The Peril of the Republic of the United States of America

CHAPTER X. AMITY OR ARMAGEDDON?

Proclaiming peace and preparing for war—China the storm center—The czar’s manifesto and the Peace and Disarmament Conference—The United States formerly the champion of peace—The Monroe doctrine—The advent of the United States in the Orient, does it portend peace or war?—Washington’s farewell address—Carl Schurz on the English alliance—“What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”—Position of Jerusalem in the world—Position of the United States in the world—The vision of the great image—The ten kingdoms of prophecy—The God of heaven shall set up a kingdom—The image struck upon the feet—The reason for this—The kings of the East—Turkey and the great powers—Prophecies concerning Russia—The apostasy of the United States—All nations in rebellion—The armies of heaven—The kingdom and citizens of our Lord and of his Christ

The people of this world are proclaiming peace, and preparing for war. Never has there been a state of affairs so utterly incongruous. With one voice men unite in declaring that the halcyon days are at hand, while at the same time they get ready for the biggest game of powder and projectile that has ever been proposed during the history of the earth. Europe presents the appearance of one vast battle-field, with the rival armies of every nation drawn up in military array, waiting for the signal which will announce that the time has come for the fray to commence. In Africa, from the Cape to Cairo, and from Sierra Leone to Zanzibar, the powers and potentates of the Old World have staked out their claims, and in a state of delirium incident to the dread fever of earth-hunger, they are ready at a moment’s warning to fly at each others’ throats, or to tear out each others’ vitals. Around the China Sea we again find them all encamped, watching for and hastening on the breakup of the Middle Kingdom. The empire of the Celestials is the storm-center round which the international typhoon is whirling, and even now almost bursting from its own inherent power,-power so sensitive and dangerous that it is scarcely possible for it to keep from detonating like a charge of dynamite or guncotton. Into this awful vortex of angry nations the United States has voluntarily leaped, now henceforward to be reckoned as one of the sceptered kings of the East. PRUS 166.1

In 1898 the world was startled by the peace and disarmament proclamation of the Russian czar, through which he called for all the nations to join him in a peace conference, the purpose of which should be to bring about some scheme of general disarmament on the part of the nations. Of that appeal this is the leading and most important part:— PRUS 166.2

“In the course of the last twenty years the longings for a general appeasement have grown especially pronounced in the consciences of civilized nations. The preservation of peace has been put forward as the object of international policy; it is in its name that great states have concluded between themselves powerful alliances; it is the better to guarantee peace that they have developed in proportions hitherto unprecedented their military forces, and still continue to increase them without shrinking from any sacrifice. PRUS 166.3

“All these efforts, nevertheless, have not yet been able to bring about the beneficent results of the desired pacification. The financial charges following an upward march strike at the public prosperity at its very source. PRUS 167.1

“The intellectual and physical strength of the nations, labor and capital, are for the major part diverted from their natural application, and unproductively consumed. Hundreds of millions are devoted to acquiring terrible engines of destruction, which, though to-day regarded as the last word of science, are destined to-morrow to lose all value in consequence of some fresh discovery in the same field. PRUS 167.2

“National culture, economic progress, and the production of wealth are either paralyzed or checked in their development. Moreover, in proportion as the armaments of each power increase, so do they less and less fulfil the object which the governments have set before themselves. PRUS 167.3

“The economic crisis, due in great part to the system of armaments, à outrance [to the point of outrage, or to the bitter end], and the continued danger which lies in this massing of war material, are transforming the armed peace of our days into a crushing burden, which the people have more and more difficulty in bearing. It appears evident, then, that if this state of things were prolonged, it would inevitably lead to the very cataclysm which it is desired to avert, and the horrors of which make every thinking man shudder in advance.” PRUS 167.4

Whatever may have been the underlying reasons which caused the czar of all the Russias to issue this invitation to his brother potentates, one thing is certain, that whether his object and design was sinister or sincere, men stand aghast when they view the terrible effects which must needs be produced by modern warfare. Within hundreds of thousands of breasts there exists a desire for a change in this state of affairs so horrible to contemplate. PRUS 167.5

Until the year 1899 the United States has stood before the world as the champion of small standing armies, and squadrons of war-ships sufficient only for the patrol of the coast. While clinging to this doctrine, the United States has become one of the greatest of the world-powers, without possessing a fleet worth speaking of, and without calling upon her few soldiers to step beyond the boundaries of her own continent. Small armies and navies have been made possible for this country on account of that magnificent clause in the political creed of all parties, known as the Monroe Doctrine. This was announced by the president of the country full seventy-five years ago, and the essence of it is: “We owe it, therefore, to candor and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and those powers, to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety.” And immediately after this there was enunciated the solemn declaration: “With the existing colonies or dependencies of any European power we have not interfered, and shall not interfere.” PRUS 167.6

The Monroe Doctrine was proclaimed at a time when the “allied powers” of Europe, whose representatives, assembled at Vienna, took to themselves the name of the “Holy Alliance,” were attempting to give renewed prominence to the idea that kings govern by divine right. “It was intended to teach the people that all the liberties they were entitled to possess were such only as the governing monarchs deemed expedient to grant them; that they were entitled to none whatsoever by virtue of the natural law; that the attempt to establish representative and liberal government, like that of the United States, was an unpardonable sin against God; and that the highest duty of citizenship was obedience to monarchical authority.” ¹ PRUS 168.1

Such were the principles of the Holy Alliance of the crowned heads of Europe; its specific object was to re-establish the despotism of Spain upon her revolted colonies in South America and in Mexico. On the other hand, the essence of the Monroe Doctrine as then understood by all the world was that “while we forbid the establishment of despotic governments upon the American continent, we recognize the corresponding obligation to refrain from any attempt to force our political system upon any part of the Old World.” ² PRUS 168.2

Now we have abandoned the Monroe Doctrine, and entered into the arena for foreign possessions, and this, of course, naturally calls for a large increase of the army and the navy. If the American nation persists in this policy, the time is past and gone forever when she can look down with condescending pity upon the nations of Europe groaning beneath the weight of tremendous military establishments. It is now seriously urged that the United States requires an army of at least 100,000 fighting men. This would mean an annual cost of about $150,000,000. It must also be remembered that to-day the nation is carrying a pension roll of most enormous proportions. Last year there was paid to the pensioners of the Civil war the gigantic sum of $145,000,000. This is an amount larger than the cost per annum of the entire peace establishment of Germany, including her pension roll. PRUS 169.1

However, the item of cost is but a small one compared with the principle involved. Had the czar’s peace and disarmament conference been called a year or so earlier, the United States could have gone to take a part in its deliberations, and joyfully told the monarchies of the Old World the benefits to be derived from having no large standing armies, or huge navies. The representatives of this government could have told those people that peace and disarmament were the two things She had been not only advocating, but of which she had been a living example during all her national history. The United States would have then been entitled to the chief place in the van, and could have led all the other nations to the full fruition of the harvest of peace so ardently desired. But now the one nation which could have rightfully and with power born of a principle lived up to, changed the course of the other powers, has herself apostatized from these principles of peace and disarmament, and has now taken up a position which will necessarily entail walking in the labyrinth from which they are so vainly trying to extricate themselves. PRUS 169.2

The Peace and Disarmament Conference has met, deliberated, and come to a close. Many are of the opinion that something has been accomplished; but in reality nothing of real worth or merit has been accomplished. That anything of real worth or merit should have been accomplished is impossible in the very nature of things. Many are saying that the time has come when strong nations shall “beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against a nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his own vine, and under his fig-tree.” ³ PRUS 169.3

The advent of the United States in the Orient will not tend to amity, but rather to animosity. This was cleverly stated by Lord Salisbury, when at the last lord mayor’s banquet, he said the “appearance of the United States as a factor in Asiatic affairs is likely to conduce to the interests of Great Britain, but might not conduce to the interests of peace.” It can not possibly conduce to the interests of peace, for the very reason that in entering the Orient this nation has deserted her policy of peace, and has adopted in principle, at least, the bellicose spirit; she has now departed from that doctrine of the “father of his country,” which, if it never brought to her military glory, most certainly has been the cause of her material greatness. The words in the “Farewell Address” are a pearl of great price. They may be familiar, but they can not too often be recalled:— PRUS 170.1

“Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government.... PRUS 170.2

“The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. PRUS 170.3

“Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves by artificial ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations or collisions of her friendships or enmities. PRUS 170.4

“Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a very different course. If we remain one people, under an efficient government, the period is not far off when we may defy material injury from external annoyance; when we may take suck an attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon to be scrupulously respected; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation; when we may choose peace or war, as our interests, guided by justice, shall counsel. PRUS 170.5

“Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice? PRUS 171.1

“It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world.” PRUS 171.2

But all the nations interested in the Chinese and Oriental problem in general are continually making and breaking alliances. This is absolutely necessary in the very nature of things. One nation may on account of its own internal policy and traditions desire to keep aloof from the others; but when combinations are formed against it, there is no other choice but to join forces with some other power. England has been, more than any other nation, perhaps, friendly to the idea of having the United States in the Oriental caldron. Many think that this friendship will conduce to peace, but that it can not possibly do this is clearly set forth by Carl Schurz in his address before the convocation of the Chicago University last January:— PRUS 171.3

“If we take those new regions, we shall be well entangled in that contest for territorial aggrandizement which distracts other nations and drives them far beyond their original design. So it will be inevitably with us. We shall want new conquests to protect that which we already possess. The greed of speculators working upon our government will push us from one point to another, and we shall have new conflicts on our hands, almost without knowing how we got into them. It has always been so under such circumstances, and always will be. This means more and more soldiers, ships, and guns. PRUS 171.4

“A singular delusion has taken hold of the minds of otherwise clear-headed men. It is that our new friendship with England will serve firmly to secure the world’s peace. Nobody can hail that friendly feeling between the two nations more warmly than I do, and I fervidly hope it will last. But I am profoundly convinced that if this friendship results in the two countries setting out to grasp ‘for the Anglo-Saxon,’ as the phrase is, whatever of the earth may be obtainable-if they hunt in couple-they will surely soon fall out about the game, and the first serious quarrel, or at least one of the first, we shall have, will be with Great Britain. And as family feuds are the bitterest, that feud will be apt to become one of the most deplorable in its consequences. PRUS 171.5

“No nation is, or ought to be, unselfish. England, in her friendly feeling toward us, is not inspired by mere sentimental benevolence. The anxious wish of many Englishmen that we should take the Philippines is not free from the consideration that, if we do so, we shall for a long time depend on British friendship to maintain our position on that field of rivalry, and that Britain will derive ample profit from our dependence on her. This was recently set forth with startling candor by the London Saturday Review, thus:— PRUS 172.1

“‘Let us be frank, and say outright that we expect mutual gain in material interests from this rapprochement. The American commissioners at Paris are making this bargain, whether they realize it or not, under the protecting naval strength of England, and we shall expect a material quid pro quo for this assistance. We expect the United States to deal generously with Canada in the matter of tariffs, and we expect to be remembered when the United States comes in possession of the Philippine Islands, and above all we expect her assistance on the day, which is quickly approaching, when the future of China comes up for settlement, for the young imperialist has entered upon a path where it will require a strong friend, and a lasting friendship between the two nations can be secured not by frothy sentimentality on public platforms, but by reciprocal advantages in solid, material interests.’ PRUS 172.2

“And the cable despatch from London bringing this utterance added:— PRUS 172.3

“‘The foregoing opinion is certainly outspoken enough, but every American moving in business circles here knows this voices the expectations of the average Englishman.’ PRUS 172.4

“This is plain. If Englishmen think so, we have no fault to find with them. But it would be extremely foolish on our part to close our eyes to the fact. British friendship is a good thing to have, but, perhaps, not so good a thing to need. If we are wise, we shall not put ourselves in a situation in which we shall need it. British statesmanship has sometimes shown great skill in making other nations fight its battles. This is very admirable from its point of view, but it is not so pleasant for the nations so used. I should be loath to see this republic associated with Great Britain in apparently joint concerns as junior partner with a minority interest, or the American navy in the situation of a mere squadron of the British fleet. This would surely lead to trouble in the settling of accounts.” PRUS 172.5

This is a correct statement of what awaits the United States in the case. It therefore follows, that as far as the nativity of the “United States of America and Asia” is concerned, the cause of Armageddon, rather than that of amity, will be served. And aside from all matters of accident or policy there is a principle which will work to this end, one foretold in the Bible, and worth considering here. PRUS 173.1

In Matthew 24 there is a wonderful prophecy which fell from the lips of the Saviour himself. As he sat on the Mount of Olives the disciples came unto him “privately,” saying, “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world?” They came to him privately, and it was then that these questions were asked. There is a wonderful significance in these words. It is only to those who come to the Lord privately, alone on their knees in the secret chambers, or by themselves in some quiet place,—it is only to such that there is revealed the sign of his coming and of the end of the world. Away from the hurry and the bustle of the things of life, and shut in alone with the Master, the “still, small voice” communicates with the pleading soul, anxious for knowledge concerning the greatest event in human and divine history. PRUS 173.2

It was not even all of the disciples who came to the Master, and thus besought him in private for this precious knowledge. In the gospel of Mark it is written that there were only four of them,-Peter, James, John, and Andrew. These were the most faithful and trusty of his followers, and yet to them the Saviour replied: PRUS 173.3

“Take heed that no man deceive you.” Not simply the careless and sinful ones are in danger of being deceived concerning the sign of his coming and of the end of the world. It must ever be remembered that these words were spoken for the benefit of those who of all people were most constant in prayer and communion with God; and if they were needful for them, how much more so for the thoughtless and indifferent. The true knowledge of the sign of the coming of the Lord is a matter of the heart, rather than of the head and the mind. We may hear it discoursed upon from pulpits, we may read arguments upon it in books and papers; but the only knowledge of it which will nave power to keep from deception in the day of deception is that which is gained alone with Jesus in sacred and spiritual communion. PRUS 174.1

“Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” Just prior to the destruction of Jerusalem there was fearful political commotion in the world. The Roman empire filled the earth, but this gave no peace or security. Men struggled for the mastery. Emperor after emperor was slain by the hand of political foes, and all was turmoil, all was confusion. Favorite parasites of the throne to-day were galley-slaves to-morrow. There will be these wars and rumors of wars, said Jesus, but the end of the Jewish nation “is not yet.” PRUS 174.2

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.... And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” In the last great conflict for the souls of men which will be waged between the powers of light and darkness, there will be many of those who have once loved and known the Saviour whose affection will not only wane, but will “wax cold.” These words have not been placed in the Bible to discomfort and discourage the fainthearted, but rather that through them we might gain strength, and be prepared for the trial which awaits us. It is in mercy to his children that the Master utters them, for in them, if accepted in living faith and applied to the soul and life, is power and strength to resist spiritual declension. PRUS 174.3

“But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved.” The Redeemer does not say, he that shall live to the end, but he that shall endure; and this shows something of the temptation and trial which the latter-day Christian will have to withstand. We speak about enduring pain, or torture of mind or body, and signify thereby that every fiber of our being is brought into play, and put to the utmost strain and test in order to cope with that which was brought to bear against us. It is even so in the end, the struggle will require every nerve and fiber of spiritual strength to wage successful combat. PRUS 174.4

“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Then said the Saviour, “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso readeth let him understand): then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains: let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house: neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” PRUS 175.1

The gospel is now being preached to all the world. This is so as never before in the history of the world. Missionaries are compassing sea and land to herald to those who sit in darkness the glad tidings of the cross and crown of Calvary. So manifest is this movement that it does not need argument here. But said the Saviour, when this has been done, “Then shall the end come.” PRUS 175.2

What is the “abomination of desolation” spoken of by Daniel the prophet? It was to stand in the “holy place.” The Syriac version renders it “the abominable sign of desolation.” And Luke in the contemporaneous record of this prophecy says: “And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.” It follows from this that the “abomination of desolation” spoken of by Matthew is the army of the Romans surrounding Jerusalem, spoken of by Luke. That the term “abomination of desolation” used by Matthew fitly describes the Roman army, there can be no question. Wherever the army of the Romans planted their eagles, there desolation and ruin followed. It was everywhere the same. Self-government became a thing of the past, and a Roman governor arbitrarily appointed in the capital city took its place, while the people mourned beneath the heavy load of taxes. In the year a. d. 70 the Roman army did invest Jerusalem, and they did stand “in the holy place.” The armies of the Romans no longer exist. Long since their legions and centuries have been laid to molder in the dust. But the principles which were back of the Roman armies still live, and will live until the end of the world. The armies themselves, the men who formed the legions, were no more abominable or desolating in their behavior than the troops of any army. War is inhuman, but war by the Romans was no more inhuman than by scores of other nations. The Roman rule was a denial of the doctrine that all men are created equal, and that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. And it is these principles of arbitrary government which have always everywhere caused abominable desolation, which still live, and which will live till the history of this earth in its present form is brought to a close. PRUS 175.3

The Lord had set Jerusalem in the earth to be a light to all the nations round about. It was the will of God that from the sacred citadel at Jerusalem should emanate right principles concerning the relations which should exist between man and man, and man and his Maker. But Jerusalem apostatized, and left the true faith and love of God, so that when the Saviour came, he was denied and rejected, instead of being acknowledged and received. Then, and not till then, was it given over to the armies of Rome, and the devastating principles of Rome. Jerusalem had passed the unseen line of her probation, and only desolation and destruction could come. PRUS 176.1

Now in this latter day the Lord set the nation of the United States for a light in the world, that from and through it there should go forth to all the world the right principles of government both concerning the relation of the state to the church, and the relation of the state to the citizen. As long as the United States held fast to these two principles, Republicanism and Protestantism,-government by the consent of the governed, and no interference by the civil magistrate in the things of the church,-as long as the United States remained true to these things, she was impregnable in the rocky strength of her principles and convictions. But now the principles of Protestantism have been deserted, and the principles of Republicanism are being deserted. The principles of Rome have invested the United States, and naught but “the abomination of desolation” can possibly follow. PRUS 176.2

The territorial expansion of the United States has been purchased at the cost of the contraction of the principles of the United States. The United States is now in the East, not as a republic of the East, but as one of the “kings of the East.” But these kings of the East are spoken of in the Scriptures. Here is what is said by John the revelator: “And the sixth angel poured out his vial on the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the East might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.” PRUS 177.1

These kings of the East, then, with all the kings of the earth, are to be gathered together to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. And that battle is to be in a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. PRUS 177.2

Now who are the kings of the East at the present time. Is the king of Greece one of them?—Assuredly not, for he is subject to the dictum of the great powers in all external affairs of his kingdom. Is the sultan of Turkey one of them?—No, for he has been taken in charge by the great powers. Are the native princes of India, or is the shah of Persia, or the ameer of Afghanistan?—Again the answer can only be in the negative. Is the emperor of China?—In his case it goes without the saying of it that he is a mere puppet in the hands of the great powers of Western Europe. Now to the prophecy, that “more sure word,” “whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.” PRUS 177.3

In Daniel, the second chapter, compressed in a few short verses is the most wonderful outline history of the nations of earth that has ever been written. PRUS 177.4

To Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, a dream was given. On awakening he could not recall the things which he had seen in his dream, and after the wise men of his government had failed to tell him what these things were, Daniel, the young Hebrew captive, was permitted to make manifest before the king of that great world-power the skill and understanding which God had given him, and to that great monarch he said: “Thou, O King, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer thrashing-floors; and the wind carried them away that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Forasmuch as thon sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.” ⁴ PRUS 178.1

Babylon, the head of gold, was the first of the universal empires; and when the day of Babylon passed away, Medo-Persia occupied her place. For a while Babylon had been true to her trust, and had done the work required at her hand by the Lord; but when she neglected this, and turned from it, God took the Medes and the Persians and through them brought punishment upon the guilty nation. Then the power of Medo-Persia filled the world; but she also apostatized from the task assigned her by the Lord, and her place and her station was taken by Greece, the kingdom of brass. And when the iniquity of the transgressors in Greece was come to the full, God took the Romans, and, evil as they were, used them to punish Greece. But they, instead of turning to the Lord, only increased in their wickedness, until in 476 a. d. the empire of the Romans fell into ruins; and from her ruins and ashes arose the ten kingdoms represented by the ten toes of the image, part of iron and part of potter’s clay, partly strong and partly brittle. Of these, three were plucked up by the roots, as brought to view in Daniel 7, and the remaining seven stand till the present day as the kingdoms of Western Europe. PRUS 179.1

It is in the days of these kingdoms that the God of heaven is to set up his kingdom, which shall never be destroyed, “but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” We are living in the days of these kingdoms, and therefore we are living in the days when the kingdom of the God of heaven shall be set up. PRUS 179.2

In the vision, when the stone, cut out without hands, struck the image, it struck the image on the feet; and the record says that then was the rest of the body, “the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer thrashing-floors.” PRUS 179.3

The stone was made to strike the image on the feet. This is unnatural. The missile is always aimed at the head, or some vital portion of the body. It is aimed at the head, because there is the seat of life. This shows, therefore, that, at the end of time, when this world is to be brought to an end, the seat of the life of the world will be in the feet, that is, in the nations of Western Europe. And this is now precisely the case. It is more the case to-day than it was one year ago, and it is getting more and more so all the time. To-day it is the nations of Western Europe which rule the greater part of the earth, and all that portion formerly ruled over by Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece, to say nothing of the territory of Rome, is ruled over by them. The nations of Western Europe are the rulers of all the Oriental countries, and especially of China. They are in deed and in fact the “kings of the East.” But more than this, it could never be truthfully said that they were the kings of the East until within the last year or two. For years England held that China should be kept intact, and that the dissolution of the Celestial empire should be prevented. But just recently England has agreed with Russia that the “spheres of influence” system shall be admitted as the law governing the great powers in the case of China, and now all the great nations are grabbing every portion of that vast empire that is worth having. Into the details of this it is not necessary to go. The facts are well known to all, and the boundary lines of to-day might be all upset by some fresh move upon the part of one of the great powers to-morrow. PRUS 180.1

And now, into the East, as one of the “kings of the East,“ the United States has gone. For this nation is not in the Philippines as a republic, but as a king. The United States is in the East as one of the kings of the East, and with all the others only waiting one event, and that event every day threatened,-to be gathered together to the great day of the battle of God Almighty, into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. PRUS 180.2

The event for which all the nations are waiting before they can be gathered together to this great conflict is stated in the Scriptures as being the drying up of the waters of the great river Euphrates. No one, upon a moment’s thought, can entertain the proposition that by the term “the great river Euphrates” here used, the literal river is intended. In the first place the book of Revelation is a book of symbols, for it is “the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John.” To signify is to make manifest by a sign, or symbol. The term “river Euphrates” is therefore only a sign, or symbol, of the power occupying or holding possession of the territory through which that river runs, and this power is the Ottoman, or Turkish, empire. PRUS 180.3

For about half a century the great powers of Europe have been of the belief that the preservation of the Turkish empire was a necessity to the peace of Christendom. So thoroughly is this now an established part of the political creed of all nations that it maybe considered as an axiom in statesmanship. The idea was very clearly set forth by Lord Salisbury in his Mansion House speech, Nov. 9, 1895. He had been discussing the state of affairs in Armenia, at that time quite acute, and the possibility of bringing pressure by means of persuasion to bear upon the sultan, and in the course of his remarks said:— PRUS 181.1

“But, supposing the sultan will not give these reforms, what is to follow? The first answer I should give is that, above all treaties, and above all combinations of external powers, ‘the nature of things,’ if you please, or ‘the providence of God,’ if you please to put it so, has determined that persistent and constant misgovernment must lead the government which follows it to its doom; and while I readily admit that it is quite possible for the sultan of Turkey, if he will, to govern all his subjects in justice and peace, he is not exempt more than any other potentate from the law that injustice will bring the highest on earth to ruin. Well, it is not only the necessary action of the law,-of the law of which I have spoken,-there is the authority of the great powers. Turkey is in that remarkable condition that it has now stood for half a century mainly because the great powers of the world have resolved that for the peace of Christendom it is necessary that the Ottoman empire should stand. They came to that conclusion nearly half a century ago. I do not think that they have altered it now. The danger that if the Ottoman empire should fall, would not merely be the danger that would threaten the territories of which that empire consists; it would be the danger that the fire there lit should spread to other nations, and should involve all that is most powerful and civilized in Europe in a dangerous and calamitous contest. That was a danger that was present to the minds of our fathers when they resolved to make the integrity and independence of the Ottoman empire a matter of European treaty, and that is a danger which has not passed away.” PRUS 181.2

The only thing that has kept the Ottoman empire in place for about half a century has been the authority of the powers. Should that help be withdrawn, the Turkish empire would be doomed. And this is precisely what will be done. This is foretold in the Word of God. “And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end and none shall help him.” ⁵ Then says the prophets, “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” PRUS 182.1

With the removal of the Turkish government from Constantinople to the glorious holy mountain,-that is, to Jerusalem,-there comes the “time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time.” This trouble, then, is national trouble. PRUS 182.2

We have now seen that it is the nations of Western Europe who are the “kings of the East.” But it is the nations of Western Europe who constitute the feet and toes of the image, which is stricken on the feet with the stone cut out of the mountain without hands. And it is the “kings of the East” who are to be gathered together to the battle of the great day of God Almighty, at a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. And it is also the “kings of the East” who are only waiting for the reduction of the Turkish power before this last grand move is made; and that the wiping out of the Turkish power in Europe may occur at any moment is evident to any one who endeavors at all to keep pace with the affairs agitating the minds of the statesmen of the great powers of the earth. PRUS 182.3

Just at present Russia appears to be the nation which is forcing things more than any other in the far East. This also is foretold in the Scriptures in the book of Ezekiel. There it is written: “And the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech [Moscow] and Tubal [Tobolsk], and prophesy against him.” PRUS 183.1

This is the rendering in the King James version. But the Revised Version reads, “I am against thee, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.” From this word Rosh comes the modern name and nation of the Russians (Rosh, Roas, Rouss, Russ, Russians). Of this power, Russia, the Lord says, “I am against thee.” In the late aggressive movements of the king of Rosh, is he not already beginning to come up from “the north parts” just as the Bible said he would? And he is doing it, even although the Lord says, “I am against thee.” PRUS 183.2

The prophet continues:— PRUS 183.3

“And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses, and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armor, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya ⁶ with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Goiner, ⁷ and all his bands; the house of Torgarmah ⁸ of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee. Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them. PRUS 183.4

“After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.... It shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.... And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in my face.... And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God: every man’s sword shall be against his brother. And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself: and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord.” ⁹ PRUS 183.5

It is clear from all of this that when the king of Rosh, the emperor of the Russians, comes forth from the “north quarters” with all his bands with him, that he comes forth to war, and that that war is “against the mountains of Israel.” It is also clear that the Lord is “against” the emperor of the Russians, and at that time and place pleads with him with “great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.” And what is this but the battle of Armageddon in which all the “kings of the East” and “of the whole world” are involved? And where is it but in the land of Palestine, on the “mountains of Israel,” the place to which the Ottoman empire is to go when driven out from Constantinople? PRUS 184.1

In the book of the prophet Micah it is written that in “the last days” there shall “many nations come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine, and under his fig-tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it. For all people will walk every one in the name of his God, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.” ¹⁰ PRUS 184.2

It will be observed that in this scripture it is not the Lord who says all of this, but “many nations.” This is precisely what the nations are saying at the present time. They are talking of amity, but they are preparing for Armageddon. But while many nations are talking about beating their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks, and saying that nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more,-while they are saying all this, God declares what they are actually doing:— PRUS 185.1

“Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of concision [margin]: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of concision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel. So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.” ¹¹ PRUS 185.2

In the years of the past, when a nation had done evil, and transgressed the principles which God has laid down for the guidance of all nations, he has taken another and purer nation with which to visit punishment upon the guilty one. Thus it was that he took the armies of Medo-Persia with which to punish Babylon; thus it was that when Medo-Persia became corrupt and departed from the path he had marked for her feet, that he took Greece and her armies, and through them brought punishment upon the Medes and the Persians. And when the “iniquity of the transgressors” was “full” in Greece, God took the Romans, and they were an instrument in his hand to chastise this dissolute people; and when in their turn the Roman nation rejected the ways of the Lord, when the figures of their account had reached a certain limit which God had fixed, he took the barbarous Germans of the North, unlettered and ignorant, but knowing far more of the true principles of government, and with them brought the Roman empire to an end. The nations of Western Europe to-day are the descendants of these Germans, and from their loins have come forth the people of the new nation, of the United States. This nation above them all has been the recipient of great light from heaven. But now when the United States, the last of them all, has turned from the ways of the Lord, there is no nation which God can take to punish her, for every one has rejected the counsels of the “King of kings and Lord of lords.” PRUS 185.3

When the Lord comes to earth again in this latter day, he comes not only as the Saviour of the redeemed, but as the judge of the nations, to plead with them with fire and sword. He comes with an army of angels, and with his army he smites the armies of princes of the earth. All of this is plainly set forth in the Scriptures:— PRUS 186.1

“Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand; a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not ever been the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. PRUS 186.2

“A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burn-eth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. Before their faces the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. They shall run like mighty men, they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks; neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, the stars shall withdraw their shining: and the Lord shall utter his voice before his army; for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” ¹² PRUS 186.3

This is a description of the second coming of the Lord; and when the Saviour comes to earth again, he comes as King of kings and Lord of lords. He comes with all the angels of heaven with him. These are in the form of men of war, who give battle to the princes and the potentates of the earth, who, with the nations they rule, have rejected the principles of High Heaven, and filled up the cup of their iniquity. And when the kings of the East, and of the whole world meet in the valley of Jehoshaphat, at Armageddon, they meet to settle with the one whose principles they have trampled under foot. That Christ comes to punish the nations as such for their rebellion against him, is clearly set forth by John the revelator:— PRUS 187.1

“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them which had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.” ¹³ PRUS 187.2

* * * * * * * * *

In the proud parade of nations,-princes, potentates, and powers,-which, since the gray dawn of the nineteenth century, have with serried ranks, in tramping column and marching file, maneuvered and deployed upon the grand plateau of human history, one, one only, and one alone,-the United States, has broken out her banners to the breezes, and nobly declared her right to a place in the galaxy of great world-powers because she stood for a priceless principle, eternal as the heavens. All others have stood upon might; this one, and this one alone, upon irresistible, impregnable right. PRUS 188.1

On the folds of the flag of Columbia have been woven in glittering strands, “By the laws of nature and of nature’s God, to establish justice.” Her silver stars have shone forth like ambassadors of better things from the blue dome of the goodly land beyond. In the breasts of her freemen has burned the sacred flame of “liberty for all mankind.” This flame has partaken, of the nature of the cloven tongues of fire which once rested upon the apostles of our Lord. It has gone forth and attracted tens of thousands of the oppressed, yet still the best and blest of every nation, kindred, tongue, and tribe. PRUS 188.2

They have come by the millions. And when, all tired from their voyages across the stormy seas, they have touched the sands of our shining shores, Columbia, innately good, arising in the peaceful purity of her nature to bid them welcome, has with her gentle, unmailed hand pointed their weary eyes and longing souls to the precious pillars of priceless principle upon which the great temple of the nation is upreared. And then the magnetic light whose mellow beams had penetrated distance and annihilated space, drawing these pilgrims of the night from every clime on earth, has flashed forth in power from the pillars, kindling itself in their eyes and sitting itself down upon the altar of their hearts. For these stones of principle upon which the national fabric rests may be, dimly perhaps, but truly, nevertheless, compared to the foundations of the New Jerusalem,—“having the glory of God, and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone clear as crystal.” Quickly then have these pilgrims become one with the people of the land, and their natures and voices have blended in unison with those whose happy lot they have become privileged to share. PRUS 189.1

Viewed in the gaze of the Old World monarchies, from the standpoint of army and navy, the United States has been weak. But there is such a thing as the “irresistible might of weakness.” This the United States has possessed in a remarkable degree. True, her cities have not been garrisoned, nor have her sons been taken from the arts of agriculture to learn the art of arms. In the peaceful hours of the morning, as the scions of the soil go to the beautiful fields and vineyards, and the daughters of the hearth to the duties of domestic life, no sharp sound of the reveille has broken upon their ear. The air has not reverberated with the thundering of artillery perfecting itself in the dark sciences of death. No clash and clank of trotting cavalry have they heard upon their highways. There has been no measured tread of infantry upon their country roads. PRUS 189.2

By the sea, the fishers of this land have gone down into the deep with their nets. On the bosom of the twin oceans their boats of commerce have gently rocked. Scarce a steel-clad ship protected them. No cruiser bristling with great guns has been necessary to make them safe, or to guard the shores from which they came. A stronger arm than that of sailor or marine with Gatling gun and fighting-top has been here to ward away all harm. PRUS 189.3

Last summer I visited a “cousin from the motherland across the sea.” He had come to the great republic to make his home at a quiet spot on the banks of the lone Columbia River. His cottage stands upon the very brink of the noble stream. I stood by the window. On the table beside me lay a London illustrated paper. On the open page was a picture of Rudyard Kipling writing his great “Recessional Ode.” He sat by a desk, his elbow rested upon it, his hand supporting his head. Behind him, as it were upon the wall, was a great panorama of the British navy. There were the cruisers “Powerful” and “Terrible,” and the battle-ships “Majestic” and “Revenge,” with a host of half a thousand other craft of war. PRUS 190.1

But the back of the writer was turned upon these terrible engines of destruction. He was rapt in deep meditation. His thoughts were far away. Upon the edge of the desk lay a partially unfolded scroll upon which in plain letters was penciled the thought which occupied Kipling’s mind,—“A Fleet in Being.” PRUS 190.2

A new chord of life and emotion had been touched and awakened in my soul. I looked at the dark, disdainful, swirling waters of the great Columbia. I gazed upon the stern and rocky headlands, which in places looked as if they were about to close upon the proud waters, and challenge their right of way. The whole scene was symbolic of great power. PRUS 190.3

From the river and the headland to the tracings on the scroll my mind wandered to and fro, and forth and back again. Over and over, like the ever-heaving, swelling billows of old ocean, those words kept rising to the surface of my soul, “A fleet in being.” And as I pondered, my heart gave answer to my thought: yes, there is a “fleet in being;” in being not only true, but in being the truth. There is a host of power in being, a power immeasurably superior to that of soldiers and sailors, of parapet on frowning fort, or turret on ship of steel. Blessed an hundredfold is the man who is great for what he is above the man who is great only for what he does. There have been legions of the latter, but the numbers of the former are few. There is wonderful power in being-in being pure, in being holy, in being firm as adamant, loyal as lead in the rock, to convictions inspired and guided from above. PRUS 190.4

Luther was the all-powerful figure at the Diet of Worms. He was all-powerful in the irresistible might of his weakness. All that was great and grand on earth was arrayed against him. There he stands, garbed in the humble robe of an Augustine monk. Around him in that marble hall was a galaxy of princes. They were bedecked in gorgeous gowns and resplendent uniforms, and bejeweled with countless orders of royalty. But the lowly habit of the friar concealed a breast burning with the power of God,-the power of eternal truth. That poor, lone priest had the power of being. Those princes had naught but the power of position. This latter, though to human vision it may appear great, is so feeble that its light is to the power of being like the little flickerings of the glowworm to the effulgence of the sun in the meridian. PRUS 191.1

On his way to the hall, Luther had passed the old general, George of Freundsberg, who touched his shoulder, and shaking his head, blanched in many a battle, kindly said, “Poor monk, poor monk, thou art going to make a nobler stand than I or any other captain have ever made in the bloodiest of our battles. But if thy cause is just, and thou art sure of it, go forward in God’s name, and fear nothing; God will not forsake thee.” PRUS 191.2

And Luther did go forward in God’s name. Spellbound sat the princes through his speech. It’s close resembled the grand finale of a sacred oratorio. His very form and figure grew majestic. His bosom heaved with conscious power; his eye flashed fire more deadly to those who opposed him than the thunderbolts of artillery; while his voice swelled in resonant, stentorian tones like the music of the great pipe organ in the cathedral at Friberg, and that immortal sentence was hurled forth as by creative energy, and sent rolling and reverberating through that hall of princes: “Here I stand; I can do no other; may God help me; amen.” PRUS 191.3

Ah, there was a power of being in the monk; a power which a few brief years later changed the map of Europe, hurled the emperor from his throne, and caused the crowns to topple from the heads of tottering princes. Before the power of truth, the power of position became “as the waters that pass away.” PRUS 191.4

And it is the power of being, the power begotten by the possession and living out of truth, wonderful truth, that has caused the name of the Republic of the United States to be reverenced and revered through all the earth. Hitherto the United States has stood like a rock for the truth, and her very being has been the truth. Her very being has been impregnated with the thoughts of liberty and equal rights to all mankind. Hitherto she has set to herself the bounds and metes of right. And when vaunting ambition in the breasts of her sons would strive to break beyond these natural barriers, her voice has been heard in the words of a Greater One, saying to their ambition, “Hitherto [as far as the line of right] shalt thou come but no further; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed.” PRUS 191.5

The ember hours of the nineteenth century are here. The gloaming time of this cycle of a hundred years is upon us. Shall the ship of state be held upon the course which God through the Fathers set for her, or shall the brilliant star of her peace and power be allowed to be diverted, be made to grow dim, and to lose its heavenly luster? PRUS 192.1

That a dark time of trouble is before this land and before the world, and is swiftly closing in upon the sons and daughters of men, is evident to many of different faiths both spiritual and secular. We hear the mutterings of the storm, the distant roar of the angry billows of strife in things religious and civil. The tempest will surely break, but let it be our holy glory, our sacred joy, that, although we may be broken by it, we shall never bend before it. Infinitely happier is the man who is defeated in a good cause than the man who is victorious in a bad one. PRUS 192.2

But the tempest produced by transgression in things individual and things national will not last forever; it can not last for long. Sin and transgression are terrible things; but they carry in their breasts a poison which not only destroys all that it touches, but ultimately breeds destruction to themselves. In sin and wickedness Providence has fixed an evolution unto death. PRUS 192.3

After the night there will come the glorious dawning of the better morn. It will be for the good and the pure. We may differ as to how it will come, but that it will come, we all believe. Soon will be heard great voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” PRUS 192.4

The citizens of that blest kingdom will be those who have known the power of being,-of being true as steel to priceless principle of right in things national as well as in things personal. For the kingdom of God itself is founded upon the principle of right, founded upon the consent of the governed, and the voices of the redeemed will whisper gently among the amaranthine flowers, saying, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power.” PRUS 192.5

Therefore let us work for right principles while it is day, for the night cometh when no man can work. Let us gird up the loins of our minds, and be sober, and hope to the end for the grace which is to be brought unto us at the coming of Jesus Christ. PRUS 193.1

1619 PRUS The Peril of the Republic of the United States of America [{"para_id":"1619.11","title":"PREFACE","mp3":"\/mp3\/1619\/0003_eng_m_preface_1619_11.mp3#duration=319&size=3198378"},{"para_id":"1619.26","title":"CHAPTER I. A NATION\u2019S BIRTHRIGHT","mp3":"\/mp3\/1619\/0004_eng_m_chapter_i_a_nation_s_birthright_1619_26.mp3#duration=1924&size=19253966"},{"para_id":"1619.90","title":"CHAPTER II. THE CRISIS OF \u201861","mp3":"\/mp3\/1619\/0005_eng_m_chapter_ii_the_crisis_of_61_1619_90.mp3#duration=1902&size=19033995"},{"para_id":"1619.151","title":"CHAPTER III. A WAR FOR HUMANITY\u2019S SAKE","mp3":"\/mp3\/1619\/0006_eng_m_chapter_iii_a_war_for_humanity_s_sake_1619_151.mp3#duration=1621&size=16220748"},{"para_id":"1619.218","title":"CHAPTER IV. A CHAPTER IN CRIMINAL HISTORY","mp3":"\/mp3\/1619\/0007_eng_m_chapter_iv_a_chapter_in_criminal_history_1619_218.mp3#duration=1908&size=19093969"},{"para_id":"1619.271","title":"CHAPTER V. THE SPANISH INQUISITION","mp3":"\/mp3\/1619\/0008_eng_m_chapter_v_the_spanish_inquisition_1619_271.mp3#duration=1415&size=14164056"},{"para_id":"1619.326","title":"CHAPTER VI. \u201cTHE COUNCIL OF BLOOD.\u201d","mp3":"\/mp3\/1619\/0009_eng_m_chapter_vi_the_council_of_blood_1619_326.mp3#duration=2914&size=29152516"},{"para_id":"1619.410","title":"CHAPTER VII. AMERICAN IMPERIALISM\u2014NATIONAL APOSTASY","mp3":"\/mp3\/1619\/0010_eng_m_chapter_vii_american_imperialism_national_apostasy_1619_410.mp3#duration=5077&size=50781352"},{"para_id":"1619.584","title":"CHAPTER VIII. MANIFEST DESTINY","mp3":"\/mp3\/1619\/0011_eng_m_chapter_viii_manifest_destiny_1619_584.mp3#duration=4761&size=47619110"},{"para_id":"1619.730","title":"CHAPTER IX. IN THE TRAIL OF ROME","mp3":"\/mp3\/1619\/0012_eng_m_chapter_ix_in_the_trail_of_rome_1619_730.mp3#duration=4916&size=49171178"},{"para_id":"1619.866","title":"CHAPTER X. AMITY OR ARMAGEDDON?","mp3":"\/mp3\/1619\/0013_eng_m_chapter_x_amity_or_armageddon_1619_866.mp3#duration=4480&size=44808067"},{"para_id":"1619.1012","title":"APPENDIX. THE UNITED STATES AND SLAVERY IN THE SULUS","mp3":"\/mp3\/1619\/0014_eng_m_appendix_the_united_states_and_slavery_in_the_sulus_1619_1012.mp3#duration=401&size=4015771"}]