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The EDITH and LORNE PIERCE 
 COLLECTION of CANADI ANA 
 
 SlueetCs University at Kingston 
 
 (l 
 
 N. 
 
r 
 
 '^•IM 
 
 ^7<yfi 
 
 THE CHUECH, OUE MODERN SYSTEM OF 
 COMMERCE, AND THE FULFILMENT OF 
 
 PROPHECY, 
 
 Bv William Brown, 
 
 In my paper on the subject of Interest I used the following Ian. 
 giiagc — "Viewed as to the magnitude of their results, the two 
 greatest facts in modern times are, the destruction of the woricfa 
 money by the issue of paper currency^ and the degradation of the world'* 
 industry by the lending of that currency on interest. ^^ 
 
 I quote the passage here, because it is my desire to impress upon 
 the mind of the reader that the more thoroughly we understand 
 the economic bearings of these two important facts, the nearer we 
 arrive at a solution of the great problems now agitating the world 
 of industry. 
 
 In that paper, as far as my space would allow, I endeavored to 
 shew the grounds on which we must ever regard the precious metals 
 as having been intended by nature to fulfil the functions of what we 
 understand by the term *' money." I considered labor as the one 
 essential principle which confers upon them their value, and which 
 guarantees absolute si curity to industry in all its exchanges. I 
 further endeavored to shew that paper currency is a general 
 suspension of payment, that it is im})ogsible it can ever effect a 
 payment, that it trades on industry and uses the capital of industry 
 without recompense, and that the natural results of such a system 
 of deceit and wickedness is seen in the widespread degradation and 
 poverty of our working millions. The very essence and life of a 
 paper currency, and of the system in general connected with that 
 currencv, is to suspend payment, and thus it lives and gathers in 
 from labor without giving anything in return. These, and many 
 other points of the deepest importance, 1 have elaborat2d witn 
 some fulness in my " New Catechism on Political Economy," a 
 short work which I would crave the reader to peruse us a sort of 
 introduction to the following pages. For it is indeed a necessary 
 and preliminary step to the proper understanding of the prophetic 
 visions to which I am about to refer, that we make ourselves 
 familiar with the true priiicii)les of i)Oiitical economy. Thus also 
 will we be placed upon our guard against that strange mixture of 
 truth and error which distinguishes the writings of so many of the 
 expounders of the modern or paper school, and be able to com. 
 piehend how the ruin and degradation of industry have followed as 
 the natural and inevitable results of the extensive violation of these 
 true principles. 
 
 My object in this paper is, in a few brief sentences, to draw the 
 attention of the Church, and especially of the ministers of Christ, to 
 some scripture prophecies which I regard as having their literal and 
 exact fulfilment in our modern system of commerce, banking, uud 
 currency. There can be no doubt that the Bible, in many passages, 
 points to a vast svstem which should arise in the latter days, 
 unparalleled iu iti destruction uad ii^ its dist^strous effects oi^ the 
 
 BiU 
 
 W UHMW 
 
 
 
2 
 
 human familj, unsui'passed in wickedness, and so uniTeraul as to 
 embrace the civilized world. Our modern system of commerce, in 
 Jts terrible and unceasing oppression of all who toil, answers the 
 requirements of these prophecies to the letter. 
 
 The first prophecy to which I refer is contained in the fifth chapter 
 of Zechariah. 
 
 The Ephah and Flying Roll. 
 
 This short chapter is a study by itself. Every verse is full of 
 meaning. There can be no mistaking the scope of the prophecy. It 
 exhibits the corruption of comuu'rce as typifiod by the woman 
 silting in the midst of the Kpliah, the wcdl-kiiown moasnre of the 
 Jews. A woman is ?et forth here, as well as in the kindred visions 
 in the Revelation of Saint Jolin, as prolific of all evil, a mother of all 
 abominations of the earth. She occupies the Ephah, sits in the midst 
 of it, brings all commerce under her pway, corrupts all exchanges, 
 ruins the industry of the world, and rob.s the toilers of their just 
 rewards. She takes away the lawful and Labor-earned money of 
 industry, and by her shameless substitution of paper, and the 
 universal practice of usury (or interest), trades upon the industry 
 of the world's population, and thus brings forth misery, poverty, and 
 crime, in an evyr-flowing and augmenting stream. The short and 
 pointed expression of the Angel, "this is wickedness" (see also 
 2nd Thess. ii. 8) warns us of a system pre-eminent for its 
 vileness, and as excelling all others in its deceit and sinfulness. 
 Other systems may have some elements of goodness calculated 
 to preserve them from ruin or decay; but this that goeth 
 forth is concentrated wickedness, without one redeeming feature to 
 avert or stay its impending doom. The prophet at first sees the 
 flying roll, and is told that it represents '* the curse thai goeth forth 
 over the face of the whole eartli; for everyone that stealeth shall be 
 cut off as on this side according to it, and every one that sweareth 
 shall be cut off as on that side according to it." Faithful old Bible! 
 There is no mincing of words here. Things are called by their right 
 names. This curse is like a two-edged sword. It singles out just 
 the two prominent sins of our modern system — the robbery of the 
 poor toilers, and the false claims it sets up. God's command is, 
 Thou shalt not lend upon usury, — if your covetousness is so great 
 that yon will not be restrained, then make the stranger your victim, 
 not your brethren and kindred. This modern Babylon say. ?, It is 
 good to lend upon usury, not only to our brother, but to all and 
 sundry — these commands were for the poor ignorant Jews, not for 
 educated, trading, and intelligent christian jjoople. The Church 
 echoes the sentiment, and thus, sad to think," swears falsely by His 
 name" (verse 4th). Babylon says, The money which God has pro- 
 Tided for the industry of the worhl is not good — there has been an 
 error about it — it is too heavy — there is not enough of it — it costs 
 much labor lo obtain it — take my promises to pay you for the labor 
 you give me, — they are far better ; true. I give you no labor or service 
 in return for what you give me, only nits of paper ; and I promise 
 to pay you that which is too heavy ; or which is too costly to 
 obtain; or uselesss when it is obtained; or which is deficient in 
 quantity; or which, compared with the amount of my " promises," 
 may have no existence at all ; but these promi-ses will circulate from 
 hand to hand and that is enough. Labor asks for bread — there is 
 thus given to it a stone. The Church approves. Can we wonder 
 
 
 ^-^ 
 
 i 
 
J 
 
 .r 
 
 that the Lord of hosts should threaten to the prophet to send this 
 curse, this flying roll, into onr honsea, till they are consumed, "with 
 the timber thereof, and the stones thereof." 
 
 The casting of tiie talent of lend iipou the mouth of the Ephah 
 Ff minds us of a similar net of indignation on the part of the angel 
 in the 18th Chapter of Revelation— the casling of the stone like a 
 great millstone into the sea. Both equally represent the closing of 
 Babylon's long and terrible career. The Ephah must no longer be 
 falsified. It is sealed, as it were, with this i;onderoiis weight. The 
 prophet sees two women, the wind in tlieir wings, lifting it up and 
 bearing it swiftly away. He enipiires, "whither do these bear the 
 Ephah?" How significant the resiionse, "To buihl it a house in the 
 land of Shinar ; and it shall be established nnd set there upon her 
 own base." The Ephah must be taken to aland wiiere ?/Mrfom is 
 known to prevail — it must no longer be left amongst a sottish, 
 prejudiced, and covetous people — tlie long reign of tyranny and 
 oppression must now close — it is in the land of Shinar, of wisdom, 
 that the Ephah must be established (ithl .sv,' upv/i her ouu baxe. The 
 industrial interests of the human family are of too stupendous a 
 character longer to allow the P^phah to rest on a base of falsehood 
 and deceit — panics, convulsions, and ujiheavings^, have had no ef^ct 
 in unseating the woman or in bringing men to wise reflection — it will 
 now be removed altogether to a land where wisdom shall build for 
 it " a house," and hew out for it her " seven pillars ;" where our 
 Maker shall be no longer reproached by the oppression of the poor ; 
 and where the "just weight" shall prevail which is ever the Lord's 
 delight. 
 
 Thus would God, by these signilicant symbols, draw the minds of 
 His children to sober and tlioughtful rejection. Shall wo be dis- 
 obedient to the heavenly vision ? 
 
 Deut. xxiii. 19 " Thou shalt not lend upon usury (or interest) to 
 thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of anything 
 that is lent upon usury." 
 
 Though not a prophetic utterance, I think it well, just at this 
 point, to make a few remarks on these words of Scripture. In my 
 " Thoughts " 1 have given full consideration to this and kindred 
 passages. 
 
 This verse contains the true principles of economic science. 
 People may have been accustomed to read it carelessly, and to set 
 it aside as something effete with which modern society has nothing 
 to do. Society has to do with it, and the Church will ere long be 
 compelled to explore its profound depths. Tliere is matter here for 
 the most penetrating intellect. Tiie man who, in blind confidence 
 with what passes around tiim, is determined to believe that paper is 
 money, and that to lend that jjajter on interest is a blessing to 
 humanity, may as well pass it by. It is difficult, indeed impossible. 
 to interpret it, unless we thoroughly understand the true i lemtnts nf 
 political economy. It is the chief corner stone on which the whole 
 structure of industrial progress nnd hap]iiness, of entire humanity 
 in its economic features, will yet be fitly framed together. It recog- 
 nises the following elementary truths. 
 
 Utilities are all gratuitous — free gifts from God. 
 
 Money, as a so-called instrument of exchange, is entirely gratuj. 
 tous in its work — nobody can pay for that service. 
 
 l^fVbor can onl^v pay for labor, service fgr service, 
 
 "iW 
 
MV 
 
 T 
 
 liOti 
 
 Labor has never given any thing for utilities, therefore utililiea 
 cannot be sold. Industry, consequently, as a productive at/ent, can 
 never pay for the use of proi)crty of any kind — a great economic 
 truth which, it will be yet seen, cuts to the root the claims of capi- 
 tal, so called. 
 
 In selling any product, it is virtually the labor contained in the 
 product which is sold. All else comes gratuitously. 
 
 Labor cannot pay more for any product than the amount of labor 
 embodied in that product. It cannot pay more on the ground of 
 ** credit" being given for, say three, six, or twelve months, whether 
 for money, goods, or victuals. If goods, the products of industry, 
 are sold at an enhanced price on account of credit being given, labor 
 must suffer. 
 
 Machinery, or in other words the workman's tools or appliances, 
 can never receive any reward separate from the hands which wi<-lu 
 that machinery. There can never be two profits, or half a profit, 
 one for labor and one for its tools. The man who ceases to ivork, 
 ceases to come within the range of the laws of political economy. 
 Huch is a righteous a. id e<iuitabie law. A system which recognises 
 a reward for the workman, and another for his tools, will soon issue 
 in the machinery, the property, passing out of the hands of the 
 workman into the hands of others. The real producers Avill then 
 soon degenerate into mere hired hands. 
 
 It is the design of God that every man should own the fruits of 
 his own labor, and that mere money siiould constitute but a small 
 ])roportion of these fruits, seeing it is only a medium of exchange 
 and useless for any other purpose, and that there is but a small por- 
 tion for each of the world's poi)ulation, but yet, by a well known econ- 
 omic law, always ((uite enough lor his use as a producer desirous of 
 exchanging the wnule or a ]>art of the fruits of his toil. 
 
 The lanU is to be owned by tbo men who cultivate it, not rented 
 from another w ho docs not cultivate it. If labor works the land and 
 ])ays rent at the same time, it must be oppressed. 
 
 Money is absolutely unproductive — it produces nothing. 
 
 Money, as such, does not pay — it is the labor in the money which 
 really pays. 
 
 Money cannot yield what is known under the name of interest. 
 
 If interest of money is exacted, labor must suffer. 
 
 In every act of exchange, the profit is on the side of the man with 
 the labor, not on the side of the man who only gives a bit of money 
 on which he has bestowed no labor (see this important truth fully 
 set forth in my New Catechism.) 
 
 Wben the money which is paid for anything hired (a house for 
 example) equals in its labor value the amount of similar value 
 actually embodied in the commodity, the thing hired has then been 
 fully paid for ; and this on the grounds that money cannot produce, 
 that utilities are gratuitous, and that payment withheld cannot 
 increase the value of products of labor. 
 
 A general system of hiring, whether of men's frames or of the 
 products of their labor, is an evil and corrupting system for the 
 human race, contrary to the designs of (xod, and opposed to the true 
 dignity of man as well as to the principles of economic science. 
 
 These are a few of the grand truths embodied in the above words 
 of Scripture— a verse in the midst of the oracles of God neglected ei|i(^ 
 ttlmost forgotten by the Church, 
 
5 
 
 WisJovi. 
 
 tit' vein tioii xiii. 18— " Ileic is wisdom. Let him that hnlh nni1<^J*- 
 staiidiiig count the miuiher of the hcast; for it id the nuiiibtT of a 
 man ; and his number is six humlrcd, three score and six." 
 
 What fanciful interjuetutions have been set forth, first and last, re- 
 garding this verse. It wa.s for a long time sealed to me, because I 
 souglit to find in it that which it does not contain. Like many others 
 before me, I fell wide of the mark and lost the spirit of the verse in 
 seeking to idenliJn the beast with some special number or mark. 
 
 It refers to no mysterious number, mark or sign. It directs the 
 thoughtful student to something better and far more instructive than 
 mere cabbalism. It would be derogatory of the character of scrip- 
 ture revelation to imagine that some sort of riddle or *' guess " had 
 been propounded us. over the meaning of which the veriest dunce 
 might successfully stumble. The interpretation is simply this. Let 
 the man of understanding investigate for himself the work of this 
 evil system — let him tlioughtfully consider its doings — let him 
 count up the number of the abominations to which it has given 
 birth — let him carefully reckon the misery, the oppression, the 
 crime, the degradation, the ignorance, the warfare and bloodshed, 
 all the evils combined, which liave flowed to the human race from its 
 long and dreadful career, especially as we see them developed in 
 these later times, and in those great cities to the unhealthy growth of 
 which it has so largely contribmed. Let a man be conversant with 
 these various forms of evil and the source from which they si)ring — 
 let him thoroughly master the subject, aiid he will be deserving ot 
 the name of a wise man. f'or our (Jod declares that tkia is wisdom — 
 to know what the beast has brought forth. Is it a large number? 
 Yes. Is it six? Yes. Is it sixty ? Yes. Is it six hundred? Yea, — 
 a great number. And it is " the number of a man." That is, it is 
 not beyond human comprehension — it is within the grasp of our 
 intellects. The diligent student may, in large measure, reckon them 
 up, and arrive at some just api)r('hension of the bearing and influ- 
 ence upon the race of this mysterious system of iniquity, undoubtedly 
 the last and greatest with which our world is to be afflicted. 
 
 ye ministers of our God, let me appeal to you. It is your wis- 
 dom and safety to begin the study. Make yourselves acquainted 
 with those precious economic laws under which a wise and merciful 
 Providtnce has designed thai humanity is to work out its great 
 destiny. Make yourselves familiar, as far as you can, with the man- 
 ner in which these laws have been violated by modern banking and 
 commerce. Do you wish to know the cause why our churches are 
 so cold and why the Holy Spirit is withheld? study this system. 
 Do you wish to know why the working millions are banished from 
 the sanctuary, and why our overgrown cities are teeming with vice? 
 study this system. Do you wish to know why it is that so little 
 impression is made on the heathen world? study this system. To 
 be ignorant of it is death,— to be wise is life. Do not sutter your- 
 selves to be led astray by the plausible statements of those who 
 strive to uphold it. Most people, you know, consider themselves to 
 be born economists. I beseech you, be upon your guard against that 
 delusion. Determine to learn. Thought must be given to the sub- 
 iect, and in solitude and silence it must be learned. You will gain 
 little amidst the hurry and fuss of conventions and assemblies. 
 You are bound, by the highest considerations, to understand the 
 
 
economic laws bearing upon the industry of your people. To be 
 ignorant here is criminal neglect. Most of what yon think you 
 know must bo unlearned that you may truly learn. .Miglity ques- 
 tions are looming up before us wiiich (nie way or other will compel 
 your attention. Rest assured you will be wiae men as you are nolo 
 to count the number of the beast. Do not waste time with silly 
 applications of Greek and Hebrew words. It is at your peril that 
 yi II negUict the question. If you do not master the subject, »i will 
 muster you in a way that you little anticipate. A groaning and 
 afllicted woild stret'dies furth its hands to yon for deliverance. 
 Will patient and defenceless imlustry for ever api»eal to you in 
 vain? 
 
 Rev. xiv. 11 — " And they have no rest day nor night who worship 
 the beast and his image, and whosoever rcceivelh the mark of his 
 name." 
 
 Never has there been a prophecy more thoroughly and literally 
 fulfilled. Is not the present the aj^e of unrest? .Are not men univer- 
 sally disquieted? Day and night the men of commerce ure disturbed. 
 Forebodings and fears j're ilie inevitable portion of all who lend 
 and of all who borrow. They ctjme as the natur.il results of the 
 system. Have the poor toilers rest — those on whom the mighty 
 burden, in its most grievous tbrm, principally falls? Is there rest for 
 the hapless debtor who is conscious of his dislioiioruble position, and 
 struggles on throughout a joyless lifetime in the vain hope of deliv- 
 erance ? If we " worship " the beast — if we in any vvay take part in 
 the work, or receive the dreadful mark in the forehead, the seat of 
 intelligence, or in the hand, the s<mt of lubdi-, we sliall surely have 
 what we deserve, restlessness, anxiety, care, worry, disai)pointment8, 
 griefs, and forebodings of evil. Is it strange that it should be so ? 
 It is not strange. As we sow we shall reap. Thousands and tens of 
 thousands of broken hearts must echo these true and faithful words 
 of a holy and righteous Ood. There is hardly a countenance you 
 scan as the crowds hurriedly pass you on the street but seems to 
 whisper to you, " God's words are all true. His threateni'igs as well 
 as His promises. Ours is a furnace toil. We have no rest." 
 
 \yluU God sat/s of Modern Commerce. 
 
 Rev. xviii. 2 — -'Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is 
 become the habitation of devils, and the liold of every foul spirit, 
 and a cage of every unclean ami hateful bird." 
 
 2nd. Thes?. ii. 8—''' And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom 
 the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall de- 
 stroy with the brightness of his coming," 
 
 Here is a loathsome jdcture for you. Can 
 come out of Babylon? No, nothing good. It 
 over to evil. Attempt reformation with such 
 thought, Its end is destruction. Commerce 
 orable. Exchange is a necessary element in the life and well- 
 being of the human famil}'. Industry is destined yet to play 
 a mighty part in the subjugation of the world to Christ, for it is 
 the daily sacrifice of labor which will be mainly employed and most 
 largely blest in this great work. Corrupt these as Babylon has 
 done, and the sea of human life will become " as the blood of a dead 
 man." This modern system has gone to such extremes, and Satan 
 
 any good thing 
 
 is wholly given 
 
 a system ? Vain 
 
 in itself is hon- 
 
 ' 
 

 has io cunningly deceived all nations regardinf? it, that it has 
 become a hold of every foul spirit, u favorite habitation of devils, a 
 cage of all uncleanness. It is tlie one great field in the world in 
 which the devil lays hi^ most artful wiles for the destruction of 
 mankind. A mighty enterprise is before him, nothing less than the 
 eubiiigi\tion of the whole world of industry, and it ftiUs at last in 
 willing homage at his feet, lie reasons with consummate wisdom 
 when he forms and gradually unfolds this grand conspiracy against 
 the lil)er ties and happiness of our race. I shall cause (we can imagine 
 him saying) the gold and the silver, the vast resources of the 
 industry of all lands, to be poured at the feet of a harlot — I shall 
 divert these resources from their lawful channels of blessing for the 
 hurium race, and apply them where they will not fail to corrupt 
 numkind — I sliall cause every man to receive a mark which will 
 cloud his intelligence, or rob him of the reward and profit of his toil 
 — the multitudes I will thus clothe with ignorance, poverty, and 
 rags; the few I will adorn with purple and fine linen — Let me not 
 only have, by means ot usury, a portion of the labor of the race, but 
 let me have, by means of a lictitious currency, the industry or the 
 whole world placed in my power — I shall thus sit, as God, in the 
 tem{»le of God, shewincr myself that I am God— I will use such 
 curious arts that the nations shall be deceived, commerce itself shall 
 be degraded into a vast theatre of gambling, the Church shall be 
 overcome, and even the ministers of religion shall extol and applaud 
 my doings— and, chief of all my enterprise, I will by these means 
 not only corrupt modern civilisation, causing its polluted stream to 
 debauch every shore whither it flows, but arrest the flight of the 
 everlasting G()si)el, and keep countless millions shrouded in heathen 
 darkness. Here, on such a field, evil spirits innumerable hold their 
 revel ; here the Church has pai tici[)ated in the Gueat Chime of the 
 r'lin of industry, and here the death struggle will take place. Thia 
 mother of all abominations is destined to give birth to so many 
 successive forms of iniquity that her sins will yet reach unto heaven. 
 Her destruction, therefore, is only a question of time. Lord, tillug 
 with a holy jealousy lest we be found in such corapaaiouship. 
 
 The iSui'jngation of the Church, 
 
 Rev. xiii. 7—*' And it was given unto him to make war with the 
 saints, and to overcome them." 
 
 Rev. xvii. 6— "And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of 
 the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." 
 
 Daniel vii. 21 — "I beheld, and the same horn made war with the 
 saints, and prevailed against them." Verse 25 — " He shall wear out 
 the saints of the Most High." 
 
 E^ekiel xxviii. 18—" Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the 
 iniquity of thy traffic." 
 
 There can be no doubt about the fulfilment of these prophecies. For 
 hundreds of years the Ciiurch was faithful in her antagonism to the 
 spirit of usury. Her discipline was severe, and she uttered no uncer- 
 tain sound. Long and nersistent " war " was made upon her by the 
 spirit of covetousness and gain. Gradually she gave way. The 
 W'orld at last prevailed. It is now some centuries since she ceased 
 all opposition, and fell in with ,those practices which she had so 
 strenuously condemned. It is a matter of history. And now the 
 saints are completely overcome. The Cburah ia as thorough a 
 
a. VM «BJU»rf«J^« 
 
 *-• 
 
 worsliinpcr of the boost us any follower of niAiiimon. Her religioua 
 journals are amongst the foremost in its «lefence. She lends it, in 
 every way, her countenance and support, and in fact lives from its 
 illgoltcn gains. Fler funds antl investments, her stocks, and inter- 
 ests, and mortgages, tell but too surely which side has been van- 
 quished in this great spiritual war. Her colleges of learning 
 emulate the daughter of the horse leech in their constant cry, for 
 t!iey seem never to have enough let their endowments be ever so 
 great. The Protestant branch has followed the beast without any 
 restraint, and has worsliipjted him with the utmost infatuation. 
 She has no idea that the scourge api)lied by the Saviour in the 
 temple has any reference to these days or to her acts. Through her 
 erroneous exposition of the Mosaic laws bearing on the subject, she 
 has made the word of God of none effect, and flattered men into the 
 belief that in violating these laws they were doing Go 1 service. 
 The woman is " intoxicated " with the very life blood of the Church. 
 Hence wc have the warning voice from heaven in 
 
 Rev. xviii. 4 — " Come out of her, my peonle, that ye be not par- 
 takers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her i)lagues." 
 
 Jer. li. 45 — " My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver 
 ye every man bis soul froin the fierce anger of the Lord." 
 
 Will we give ear to the appeal ? [t is a voice from heaven itself. 
 It recognises the fact that God's children are deeply immersed in 
 the system. Here is the only path of safety. Come out and you will 
 be safe. Remain, and you and vours will surely partake of her 
 plagues. Though you are involved and ensnared by this foul 
 svstem, God still yearns over you and claims you as His children. 
 Therefore give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids, 
 till thou hast delivered thyself as a bird from the hand of the fowler. 
 Listen to God's affectionate entreaty. He sees us in imminent 
 peril, and appeals to us with the earnestness of a loving father. 
 Modern commerce sits upon a volcano. He would have us in a 
 place of safety ere sudden destruction cometh. We must count the 
 cost, and leave the system utterly, whatever that cost may be. Guilt ij 
 contact with the beast must be avoided at all hazards. 
 
 The drying up of Euphrates. 
 
 Rev. xvi. 12 — " And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the 
 great river Euphrates ; and the water thereof was dried up, that 
 the way of the kings of the east might be prepared." 
 
 As the Eui)hrates was the stream beside which ancient Babylon 
 reared its walls and established its dominion, so here it is used as 
 the expressive emblem of that great stream of commerce on which 
 modern Babylon has reared its mighty kingdom. The whore 
 sitteth " upon many waters." Commerce, now vitiated and cor- 
 rupted in all its exchanges, is the instrument through Avhich the 
 hard band of toil is compelled to clothe the whore in purple and 
 scarlet array^ and to deck her with gold, and precious stones, and 
 pearls. But it is necessary, in the interests of humanity, that this 
 great river be dried up. It is a corrupt and corrupting stream. If 
 it be allowed to flow on, mankind will at last perish from the earth. 
 " No flesh will be saved." There is an impassable gulf between the 
 true theory of political economy and our modern mercantile system. 
 The sixth angel therefore pours his vial on these waters and they are 
 dried up. That is, as I suppose, false ideas and corrupt practices 
 
 ) 
 
 
 "W 
 
^ 
 
 
 will ^ire wftj before the advanco of true, wise, and righteoug 
 principlea. Tlic way of the kincs of the cast will be thus prepared. 
 The human race must not be f()rsakcn. It must be induclrinated 
 with tlie j»rincipU's of justice, equity, nnd truth. In the words of 
 Ezekiol, mcMi of continual employniont must be severed for this 
 Work, till the last ollen.sive relic of the foul system is buried out of 
 ligh., and the land thorouj^hly clentised ; a (;ood work in which the 
 " passengcrri," the men of conunerce, shall themselves at last delight 
 to aid. The wise and the good are the only real kings among men. 
 They come with the brightness of the eastern sky. The world 
 waits in earnest cxpectatim. Methiiiks I hear the tread of their 
 •tately steps. Uaston your coming, (.) ye kings of the cogt. 
 
 The Fifth Angel nnd his vial. 
 
 Rev, xv. 10, 11—" And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the 
 Beat of the beast ; and his kingdom was full of darkness ; and tbej 
 gnawed their tongues for pain. And blasphemed the God of heaven, 
 because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their 
 deeds." 
 
 What a description of a widespread commercial panic! The angel 
 pours out his vial upon the seat of the beast ; upon the leading 
 monied centres, so called, of this proud Babylon, and forthwith the 
 boastful kingdom is full of darknei^s. There is no light now to be 
 had. Every man suspects his fellow. This great communistic 
 8y.stem is in peril. A mighty one falls and hundr.'ds are involved 
 in his ruin. They grope like the blind for the wall. Thejr 
 run to and fro in an agony of fears. Tliey are at their wita 
 end. They know not at what they stumble. Each one blames 
 the other for the existence of the panic, and like silly children 
 of the market place they attribute it to every cause but the right 
 one. The men of commerce afif'ected to despise tlie gold and the 
 silver, but there is now a cry for these which sl'>^ kes the whole land. 
 The boastful tongue of proud Habylon is now gnawed for very 
 pain. Do we now repent of our deeds? Alas ! No, We still "blas- 
 pheme," speak evil of God's beneficent laws. By and by His avenging 
 hand is removed. Alas ! it has all been of no avail. We return to 
 our evil deeds like the dog to his vomit. Habylon the great, the Bible 
 tells us, is endowed with "a moutii speaking great things." Of that 
 there can be no doubt. As she * vis her throne become somewhat 
 secure after its fearful rockin •'' nr.d that some " respite " is granted, 
 she is not long in boastfully nreatiiig, " I sit a queen, and am no 
 widow, and shall see no sorrow. 8he that is so appropriately denom- 
 inated Mystery will continue her dreadful work, blinding and 
 deceiving the minds of men, and defying high heaven, till the day of 
 her final and sudden destruction arrives. Then her eager worshippers 
 will no longer doubt, and will be able to boast no more, as they 
 witness the smoke of her burning, but will be glad, if possible, to 
 stand afar off in the extremitv of their fear and dismay. 
 
 How affecting is the thought that the vast majority, apparently, 
 of the human family, will only be awakened to a sense of the guilt 
 of the system through which the riches of the world have been 
 amassed and gathered out of the toilers' hands, by the sudden and 
 complete destruction of these very riches before their eyes. For 
 Pharoah and bis host there is nothing but the overwhelming wares. 
 What a lesson to thos« who know that thay must sbortTjr gtand 
 
 
 
'•■-••"■• 
 
 10 
 
 before tlie judgment seat of Christ to give in their account! 
 How scrupulously careful ought we to be in giving value for value, 
 and how careful and rigid ought our examination to prove of that 
 system under which we have been t'ducated, and in which we have 
 been accustomed to bf^iieve without question or hesitation. 
 
 The blessed dead and their labors. 
 
 Rev. xiv. 13 — " And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, 
 Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth : 
 Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors ; and their 
 works do follow them." 
 
 Often have I wondered why a verse, whose contents are appar- 
 ently so foreign to the context, has been introduced just in the midst 
 of these visions of smoke and torment and tire and blood. Does it not 
 appear strange — the blessed cheering words of comfort and hope and 
 rest entertwined with these fiery scrolls? Ah! there is need for it. 
 The days of vengeance are approaching — days of trial for all, and 
 especially for those who are set for the defence of the truth. ThPi 
 Church has a terrible contiict before her when she comes to confront 
 this great system of iniquity. It is well that John was commanded 
 to write these comforting words. They will be needed by those 
 who are found faithful to the cause of truth and righteousness. 
 From henceforth great will be the blessedness of those who die in the 
 Lord, abundant will be their rest and reward, because/row henceforth 
 great will be their trials and labors. 
 
 "And their works do follow them." How disheartening and 
 cheerless a thing it is when we receive no fruit in return for our 
 labor. The husbandman knows it well who sees the fruits of the 
 earth devoured by God's great army before his eyes. The poor 
 toiler knows it well who gives his physical strength in arduous 
 work from day to day, and lives and dies in cheerless penury, the 
 wealth which he creates passing continually away into the hands 
 of others. Even hope is quenched within him as he sees his chil- 
 dren doomed to the same inevitable fate. But here is a promise 
 from the mouth of God, that, of the works of those " who keep the 
 commandments of God and the faith of Jesus," not one shall be 
 fruitless. These works shall all follow them laden with the richest 
 blessings for their fellowmen. Ministers of the sanctuary ! Think 
 of your reward if you are found faithful in confronting this 
 modern Babylon, this great enemy of God and man. Get but the 
 victory over the beast, and it will be yours to stand on the sea of 
 glass with the harps of God, and to sing the song of Moses and the 
 song of the Lamb. 
 
 The fate of those who ivorship the beast. 
 
 Rev. xiv. 9, 10, II — "And the third angel followed them, saying 
 with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, 
 and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand ; the same shall 
 drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without 
 mixture into the cup of his indignation ; and he shall be tormented 
 with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in 
 the presence of the Lamb : and the smoke of their torment aacend- 
 eth up for ever and ever." 
 
 What terrible utterances ! They just precede the words of comfort 
 
 If' 
 
 * i- 
 
11 
 
 and blessing we have last considered. The times of this ignorance 
 God hath winked at, but now coiumandeth men everywhere to 
 repent. Let the worshippers of the beast, the active upholders of 
 this system, read and tremble, for well tiiey may. There is not a 
 more dreadful imprecation in all the Scriptures than in these solemn 
 sentences. They let us know, beyond any doubt, what God thinks 
 of the system. Could human language frame anything more dread- 
 ful to be sounded into the ears of pastors, of church-goers, of church 
 office-bearers, of respectable and well-to-do members of society. 
 let us be careful that we alilict not the poor nor injure labor 
 Let us not be the active agents in creating poverty and misery, 
 instead of plenty and happiness. Ignorance or indifference will 
 not excuse us. Let us see to it that in all our dealings we strive to 
 give personal service to fhejiill, the only way by which we can escape 
 this mark which excites so great displeasure in the mind of God. 
 Let not our precious time be spent in corrupting industry and 
 exchange — in taking away from the poor toilers their hard earned 
 gains Iji/ the manipulation of a feio pieces oj paper. Poverty is far to 
 be preferred before wealth drawn out of unrequited labor. The one 
 may cause some discomfort for a few fleeting years, the other is 
 associated, as God assures us, with a torment which ascendeth up 
 for ever and ever. my Christian brotlier, it is over you I yearn, 
 and it is you I would endeavor faithfully to warn. Let the louu 
 voice of the third angel not pass unheeded. Depend upon it, these 
 threatenings are not uttered in vain. They require, you, reader, 
 whoever you are, to examine where you stand in relation to our 
 modern system of traffic. God grant that you may hear and obey, 
 and thus escape the awful condemnation set forth in these letters of 
 fire. Take care, I beseech you, that you flatter not yourself with 
 the idea that it refers to some other church than the one to which 
 you belong — that church perhaps in many respects a model to your 
 own — or to something less respectable than the things now so much 
 esteemed among men. "He that by usury (lending on interest) 
 and unjust gain, increaseth his substance" — he who practically aids 
 in destroying the money which God has given for the reward and 
 protection of labor — stands, as I solemnly believe, in a most perilous 
 position. 
 
 The black horse and his rider. 
 
 Rev. vi. 5, 6 — "And when he had opened the third seal, I heard 
 the third beast say. Come and see. And I beheld, and lo, a black 
 horse : and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand." 
 
 "And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A mea- 
 sure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny ; 
 and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine." 
 
 A commercial vision. 
 
 Two things are evidently taught us here. First, God would have 
 his Church remember the spirit of equity with which all commercial 
 transactions should be undertaken. There are relative values estab- 
 lished by the sweat of the brow. One article of labor must neces- 
 sarily bear a certain labor relation to every other product of labor. 
 There is no absolute measure of value. Human labor, in its innumer- 
 able exchanges, must constantly measure itself. Your labor, in its 
 exchangeable value, must submit to be measured by all other labor. 
 One m«iasure of wheat is worth a penny, and three measures of 
 barley are worth a penny. Three times more toil are necessary to 
 
3sz: 
 
 i^ 
 
 i; 
 
 produce ft men^nrc of wheat than a measure of bailef. A pentiy, 
 three measures of barley, and one measure of wheat, are of relative 
 values. The same labor which produces a penny, produces one 
 measure of wheat, and three of barley. The balances in the hand of 
 the rider present an even boam, and the producers of these com- 
 modities receive each a fair reward. It is in reality human labor, in 
 the wasting of its physical strength and energy, which is weighed 
 by the rider on the black horse. And not only would he have us fix 
 our attention on labor as the only source of all value iu exchange, 
 but selects the most precious products to illustrate what he has to 
 say— the wheat and barley, the wine and the oil. He would thereby 
 have us retlect that the producers of these staples of life are the 
 most valuable of all workers, and should be always fully rewarded. 
 The black horse, expositors have remarked, represents national 
 calamities. There may be tiieaning, therefore, in setting this rider 
 upon a horse of that color. 
 
 Second — " 8ee thou hurt not the oil and the wine." Industry may 
 be ruined by an uneven balance. Evidently an injunction tons to 
 be careful — to seek no more in return for our labor than that labor 
 deserves — to give measure for measure, value for value, labor lor 
 labor. The oil, the wine, and the money are precious — the goodly 
 fruits of the earth must be cherished. God gives them for our com- 
 fort and sustenance, and has made an indissoluble connection be- 
 tween the advancement and elevation of our race and the proper 
 cultivation of the arts of industry in the protection of work. Take 
 care that you do no injury to the hand of toil. Defraud it not with 
 bits of paper. Let nothing so utterly mean disgrace your life. Give 
 it service for service, Let the spirit of justice and equity ever pre- 
 vail. " Come and see."' A look at the rider on the black horse 
 will do you good ; and there is far more in the vision than I am able 
 to set forth. This mute rider has many a lesson yet both for the 
 Church and the world. 
 
 Thus we see that it is very homely things indeed to which these 
 wonderful visions are related ; not to Napoleons, and Caesars, and 
 Charlemagnes, but to the practical duties of the Christian life. To 
 what else could they relate? Has not the strange imagery with 
 which they are presented had much to do in causing us to roam far 
 wide of the mark ? 
 
 The beast rising out of the sea. 
 
 Rev., Chapter xiii. 
 
 This solitary Seer is now taken to the sand of the sea; and from 
 the vantage ground of that lonely ?hore, he looks forth upon the 
 tumultuouii "ceaii before him. Out from its rolling waters a grand 
 and mysterious vision slowly rises— a mighty creature appears, 
 adorned with all the emblems of power and glory. Surely he is 
 the perfection of wisdom, strength, and beauty, with his seven heads 
 and ten glittering crowns. He is the counterpart of the fourth 
 beast, dreadful and terrible, seen by Daniel. iMark what he is like. 
 In his gf^neral appearance he resembles the leopard — the very p'ir- 
 fection of wiliness and cunning. His feet are as the feet of a beer — 
 he draws towards him everything good on which he can lay his 
 paws. His mouth is as the mouth of a lion — he destroys and 
 devours everything that comes in his way. He receives a deadly 
 
 
 K 
 
 \, 
 
 I? 
 
13 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 '''\ 
 
 I? 
 
 Wound, but it is healed. A mouth is given unto him " speaking 
 great tnings." He overcomes the saints. He obtains dominion over 
 all the earth. The whole world wonders after him. He causeth all 
 who buy and sell to receive his mark. He obtains his seat from 
 the dragon, and wields from the same source world-wide authority 
 and power. 
 
 Could a more perfect picture be drawn of modern Babylon, with 
 its splendor and power, rising up in the midst of the sea of human 
 life — with its craft and cunning — its insatiable desires— its destruc- 
 tion of industry — its deadly panics and " confidence restored" — its 
 boastful tongue, the press daily sending forth the unceasing chal- 
 lenge, " Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with 
 him?' — every product of industry and every effort of toil branded 
 deeply with its mark — the whole civilised world " wondering " after 
 it. and paying it court and homage with a servitude more degrading, 
 all things considered, than that of the heathen who prostrates him- 
 self before stocks and stones — and the Church of Christ itself laid 
 in bondage at its feet. 
 
 Now, has the reader ever really reflected on the enormous wicked- 
 ness of what is known by the general name of a paper currency? 
 Nothing which the world has yet seen has exceeded it in that re- 
 spect, and certainly nothing has approached it as an instrument of 
 oppression to the human family. The Jews, in their violation of the 
 Mosaic statutes, lent something at any rate which had cost labor, a 
 commodity, the produce of toil, gold or silver. They practiced 
 simple usury, oppressive enough in its way to excite the anger and 
 displeasure of God. But we have quite surpassed the deeds of the 
 Jews. What is the lending of bits of paper, the usury of tlie Chris- 
 tian? How shall we set it forth? It is usury, joined to fraud and 
 deceit of the deepest dye. Nothing is lent to industry. Value is re- 
 ceived — no value is given. On the contrary, undei" the pretence of 
 lending to industry, and disguised under the boasted name of 
 "credit," the fruits of labor are taken without recompense; and 
 through this system of promises (for these promises pass as money 
 in payment — that is, they transfer goods) the poor toilers are actually 
 compelled to lend, continuously, their hard-earned gains to the 
 paper issuers, and to pay at the same time, under the name of " dis- 
 count," for the loan of their own means. Could any Christian man, 
 for example, call in his neighbours to do a piece of work, to erect a 
 barn or build him a house, and then defraud them by giving his 
 written promises to pay these tradesmen, and not only thus with- 
 hold (payment, but actually discount these bits of paper at the 
 moment he hands them over, well knowing that through the repu- 
 tation he has by such means gained as a man of wealth and credit, 
 these paper promises would not fail to float continuously from hand 
 to hand among the people around him ? Would he not be constantly 
 enjoying the use oj the capital of these poor workmen ? and would he 
 not be actually causing them to pay, under the name of discount, for 
 that xvhich is their own ? Would it lessen his guilt one whit were 
 he to deceive them with some idle talk about the "specie basis," or 
 that he kept a few gold pieces (these very gold pieces the produce of 
 toil and the properly of labor) for an occasional call? Could any 
 terms of condemnation too severe be used towards the man who 
 would do such a thing ? Ig not this just the character of paper 
 currency, of every kind, and by whomsoever isaued ? Do you not 
 know that your boaited credit system is tb« getting the fruits of 
 
 I 
 
14 
 
 'Oil into your hands without recompense? — certainly the meanest 
 sort of work the world has yet seen. And has not this system of 
 wrong and oppression overspread the whole world? Has not every 
 Kingdom on earth " committed fornication" with it? Through its 
 instrumentality, the labor of the earth is devoured, and society has 
 been broken in pieces (Jeremiah li., 20-23), so that instead of univer- 
 sal love, friendship, and goodwill, we have a community, in its 
 various grades and castes, bent on devourmg and appropriating the 
 fruits of toil wherever found ; and in seasons of severe commercial 
 panics society presents perhaps as mournful a sight as can be wit- 
 nessed in a Christian land. Can humanity flourish, can the heathen 
 he brought to knowledge and virtue, with such a system corrupting 
 Christianity to its core ? What hope is there for the world so long 
 as it remains? No wonder that God has sent us " strong delusion 
 that we should believe a lie," and that this terrible system of 
 oppression and robbery has exalted itself "above all that is called 
 God or that is worshipi)ed." I tell vou, reader, the hollow mask 
 which under the fine names of " specie basis," " redeemable currency," 
 and so forth, conceals the hideous features of this paper system, 
 must be torn from before the people's eyes that its true character 
 may be seen and abhorred by all. The bitter wail of oppressed and 
 suffering industry is heard in every street — from every harvest field 
 a cry of affliction enters into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth; and 
 surely, surely, these are not the times for the ministers and Chris- 
 tian Journals of our land to be silent, or, what is worse, to be en- 
 deavouring, with all their might, to daub the wall with untempered 
 mortar. 
 
 We have here the key to the second vision in this Chapter. The 
 beast rising out of the earth with two horns like a lamb as seen by 
 John ; and the little horn coming up among the others as seen by 
 Daniel ; represent, in its later and gradual growth, this most prom- 
 inent and destructive feature of modern Babylon. The dream is 
 one. It is since the rise and spread of paper currency that the 
 saints have been "worn out," the Church brought into complete 
 bondage, and the chains thoroughly riveted on the hands of the 
 world's industry. Has anything in the wide earth spoken greater 
 or more boastful things than this paper system? There is a most 
 significant statement in the Book of Daniel regarding it — it thought 
 to change times and laws. The 17th verse in the 13th Chapter of 
 Revelation establishes t'le matter beyond all doubt. What other 
 system has ever wielded such power as there described? Literally 
 no man can now buy or sell without the mark in a certain sense, fur 
 every act of exchange must necessarily be tainted and corrupted by 
 paper currency, seeing that, by means of its close ally the credit 
 system, it has obtained universal dominion over prices. The mark 
 reigns supreme in every exchange and in every market throughout 
 the world. This currency, this perfect " image " of the beast which 
 is now in everybody's hand, was the one thing needed to complete 
 "legradation and ruin of industry; and thoughtful men may now 
 ■ uy its mission and its work. In its craft on the one hand, and in 
 tne terrible bondage it has brought to enslaved millions on the 
 other, it is unquestionably Satan's masterpiece. 
 
 "Behold the tears of such as are oppressed, and they have no com- 
 forter I and on the side of iheir oppressors there is power ; but they 
 have no comforter." 
 
 
15 
 
 77iit' Liionijniiif/ nj III,' .\>tiji'h. 
 
 Ker. ix. 13, 14, 15 — "And the sixth nugel sounded, nnd I heard 
 a voice from the four horns of tjje goUh'ii jillar which is before God, 
 Saying to the sixth angel wliich hud the tninij)et, Loose the four 
 augels which are bound in the great river Eiiplu-ates. And the four 
 • angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and 
 
 a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men." 
 
 Well may all faces gather blackness in i)resence of this vision, tor 
 it tells of "a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and 
 thick darkness," one of the great and terrible days of the Lord. 
 
 These angels are avenging angels. 
 
 They are at present chained or held in check by some mysterious 
 power. 
 
 Their mission is a very destructive one. 
 
 They are fully armed with terrible instruments of destruction. 
 
 They area countless host — " two hundred thousand thousand." 
 
 Their work will be short, sharp, and decisive. 
 
 They are bound in the great river Euphrates — in modern Babylon 
 itself. 
 
 They are being " prepared," schooled, for their avenging work. 
 
 1 think there can be no doubt whatever that this vision reters to 
 that countless host which our modern system of commerce is so 
 diligently schooling, even to the degraded millions of our fellow 
 creatures whose lives of hard servitude and brutalising toil have 
 brought them to about a level with the beasts that perish, a process 
 of degradation which every person of the least reflection may per- 
 ceive is going forward at a vastly increased rate every succeeding 
 year. The labor question is not the question of the day only — it is 
 the question of all the ages. I listen to ominous sounds in the dis- 
 tance, indications cf the mustering of forces destined to burst over 
 society with tremendous violence. The very " horns" which adorn 
 the beast and give to it their strength and power, will at last hate 
 i I- the whore, and eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. Who can 
 
 doubt that in the degradation to which countless millions are being 
 brought, the system is itself preparing the dreadful instruments for 
 its own destruction. Revelation presents them to us as a mighty 
 host clad in gleaming armor and armed to the teeth. It is an 
 appalling thought. Human power and ingenuity will be of no avail 
 in presence of these wild forces when once the restraining hand is 
 removed. Those who lead into captivity shall go into captivity — 
 those who kill with the sword must be killed w'th the sword. It is 
 in Euphrates itself that these ministers of vengeance must be reared 
 and trained. We have had of late years unmistakable indications 
 that these angels are struggling to be free. The Paris Commune, 
 in at least some of its issues, is a warning of w*hat is approaching on 
 a world-wide scale. There is coming a time of trouble such as no 
 nation has ever seen. The " days of vengeance " must come. It is 
 inevitable. We cannot escape it. It will be emphatically " the 
 Lord's release." Men will yet have to choose their side. These 
 great questions must ere long cut society clean in twain, and bring 
 the soul of every earnest man to the test. The closing portions of 
 the book of Revelation recognise but two classes, those with the 
 mark of God, and those with the mark of the beast. The flippant 
 may scoff, and the wicked do wickedly, but the wise and the true 
 hearted snail understand. My own soul melts within me at the 
 
I lull 1 'I ■ ' '•■*■• 
 
 16 
 
 thought of the sufferings through which the helpless portion of 
 humanity has yet to pass on account of this system of cruelty and 
 wrong. I tremble whilst I write the sentence, but nothing short of 
 some mighty convulsion can deliver industry from its bondnge and 
 purge the world of its oppressions and sorrows. This is the Arma- 
 geddon towards which all the lines of history converge, which is 
 the climax of so much prophecy, for which the attentive ear can 
 catch the hurry rf vast preparation in every direction, and from which 
 the race will take its new departure. 
 
 In this connection, the solemn and impressive address of our 
 Saviour contained in the 13th Chapter of Mark assumes a new and 
 profound interest. There can be no doubi; that He forewarns the 
 Church against calamities far wider in their range and far more dis- 
 astrous in their results than the destruction of the ancient city of 
 Jerusalem. Many cities have been overwhelmed since Jerusalem 
 fell. From what is said in the 17th verse we may gather how the 
 loving heart of the Saviour was affected as he looked into the dis- 
 tant future, and contemplated the awful scene towards which the 
 stream of humanity is blindly hurrying. The strangely impressive 
 language in which the march of events is set forth finds its 
 counterpart in these visions of John and Daniel. Who can doubt 
 that the rigor and hard bondage with which humanity has been so 
 long made to serve must at last be bioken. The generation of men 
 shall not pass away till all these things be done. He lays special 
 emphasis on the fact that they must be done. And let me ask, as 
 pertinent to the matter in hand, if the heathen world is not just as 
 much an object of divine care and government as the civilized world? 
 To whom much is given, of them shall much be required. Has not 
 our modern civilization been tried and found wanting? What means 
 the vast majority of men still toiling on in hopeless despair, and 
 sinking lower and lower in the social scale ? What means mul- 
 titudes even in their tender years sacrificed to this Moloch?* What 
 means the radical and persistent divorce between Capital, so called, 
 and the Labor which creates it and imparts to it all its value? 
 What means the world's producers in poverty, its non-producers in 
 
 I 
 
 It 
 
 *" The following facts illustrate the deplorable condition of brickyard 
 workers in Leicesterhire and Derbyshire in 1869. Some of the boys 
 employed are about oight years old, and each one is engaged carrying from 
 40 lbs. to 45 IDs. weight of clay on his head, to the maker, for thirteen hours 
 per day, traversing a distance of fourteen miles. The girls employed are 
 between nine and ten years of age. They are not engaged carrying clay on 
 their heads the whole of the day, but are partly occupied in takiiig bricks to 
 the kiln. Some of the children are in a semi-nude state. Many of them in 
 Derbyshire work what is called 'eight hours shifts.' which, reckoning f'om 
 twelve o'clock on Sunday night to twelve o'clock on Saturday night follow- 
 ing, make a weekly labour of seventy-two hours. To ascertain really what 
 work these children have to do, we must suppose a briokmaker (not over 
 quick in his operations) making 3,500 bricks per day. The distance the boy 
 or girl has to travel with mould, which weighs 4^1bs., and bricks in it lO^lb., 
 one way, and back to the brickmaker with mould only, is upon the average 
 twelve yards. This multiplied by 3,500 makes the distance nearly twenty- 
 four miles that each child has to walk, every day, carrying this weight with 
 
 "To see the girls engaged in such work, and at such unseasonable hours, 
 mixed up with boys ot the roughest class, must convey to the mind some 
 idea of the sort of wives, with such training, they will make, and the kind 
 of influence they will eventually bring to bear on aooiety."— Mr, tt«org« 
 Smith of Coalville u«ar L«icest«r'in British Workman. 
 
 
K 
 
 ■ 
 
 •I- 
 
 wealth ? What if it should he the Divine purpo?o that those nation?* 
 which have had such splendid opportunities and yet have po miser- 
 ably failed in advancing the cause of humanity, are to yield up the 
 sceptre to tho.qc now poor and despised, but which will bring forth 
 the fruits of the kingdom of God. Never has the world been filled 
 with such significant warnings as now. Shall we fail to learn the 
 parable of the fig tree putting forth its tender leaves? 
 
 Rev. ix., Ist to 12th verses. 
 
 A careful consideration of the contents of the book of Revelation 
 leads me to believe that in the latter days the civilized world will 
 be marshalled in two grand divisions, in complete antagonism to 
 each other, the one distinguished, in Scripture phrase, by the mark 
 of the beast, the other by the seal of God in the forehead. These 
 verses of the ninth chapter evidently point to a work preparatory to 
 that which follows the sixth trumpet, and all immediately antece- 
 dent to the final destruction set forth in the 18th chapter. I gather 
 from these verses that the system is destined to receive some terrible 
 scourgings beyond anything which has yet been witnessed ; not 
 times of ordinary " panic," but of commercial and industrial suffer- 
 ings so great and persistent that men, as we are told, shall seek 
 death and shall not find it, and shall desire to die and death shall 
 tlee from them. Babylon is capable of bringing forth a state ot 
 society beyond anything of which we have yet dreamed. With all 
 moral restraints gone, and the ordinary relationships of life and 
 society set at naught; with the earth trodden down and broken in 
 pieces under the heel of this mysterious power ; and filled, in addi- 
 tion, with that violence and crime which is ever the fruit of industrial 
 oppression, and especially of that form of it which is the feature of 
 our times ; with the dark and terrible catalogue of crime and wicked- 
 ness fully realised which is to distinguish the last days and perilous 
 times spoken of by the Apostle Paul ; the language seems not in- 
 appropriate which sets forth a condition of [mblic anarchy and 
 suffering so great, that many of the children of men will earnestly 
 long for the approach of the last enemy, and the rider on the pale 
 horse will for once seem to forget his commission, and turn bis 
 back upon those who would gladly full beneath his stroke. 
 
 . The Fourth Kingdom of Daniel. 
 
 Dan. vii. 7—" After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a 
 fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly ; and it 
 had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped 
 the residue with the feet of it : and it was diverse from all the beasts 
 that were before it ; and it had ten horns." 
 
 Dan. vii. 23— " Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth 
 kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and 
 shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down and b;eak it 
 in pieces." 
 
 Could any language, or any vision, more appropriately set forth 
 the destructive work of modern Babylon, a kingdom unique m itself 
 or diverse from all others, and whose mission is to devour the whole 
 earth, tread it down, and break it in pieces. This is the fourth 
 kingdom as seen by Daniel. It presents to the full every charac- 
 teristic of this vision. No other kingdom that the world has ever 
 
 m m»- 
 
18 
 
 6een has so fulfilled all these conditions. The language could not 
 be applied to any other kingdon. It can be applied wiih all truth 
 to this. Tliere cannot be room even for a doubt on the subject. 
 This kingdom hag claimed and exercised a cruel and despotic jurisdic- 
 tion over the industry and tradic of the whole world. The other 
 kingdoms are prolonged for a season — this is completely destroyed 
 and given to the burning tlame. The work of the horn (to which 
 I have already referred) before which three of the others fell, which 
 also was unique or diverse from tlie others, which sjioke great words 
 against the Alost High, which wore out the saints, «/*</ lohick even 
 thought to chanife times and laws, is the work wliich fills up the 
 measure of the iniquity of this kingdom, and at last brings upon it 
 the swift destruction witnessed by Daniel in the august and mag- 
 nificent judgment scene made to pass before his viow. 
 
 How intensely interesting is the thought that the world is approach- 
 ing the period rei>resented in this solemn vision; that the afflictions 
 and sorrows of countless millions will be all fully requited at no dis- 
 tant date, and that the judgment to be executed upon this world-wide 
 and henrtless system of oppression is immediately to precede tlie full 
 establishment of the kingdom of " one like tlie Son of Man," whose 
 dominion is an everlasting dominion, never to pass away or be 
 destroyed. 
 
 I regard the latter half of the eleventh chapter of Daniel as a 
 revelation, more in detnil, of the growth and work of modern Babylon. 
 Let the reader carefully ponder it. Has not tlie sanctuary been 
 polluted, and the abomination that makelh desolate placed therein? 
 "The abomination that maketli desolate" is a phrase exceedingly 
 expressive of the far reaching and desolating effects of an evil work 
 that stretches its dominion over all the earth, which has effectually 
 arrested the daili/ sacrifice that industry would otherwise {)luce ujjon 
 the altar of God, and before which human labor in all itsefltbrts a id 
 resources is constantly blasted and withered. Also compare Dan. 
 xii. 1 with Mark xiii. 14, 19, 20. 
 
 In truth, do we not arrive at a grand conception of what human 
 labor really is, of its dignity and destiny, when we reflect that it is 
 the daily sacrifice of toil which is destined, in the providence of God, 
 to carry the Gospel and civilization to the ends of the earth. There 
 must be sacrifice and service. And thus will men bless and benefit 
 their fellows. But modern Babylon has thoroughly arrested this 
 mighty stream of christian industrial beneficence. The daily sacrifice 
 has-been taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate 
 erec'ted in its stead. 
 
 The destruction of Modern Babylon. 
 
 Rev. chapter xviii. 
 
 I put my shoes from off ray feet as I approach this solemn scene. 
 I stand in awe in presence of this most vivid and incomparable 
 description of the fall of by far the mightiest monarchy which has 
 ever trampled down the rights and liberties of mankind, a monarchy 
 by the great modern Euphrates of which ruthless and despotic 
 Babylon of old was but a faint emblem, it is impossible to mistake 
 the meaning of this prophecy. Every separate verse rings forth the 
 doom of that system under which industry has so long groaned, and 
 which has reoeir«d go manj ihakings and warnings from the hands 
 
19 
 
 of an offended God. Proud Babylon will ere long be amltteu to tbe 
 dust. Any words of mine would but detract from the jrrnndeurof 
 the scene. Let u3 therefore silently adore ua we contemplate this 
 majestic vision passing in review before our gaze. 
 
 eferred to the more prominent of some of the visions 
 lis stupendous systeni of evil. The Scriptures teem 
 
 I have thus ref 
 
 bearing upon thio w...,.v.... ^^j^.^...^, »,.... *..v. .^^.., 
 
 wiih minor references to the subject. As in the case ot the dream 
 of Pharoah the vision was repeated, so the.«e visions are repeated, 
 but with greater frequency, even as the impending judgments are 
 to be on a scale of far greater magnitude. God wuuld thus have 
 us give good heed. In these ancient projiliecies there are indeed 
 Bolemn words and warnings to the i>asiors and shepherds of the 
 present day.— Kxekiel .xxxiv. 
 
 It cannot but excite the deepest emotion in every christian mind 
 to consider that in all probability we are drawing near the period 
 represented by the sixth and seventh trumpets and the sixth and 
 seventh viiils. I have already said tliat I believe the system to 
 wliich I have referred these proplietic visions is capable of bringing 
 forth evils of even greater magnitude than those with which it has 
 already afflicted our race. May we not therefore conclude that it 
 is in the light of what iias yet to be revealed that certain other 
 visions, at present obscure, must be interpreted in the future. 
 
 I will now conclude with a few general r-flections. 
 
 I have urged the importance of the proper study of political 
 economy. It may be said with truth that all the great interests of 
 humanity are embrace'!, more or less, in this science. Around all 
 that is represented by Labor, Value, Money and Exchange, it ever 
 throws the i)rotection of its benign and salutary laws. It stands 
 as a vigilant sentinel at the threshold of every man's home, and 
 guards wntli jealous care the rewards of his daily toil. It regards 
 every human being as a laborer, and deals to him tht fruits and the 
 fruits only of his toil. It settles all claims and distributes all its 
 rewards on the single foundation of labor, and of value as Si)ringiug 
 from that labor. Rightly interpreted it becomes the basis of national 
 strength and aflfords a secure guarantee for human elevation and 
 progress. It is not opposed to the divine principles of charity and 
 love, of neighborliness and goodwill, but rather courts their pre- 
 sence and seeks that they may be incorporated with it.# And so, 
 every man born into the world stands in immediate relation to this 
 science, and is placed under the necessity of comprehending its 
 laws if he would become a good member of society and guard at 
 once his own rights and the rights of others. Of many things we 
 may remain in ignorance and be not much the worse. But we dare 
 not remain in ignorance of the laws of political economy. They 
 have a scourge in their hands which sooner or later will be applied 
 to the community which persistently turnsadeaf ear to the " instruc* 
 tion of wisdom, justice, judgment and equity.' The great problem 
 of Human Society itself can only be unravelled as we comprehend 
 
 ♦ See an original and suggestive paper, by the Hon. T. Wharton Colleng 
 of New Orleans, read before the Academy of Sciences of that city, entitled 
 " Charity as a scientific principle in political economy." Mr. CoUens has 
 given much attention to the labor question and I would earn«itly rtcom- 
 mend this thoughtful truatl.se from his p«n. 
 
 '^rw^'w^niiiPiwiBi 
 

 20 
 
 these laws. We may dopend upon it that as tliore i.s, between two 
 
 fmrties, a mutual prolit and advanfa^c in a free exelianji^o of value 
 or value, so there must bo a mutual loss, when, cither ihroiigh 
 ignorance or design, this law is violated, the one iu the product of 
 his labor, the other in that for wliich no i)roduct of labor can ever 
 compensate. 1 have the clearest conviction that every man, in 
 receiving labor or the fruits of labor from his fellows, is bound, as a 
 matter of conscience, to restore an ecpjlvalent in personal service or 
 the fruits of labor, and this at o ice in order to preserve that equity 
 which is the lite of all exchange, and to secure that blessing without 
 which all industrial efforts must prove eventually in vain. We 
 labor in order to obtain certain true satisfactions, and these satis- 
 factions will never come when equity is violated. The man who 
 proposes to live from the ])roduce of his own labor, or who, in this 
 corrupt and tan^leil state, does his best to do so, need never be 
 afraid to face the laws of ])olitical economy. Though their logic is 
 severe, they wdl give to him all he can possibly demand. Those 
 who propose to live from the produce of the toil of others had bet- 
 ter have as little as possible; to do with these laws. 
 
 There can be no doubt that people hav(; gonerallj' now Ingt the 
 conception of lahor as the true source of wealth, and that their ideas 
 on the subject have been transferred to monri/ as the source of 
 production and prolit. It seet'is hardly conceivable that an error so 
 transparent could ever have become seated in the public mind. Bull 
 di» not err in stating that multitudes of educated persons, as well as 
 numerous teachers of political economy, have been carried away 
 with till se popular delusions. How widely spread is the notion, for 
 example, that money producers interest. Indeed, the modern money 
 system could never hnve been exalted to its [)resent position bad such 
 ideas not prevailed. Truth has been pushed into the background; 
 and the all but universal error as to money being the source of 
 wealth seems to have floated to the surface and kept its place amidst 
 the wreck of loose material out of which the modern system is 
 constructed. It has been my endeavour to bring labor to the front 
 and to give to it the true place among the economies. One of 
 America's keenest thinkers has struck the key note of ray writings 
 when he states, in a full review with which he has honored me, that 
 I " bring everything in political economy to the best of its relation 
 to labor." ' Tis there all our reasoning must begin. 
 
 But have we not to consider a deeper delusion, and a more de- 
 structive error, connected with this matter ? Is it not the case that 
 multitudes of intelligent persons hav^e come to transfer their ideas 
 regarding money from the money itself to the pieces of paper on 
 which somebody has inscribed a promise to-pay money or to pay his 
 debt ? Is it not true that there is a general determination to regard 
 these fragments of paper as real money? How otherwise can we 
 explain, not alone their general use, but their frequent propagation 
 as legal tenders in exchange ? Into what a perfect chaos has the 
 mind descended — in what a "strong delusion" does it rest— which can 
 perceive no difference between money and a bit of paper on which 
 some one has inscribed the fact that he owes a certain sum for labor 
 made over to him, or for value received, and is moreover not ashamed 
 to let the world know that he intends to profit by that fact— the very 
 evidence of an unpaid obligation, debt itself, exalted to the position 
 of gold and silver I And yet this is not to be much wondered at. A 
 paper school of political economy has long sought to rule and 
 
I 
 
 21 
 
 of 
 
 regulate the fair domain ,aii(l has but loo successfully sown it broad- 
 cast with corrupt seed. Paper, interost, and credit, the three myths 
 of modern traffic, arc its chief pillars. It is not surprising that in 
 ondeavouriuj^ to rear the rickety superstructure, the j)a[)er expounders 
 have often found themselves doomed to wander " in endless mazes 
 lost." Over some of the deeper questions of ])oliticul economy, men 
 may well pause and ponder, and mayhap go astray. But it is painful 
 beyond measure to observe that economists without number have as 
 much faith in these three myths as the child has in his fairy tale. 
 The public mind may be saiil to iuive completely given way under 
 the strain of wearisome and endless ])ropositions, not one of which, 
 when put to the test, is able for a mouient to withstand the cold 
 touch of reason, and to have settled down into the conviction that 
 what seems so difficidt to explain, and so confusing to the 
 economists themselves, it is hopeless ever to expect to understand. 
 
 It may be proper to remind the reader that 1 nerer treat of 
 accumulated wealth in so far as that wealth la snent by its owner 
 merel.v for purposes of personal gratification. I have taken it into 
 consideration only as it alfects the resources of industry, or violates 
 in its use the laws of political economy. There is here a dividing 
 line, absolute and easily determined; and the enquirer who fails to 
 perceive this line will not only certainly go astray, but may imagine 
 that he has found satisfactory justification for a system whose work 
 is only evil contmually. 
 
 It is worthy of special note that the subjects discussed are of the 
 deepest im])ortauce to the Church and to the cause of missions, 
 inasmuch as they have a direct bearing on the progress of truth and 
 righteousness throughout the earth. It is in this connection that 
 the subject takes us into a field of intense interest and of almost 
 boundless investigation. The Church is in full accord with the 
 modern mercantile system, and so far is in fidl alliance with by far 
 the most terrible 'system of oppressiim which the world has ever 
 seen. Sooner or later the Church will have to face the labor ques- 
 tion. That question will, in more ways than one, prove tne most 
 difficult problem with which it has ever had to deal. By active 
 participation in this long and constant oppression of labor, it has 
 aided in keeping the masses in a helpless state of poverty, and has 
 thus prevented the resources of industry being so developed as to 
 bear upon the elevation and progress of mankind. * The guilt of the 
 
 ♦See an admirable Tract by Ira Steward, entitled "Poverty," issued 
 by the Boston Eight Hour League. This paper will well repay poru.sal. It 
 is ono of the best things I liave seen on the labor question. I have only 
 room for the following extracts: "The Law of supply and demand is said 
 to regulate the price of commodities ; but the " demand " is limited by the 
 great fact of the poverty of the mass of consumers. There never was a mar- 
 ket so overstocked with goods that it would have taken a day to empty it, 
 if all the people had been able to pay for all they ought tohave. ' A glut in 
 the market' has never yet meant anything more than that'millionsof jjeoplo 
 are too poor to pay for the food, clothes, houses, books, and opportunities that 
 are waiting: for customers. Poverty obstructs the demand. In the last 
 analysis, it is largely a question of poverty." i\lc. Steward's little pamphlet 
 is full of noble reflections. Witness the following: " But the service per- 
 forined by a menial, in livery perha[)s, disappears with poverty. Neither 
 master nor servant have any place in the political economy that plans the 
 annihilation of poverty. Men will be better served without servants ; a 
 better living will be earned without masters, when the kno ivledge that dis- 
 poses of poverty has also harnessed into the service of man the great and 
 obedient forces of nature. These are the services that can be rendered and 
 
 15 
 
 '^V^^T^ 
 
 ' ^MAmmiu.m.m- - 
 
iJ 
 
 83 
 
 Church in tliid respect bfti bet-n very gnat. It has b«ttu an activt 
 partner in tho darkest conspiracy ever formed by powers of evil 
 aj^ainst the liberties and hanninoss of our rare. Civilization in a 
 true sense, and th<' rcelamaiion of the heathen world, can nev<'r be 
 accomplislied under a state of things in which the multitudes 
 Btrupgle with constant jioverty, and iTie few are exalted to wealth 
 and power. Money, to be efli'ctually used as an instrument in the 
 conversion of the heathen, must he /iiKf ronspcrntfd l>y the Itaud of toil. 
 1 understand the force of my words when I say that it is impossible 
 BO threat and good a work (;an be successfully accomplislH'd by our 
 modern society as now constituted. Ft is no woniler that the masses 
 have drifted into a state of semi infidelity, and have learned to 
 regard the |)ulpit either with suspicion or indilfercnce. iiut these 
 questions will ere long press upon the Church with an urgency which 
 it will not ])G able to resist, tlie scales will at last drop from itseye.^, 
 and it will awake to a sense of its sin and its shame. It will have 
 to go dnwn and take sides with those who are now the lowest of 
 the population, with those who, by their daily toil, prodncic for us 
 all the necessaries, comforts, and elegancies of life. The ministers of 
 religion may thus see what sort of work they have before them. In 
 this modern mercantile. system they have to confront an enemy more 
 powerful, unrelenting, and determined than heathenism itself — a 
 field of conflict on which thorough moral heroism is destined yet to 
 win some of its brightest laurels. Let us not flatter ourselves with 
 the delusion that the days of ])erseention have i)assed away never to 
 return. The issue will ever be the same when Christianity comes 
 in conflict with a vast system of error and evil. 
 
 It has been anything but a pleasant task for me to throw myselt 
 in conflict with the cherished maxims and opinions of my fellow 
 men. I trust I can say that nothing but a supreme regard for truth 
 on the one hand, and of compassion for toiling and suffering 
 midtitudeson the other, could have induced me voluntarily to occupy 
 a position the pain of which can be known only to those who have 
 passed through a similar experience. And yet, with all this, I bless 
 God that the investigation of these truths has for many years been 
 to me a source of the purest hajipiness and satisfaction. I 
 suppose subsequent investigators in the same field will find the 
 bitter and the sweet strangly commingled. I would say to all such 
 that the great truths they arc in search of will not be found on the 
 world's beaten highway. They must in solitude and silence, and 
 with the patience of the waterier who scans the midnight heavens, 
 and with something of the same range of vision, think out for them- 
 selves those stupendous problems in which are bound up the 
 destinies of our race. And instead of the subject becoming, what 
 so many conceive it to be, one of dry and uninteresting details, 
 they will find themselves not only expatiating in one of the most 
 interesting fields of thought, but will have a key put in«o their 
 hands with which to unlock some of the deepest mysteries of 
 divine revelation. For myself, I would crave the reader to be 
 indulgent towards all defects in matter or style, and to remember 
 
 accepted, without compromising the dignity and luimliood of a single human 
 being." 
 
 " i'he Laws of the original Church were avowedly so planned by Moses, 
 both as to the prevention and relief of poverty, that, if obeyed, there could 
 not have been any permanently poor cla«s."— E. H. Rogers m Appeal of tUf 
 Christian Labor Union of Boston. 
 
 / 
 
 •g-^'--<-"wy>»wi»).vaii Wiiinainli>y' g;f^«j7?; 
 
 :5XA3i 
 
23 
 
 •k 
 
 that in this 'rait and untrodden fieM, I have not had the adrantaj^e 
 of at 7 prf'viomlitPraHiro a^ nn aid or j?uido. It has b^en iieceasary 
 also, in the intercjits of truth, to say some pretty hard things 
 ropixrding our modorn omniorcial system. N'ow once for nil, lot it 
 be nndorstood tluit I blame not men, hut the system. It, would be silly 
 prejudice on my fiart to ijynoro the fact tliat'multitudes of our best 
 citizens — honorable, hi^h-minded, true-hearted men, ami h-aders in 
 many a pood e-iterprise — nre involved in it, all uticons(;i» us of those 
 great afllii'tinns which it bririps in its train. And yet who can deny 
 that the subject comes with t-rribh.' nuestiouinKs to the soul of every 
 man wlio is dcterminefl to l)i' p^uided in all his dealings by the strict 
 principles of justice and e(|uity. 
 
 In saying this much, however, wo must not be blind to the faoi 
 that there are multitudes who deliberately chut their eyes, and will 
 ever keep them shut, against the entrance of the light. What 
 passes daily before them is in their estimation the sum and 
 substance of all knowledge. The great world of thought beyond is to 
 them a phantom region into which they have no wish to penetrate. 
 Like Demetrius, the silver-smilh of Ephesu-', it is suflieient tor them 
 to know that by this craft they have their wealth. Doubtless that sort 
 of reasoning will carry people as far nowadays as in the time of 
 Demetrius. And so they grope on, as their fathers did before them, 
 in the midst of a darkness which has become to them a sort of second 
 nature, content to believe that humanity revolves in its appointed 
 orbit, and that to look out of the circle in which they move and have 
 their being would be impiety itself and worse than useless. No 
 wonder, then, that divine revelation declares to us, in one of the 
 most affecting scenes of its cloung testimony, that the great majority 
 of men will, in the mi<lst of a fancied security and shrouded by that 
 darkness in which ablind and eager devotion to wealth never fails to 
 wrap the soul, be overtaken by *liat dreadful day which, though it is 
 destined to w'itness the fruits of in<lustry involved in a common 
 ruin, will at the same time for ever break the power of the 
 oppressor. 
 
 It has been my privilege, within these few years, to peruse various 
 printed documents and periodicals from the hands of working men, 
 most of them full of vigorous and original thinking, and unstained 
 by anything calculated to offend the most fastidious taste. I rejoice 
 in these evidences that a time is coming when educated working 
 men will takehold of the literature of the day, and redeem the press 
 from that degrading servitude to mammon, to fiction, and to trifles, 
 which has been so long and so largely its characteristic. The 
 modern mercantile system has had a most faithful ally in the modf^rn 
 newspaper sheet ; and if the progress of knowledge depended on 
 what, with a few rare and nohle exceptions, is served up to us in our 
 periodical literature with reference to money, banking, finance, 
 and kindred subjects, then the case of the working man would be a 
 hopeless one indeed, and he would be considered for all time to 
 come the fair and legitimate prey of the various " interests " which 
 now fatten from his unrequited labors. Let my fellow workers 
 remember, in the midst of their mental toil, that we have the high 
 honor of helping to hiy the foundation of an empire of industry 
 broad and lasting as humanity itself, and whose very corner stones 
 are Righteousness and Truth, and that it would therefore ill become 
 us to lose patience in so great a work. Sufficient for us if we are 
 privileged to lay a few goodly stones destined eveutually to carry so 
 
24 
 
 ■J 
 
 fair a superstructure. The great Teacher himself sets forth the order 
 of progression— ^>«< the blade, then the ear, o/ler that the full corn 
 in the ear. And if any earnest reader should desire to cast in his 
 lot with us, we would tell him that the blessing of him who is ready 
 to perish will come upon him, a distinction with which all the 
 baubles of earth arc not worthy of being once compared. 
 
 Men of heroic and consecrated hearts! 1 call you to this work. 
 The cry of suffering humanity is the voice of God. Enter, I beseech 
 you, on these whitening iields, that you may receive wages and 
 gather fruit unto life eternal. 
 
 And now, in leaving these high and august themes, I would 
 desire with mingled feelings of humility and gratitude to lay these 
 and preceding pages at the feet of my divine Master and Lord, 
 ])raying Him to forgive all errors and shortcomings which mar my 
 work, to bless whatever may be in accordance with truth, and to 
 hasten the day when His threatenings against great Babylon shall 
 be all fulfilled. 
 
 WORKS ON THE LABOR AND MONEY 
 QUESTIONS.— By William Brown. 
 
 1. Thoughts on Paper Currency and Lending on Interest, as 
 affecting the prosperity of Labor, Commerce, and Manufactures, 247 
 pages, 75 cents. 
 
 2. A New Catechism on Political Economy, 68 pages, 25 cents. 
 
 3. Ho Fund in Commerce or Labor for Lending on Interest, II 
 pages, 10 cents. 
 
 4. The Church, our Modern System of Commerce, and the fulfil- 
 ment of Prophecy, 24 pages, 10 cents. 
 
 Published by John Lovcll, Montreal, and Rouse's Point, N.Y. 
 
 The "Thoughts," bound in cloth, can also be had from Messrs. 
 Sampson Low k Co., London, price 5s. 
 
 Nos. 3 and 4 can be had in quantities at low rates for distribution, 
 by applying to Mr. Lovell as above. The aiitlior would earnestly 
 appeal to all who feel interested in the subject to aid him in the 
 circulation of the above works. Those who desire to address him 
 personally with their orders may do so to Cotc-des-Neiges P.O., near 
 Montreal. 
 
 Note. — It is due to t^ose readers who have taken the trouble to 
 read the " Thoughts " to state, that u^) to the time of the publication 
 of that work, the author had devoted his attention almost exclu- 
 sively to the two great branches of the subject included under the 
 terms Interest and Money. Into capital, as^'such, or so-called, he 
 had made little investigation. When it crossed his path he simply 
 adopted and expressed tlie popular ideas. To complete the harmony 
 of the subject, he found it necessary to institute a critical examina- 
 tion of the claims set up in behalf of capital. The reader will 
 therefore please to regard his sentiments on this branch so far as 
 they are set forth in the later productions noted above. 
 
as 
 
 „ i