like hush fell
upon the multitude.
Another priest, more gorgeously costumed than the first, came slowly
forward chanting clearly and distinctly:
"We believe in Man, in the Religion of Humanity, Man is God, and God is
man. We believe that all the excellencies which of old, were
attributed to the God of the Bible, were but sparks struck out of the
goodnesses that were within the man Himself. Hence we no longer need
to be Divine by proxy." [1]
The organ rolled out a gay note to which the gathered thousands chanted
a gay "Amen!"
"_We believe_," the priest went on in his chant--"_that the living God,
is the marriage of Force and matter, of Head and Hand. And we believe
that the product of this co-ordination is in our Great Superman, the
God of the Universe, Apleon, our Superior-God, and Him we worship and
adore--_"
The priest made a well-understood sign, and the whole mass of the
people _knelt_--they were too crowded to prostrate themselves. The
great organ pealed forth in some wondrous chordings, that were dying
down into zephyr-like breaths, when the voice of the priest broke the
comparative silence.
In harsh, commanding tones, he cried:
"You three rebels, kneel at once!"
The whole congregation lifted their eyes to see two men, and a
beautiful woman between them, standing proudly, fearlessly, amid the
great kneeling throng.
"Kneel, you apostate rebels!" thundered the priest.
For answer, Rose lifted her strong, powerful, beautiful voice, in a
God-inspired spontaneous burst of _true_ worship, singing:
"All Hail the power of Jesus' Name,
Let angels prostrate fall."
Ralph and her husband caught the inspiration and the musical key, and
the trio had reached the "Bring forth the Royal Diadem," before the
great congregation of blasphemers awoke to the full meaning of what the
song of the trio meant. Then, with a roar like ten thousand lions,
they shouted:
"Kill them! Murder them!"
The priest raised his hand, the bugler sounded "Silence." The old hush
fell upon the people, instantly, and the priest, with a triumphant note
ringing in his voice, and with an equally triumphant smile on his face,
cried:
"We have anticipated the action of such rebels as these, and have
prepared for them. Outside there has been already set up an
automatically-locked scaffold--"
With a wave of his hand towards our trio, he cried; "To the block with
them, unless they instantly worship."
Pointing with his long index finger to the three Protesters, he
shouted: "Kneel!"
For answer they drew themselves upright, and with a ringing gladness
began to sing:
"Crown Jesus Lord of all!"
Instantly they were seized, and hurried out of one of the side
entrances. With the utmost difficulty a way was cleared for the
passage of the priests and the three victims--the bugler going ahead
sounding sharp notes of warning on his instrument.
They reached the front of the cathedral, at last. The whole of the
space in the front, at the sides, and far away into "The Fan" was
packed with a seething, excited mass of human life.
Twenty feet high, a light but strong scaffold had been rapidly, and
practically silently, erected--the whole structure having all its
separate parts fitted with automatic lockings. The scaffold stood just
_out_side the railings that fenced the cathedral from the "Fan."
On the platform of the scaffold was a conical-shaped block, enamelled
in a brilliant red. A huge fellow, leaning on the handle of a
wide-bladed gleaming axe, stood by the side of the block.
The trio of _Protestants_ were taken up the steps of the scaffold. Two
priests accompanied them. The chief of the two priests, he who had led
the chant in the cathedral, held up before the trio a silver figure of
Apleon, about eighteen inches long, and, (amid the intense silence all
around, his words were distinctly heard) cried: "Will you worship God?"
"We _do_ worship God--but we will not worship either the Anti-christ,
Anti-God, or his image!"
It was Ralph who, in ringing fearless tones, replied, the other two
responding with:
"Amen! Amen! to our God who sitteth on The Throne, and to the Lamb, for
ever!"
A savage roar swept upwards from the maddened mass below.
Ralph was told to bow his head upon the block. He did so, while Rose
sang clear and strong:
"Am I a soldier of the cross,
A follower of the Lamb,
And shall I fear----------"
The chief of the two priests, struck her heavily across the mouth and
silenced her. At the same instant the executioner held aloft, by the
hair, the severed head of Ralph Bastin.
Yells of delight, mingled with "Long live our God Apleon!" greeted the
sight of the head.
George Bullen's head was now upon the block, while Rose, the light of a
holy triumph in her eyes, unable to sing because of her bleeding mouth,
shouted, "Jesus! Jesus! Precious Christ!"
She kept her eyes from the block, and turned slightly away, as the head
of her dear one was held aloft amid the frantic delighted cries of the
murderous mass below.
It was her turn now, and she turned rapturously towards the block. But
before she could lay her head upon the blood-stained horror, the chief
of the priests thrust her forward to the near edge of the floor of the
scaffold, and, holding his hand up for silence, cried:
"Is she too beautiful for the block?"
He caught her up suddenly in his arms, and held her as high aloft as
his strength would permit, as he shouted:
"Does any one want her, if you do, say so, and I will hurl her down!"
"Behead her!" roared a voice in the crowd, and thousands of voices
joined in the cry.
The priest dragged her to the block and laid her neck in the hollow of
it. There was a flash of steel in the sunlight, and the beautiful head
rolled into the basket. The next moment it was being held aloft by the
long, lovely hair, the people below yelling with joy.
At a sign from the priest, the bugler sounded for "silence." Then the
priest cried:
"So shall die every rebel against our LORD GOD, _The Emperor_!"
With a wave of his hand towards the Cathedral behind him, he added:
"Our worship will be continued in our Temple and, for today, at least,
worship will continue all day."
The fools, the dupes, flocked back to the cathedral--as many as could
crowd in. Those who could not get in watched the bodies and heads of
the three martyrs for God hurled down from the scaffold on the stones
below.
Someone suggested the river, and six lengths of line were quickly got,
and amid the howls of mingled execrations, and the notes of a fiendish
joy, the three heads and three trunks were dragged down to the
blackfriars end of the embankment.
Here men cut the clothes from the three bodies, and the naked forms
were kicked into almost shapeless masses, before they were eventually
hurled over the embankment into the swirling muddy Thames.
"_He, (The False Prophet) had power . . . to cause that as many as
would not worship the image of the Beast should be killed_."
From this day there began a perfect reign of terror on the earth, for
the vast bulk of the people who had yielded utter allegiance to the
"Beast," and to his worship, became heretic-hunters. Natural affection
appeared to be actually absent from the world, and sons and daughters
betrayed fathers and mothers, husbands betrayed wives, wives husbands,
and the friend his friends.
Thousands were beheaded every month, taking the earth over--men, women,
and children, who had learned to trust God, and who waited for the
coming Kingdom of Christ, when, having put down all enemies under his
feet, he should begin his reign of a thousand years. These saved ones,
and martyred ones, were "an innumerable multitude saved out of T H E
great tribulation, from all nations, kindreds, and peoples, and
tongues."
[1] This creed, in its essence, and often in its terminology is taken
from a book already published, in which the religion of Humanism exalts
man to the place of God. (Author.)