It is said that “history repeats itself.” This, in the main, is true. The student of history cannot but have observed that similar indications have generally preceded events of a similar character. This might be illustrated from nature. There must be a gathering of clouds before each storm. Causes, which in the past have led to revolution, rapine, license, and a general disintegration of society, will, if permitted to operate, produce again the same results. The French Revolution of 1789-1800 stands fixed in history as “The Reign of Terror.” Each succeeding faction which gained power during that awful era shed in torrents the blood of its enemies, until over 2,000,000 lives were sacrificed. All social order was destroyed. The marriage covenant was abrogated, and lust stalked abroad everywhere, licensed and unrestrained. The religion of Christ was declared an imposture and he an impostor. The reading of the Bible was forbidden, and the existence of its God denied. All this was the work of infidelity! Behold, therefore, in that terrible revolution, the miniature of the world without the restraining influences of God's revelation. But is there any danger of such a frightful condition of things as we have hinted at? We answer, There is. The same causes are operating everywhere today which an hundred years ago were at work in France. The same names and principles may be heard and seen all about us. Let us first notice some of the more prominent elements which produced the French Revolution.
I. SPIRITUALISM. Says Samuel Smucker, in his “Memorable Scenes in French History,” page 116:
We find in the records of that period, materials and events which prove that then it was that the impostures of modern spiritual rappers and mediums were first practiced, in precisely the same way and for the same results as they are in the present day... Count Cagliostro enabled Cardinal Rohan to sup with the deceased D'Alembert, with the king of Prussia, and with Voltaire, all dead some years before. He convinced His Eminence that the worker of these wonders had himself been present with Christ at the marriage in Cana of Galilee... In the triumphs of Cagliostro, of Misner, and of St. Germain, which at this period were at their greatest height, we behold another instance of the uprooting of the firm and stable foundations of society in an excessive desire for novelties, and a restless itching after things new, mysterious, and wonderful.
Spiritualism has been supposed by some to have originated much later than this; but spiritualism is as old as Egypt. More than three thousand years ago the Egyptians professed to confer with the dead. However, it has lately assumed proportions which it has not had before in modern times.
II. INFIDELITY. Mr. Anderson, in “The Annals of the English Bible,” says:
Never let it be forgotten that, before the revolution of 1792, the promoters of infidelity in France are stated to have raised among themselves, and spent, a sum equal to £900,000 in one year, nay, again and again, in purchasing, printing, and dispersing books to corrupt the minds of the people, and prepare them for desperate measures.—Page 494.
Doctor Dick, in his work on “The improvement of Society,” says:—
The way for such a revolution was prepared by the writings of Voltaire, Mirabeau, Diderot, Helvetius, D'Alembert, Condorcet, Rousseau, and others of the same stamp, in which they endeavored to disseminate principles subversive both of natural and revealed religion. Revelation was not only impugned, but entirely set aside. The Deity was banished from the universe, and an imaginary phantom, under the name of the ‘Goddess of Reason,’ substituted in his place. The carved work of all religious belief and moral practice was boldly cut down by Carnot and Robespierre and their atheistical associates. Nature was investigated by pretended philosophers, only with the view to darken the mind and prevent mankind from considering anything as real but what the hand could grasp or the corporeal eye perceive.—Page 154.
III. SOCIALISM. For a definition of “socialism” Webster refers us to ”Communism,” which he defines as follows:—
The reorganizing of society, or the doctrine that it should be reorganized, by regulating property, industry, and the sources of livelihood, and also the domestic relations and social morals of mankind; socialism; especially the doctrine of a community of property, or the negation of individual rights in property.
The revolutionists carried all these principles into practice: The relations of the different classes of society were completely changed. The monarchy was overthrown, and an infidel republic established on its ruins. The king and queen were beheaded. Alison, Volume 4, page 151, says:—
The confiscation of two-thirds of the landed property in the kingdom, which arose from the decrees of the convention against the emigrants, clergy, and persons convicted at the revolutionary tribunals,... placed funds worth above £700,000,000 sterling at the disposal of the government.
The various titles were done away. It was a conflict between the rich and poor— between capital and labor! The motto of the Revolutionists was “LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY”——blessed words, but wholly misunderstood and misapplied; for with those fanatics “liberty” meant license; “equality” meant, to a degree, a sharing by the indolent and prodigal in the means of the industrious and saving; and “fraternity” represented a brotherhood of demons rushing together madly on to perdition. The relations of the sexes were also changed. It is astonishing to note how prominent a part women took in that awful tragedy. The following is from Lamartine's “History of the Girondists,” Volume 3:—
“Speaking of the Revolution,” said Miraheau, “If the women do not mix in it,” he said in a whisper to the emissaries of the Parisian insurrection, “there will be nothing done.” He knew that the fury of the women, once inflamed, rises to excess, and to profanations which surpass the audacity of men. The women of Paris, running at the head of the republican bands of the capital, had in effect first violated the palace of the king, brandished the poniard over the head of the queen, and carried to Paris on the end of their pikes the heads of the massacred bodyguards. Theroigne de Mericourt and her bands had marched to the assault of the Tuilleries on the 20th of June and the 10th of August. Terrible during the combat, cruel after the victory, they had assassinated the vanquished, spilt their blood; and mutilated their bodies. The Revolution—its agitations, its days, its sentences, and its executions—had become for these furies a spectacle as necessary as the combats of the gladiator to the corrupted female patricians of Rome. Ashamed of being excluded from the clubs of men, these women had founded—at first under the name of fraternal societies, afterwards under that of societies of republican and revolutionary women,— clubs of their own sex. There were, by the place of their meeting, even clubs of children from ten to fourteen years of age, called “red children,” the baptism of blood upon the heads of these precocious republicans. These societies of women had their orators. Every day, detachments of these mercenaries, paid by the COMMUNE, distributed themselves about the entrance of the tribunal, upon the route of the tumbrels, and upon the steps of the guillotine, to greet death, to insult victims, and to glut their eyes with blood. Antiquity had paid mourners; the Commune had stipendiary furies.— pages 321,322.
Says Thiers:—
The most important functions of government were carried on in the boudoirs of mistresses; the petticoat decided the questions of war or peace; and he would have been deemed a most incompetent minister indeed, who would have dared to controvert the opinions of a Pompadour or a Du Barri.
When the existence of the true God had been denied, these infidels bowed down to a lewd woman as the “Goddess of Reason.” As a natural sequel of such changes as these we note another phase of that period:—
IV. FREE-LOVE. The most sacred relations of life were at the same time placed on a new footing, suited to the extravagant ideas of the times. Marriage was declared a civil contract, binding only during the pleasure of the contracting parties. Divorce immediately became general; and the corruption of manners reached a height unknown during the worst days of the monarchy. So indiscriminate did concubinage become, that, by a decree of the convention, bastards were declared entitled to an equal share of the succession (property) with legitimate children. The divorces in Paris in the first three months of 1792 were five hundred and sixty-two, while the marriages were only seventeen hundred and eighty-five—a proportion probably unexampled among mankind The consequences soon became apparent. Before the era of the consulate (that is, before the end of the “reign of terror”) one half of the whole births in Paris were illegitimate.” —Thier's French Revolution, Volume 2, page 380.
V. THE COMMUNE. This word is defined by Webster thus: “A small territorial district in France governed by an officer called mayor.” Its origin is not so important as its principles, which we have seen both in Webster's definition of “communism,” and as illustrated in the French Revolution. Its work has made its name the representative of all that is infamous and cruel. But the Commune and its bloody work were the natural consequences of the operation of the foregoing principles. The “reign of terror” followed, and France was deluged with blood. During about five years, according to such historians as Alison and Prudhomme, there were 14,994 different laws passed, 2,022,190 persons put to death in various ways, among whom were 24,000 Catholic priests, and 123,789 persons of high rank in the kingdom banished from the country.
The number of persons guillotined during the reign of terror in France was 1,022,351. This does not include the massacre at Versailles, at the Abbaye, the Carinelite, or other prisons, on September 2nd, the victims of Glaciere, of Avignon, those shot at Toulon and Marseilles, or the persons slain in the little town of Bedouin, the whole population of which perished.—Thier's French Revolution, Volume 3, page 106.
Dr. Dick says:—
“Such was the rapidity with which the work of destruction was carried on that, within the short space of ten years, not less than three millions of human beings... are supposed to have perished in that country alone, chiefly through the influence of immoral principles and the seductions of a false philosophy.”—Improvement of Society, page 154.
From these statistics and from this awful picture of one of the many scenes of that period, we turn to inquire if the same causes are not now operating which produced such awful results. Let us inquire for them in the same order which has been observed.
1. Spiritualism. This infamous creature, a monster in the French Revolution, has grown fearfully since then. Its baneful influence has spread like pestilence everywhere! There is scarcely a community, however small, among the nations of the earth, that has not within it some of its leaven. It claims, and justly too, nearly all of the crowned heads of Europe! Politically considered, it is a dangerous element. It aims at the subversion of existing law, system, and order, and the establishment of a Spiritualistic Universal Republic. It already wields a large influence in the politics of the world. It is impatient of every restraint, and regards each man as his own moral standard, and proposes the utmost liberty to all. In September 1872 the spiritualists held a national convention in Troy, New York, at which E. S. Wheeler, one of the speakers, said:—
I have got through paying the slightest deference to the legislatures and the laws they make. Law-abiding men have cursed the earth. Down with law, down with institutions, down with governments. We mean, rebellion. Dr. Gardner has said that he would receive an address from the lowest depths of hell. So would I, and all the more readily if the devil himself brought it.
We need not give more on this point. This is but the feeling of the great mass of spiritualists, which will soon be made to appear. Surely, if these principles were carried into successful practice, a “reign of terror” would ensue.
2. Infidelity. It is a well-known fact that confirmed spiritualists invariably deny in part or wholly the divine origin of the Bible. The God of the Bible is as completely ignored by them as by the French revolutionists. Doctor Gardner, another speaker at the Troy convention, said he protested against such a sinful waste of time and words as praying. He didn't want to listen to invocations to anyone that they didn't know, Josh or Jehovah. Another speaker, while opposing a resolution rebuking profanity, said, “I can swear in twenty different languages if you will give me time, and all the resolutions in the world won't stop me. I assert my God-given right to damn everything and everybody whenever I please.” Another said, “It is just as natural for me to swear as it is for some people to pray, and my swearing does just as much good.”
But infidelity is still more wide-spread than spiritualism, for while spiritualism is infidelity, all infidels are not spiritualists. There is little faith in the word of God among multitudes who do not acknowledge themselves to be spiritualists. The world is being flooded with infidel publications which are rapidly preparing the people “for desperate measures.” Even among the professed Christian churches, theoretical and practical infidelity abounds. Religion, among the masses of its professors, has dwindled to a mere system of formalism. The spawn of the dragon is everywhere! The three unclean spirits have gone “forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world.” There are very, very few real believers in the word of God.
3. Socialism. Since the French Revolution the masses of the world have been rapidly drifting into the worst forms of socialism. The spirit of that period seems to have expanded till it has filled all nations. France has done more toward molding the social ideas of the age than any other nation. Having been one of the most powerful of nations, and having possessed so many men of genius, as well as being the emporium of fashion, her influence has been as great as it has been pernicious. The better elements among the masses are being deceived by the fair promises and fine speeches of designing leaders, as were many who engaged in the French Revolution, who saw not the awful consequences of their teaching. The motto of the revolutionists— “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”—is the accepted one of the masses. But, as we have seen, “liberty” means “license” in most cases. “Equality” means the application of socialistic ideas, that is to say, the abrogation of all distinctions. The poorer classes, urged on by the worst elements among them, are everywhere becoming more and more impatient to establish this fancied equality. The possessions of the rich are looked upon with an envious eye, and all that is needed is a fair opportunity to appropriate the coveted wealth. The conflict between capital and labor waxes hotter and hotter, and tends rapidly to a crisis. One cause of this has been the course of capitalists. This is an age of consolidation and monopoly. The rich have joined hands to oppress the poor. Railway, banking, and manufacturing monopolies rule city, state, and to a great extent, the national governments. The gold and silver, instead of being in circulation to the relief and benefit of the poor, are generally lying in the vaults of the banks. Provoked by this state of things, the laboring classes have imbibed: a feeling that bodes no good to capitalists. The Honorable and Reverend Sidney Godolphin Osborne, one of the most observant and philanthropic men in England, and who has made the condition and feelings of the working classes a study for fifteen years, depicts them as “filled with a rage which only wants leadership and opportunity to burst forth with devastating fury.” The same feelings animate these classes everywhere! Thus the roaring of the volcano is heard, The eruption cannot be far distant to war against these combinations of the rich, the poor also have been banding themselves together, until there is now scarcely a trade not represented by a “union.” These unions number from one to sixty thousand members each; and there are hundreds of them in the United States, while in Europe the number is vastly larger than here. We now proceed to notice that these local unions are fast being embraced by an organization which is world-wide.
THE “INTERNATIONAL.”
This society which has lately become so prominent and created so much apprehension, is only about ten years old, and yet it already numbers its members by millions. Ignoring all national, party, and religious boundaries, it forms the laboring classes of the world into a grand army for the overthrow of its enemies—kings and capitalists. Its organization consists of “local sections,” “Federal Councils,” and a “General Council.” Each member contributes a given sum yearly for the carrying out of its ends. Four General Congresses have already been held by this organization in Europe. The following is the avowed “Platform” of the International; as given in Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly, of January 6th, for the instruction of those forming new sections:—
The various Congresses held by the Association at Geneva, Lausanne, Brussels, and Basle, discussed an adopted the following points, which may therefore be said to form the programme of the International:
The total abolition of all class rule and all class privileges.
Complete political and social equality of both sexes.
Nationalization of the land and of all the instruments of production.
A reduction of the hours of labor, so as to allow more time for improvement and recreation.
Education to be undertaken by the State —to be obligatory, gratuitous, and secular.
Religion to be ignored, as being a speculative subject concerning the individual. No religious differences or creed to be recognized.
The substitution of a direct system of taxation based upon property, instead of the present system of levying taxes upon industry; the taxation to be progressive.
The abolition of the standing army as being a provocative to war.
The adoption of the principle of associative production, with a view to the complete supersession of the present system of capitalist production.
Without stopping to pass upon the merits of all or any of these principles, it must be evident that to put them in practice would be to completely change the present political and social relations of society. Such mighty changes cannot be effected without a fearful struggle!
“As to membership,” says Richard J. Hinton, in an article written about a year since, “about one-third of the English trades unions have connected themselves more or less directly with the International Association. In France, 433,785 unionists are co-operating; in Switzerland, 42,326; in Germany, 150,000; in Spain, about 20,000; in Austria and Hungary, 100,000; Belgium has an affiliated membership of 20,000; Italy, one of at least 100,000; while in Holland; Denmark, and even Russia, there are sections organizing. The American National Labor Union, with its membership of over 200,000 is in full sympathy.”
It has probably nearly doubled its numbers since this article was written.
There are now thirty daily and weekly papers published in Europe by the International, and several in this country. The society has five “corresponding secretaries” in New York and Brooklyn alone,—English, German, French, Spanish, and Italian.
We have seen that socialism aims at a change in the relation of the sexes. The platform of the International proposes “complete political and social equality of both sexes.” We learn from this why it is that all socialists are in sympathy with that society. We have seen that women were very prominent in the period of the French Revolution, but they are more so now. They strove to imitate the examples of men at that time in the formation of clubs, societies, &c., and by these means precipitated and rendered more awful the horrid era. But then this work was confined mainly to the immodest and fanatical French; now it is world-wide. Women are seeking the positions of men in circles from which their nature should inspire them to shrink. Woman suffrage societies, clubs, and conventions for political and other purposes, abound, and are fast decreasing that modesty and reserve with which they should be clothed, and preparing the way for another “reign of terror” far greater in magnitude than that in France. This is especially true among spiritualists. Their mediums and orators are principally women. At the Troy Convention of Spiritualists, held in September (before alluded to), Mrs Victoria C. Woodhull, of New York, was elected President of the American Association of Spiritualists. In that position she fairly becomes a representative spiritualist. In her address to the convention she said:—
As surely as one year passes from this day, and this right (of woman suffrage) is not fully, frankly, and unequivocally considered, we shall proceed to call another convention expressly to frame a new constitution and to erect a new government, complete in all its parts, and to take measures to maintain it as effectually as men do theirs.
These sentiments were endorsed by the following resolution:—
Resolved, That we, as the board of Trustees, secure the address of our President, and adopt it as an expression of our views, to go' before the world as the voice of the American Association of Spiritualists; and that our President be requested to take measures to carry out the objects therein proposed; and, to that end, we hereby pledge her our hearty co-operation and assistance.
This may at first appear laughable, but let it be remembered that these are the sentiments of thousands of men as well as of women. A draft of the new “Constitution of the United States of the world,” embodying these sentiments and those of the International, has since been published in “Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly,” edited by Mrs Woodhull and her sister, Miss T. C. Claflin.
We learn from this that the aim of the Internationale and the spiritualists is the establishment of a “Universal Republic” on the ruins of the present systems.
4—Free-love. As a natural concomitant, or rather an integral part of Socialism, we have—as they did in the French Revolution —free-love. The corrupt masses are clamoring, as did the French, for unrestrained license. Divorce, adultery, and libertinism are rampant. The marriage covenant is regarded by millions with disdain. This is especially true of spiritualists and infidels. An abundance of testimony on this point might be offered. A few quotations, however, which are samples of the rest, must suffice. At the Troy convention, the marriage question was discussed. Anna Hinman said, “It is none of the business of spirits to inquire how many wives a man has.” Doctor Gardner, of Boston, said, “If you are going to erect a standard of morality for spiritualists, where are you going to begin? I don't care if a man has a thousand wives. It's none of my business. Let us each make our own standard, and none other.” One man said, “The marriage ceremony as now celebrated is no marriage at all. As things now stand, spiritualists are married by men using such senseless phrases as, What God hath joined together let not man put asunder. When you order the woman to obey and love, and the man to cleave unto her always, you are ordering an unnatural thing.” One woman publicly declared in favor of substituting “natural affinity” for marriage. Mrs. Woodhull, in a recent lecture in New York, said:—
“Free-love will be an integral part of the religion of the future. The legitimate sequence of social freedom is free-love, or freedom of the affections. ‘And you are a free-lover?’ Yes, I am a free-lover! I have an inalienable, constitutional, and natural right to love whom I may, to love as long or as short a period as I can, to change that love everyday if I please, and with that right neither you nor any law you can frame have any right to interfere; and I have further right to demand a free and unrestricted exercise of that right, and it is your duty not only to accord it, but as a community to see that I am protected in it. I trust that I am fully understood, for I mean just that and nothing less.”
We think we “fully” understand!
5.—The Commune! People are wont to associate this name with France alone. True, it originally meant “a small territorial district in France, governed by an officer called mayor;” but this word has enlarged in its meaning until it now represents the most ultra form of a socialistic Republic. All the elements herein enumerated are necessarily communal in their nature. This may be readily discovered in the close relationship which they sustain to each other, which will soon appear more fully. The principles and purposes of the Communists, as given by their leading men, are precisely the same as those of the Internationale, and those endorsed by the spiritualists and infidels. As “religion is ignored as a speculative subject” in their platforms, spiritualists and atheists can labor harmoniously for the carrying out of their political and socialistic principles. The “Internationale” is but a younger and more comprehensive name to represent the principles of Communism. One is the continuation of the other. The Commune, therefore, is elsewhere than in France. It is everywhere! It is the elements we have mentioned working in unison. When the recent war between France and Prussia had closed, the Communists took possession of Paris, and a terrible struggle ensued between them and the Versaillists, lasting several weeks. The motto of the Communists as announced at that time was, “Down with the priests! Down with land-owners! Down with, the rich!” They suited their action to their motto. Archbishop Darboy and other priests were shot, the churches closed throughout the city of Paris, and much property was confiscated. It will be seen that the Commune is intensely anti-Catholic, and generally anti-religious. In the first “reign of terror” the Catholic priests were murdered and the property of the church confiscated. This was repeated in the revolution of 1848. The opposition of the Commune to monarchy in the past has always been associated with opposition to the papacy. This is not strange, for the name of the papacy is the very synonym of despotism. The present condition of the papacy in Italy is due to the Commune. The Catholics admit this. The war between these antagonistic elements must go on to the bitter end!
The Communists announced as their design the establishment of a “universal republic” which reveals their aim to be identical with that of socialists and infidels. They call themselves “Red Republicans.” Their flag is red— a fit name and color for so bloody a system! The “great red dragon!” Every country in Europe has this element largely developed. Italy is full of it, inspired by the presence of Garibaldi and other acknowledged leaders. Spain has it almost strong enough to overthrow the government. England, Austria, Prussia, Russia, and other nations have it more or less. In France it is temporarily defeated, but not conquered! It bides its time to make another demonstration, for which it is rapidly preparing. The more it is persecuted, the more it seems to prosper. To scatter its forces is but to spread abroad its doctrines. Its weapons are sword and fire. Witness its recent operations in Paris. When the sword failed, men and women ran about the city with bottles of petroleum and set it on fire. Desperation characterized all their movements. Despising all law, they scrupled at no means which promised success.
We now turn our attention to some of the latest demonstrations of the Commune in this country. The present government of France recently executed Rossel and other Communist leaders. This so aroused the Communists here that a public funeral parade in New York city in their honor was determined upon, and appointed for Sunday, December 10th. The authorities interfered, prevented the parade, and arrested some of the Communists. The next day “a large number of International working-men attended the Jefferson Market police court to witness the trial of their brethren who were arrested. Red ribbon draped with crape, red feathers, and red neck ties were conspicuous. Upon the prisoners being brought into court, Judge Shandley promptly discharged all of them, six in number, remarking that they had been punished sufficiently for the crime, if they had committed any, by being kept in prison over night. The policemen arresting them failed to make any charge against them other than that they feared that a breach of the peace was imminent. Their red flag was returned. A stormy meeting of the Internationalists was held that evening, at which it was resolved to parade the next Sunday. “All working men, women, and citizens were invited to join the parade... The meeting broke up amid the wild cries of Vive la Commune, Vive la Internationale!” December 14th, the Board of Police held a secret session, and, reversing the previous decision, gave permission for the parade.
The procession, numbering about two thousand, formed and marched at the appointed time, and was witnessed by thousands of spectators. The Catafalque was “drawn by six magnificent grays, heavily draped in mourning... On the summit was a coffin, very simply ornamented with wreaths of immortelles and evergreens. At its head was a small red flag without inscription. On the sides of the Catafalque were inscribed the words: ‘Honor to the martyrs of the Universal Republic.’ In the front rank were Mrs. Victoria C. Woodhull and Tennie C. Claflin. They were attired in dark blue jackets cut tight to the figure, black silk dresses, white collars, Alpine hats, and each wore a broad crimson scarf. In her hand Miss Claflin carried a flag staff, surmounted by a crimson banneroi.” Among other inscriptions carried was the following: “The spirit of the Commune expands as the ax of the executioner falls upon the necks of its victims.” Another bore the inscription: “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.” After parading about two hours, the procession dispersed. Thus ended the first public demonstration of its kind in America of THE COMMUNE! We find represented in this procession all the prominent elements which produced the “French Revolution”— Spiritualism, Infidelity, Socialism, Free-love, the Commune!
The question may now be asked, What connection has this state of things with prophecy? We answer, A very solemn and interesting one. We will now introduce a part of the apostle James' testimony:—
“Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl foe your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is CANKERED; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the LAST DAYS.” James 5:1-3.
Much of the New Testament was designed to have a prophetic application. The whole scope of this passage as well as its connection leads us to regard it as prophetic, and as designed to have a special application at the present time. The passage represents a time of great “misery” to the rich which was in the future when James wrote. Again, this “misery” results from heaping treasures together for the “LAST DAYS.” While the prophets of the Old Testament sometimes used this expression to indicate the gospel dispensation as a whole, it is generally used in the New Testament with reference to the closing years of the present age, especially when connected with the future tense. Says Paul:—
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come...” See 2nd Timothy 3:1-5. Again: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith...” 1st Timothy 4:1-3; 2 Timothy 4:1-4.
None of these passages were designed to apply when they were written. We are now witnessing their fulfillment. James also wrote prophetically, and refers to the same period that Paul does. Such a state as he describes now actually exists. Treasure is heaped together, and monopoly and consolidation hold sway. “Rust” or “canker” does not appear upon metal continually in use. Paper currency has taken the place of gold and silver in nearly all the nations which have lately passed through wars or revolutions, and is fast becoming the circulating medium of the world. It is done for the “LAST DAYS.” James has spoken of “capital”! Has he forgotten “labor”? No!
Verse 4: “Behold, the HIRE OF THE LABORERS who have reaped down your fields; which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth; and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.”
We learn from this that “fraud” has had much to do with this gathered wealth. Fraud never was so extensively practiced as now; nor is it confined to the poor and ignorant, but is especially found in “high places.” The cries of the poor and defrauded have invoked the wrath of Divine Justice. The principle of this verse might apply to most of the revolutions of the past which grew out of oppression. How well it was illustrated in the recent rebellion in our own country, which grew out of the wrongs of slavery! And yet how much more fully it is to be illustrated in the coming revolution!
Verses 5-6: “Ye have lived in PLEASURE on the earth, and been WANTON; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.”
These certainly are the days of pleasure and wantonness! This corresponds with Paul's testimony,—“lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God,”—which was to be a feature of the “last days.” Verse 6 may be thought by some to apply to Christ as the “just” one “condemned and killed,” and therefore unfavorable to our application; but it has no reference to Christ. The “rich” were not alone in that work. Doctor Adam Clarke says on this passage: “Several, by the just one, understand Jesus Christ, who is so called; Acts 3:14; 7:52; 22:14; but the structure of the sentence and the connection in which it stands seem to require that we should consider this as applying to the just or righteous in general.” The Syriac gives: “NONE resisteth you.” Doctor Noyes gives: “the just MAN,” &c. This is the true idea. Those of “the just” among the oppressed suffer rather than “resist.” The word here translated resist includes the idea of defending one's self in a court of justice
Verses 7-9: “Be patient, therefore, brethren, UNTO THE COMING OF THE LORD. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord DRAWETH NIGH. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, THE JUDGE STANDETH BEFORE THE DOOR.”
These verses confirm the prophetic application which we have given. The “coming of the Lord” was at least 1800 years distant in James' day. The Judge did not stand “before the door.” But now the fulfillment of the prophetic record and the “signs of the times” indicate the speedy end of the dispensation. James' solution may not be accepted by many, but it is the only one which the Scriptures afford. Politicians may endeavor to adjust the existing difficulties. They cannot do it. The conflict is inevitable. The “miseries” of the rich and the oppressors are certainly coming. “Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath.” See Zephaniah 1:14-18.
We have now but to ask if other prophecies bearing on the closing hours of time indicate such a time of trouble as James speaks of, and as the working of the different elements we have been speaking of must inevitably produce. We answer, They do, with one harmonious voice. Said the angel to Daniel, in speaking of the end:—
“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.” See Daniel 12:1-3. Again the Revelator says: “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.” Revelation 16:13-15; 19:17-18.
Jeremiah also speaks of this “battle” (more properly “war”) and declares that the “slain“ shall “be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth.“ Jeremiah 25:30-36.
Again, Jesus says there shall be “upon the earth DISTRESS OF NATIONS, WITH PERPLEXITY; the sea and the waves roaring; MEN'S HEARTS FAILING THEM FOR FEAR, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of Heaven shall be shaken. And THEN shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud, with power and great glory.“ Luke 21:26-27.
The words “distress” and “perplexity“ in this passage strongly indicate internal or fratricidal strife. See also Haggai 2:6-7;22-23.
All these passages refer to the same period, viz., a “time of trouble,” “distress” and blood, in connection with the second advent of Christ. Soon will be the “battle of that great day”—the last “reign of terror!” The first reign of terror brought the end of the 1260 years of papal persecution, when the union of church and State was broken up, and we entered upon an era of toleration— the “time of the end.” See Daniel 12:4-10. Signs indicate a tremendous struggle between the Red Republicans and ultra Catholics of Europe. Victor Emanuel is in Rome with his parliament. The Catholics look upon the temporal power as essential to them, and will probably endeavor, to restore it. The republicans are equally determined that it shall never be restored. The Catholics are now boldly advocating a crusade to restore the pope, and they see that what is done must be done quickly. The republicans also are eager for the fray, that they may destroy the hated priests. We are therefore on the verge of this fratricidal strife. How soon the last restraint will be removed we cannot say. There are many passages of Scripture which indicate the end of probation before the beginning of the struggle, or at least before it has assumed great proportions. For instance, the “four winds” (of war, which produce Jeremiah's “whirlwind”) are said to be holden till the “servants of God” are “sealed.” See Revelation 7. Christ said, in speaking of the Closing scenes: “Watch ye, therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” Luke 21:36. It is the “war of the great day of God Almighty.” This day does not ensue till the gospel “day” is ended. See also Daniel 12:1; Revelation 16:13-15; Isaiah 26:20-21.
We have no faith in the idea that God's people will be injured by the coming storm, or that any who are unprepared at the time of the resurrection and translation of the saints will meet with a subsequent deliverance. The revolutionary elements will be ready for their work at the expiration of the “time appointed.” In these days of lightning-like speed, a few months serve to accomplish what once required decades of years. The immense magazine needs but the igniting spark, and the explosion is come! In view of this, what is the duty of the hour? How solemn the question! How important the answer! Let those who discern in these things the fulfillment of the prophetic utterances, keep aloof from the elements which are leading the multitude to such an end! Be not bound in the “bundles” for the burning!
We doubt not that many who are active in these organizations mean well, and do not see the end. Many. such favored the revolution of 1789, not foreseeing the result; but when the conflict came, they were compelled to take part. So now, there are elements among these, corrupt in character, by which the better ones will be overborne and carried into the trouble. We do not wish to be misunderstood. We deeply sympathize with the poor and the laborer. We believe they have many wrongs which ought to be redressed, but, in the light of prophecy, we are compelled to say that human means cannot accomplish for them what they desire. The attempt will only end in the destruction of all engaged in it. The only safety of the church is to stand aloof and wait for deliverance. Hence the exhortation, “Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord.” The advent of the righteous Judge and King can alone bring to us the desired peace and blessing. How appropriate also the exhortation, “Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned.” One of the principal causes of the present condition of society is grudging. The rich have grudged the poor the scanty pittance they have received, and the poor in turn have grudged the rich their treasures.
To the sinner, we would say, Prepare for the coming storm by seeking a shelter in Christ. He is the only ark which can bear you above the surging elements. Think of the despair and remorse which must seize upon those who are left to perish! Think of the joy of those who will find deliverance at the hand of the Lord! There is no time to lose. Soon will come the moment beyond which “he that is holy” shall “be holy still,” and “he that is unjust” shall “be unjust still.” But two classes are recognized. We shall be above the storm or in it! Pollock, in his “Course of Time,” with the seeming eye of a prophet, thus describes the closing scenes:—
“The prophecy for confirmation stood; And all was ready for the sword of God. The righteous saw and fled without delay Into the chambers of Omnipotence; The wicked mocked and sought for erring cause To satisfy the dismal state of things : The public credit gone; the fear in time Of peace; the starving want in time of wealth;The insurrection muttering in the streets; And pallid consternation spreading wide ; And leagues, though holy termed, first ratified In hell, on purpose made to under-propIniquity, and crush the sacred truth.”
The coming strife will be the last! When its last murmur shall be hushed, the earth shall be filled with the glory of God, and Christ and the saints shall reign therein forever. An era of peace shall have dawned that shall never pass away. Our world shall have thrown off forever the terrible burden of the curse which has rested upon it for nearly six thousand years. The saints of all ages shall have met, in all the beauty and bloom of immortality, to part nevermore. Death shall have been destroyed. All tears shall have been wiped away by the soft hand of our Heavenly Father, and the rebuke of his people shall have been taken away forever. Before them shall be the cycles of eternity in which to enjoy the inheritance which is “incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away.”
Will the reader be there?
W. N. Pile.
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