And we have seen that of these eight specifications, just two things can be said: first, that they are all perfectly met in the history of the United States, thus far; and secondly, that they are not met in the history of any other government on the face of the earth. Behind these eight lines of defense, therefore, the argument lies impregnably intrenched.
And the American patriot, he who loves his country, and takes a just pride in her thus-far glorious record and noble achievements, needs an argument no less ponderous and immovable, and an array of evidence no less clear, to enable him to accept the painful conclusion that the remainder of the prophecy also applies to this government, hitherto the best the world has ever seen; for the prophet immediately turns to a part of the picture which is dark with injustice, and marred by oppression, deception, intolerance, and wrong.
After describing the lamb-like appearance of this symbol, John immediately adds, "And he spake as a dragon." The dragon, the first link in this chain of prophecy, was a relentless persecutor of the church of God. The leopard beast which follows, was likewise a persecuting power, grinding out for 1260 years the lives of millions of the followers of Christ. The third actor in the scene, the two-horned beast, speaks like the first, and thus shows himself to be a dragon at heart; "for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," and actions are framed. This, then, like the rest, is a persecuting power; and it is for this reason alone that any of them are mentioned in prophecy. God's care for the church, his little flock, is what has led him to give a revelation of his will, and point out the foes with whom they would have to contend. To his church, all the actions recorded of the dragon and leopard beast relate; and in reference to the church, therefore, we conclude that the dragon voice of this power is uttered.
The "speaking" of any government must be the public promulgation of its will on the part of its law-making and executive powers. Is this nation, then, to issue unjust and oppressive enactments against the people of God? Are the fires of persecution, which in other ages have devastated other lands, to be lighted here also? We would fain believe otherwise; but notwithstanding the pure intentions of the noble founders of this government, notwithstanding the worthy motives and objects of thousands of Christian patriots to-day, we can but take the prophecy as it reads, and expect nothing less than what it predicts. John heard this power speak; and the voice was that of a dragon.
Nor is this so improbable an issue as might at first appear. The people of the United States are not all saints. The masses, notwithstanding all our gospel light and gospel principles, are still in a position for Satan to suddenly fire their hearts with the basest of impulses. This nation, as we have seen, is to exist to the coming of Christ; and the Bible very fully sets forth the moral condition of the people in the days that immediately precede that event. Iniquity is to abound, and the love of many to wax cold. Evil men and seducers are to wax worse and worse. Scoffers are to arise, saying, Where is the promise of his coming? The whole land is to be full of violence as it was in the days of Noah, and full of licentiousness as in the city of Sodom in the days of Lot. And when the Lord appears, faith will scarcely be found upon the earth, and those who are ready for his coming will be but a "little flock." Can the people of God expect to go through this period, and not suffer persecution? No. This would be contrary to the lessons taught by all past experience, and just the reverse of what we are warranted by the word of God to expect. "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." If ever this was true in the history of the church, we may expect it to be emphatically so when, in the last days, the world is in its aphelion as related to God, and the wicked touch their lowest depths of iniquity and sin.
Let, then, a general spirit of persecution arise in this country, and what is more probable than that it should assume an organized form? Here the will of the people is law. And let there be a general desire on the part of the people for certain oppressive enactments against believers in unpopular doctrines, and what would be more easy and natural than that such desire should immediately crystallize into systematic action, and their oppressive measures take the form of law? Then we have just what the prophecy indicates. Then is heard the voice of the dragon.
And there are elements already in existence which furnish a luxuriant soil for a baleful crop of future evil. But a few years ago three and a half millions of human beings were held in our country in a state of abject bondage, deprived of every vestige of freedom and every trace of manhood. But why refer to slavery, it may be asked, since it has already become a thing of the past? Slavery, to be sure, on the ground of political expediency, has been abolished. For the time being, the ballots and bayonets of its opponents have outnumbered those of its partisans. But has this changed the disposition by which it has heretofore been fostered? Has it converted the South? Have they been brought to look upon it as an evil which should be given up on account of its own intrinsic wrong? We would that we could answer these questions in the affirmative. But there are acts too patent to be denied, which show that the virus of this great iniquity still rankles in the body politic; that the system of slavery has been given up by the people of the South simply as a matter of necessity; that if they had the power they would re-instate it again though they should rend and ruin the Republic in their attempt; and hundreds of thousands in the North would sympathize with them in the movement, and second them in their efforts. The disease is driven from the surface, but it is not cured. It may be a source of serious trouble hereafter.
Political corruption is preparing the way for deeper sin. It pervades all parties. Look at the dishonest means resorted to to obtain office, the bribery, the deceptions, the ballot-stuffing. Look at the stupendous revelations of municipal corruption just disclosed in New York city: millions upon millions stolen directly and barefacedly rom the city treasury by its corrupt officials. Look at the civil service of this government. Speaking on this point, The Nation of Nov. 17, 1870, said:—
"The newspapers are generally believed to exaggerate most of the abuses they denounce; but we say deliberately, that no denunciation of the civil service of the United States which has ever appeared in print has come up as a picture, of selfishness, greed, fraud, corruption, falsehood, and cruelty, to the accounts which are given privately by those who have seen the real workings of the machine."
Enumeration is here unnecessary. Enough crops out in every day's history to show that moral principle, the only guarantee in a government like ours for justice and honesty, is sadly wanting.